Is Refusing Negative Thoughts Enough to Get out of Depression?

QUESTION:

I was thinking after I read your book, Depression is a Choice, that I wondered if a therapist might be able to spot if I am going off track or give me pointers to getting out of my negativity. But then my next thought was that really, the only pointer is...never allow a negative thought once you are aware that you are engaging it.

That's it right? That's all it is isn’t it?

Perhaps I am allowing my mind to make it more complicated. But, it's not complicated, it’s just hard to do, right?

ANSWER:

When we are first learning to manage our depression instead of collapsing into it, we lack confidence that refusing negative thoughts will actually work every time to alleviate our pain. It is not easy to refuse negative thinking. And yet, we only need one thing. Our decision to do exactly that.

What it all comes down is a decision to refuse all negative thinking no matter what. After that, depression still triggers but we can take the real hurtful edge off it almost immediately. And then have a better opportunity to take a more positive fork in our thinking and thus pursue a more productive and pleasant day.

It’s also nice to feel more confident in our ability to get rid of depression when it comes. so that a lot of our generalized fear about depression is alleviated even at the moment it hits us. That in itself can keep the depression from moving in on us so hard. The confidence does grow with practice but it is the decision itself that is all important because the decision takes the place of confidence, takes the place of pills for those who have been on medication and choose, with their doctor's help, to go off of it. When confidence grows it is nice, but not necessary. A. B. Curtiss