To Cure Depression:  A Mother's Touch

I still remember what it was like to be depressed and panicked.  Beating depression and anxiety symptoms sometimes seemed to be the last thing that I would ever achieve in my life.  I would wake up on a cold morning and slump myself out of bed, exhausted because I did not sleep well the previous night or almost any night for that matter.  So, I would get ready for the day and drive to work as a group of my friends drove by my house to do something fun and exciting.  Of course, I had long since decided that I was no longer interested in going out and so isolated myself, only working and going to class – Always doing well in each, but growing more and more unhappy with my life.  Actually, losing interest in people was the worst part of the whole thing, and I hadn’t seen many friends or family for a long time.  I actually wanted to see people and go places, but I was tired, depressed, and withdrawn.  Something deep and dark seemed to have taken hold of my mind, and my feelings of despair were extraordinarily powerful forces to face.  

Tough Emotions

They say that sometimes we need to crack under the pressure of our pain in order to begin making change, and by 11am that morning I did just that - The first step to beating depression and anxiety symptoms was before me.  I couldn’t hold my feelings in any longer, and all of the strength that I was using to maintain a false pretense of stability suddenly disappeared.  I coiled myself up in the corner of my office and started to cry.  Meanwhile, one of my colleagues came to see me, but he didn’t understand what I was going through or how to reach out and offer his help, so I asked him to simply leave me alone.  Once this happened, I decided to leave work and meet with my physician who prescribed some sleeping pills and sent me to the hospital for a few tests.  Physically I appeared to be in excellent health, but I was diagnosed with “Depression”, which can be translated in simple terms as a horrible period of pain and suffering.  I had never thought about the condition in the context of a mental illness as I began to see a psychiatrist in order to help alleviate my suffering.

Brain Chemistry?

The psychiatrist explained that I probably had a chemical imbalance in my brain, so he asked me about my symptoms and approved a cocktail of anti-depressants, anti-anxiety, and sleeping medications that were intended to bring my body chemistry back into balance.  However, there was a vacant look in his eyes, a hollowness, and an emptiness that seemed to only help create more darkness in the space.  The whole thing had me feeling very uneasy, and something told me that this was not going to help me to recover from whatever my current condition actually was.  

The Solution

I went home and stayed in for the day while only allowing my mother to bring me food but not engaging in any further social contact  with other people, and I found myself sobbing.  She would sit with me, and we would cry together, and sometimes she would hold my hand and tell me a story.  Day after day she would tell me story after story about her life, my childhood, and anything else that she could think of, and I would just quietly eat the meal that she prepared for me and listen.  Her voice was relaxing, and she held my hand as she continued telling me stories.  After a few days of this I began to feel that I was getting better, and I suddenly noticed that I was thinking about my life in a more positive way.  My connection with my mother had helped me to relax and tap into something deep within my brain that was releasing all of the chemicals that my psychiatrist wanted to provide through a prescription.  The prescription wasn’t necessary – It was the connection and love of my mother that I needed.  Beating depression and anxiety symptoms was accomplished through basic human contact, which was at the core of my inner pain.

After this 3-4 day period of spending an intense amount of time with my mother while I was in one of the lowest states of my life, I began to feel much better, and I began watching motivational movies and focusing on inspiring messages.  Over time I have grown to become much more happy and healthy - My friends and family connections are back in my life, and I am now enjoying my work and my life.  My personal belief is that we are all capable of overcoming our challenges and that we must learn how to think about life in terms of it’s positive aspects and the things in our lives for which we are most grateful.  

-Anonymous Contributor