All I really need to know about depression recovery I learned in the first few sessions of therapy…
This posting’s title is a take off of the book title, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, which I have heard about but never read (sorry Mr. Fulgham).
After being diagnosed with dysthymia disorder around September 2005, I started counseling where I think I have previously stated that I figured it would take a few weeks for me to get my “head” aligned and I was back to being “normal.” My therapist and I started working through Feeling Good by David Burns.
An outline of my course of action (as best as I can recall) was the following:
- Get out for one-on-one or small group activities with men at least three times a week (I’d become isolated)
- Get some exercise (even mild exercise) at least three times a week
- Set some realistic goals for outstanding tasks by breaking activities into smaller to compliable pieces
- Take an active part in learning more about depression as to become the “expert” in my own cause
- Allow the “therapy” of work to assist in lifting my depression (eventually I needed a break)
Now looking at this apparently simple course of action, I cannot understand how and why it took over a year for the pieces to come together for me to be able to complete all five of these actions within one week. Frequently I would get started on two or three actions but either was not capable of follow through or lacked the stamina to continue as another activity was added.
Luckily, with time I was able to start to put the pieces together and day-by-day I gain renewed confidence that my current path will lead to recovery.
