Overcoming Extreme Depression

by Akiva Greenbaum
Essays 2015

MyLife Essay Contest

The purpose of this essay is to address a challenge which many people have, and I hope to offer a possible solution based on Chassidic teachings.

The subject I am addressing is the issue of extreme depression. For the purpose of this article, I am defining depression as the point when a person has become so mentally overwhelmed that they have become highly dysfunctional, they feel no pleasure in life and can no longer see life in positive terms. Such a person can suffer such inner mental anguish that he/she constantly thinks of ways out of the unbearable pain, even suicide.

The advice which I am suggesting in this article is not meant to replace normative medicine, which will often include medication and/or therapy, but rather to supplement them, so the person can grow to become healthy, happy and fully functioning.

“All beginnings are difficult”1, and the initial phase of becoming mentally healthy is no exception. The focus of this paper is a simple and practical first step to a stronger mind.

You Can Rehabilitate Your Mind

The mind is just another bodily organ, yet it happens to be the most complex. Like the rest of the body, if the brain is not treated properly, serious damage can be done. Ill treatment can be anything from constant negative thoughts to an extreme shock, and can weaken the brain to the point of depression as described above. Regardless of what causes a person to develop such depression, like healing a leg, rehabilitation is a viable option.

I would like to suggest a method of rehabilitation which I assume would be considered a form of cognitive therapy.

Understanding the Thought Process

To understand the suggested method, we must first understand how Chassidus understands the human being, more particularly, the 3 ways that a person expresses himself2.

  1. THOUGHT
  2. SPEECH
  3. ACTION

Thought is when a person expresses himself to himself in his own mind.
Speech is obviously when he communicates words using his mouth.
Action is expressing himself by animating his body.

However, within thought itself, these 3 above mentioned levels, exist as well3.

  1. THOUGHT OF THOUGHT
  2. SPEECH OF THOUGHT
  3. ACTION OF THOUGHT

Action of thought is when a person pictures an image in his mind. This could be shapes, letters or even an entire scene. To demonstrate, take a minute to close your eyes and picture in your mind’s eye, the writing of letters on a piece of paper. Slowly spell out the words: “Life is good”. Can you see it?
Speech of thought is when a person speaks to himself and can hear himself, not audibly, but rather all within his mind. Take a moment to say to yourself in your head “Life is good”. Can you hear that?
Thought of thought is when a person is in the midst of analyzing or comprehending an idea. Stop reading and think for a minute how or why life is good. Don’t ‘speak’ to yourself in words, but rather let your mind drift off into world of understanding. You will find that you aren’t imaging a picture or hearing yourself, you are not even aware that you are thinking with words, but rather your mind is swimming in the concept as you comprehend the idea in the depths of your mind. That is deep thinking.

Typical Advice for Depression

When a person is severely and deeply depressed, typically, others will tell them to “think positively”, “have a better attitude towards life!”, or “Have greater faith and trust in G-d”4 The person might attempt it and very soon realize that he can’t. In fact, it hurts to even try. His mind automatically refuses to accept the positive outlook. His mind is so broken with negativity, that to think a good thought is like trying to run on a fractured ankle.

The reason why he can’t do it is because he is jumping straight to the deepest level of thinking; ‘thought of thought’. He is trying to understand that life will be good as a concept. His mind is too weak at this point to do that. He is not ready for this deep level of positive thinking.

A person who is seriously depressed won’t even be able to ‘tell’ himself positive words in his own mind. It will literally hurt him and possibly send him overboard.

Begin with “Action of Thought”

But there is one level of thinking that a person unless psychotic, will always be able to control, and that is action of thought. A person will always be able to simply picture images, letters or words in his mind. With a few minutes of practice, anyone can imagine writing or typing words in his imagination. To spell out positive words in his mind letter by letter, his mind will allow.

Therefore for someone with severe depression, to begin rehabilitating his mind, he must first start with action of thought, and this is by literally picturing in his mind, over and over again, the writing or typing of positive words like “life will be good”, and other messages which develop faith and trust (bitachon).

Think of it in terms of physical therapy. When a person has a car accident and damages his leg to the point of losing the ability to walk, a doctor can repair the leg and technically it can seem fine. The problem is that his mind is not getting the messages down to the leg to cause movement. A good therapist will literally take the patients leg and physically move the leg back and forth, mimicking a regular stride. This will hopefully send messages up the leg towards the brain and open up the flow of messages, until eventually the person can walk on his own.

The same is true of words. After inundating his ‘action of thought’ with positive thoughts over time, his power of imagination will improve and this level of thinking will strengthen. After developing his positive ‘action of thought’, he will soon be able to start telling himself these thoughts in ‘speech of thought’ without too much trouble.5

After implanting his ‘speech of thought’ with consistent positive thoughts, he will be able to progress to ‘thought of thought’. Here, he will be able to fully understand rationally any positive idea he wishes. He will now be able to study and contemplate the correct perspectives on life in the depths of his mind. With consistently choosing to understand life in positive terms and developing a trust in G-d, with time his mind will be stronger than ever.

May the time come when there will be no need for any of this as we will all be constantly besimcha bekorov mamesh!

Footnotes and Sources:

1. Rashi parshas Yisro
2. Tanya, Ch. 4
3. Igeres Hakodesh, end of Siman 19. Likkutei Torah parshas Tazria. Imrei Binah; Shaar Kriash Shema. Maamarim Friediker Rebbe, Hey, Tof Shin Yud, maamer Amar Rava
4. Such advice is crucial and important, but will only be helpful for such a person if done in a healthy manner, step by step, as will be explained.
5. This is because the letters in one level of thought are deeply connected to the letters in all levels, and in fact are connected to the subconscious soul itself. Letters in all stages are really the same energy in different forms. Therefore, thinking positively on the most shallow of levels will draw a flow of positive energy from the core of his soul and down through all levels, even until his conscious mood. A thorough Chassidic understanding not in the scope of this article is necessary to fully understand this concept of how ‘letters’ work and where they come from. See Shaar Hayichud Vehaameno, and elsewhere.
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