By Jan Tincher


If you get depressed easily, ask yourself not *why* are you
depressed, but *how* are you depressed.


Now, don't look at me like I'm crazy.  I just happen to think
it's interesting to know *how* a person gets depressed.   


I would just like to know, if I were in your body, *how* I
would get depressed.   


What would I be seeing in my mind?  Everything going
wrong, no doubt?   


What would I be saying to myself?  That everything IS
going wrong?


Would my shoulders be slumped, and would I speak in a
low and dejected tone of voice?


Now, pretend you can see me.  I'm seeing everything in
my mind that's going wrong in my life right now.  I'm
backing that up by what I'm saying to myself.  Yep,
everything IS wrong.  I look very depressed, my posture
is slumped, my eyes are down, my _expression is terrible.


Yep.  That's depressing all right.   


Then, I realize I am *very* depressed!  What the heck am
I doing?  Watch as I stand up and shake it off.  I put one
foot a little ahead of the other, stand on the balls of my feet
and bounce, I shake my arms and body to get rid of the
depressing situation I had found myself in, I clench my fist
and feel the power.  Yes!!!   


Hey, what happened here?  Am I depressed?  Not anymore.   
I am solution oriented!


Now, it's time for you to do that, too.  Realize what you are
doing to yourself by sitting that way and thinking those
thoughts.  It's time for you to make an intelligent decision.   
Time for you to do something -- anything that isn't sitting in
that same posture and thinking those thoughts.  Try the
power stance mentioned above.


Depression is caused by many things, but you *enable* that
depression by staying in a depressed posture, by seeing
depressing things in your mind, and by saying depressing
things to yourself in a way that KEEPS you depressed.   
Once you know that, you can change.   


Once you change one thing, the rest tends to change too.   
Just for the heck of it, start by speeding up your tone of
voice and raising the pitch.  Already you're not as *depressed*
as you were, are you?  Straighten up your posture, raise your
head and look around, and put a smile on your face.  Feel the
difference?  It may not change the situation, but it sure as
heck changes your outlook.  Sometimes, that's all you need.   
Remember this and use it.   


        

Save this article and show it to your friends.  Be a friend, tell
them to call you whenever they feel depressed and that the
very act of calling will change their physiology -- body
language, which starts off other changes.  Set some rules if
you must.  Tell them to just call up and say "Hi!" And to only
tell you something good that has happened to them in the last
week.  This will get them to focus on good things.


This isn't meant to be a cure all for depression that runs deep.   
That type of depression would probably need one on one
professional help.  But for most people, this is all they need.   
A friend and a direction to go.  Continue to direct them to the
good, and soon they'll be able to find their own way.



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