Question:
Why do depressed people want to stay that way, or allow it to fester to that point in the 1st place?
Answer:
Depression is a passive state of inaction. Many people don’t even realise they’re depressed until it becomes a significant issue. It’s not that they want to remain that way. They are often unaware that they are depressed in the first place. By the time they do recognise it they are in so deep they don’t know how to escape the quagmire of depression, or even that it’s even possible to do so a lot of the time.
One of the most important steps in breaking out of depression is simply to act, do something, anything. Yet when the brain is in a depressed state, even this is a monumental task. When in this state, our subconscious fights anything active and wants to stay passive and inactive.
There can be secondary gains, ie enjoying the attention an ailment brings for example, but for true depression, this is far rarer than with other issues, so I’ll just mention it in passing here. The odd thing that does come up much more frequently than secondary gains, is secondary depression, which is quite literally being depressed about being depressed. This has the effect of pulling the sufferer deeper and deeper into the depressive state.
It can be treated, and you know I’m going to say this, but yes hypnotherapy is one of the best ways to do this. But the deeper the depression the harder it is to escape, so so being proactive about your mental health is very important. Early awareness and small actions can prevent a deeper spiral.
Prefer to visualise the main key points? Here’s a quick infographic recap:
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