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resource box is included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be appreciated. ***********************************************************Title: HOW TO TELL SADNESS FROM DEPRESSION Author: Dave Turo-Shields, ACSW, LCSW E-mail: mailto:editor@overcoming-depression.com Copyright: by Dave Turo-Shields, ACSW, LCSW Web Address: http://www.Overcoming-Depression.com Word Count: 740 Category: Mental Health
HOW TO TELL SADNESS FROM DEPRESSION
You have and will experience sadness. It might be loss of a job, pet or a loved one. Yes, even a loved one. The trouble is, particularly here in United States, we have a quick-fix for everything... why not sadness too?
Our quick-fix for sadness is that it's simply not allowed. Healthy purging of sad feelings is great for you physically and wonderful for your mental health. When you stuff expression of healthy sadness it may lead to health problems, interpersonal issues and depression.
So, first lesson is FEEL your sadness over whatever issue is at hand. It doesn't make you weak or less a man or woman to do so. Yes, I have to say "woman" today too, because women have also begun to place same negative meaning on expressing feelings of sadness; so they hold back too.
There are Five Basic Stages you will go through with a significant change or loss in your life. They are:
1) Shock/Denial 2) Anger 3) Asking "What if..." questions or making "If only" statements. 4) Sadness 5) Acceptance
Please keep in mind several points about five statements made above. First, each one is NORMAL! You may cycle through steps several times and may not do so in order listed above.
The only time these steps become a problem is when you become stuck at a particular step. Here's an example.
I met a woman about a year ago. She'd been married over 25 years. She and her husband were planning on traveling after he retired. He died within a year of retirement from cancer. She came to see me three years after his death.
She had become stuck at step 3 above. She questioned, over and over again, whether she had done everything she could for him and all their family during those last days before his death. After about a year of ruminating minute-by- minute, she became quite seriously depressed. Then later, she was referred to me by her physician.
We worked through her questions from step 3. She then went through a normal period of being angry over loss of her husband and how that had changed her life and retirement plans. She felt appropriately sad about loss of her best friend.
