Research shows that gradual progress is more effective than overwhelming changes in managing depression. The experience of depression often manifests as emptiness rather than sadness, making daily tasks feel like monumental challenges. Known as the weighted vest effect, this condition causes intentions to unravel. People may feel that significant lifestyle changes are necessary for recovery, leading to feelings of hopelessness. However, recognizing one's limits and revisiting them can be transformative. Acknowledging shame after small efforts can help disrupt the cycle of depression.
Over the years of practicing therapy, I've had many clients say something like, "It's not that I'm sad. It's that I'm missing, and I don't know where I went." They don't expect depression to feel like emptiness. They expect it to feel like disappointment.
When we feel this way, we assume the solution must match the size of our problem. We think we need a massive intervention, a lifestyle overhaul, or a great awakening. But that's one of depression's many tricks.
If you've experienced the weighted vest effect, you've also experienced how depression unravels our intentions the very moment that they're formed. We decide to exercise, but the body's heaviness convinces us it's impossible.
The discipline of identifying our inner limits and revisiting them, again and again, can be transformative. Shame after small efforts can cause setbacks, but recognizing this can help break depression's cycle.
Collection
[
|
...
]