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Depression Hates a Moving Target by Nita Sweeney Pdf Download

 

Depression Hates a Moving Target by Nita Sweeney



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Depression Hates a Moving Target by Nita Sweeney PDF Download 


Details of Depression Hates a Moving Target by Nita Sweeney Book

  • Book Name: Depression Hates a Moving Target
  • Authors: Nita Sweeney
  • Pages: 252
  • Genre: Memoir
  • Publish Date: Jan 1, 2019
  • Language: English
  • Format: PDF, ePub, Mobi
  • Price: Free

Book Review: 


Depression Hates a Moving Target by Nita Sweeney Before we go into it, we have to do our perfunctory joke. And you know, my niece, who I love very much, lives in Monterey, California - a pretty cool place. But the other day they did have an earthquake, something that does happen in California. This reminds me of something I once heard: What did one tectonic plate say to the other when it bumped into it? Sorry, my fault.

As I mentioned, the title of this blog is called 'Depression Hates a Moving Target' - a very poetic title. I got the title and the inspiration for this blog from an amazing man named Mark Hennik, who was recently interviewed on a podcast called 'The One You Feed.' Hennik battled depression and despair his whole life.

During the interview, as he talks about his own battle of depression, he says that one of his biggest obstacles occurs when he wakes up in the morning and tells himself, 'I just can't get out of bed, I just can't move, I just can't do it.' Now, he may feel this way, but obviously, it's not true. Depression does not steal away your ability to walk, as he says. It does not infect your legs, does not break your bones. You're still physically capable of walking, but somehow, you convince yourself it can't be done.

So you have to do something to override this perception. Even if you just got out of bed for five minutes, hop into a shower, hate every minute of it, and jump back into bed - that's still a victory. The thing is not to give in to the workings of your mind. Even as I said, if you just get up for five minutes and jump back into bed, if you just get up and do something during the day, anything that you can do that gets you out and about will improve your well-being.

One of the phrases that Hennik mentions that has really stuck with me is a very powerful phrase: 'Depression hates a moving target.' What does that mean? It means if you can just get up and, despite everything your mind is telling you, everything your depression is telling you - if you can just get up, get moving, get out of the house, distract yourself, you will be lifted out of the valley of depression, even if it's just for a few hours or even a few minutes.

And so, that's why I called one of my previous blog, where I talk about the exact same thing, my title was, 'I would rather be depressed than walking around than lying in bed doing nothing.' Exact same principle: Depression hates a moving target, so get moving.

However, as they say, this is easier said than done. Why? Because the nature of depression, the paradox of depression, is that you need an act of will to get up and go moving, but depression robs you of your will and of your motivation. So, this is what makes it so hard to overcome the very thing that you need to do but can't seem to do. But you still can overcome this.

I want to give you two examples from my own life that occurred in my support groups. The first person I want to talk about is Dwayne. He suffered from bipolar disorder, and as you know, with manic depression, what goes up must come down. He was in one of his down periods and had not left his apartment for three weeks.

Somehow, he managed to get to our support group, and the members of the group were very kind and very compassionate. We exhorted him: 'Dwayne, see if you could just walk out of your apartment, even if for a few minutes.' So, he agreed. He walked out one day, a walk to half a block, came back, went up the stairs, and went back to bed.

The next day, he actually walked a block and did the same thing, went back to his apartment. The next day, he walked around the corner - I guess that was two blocks, then three. Then he made it all the way around one cycle, and he slowly built up, walking more and more each day, little bits, baby steps, as they used to say in that film 'What About Bob.' Eventually, he had a walking partner, met this person, they started walking together, and eventually, he was up to three miles. Obviously, he was no longer a shut-in. Through an act of will and through the support of the group, he was able to break that pattern and start getting out and getting moving.

The next person I wanted to talk about is a guy named Ed. He had recently retired from the post office. Now, you think that would be a moment of celebration - I've worked in the post office; it's rather boring. But when people retire from work, they often lose their sense of purpose and focus. As they say in Proverbs, 'Where there is no vision, the people perish.' He just fell into a deep funk, and depression ran in his family. He ended up in his apartment and, once again, not moving.

Fortunately, there were two other members of the group that were his age, John and David. One day, they decided to walk over to his place or drive over and knocked on his door, welcomed him, and said, 'Ed, you know what? We're going someplace today. We're doing something different.' They literally just exhorted him and badgered him until he got out of bed, got dressed, got in the car, and they drove up the Columbia River Gorge to this beautiful place called Angel's Rest, and they hiked.

Of course, it was a nice summer day, and although he was mentally depressed, this guy was really physically fit and had no problem walking up. As we often find with aerobic exercise, by the time he got to the top, his mood had improved. So, the very next week, they repeated the same ritual - once a week and again walked up to the top. Every week, it was easier and easier for him to get out of bed, and he had more and more motivation, more to look forward to, and eventually, he was able to do it on his own.

This illustrates the principle I've talked about in many of my blog: when you can't do it alone, call in the troops. You need to bring other people into the picture. When I was really depressed, I had people call me on the phone every morning and listen to me while I read my vision statement - oftentimes standing on my head - but it got me started in the day.

Now, the good thing about modern technology is that the person who becomes your support for getting going doesn't have to live in your area. It can be an out-of-town relative or friend. We have Skype, we have FaceTime, we have WhatsApp, so there can be people from

 other countries. I've spoken to my editor every day in Sweden, so geography is not limited. You can find people all over the world who will call you if you have a connection, and they can basically help you get started.

One time when I was really depressed, I just had the Multnomah County Crisis Line call me every morning to get me out of bed. So hopefully, you can get someone enlisted to help you out and help you get through that initial inertia. Because it's funny, you know, what did the Grateful Dead say? Can we sing here? The first days are the hardest days; don't you worry anymore. So yeah, those first steps, getting out of bed, getting moving - somehow, you get some momentum going, right? Getting over the threshold, and the rest of the day can take care of itself.

Now, every rule has its exceptions, right? So there may be some days when it just might be too hard to get yourself up and going. I say this for you type A depressives - hmm, type A depressive, is that an oxymoron? Maybe. Anyway, if you find yourself just not able to get out of bed, give yourself permission to take the day off. Say it's okay. It's okay to relax and retreat from the world. You can have some downtime. I'm not feeling well today, but I know tomorrow will be better. Just let yourself be, give yourself permission, and probably the next day, you will become more motivated.

I'd like to summarize using the title of yet another blog I made. It was called 'Life Can Be Hard, Keep Pedaling.' Of course, the pedaling was a reference to cycling, which is what I love to do and which helps me get out of the depression. So keep pedaling, keep walking, keep being engaged. While walking around in pain may offer only a temporary respite from the depression, it can diminish the pain enough to keep you engaged until you finally find a treatment that works.










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