Understanding How the Sense of Self and Depression are Related.
The influence of how we perceive ourselves.
Ruminant thinking, negative dialogue, the feeling of emptiness and devaluation daily carve the basis of self-esteem, a favorable scenario for the shadow of depression to grow irremediably.
Furthermore, the mind does not fail to invest time and energy in the concept of self, weakening it further through constant worry and negative self-talk.
Few clinical realities are as complex as depression. No person suffers the same way.
Depression is a multifactorial, adverse and polyhedral dimension, there is no doubt about it, but there are common factors that appear in most clinical cases, evidencing a widely known enemy: our thoughts make this presence greater and more resistant.Something that a paper published a few months ago revealed is that the sense of self is a key component in these types of psychological disorders. This is so real that the way we perceive ourselves, speak and treat ourselves changes our brain architecture.
An example of this is that it is possible to see through MRIs that people with low self-esteem have a lower degree of gray matter in different brain areas.
What's more, if we don't improve this aspect of our personality, if we don't work on our psychological strength, depression can become even more resistant and last for years.
The sense of self and depression: building the prison of suffering.
When a person is depressed, he doesn't live in the same scenario as everyone around him. Because depression is, above all, isolation.
It is a disconnection from the surroundings and, at the same time, a progressive retreat to an inner universe in which the person ends up becoming a prisoner of a body that hurts and a mind that never rests.
The sense of self and depression are intimately linked because thought does not fail to influence our identity, weakens us with criticism, with memories of the past, with mistakes, suffered losses and a wide range of boycotts.
Stress as reception of depression and negative self-talk.
The University of Calgary, Canada, recently published a study by Dr. Dencel Kopala. This work has highlighted the great erosion that negative self-talk generates when shaping a depression.
By not dealing with these tensions and problems, the mind gets used to feeding a constant pattern of negativity, with which, little by little, it is very difficult to maintain good self-esteem, optimism and hope.
Almost without realizing it, our “I” is weakening completely and, what is more impressive, several brain areas also change.
Low self-esteem and its relationship with gray matter.Dr Johannes Klakl of the University of Salzburg in Austria conducted an interesting study in 2014 which showed something very surprising. People with low self-esteem had a lower level of gray matter.
This fact made these patients have a greater vulnerability to develop depressive disorders.
The importance of the internal narrative for the sense of self.
The sense of self and depression feed each other back. So much so that low self-esteem and a stressful situation can lead us to develop this psychological disorder.
In turn, depression itself will also lead us to further boycott the figure of this sadly fragmented self.
On the other hand, in therapy there is one aspect that is always clear: how we tell our story is the key to recovery. In other words, the way we talk to ourselves, how we describe and perceive ourselves favors or weakens our psychological health.
The sense of self deserves dignity and appreciation. It is essential, therefore, that we take care of these aspects to strengthen it, to prevent it from descending into depression.
A healthy (and exciting) connection to our surroundings.
Come out from within and connect with the here and now. The idea is to stop being a prisoner of this mind that feeds over and over again the same thought patterns.
One way to do this is connecting with our surroundings, with new stimuli, with other sensations and experiences that bring novelty, emotions and curiosity to a brain very focused on anguish.
The sense of self and depression are linked because the way we talk weakens self-esteem and, from there, the abyss of this black hole opens up. We must therefore learn to speak respectfully. The internal dialogue must always be impeccable, compassionate and resilient.
If we don't treat ourselves as we deserve, no one will. Self-esteem and a healthy self-esteem are, without a doubt, the most valuable defenses for preventing most of the disturbances in the mood.
Source: https://exploringyourmind.com/your-sense-of-self-and-depression-whats-the-connection/
Edited on 27th July, 2023 to add Source
@KACOSMIC
Oh this is an awesome post and explanatory article, this is really good description of the process.
Thank you for posting this.
@scarletPear1945
Thank you
@KACOSMIC
Hi, Cosmic, This essay has a key line to me, "How we tell our story is the key to recovery."
It's one of the reasons I'm such a passionate supporter of the Sharing Circles, in which each person tells their story in up to 7 minutes.
I believe that even by reading other people's presentation of their story, much can be gleaned of the internal organization, self compassion, health, and much other of the person.
The repetition of "telling one's story" and learning to inject striving, goals, the searching for meaning, hope into the story, and also being able to encapsulate a thought in under 7 minutes is an amazing exercise.
In essence, it's a writer's playground, since 7 cups is text based, so people are writing their stories every time.
I agree. Through telling my story different times I have learned that hinge about my just from reading the type,
kind of like taking a step back and really looking at my life
@ThatChristLover
I shared my story in the circle. I didn't have any insight because of it and I didn't feel that any of the listeners even understood what i had said.
I’m really sorry you had that experience! I hope you are able to connect with a good listener that makes your story feel heard and understood soon
Hi, Cosmic, For me, the key line is: "The internal dialogue must always be impeccable, compassionate and resilient."
The mind is a powerful tool, and the internal dialogue we create is essential to the grey matter, which seems like it's important, but also to how we conduct ourselves, the choices we make, and ultimately how our lives proceed.
To me, an impeccable, compassionate and resilient internal dialogue is full of the elements of Hope, Internal Motivation, and Us as Narrators being Victors as we proceed through our Days.
@KACOSMIC
Thank you SO very much for this insightful and empowering post. I feel like many of us need to completely grasp the connection of our sense of self, self-esteem and depression.
In this post, you mentioned how an individual living with depression does not live out the same scenario as the people around them because they live in isolation. That little aspect in itself show show damaging it can be to both be isolated mentally, emotionally, and physically (although "physically" may not be the case with every individual living with depression).
I can imagine that someone who has been finding it hard to see the brighter side of life might just involuntarily view the world around them in grey; in other words, with no hope. HOWEVER, when they set aside some time everyday just to use words of affirmation and practise gratitude even when it doesn't make sense at the time, it could actually help them. It could help them pick themselves up or give them a little push to want to do something for themselves because they start to realise that no matter what, no matter how difficult this phase is, they matter, and they CAN get through it. And it all boils down to self-awareness and self-esteem. 😊
Once again, thank you so much for this AMAZING post. 💜
I have always believed there are both psychological and physical aspects of depression. This post describes my issues perfectly. Low self esteem and constant mental chiding.
I did go back on meds last week. I do notice a bit of improvement but I have an awfully long road ahead of me right now...But the information about physical effects on gray matter in the brain of depressed people really hit home.
This is very difficult for me. Not only to I have severe depression and Bi-Polar, I have a Borderline Personality Disorder diagnosis.
BPD is defined as an unstable sense of self. Sometimes I feel 'High' and capable of anything because I am smart and well educated. I start Grand projects that I can never finish.
But most of the time I feel like a self hating empty loser. It's exhausting to try to constantly fight negative self talk all of the time.
@KACOSMIC
OMG excellent community post @KACOSMIC - and this topic of depression and identifying with one's own self hits home personally with me... i was diagnosed with depression at the age of 16...
i really like how this post helps its readers identify with a generalization of signs, symptoms and signals of depression.
again, thanks so much for this informative post! i believe that the misunderstanding of mental illness in society will one day be replaced by understanding and knowledge.
Thank you for this detailed informative post! I have read about similar studies in the past too and you've layed it out neatly and to the point. Thank you.
Great post.
I like that when I log in to 7cups, there's an interesting article to read.
