Depression Treatment Using Hobbies for Therapy

Depression Treatment Using Hobbies for Therapy

At the bottom are some great and affordable suggestions for hobbies, but first we want to explain why hobbies work.

Let's start with Hobbies for Therapy

If there is one thing we know about depression treatment, that is, 'activity and sadness are incompatible.'The more we are still and inactive, the more it will give us time to think about how we feel.

Normally focusing on our feelings is therapeutic because it allows us to process them, whatever they are and then move our attention to later events, which is good. This emotional house cleaning is a sign of normalcy most of the time. We normally process feelings in the order experienced.

Depression Treatment and Lack of Processing

With prolonged states of depression, and some states of anxiety, focusing on our baseline feelings is not a good thing. The reason is because it only does good to face our uncomfortable feelings if processing will occur.

With prolonged depression, regardless of the cause, either emotional abuse or medical, that might not be what would happen.

The reason for this is if our mind has adopted a gloomy outlook and our brain chemistry is out of balance, there is no processing that can take place, and our sadness and emptiness will remain. Focusing on it at this point just makes it stronger and further weakens us.

Depression Treatment Taking a Time Out

In both emotional abuse and medical types of depression, a time out and a temporary new focus will be healing. There is nothing like putting our problems down for a time to let us regroup to face them with new strength later.

The best thing is to take up a hobby and give our mind a new setting to occupy itself for awhile.

We may not feel like it, but we must tell ourselves, 'we need to do this, feel like it or not.'

Depression Treatment Our Connection to That Which We Do

There is a connection between that which we are feeling, and that which we are doing. Normally it is okay for us to do the things we are feeling. We can mow the yard when we feel like it, and we can pay our bills when we are in the mood, and we can be left alone when we need to.

But what happens when we feel depressed and want to be alone and inactive for an unhealthy amount of time, can we give in to do that which we feel like? The answer is after a while, no.

Depression Treatment The Tail Wagging the Dog

Just as we have a tendency to do that which we feel, we also have a reverse tendency to feel that which we do. If we force ourselves to assume a certain mental activity, it will take our attention off of our feelings and put it on whatever our hands are doing.

That is why activity and sadness, and in this case depression are incompatible.

Depression Therapy Hobbies and Us

Small scale hobbies are a perfect place to start. We do not need to start a collection of ten thousand dollar bills or the top one hundred rarest stamps in the world; we can start with anything of interest to us.

This can be baking cookies or starting an apple tree seedling in our kitchen window. The choices are endless, and the rate of progress is whatever we like.

We can collect, create and build, study and research, or we can practice, as in the case of sports and religion. The idea is to immerse our minds into an inexpensive activity of our own making.

We are connected to that which we spend our attention, and where our mind goes, so too will our feelings follow. Everyone has something they love and are interested in. We all have talents and potentials, and we can reconnect with them.

Clinical Depression Therapy Finding Others like Us

At some point any hobby or interest will develop a social context to it, and like minded others will come together to share efforts and experiences. By pursuing an interest, we have just created a common bond with a group of others, and the result is we have a closeness we can share.

We are hard wired to love the things we create, and to create the things we love. When we begin this process, whether we feel like it or not at first, the feelings of love and satisfaction will come.

Clinical Depression Therapy Some Suggestions for Hobbies

Ultrecht Quality Art Supplies

Leave Depression Treatment and Hobbies and Return to Depression Page

Return to Home Page Clinical Depression