Depression and anxiety are symptoms of trauma

 



Can't help it sometimes when I hear people (mostly mental health professionals) talking about depression as being a chemical imbalance in the brain. 

Are these people even knowledgeable about mental health issues in general? Did they read books on the real causes of depression or anxiety or are they just offering an opinion just to hear themselves talking? 

Depression is NOT a chemical imbalance in your brain. It is not you having low serotonine levels. Proof: I took a long course of anti-depressants and that did not ameliorate my depression at all.

What helped me become less negative and depressed in general is talking about my childhood trauma, learning about it and connecting with people who have had the same experience.

The problem in our society is wanting a quick fix for a problem that is so deep and so complex. Depression is a complicated illness and it does not go away after a few months of popping pills or analyzing your thoughts in CBT therapy.

See, depression is not a result of you having negative, self-defeating thoughts about yourself, the world and the people around you. It is about being so abused and misstreated that you have closed yourself off completely and internalized the anger that should have been addressed to your abuser (or attacker if you've suffer from assault in your past).

Anger can be deadly because if it's internalized for a long, long time, it may push you towards wanting to hurt yourself. The problem here is that you won't know why you have the urge to harm yourself and/or off yourself. You just know you want to do it.

Our subconscious mind is very complex. If you live with your negative feelings burried in it for a long time and do not give them a voice, a chance to get out and find expression outside your body, they can and will attack you.

If you are dealing with depression, know that your symptoms are the result of trauma. And that is OK. We all go through a form of trauma in our lives. It's impossible to avoid being traumatized in a way or another. (there are enough school shootings, assaults, and accidents happening that may affect us in a way or another)

The important thing is to recognize that you are in a state of severe repressed anger and your body has shut down due to it not having overcome that traumatic event. To make more sense about what happened to you and your traumatic past, I recommend reading the following books (one of them saved my life):

1. Complex PTSD by Pete Walker 

2. Your body keeps the score by Bessel van der Kolk

3. Moving beyond trauma by Ilene Smith


be well!

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