More "Depression in a Box"

Dear A.B., 

I ended up taking a sick leave from work 10 days ago - I had a bad breakdown and just could no longer push myself.  I stayed in bed for about a week - slept almost continuously and felt just a relief that I didn't need to push myself in that way any longer.   I know I have to be proactive so I decided to go to a Depression treatment center - that doesn’t rely on medication for a month from Wed –

I won't have any outside contact for the whole month.  At this stage, I need some ouside help to give structure to figure out what to do when I come out, with the support of family and friends, I think and hope it's the best option for me now.    Surprisingly, I don't feel as depressed and anxious now that the work pressure is gone.  But I know life must go on, and I need to construct my proper life on my own, and of course I'll never give up no matter what.     Y________

Dear Y________

I will be thinking about you. You sound thoroughly committed to helping yourself and that is a great start. If you read my blog you might remember that someone sent me an exercise that he uses to get out of depression. He puts depression “in a box,” and he thinks “outside the box.” It’s excellent for getting in touch with your “self” and differentiating your “self” from your depression.’

I’ve been using it myself. It’s very interesting. Once you put depression “in a box” then you can think “outside the box.” and decide what to do about the depression. Mainly it gives you a more graphic picture that you are not your depression. I recommend you try it. Last time I used it I had all sorts of ideas what I was going to do with depression now that it was captured "inside the box." Just imaging all the things I could do with it caused it to completely disappear into the objective thinking of the neocortex. All the neural activity just powered down in the subcortex.

Funny thing, but the box I put depression is in always the same. It’s an oblong, unpainted, rather shallow metal box kind of like a safety deposit box but a little bigger.

I wish you Godspeed. A. B. Curtiss