First and foremost, what is depression ?
Any mental disorders such as anxiety and depression start from an accumulation of intense and negative experiences such as trauma, life long traumatic experiences, burn outs and excessive stress.
Those negative and traumatic memories will get stored which accumulate in the mind becoming even heavier to carry from a certain age, hence why we feel so heavy in the mind and body and get stuck in a downward spiral.
Depression is often accompanied by bad habits such as impulsiveness, poor coping skills, addictions and procrastination which will create the perfect cocktail to go down the spiral of depression even faster.
Signs you may experience depression :
- Depressed mood, such as feeling heavy or empty
- Decreased interest of pleasure in all or almost all activities,
- Significant and unintentional weight loss, weight gain, or decrease or increase in appetite.
- Insomnia or increased desire to sleep
- Either restlessness or slowed behaviour that can be observed by others
- Fatigue or loss of energy
- Feeling of worthlessness, or excessive guilt
- Trouble thinking, concentrating or making decisions
- Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide.
So where does depression come from ?
1. From genetics
Genetics is the first factor to look into, from your grand parents down to your parents, you may want to find out the kind of life they have had, if they’ve been part of a war, been through any kind of major traumas,
was there any history of mental health issues such as anxiety or depression ? Any history of addiction ?
Asking those questions will help you understand the history of your genes and show you the weaknesses you may have inherited from.
Please know that this doesn’t mean that it is impossible for you to heal from depression if it is inherited, within the state of hypnosis and the right support it is absolutely possible to heal from inherited issues (for more details about this, please see my first blog post called “inheritance and genetics“)
2. From the womb of your mother
Pregnancy is a very sensitive time. During pregnancy the baby feels and receives any emotions that the mother feels.
Negative energy such as negative emotions, stress, traumatic experiences may get trapped into the baby during that time and develop into childhood mental health issues which may intensify in adulthood.
3. From childhood experiences
In the first 7 years of life, children are in constant Alpha/theta brainwave state (which is the hypnosis state).
As the brain is still in the developing stage, the mind of a child learns everything it knows during those years.
Therefore the environment surrounding the child will have a great impact on its overall well being as a future teenager and adult.
Any kind of trauma, physical and mental abuse, toxic relationships and behaviour, the loss of a loved one, will directly be imprinted into the child’s mind and will direct the way they see and feel the world around them as adults.
4. From current life experiences
Here are a few factors of your everyday life that may trigger some level of depression :
- Feeling unfulfilled at work
- Not enjoying the place / city / country you live in
- Alcohol and substance abuse
- Isolation and lack of human connection
- Toxic relationships
- Lack of exercise with unhealthy eating habits
- Recent loss of a loved one
- Burn out and constant stress
- Not feeling safe in your environment
Mind hacks to rewire your brain and spiral back up:
- Setting goals to increase dopamine
- Making decision to create perceived control and reduce worry and anxiety
- Maintain a good sleep hygiene (sleeping in complete darkness, going to bed early, avoid using your phone in bed, watching TV at least 2 hours before going to bed, wake up with the sun)
- Spend some time in nature as much as you can and getting some sunshine
- Move your body and exercise
- Eating mindfully and healthy nourishing foods
- Creating new habits, even small ones
- Practicing gratitude every morning after waking up
- Listen to music that lifts you up
- Connect with loved ones and supportive people
- Seeking for professional help, working on the mind and the body at the same time with holistic practices such as hypnotherapy, acupuncture, breath work and energy healing.