CRACKING DEPRESSION

Preparing the Ground

You lock yourself in a tiny room. You don’t want the windows opened. Light is anathema. There is a desperate attempt to conjure up some sleep. You are all worked up. Still sleep eludes. A train of thoughts passes through your mind. Incidents of the past where you have failed, have been ridiculed or humiliated come up one by one. You don’t want to remember them but you are a captive of memories. Oh no! There is no escape route in sight. An unknown fear grips you. There is a terrible anxiety about the future. How will you present yourself to the world?

Will they detect something abnormal? How can you function as an office-goer, a husband and a father? What if they point an accusing finger at you? Have you done something wrong?

Your head grows heavy. There must a full-stop to the suffering. Sure, there exists an answer. You think about committing suicide.

The state of depression is explained above. If no remedial action is taken, the situation gets worse and you land up in schizophrenia.

Is there a way-out? Is it curable?

Yes. Employing wisdom and tapering off the dependency on medicines, one finds out the way  to get out of the labyrinth. My method consists of building up a support system using special-purpose activities, music, yoga, meditation and physical exercises. Of course, medication cannot be wished away.  Ultimately, one’s thought-process should change. This is possible only by changing one’s mind-set.

Accept the fact

Be honest. You are depressed. No point in hiding the truth. If you want to reconcile with the situation, sincere effort is a prime-requisite. Its your life after all and you have to fight it out.

Now, get rid of self-pity. You are not the only one. There are billions in this world going through hell. Most of them are in worse situations than you’re in. Go to any hospital and visit the Cancer Ward. Angelic children aged five years or so are suffering from Leukemia. What sin have they committed? Even the Karma theory does not hold good at this instance!

‘Everything is happening for the good’

You just have to hold on, times are bound to change. Even the darkest night has to end. Bide for your time after summing up your guts and you’ll see light at the end of the tunnel. Nothing is permanent in this world. Keep the steering wheel steady, the bad-patch will be over soon.

Anybody can live a normal, easy life where everything is taken care of. Living on razor’s edge, on the other hand, is difficult indeed. A severe life has tremendous advantages. You get closer to Center while others are floating at the surface. The ungraspable phantom called Life is well within your grip. Personal tragedies, accidents, diseases etc have a reverse side which one fails to notice. You get purified through the fast-track. Normally one has to take deliberate efforts, often tough, to achieve the same results. Remaining pure amidst impurities is not an easy job. Intense experiences make you a stronger person, that’s the fringe benefit.

Continuous suffering has already changed your thought-process. Your mind-set has been changed. Normally you wouldn’t have bothered, if you weren’t down.

You are not carried away by people or events.

Nothing really matters in the final analysis.

Reschedule the daily grind

Make yourself busy.

Get up early in the morning. You can try an auto-suggestion even in bed. Rub both hands till they are warm and  place them over your face saying Every day and every way, I’m getting better and better.  You have to hurry up a bit because the morning walk should start pre-dawn, the time when Mother Nature is most pleasant and takes you to her fold. You need not wear track suit and jogging shoes. Any dress and footwear in which you are comfortable will do. And avoid mobiles and similar gadgets. You should listen to the natural sounds of the morning like chirping of birds, ringing of bells etc. as they have a comforting effect. Just to make your mind focused, you should carry a pack of noble thoughts  alongwith! The easiest way-out is a selection of mantras. They are excellent thoughts compressed into a compact, ready-to-use form by people who devoted their entire lives contemplating on the essence of life.

Just by repeating the mantra, with adequate knowledge about its meaning can make one’s mind tranquil.

For example, take the following mantra from Rig Veda.

Aano Bhadra Kratavo Yantu Visrataha

(Let noble thoughts come to us from every side)

Please note that the mantra is not person-specific here. Nobody is asking for any personal benefit. Greater Common Good  is always the goal. However, the person who recites it will also get benefitted on account of the positive energy generated. Thoughts are subtle form of energy, no doubt!

Keep on repeating it while you are on morning walk. Reflect on its meaning. You’ll find that natural sounds start engulfing you like a mother. You become more attentive. When you stumble upon a stone on the footpath, you bend down and remove it.

Now, watch the sunrise. One can’t afford to miss it as it is one of the most beautiful events in Nature. According to Sree Narayana Guru, the sunrise is a celebration in divinity which is to be experienced by one and all.

Music as a support system

If you have a good equipment for listening to music, half of your problems in life is already solved. Indian Classical music has an intrinsic energy about it which one can harness by continuous listening. Both Carnatic and Hindustani can boast of Perfect Masters as composers. The classical composition is done in the most spiritual moments. Get connected to a never-ending source of energy. At least you can recharge your batteries.

After coming back from early morning walk, relax on music. Sometimes the music is so tempting that one feels like dancing. Even the alap part of a raga can push one into dancing.

Not surprising, in fact. You are correlating the energy inside your body to that of the Universe!

Truly speaking, it’s a formless dance. Or, It could be anything, Bharatanatyam, Kathak or even Kathakali.

Now watch the  noble thoughts come to you from every side!

                                                                                     (Based on personal experiences)

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