Depression: a slow suicide of the soul

Depression is far more than a malaise of the mind; it is a sickness of the soul.

If we imagine that our body is a violin whose strings are the talents and capacities granted by our Source and Creator, the role of musician is played by our soul whose intent and purpose is to play that piece of music unique and special to us over the course of a lifetime.

Each of us has our own distinct song and unique symphony to play, movement by movement, year after year, until our final finale when our curtain comes down for the last time. Depression starts when we find ourselves playing someone else’s music, singing someone else’s song.

Depression is as if our soul scratches its head and wonders, “What is wrong with this instrument? What is being played here? I want to sing my song. Why won’t this violin play right?”

If our soul goes without self expression long enough the result can look like self-destructive behavior. Alcohol and drugs numb us, confuse us, and make us forget for a little while-but we always wake up the next morning.

When a soul becomes thwarted altogether, it can look like suicide. When the depressed soul becomes so frustrated it may “toss in the towel” and depart for “greener pastures,” looking for another instrument to play-in another life.

Isn’t it possible to be medically, physically, and mentally depressed?

Yes, certainly. Some of us are genuinely genetically predisposed towards depression; but so many of us go so long without our self expression that our depression becomes somaticized. Over time we convert a depression into physical symptoms that, if not treated, will inevitably grow into the very structure of our bodies and make us very sick.

What should I do if I feel am getting depressed?

What there is for you to do is to distinguish what brings you joy and satisfaction, then find some time, any time, to permit your soul take a breath, expand, spread its wings and sing the song you we born to sing. Begin with one single hour and grow yourself onward from there.

Remember that depression and self-expression are two sides of the same coin that cannot come up at the same time. The reward for self expression is more light and life; the consequence of failing to sing your soul’s song is walking down a road to darkness and depression.

As the Morgan Freeman told us in the movie Shawshank Redemptions, “Get busy living or get busy dying.”

Offers:  Paul @ RelationshipLiteracy.com