In chemistry class, one of the learning objectives is to understand concentration and solutions. I remember writing formulas to describe the solution created in the beaker. Let’s take that image and apply it to a strategy to decrease depression. We know that the body creates chemicals based on emotions. If we panic, chemicals make us move faster to get away from danger. If we are sad, chemical changes can be measured in our tears. It is established that our body is like that beaker from chemistry class where solutions of chemicals are mixed according to our emotions.
The challenge regarding depression is to understand that we have power to change the concentration of the solutions that create the supressed emotional state called depression. You can watch an animated version of this lesson in the film “What the Bleep Do We Know”. It is a great teaching tool to see how powerful we are in regulating our body chemistry. The simple lesson for today is to work with your thoughts, recogonize the impact of negative thoughts on our body chemistry and work to make a better “solution” of thoughts that contribute to our wellbeing.
When we learn how to change our thoughts, we change the concentration of the powerfully depressing negative thought patterns that impact our mental health.
Try this exercise today. On a blank sheet of paper, write down simple things that bring you pleasure and joy. This is called a “Joy List”. These are simple things and the game of writing them down is addicting – hard to stop because it feels good. Let’s give our brain a treat – joy is candy for the soul.
Here’s my Joy List for today:
Wake up!
Make coffee.
Read the morning paper.
Enjoy my kids energy.
Anticipate going on vacation tomorrow.
Walk around the block.
Smell fresh cut grass (hard to do this one in December!)
Drink coffee.
Make my bed.
Write this blog.
Hope someone read it.
Give hope to people suffering with depression.
Breath deeply.
Play with our little, white, purring kitten.