When you’re down, feeling bored can be a good sign
Working with depressive clients can become fun when they begin to get well. Many people go through various phases, including self-actualizing, taking up new endeavours or starting a new relationship (or ending a bad one). Another sign that depression is lifting comes when clients speak of being bored.
If you have been depressed for months or years, and your sadness slowly begins to be replaced with boredom, it is your brain telling you: “Hey, I’ve really had enough of this. Let’s do something else, please.” When you are finally sick and tired of being sick and tired, your unconscious will try to motivate you.
It might be a long step from the thought to putting on your running shoes and jogging to the hardware store, but you get my drift. These little thoughts, as they continue, keep getting stronger. One day, you think to yourself: “Hey, maybe I’m getting better.” And if you can think it, you are also doing it.
Coming back into the world after a depression can be a little tricky. You have to be careful with yourself and self-aware. You might have developed a few bad habits and let some good ones go. You need to rediscover what it is that gives you the inspiration to find your sneakers and start taking better care of yourself, and that is exactly what you are doing. And it all started with feeling a little bored.
Sleeping through the night is another sign that your depression is lifting. When you stop having sleep issues, especially early-morning awakenings, that means your unconscious is healing from its pain. You may still feel down, but when you start adding up the other things that are going on — such as listening to music, getting tired of the television, feeling different (which might mean better), and of course crying less — you are on the path to recovery.
In most cases, healing from depression takes time, but it’s important to see and take in even the tiniest things that show you are recovering. Allowing the idea that you are getting better into your head and heart will facilitate the healing process.
If you are taking medication, don’t stop them before talking to your medical doctor. Feeling better doesn’t mean you can quit cold turkey, because that can be dangerous. It just makes sense to taper off any medications and do it under your doctor’s supervision.
Your brain may be producing the chemicals you need, but your body may not have caught up yet. It’s just the way our systems work, and if your doctor wants you to stay on medication for a few more weeks, it’s nothing to get upset about.
Emotional stability is the first step to emotional fitness. Once you have had a major depression, you have a 50 per cent chance of having another. That’s a little depressing, but it is also a good reason to keep doing the things and seeing the signs that help you heal. Reminding yourself that you are getting better may seem simplistic, but its value should not be overlooked.
Dr. Barton Goldsmith is a psychotherapist and the author of The Happy Couple: How to Make Happiness a Habit One Little Loving Thing at a Time.