More on the Depression Loop
One of the most important things to become aware of as you monitor your activities is the presence of depression loops. Again, depression loops occur when attempts to cope with difficult or painful feelings actually make depression worse. This happens because the attempts to cope, although they may temporarily help you escape from emotional pain or discomfort, actually make things worse in the long run. They either don’t solve a problem that needs solving, or they create additional problems that leave you at risk for depression.
As you look back over your activity-and-mood monitoring chart, look for times when you felt more than a little depressed. Then look at what you did immediately following those times. Did your mood improve, stay the same, or get worse over the next hour or two? How about over the course of the day? If your mood got better, it’s probably because either the situation changed, or the way you responded to things made a difference. If your mood got worse, did it have something to do with how you responded to depressed feelings or a difficult situation? For example, many people cope with a depressed mood by withdrawing or otherwise trying to escape from feelings or situations. These escape behaviors could include sleeping, removing yourself from social situations, using alcohol or paxil, or any other behavior that temporarily removes you from what you want to avoid. If you notice any behaviors such as these or others that help you escape but make depression worse, don’t be ashamed or self-critical. Escape and avoidance behaviors are natural responses to depression. And they work in the short run. We’ll have much more to say about escape and avoidance in post 3.
