Depression, low self-esteem and the brain
I want to mention something interesting reasearch teams have found recently when it comes to depression. The depressed brain may transmit signals in dysfunctional way which makes the same depressive thought go back and forth instead of disappearing after having been processed once (read more Scientific American mind). The studies show that the areas in the brain that are involved when it comes to mood, concentration and conscious thought are more connected in depressed people than in those who are not depressed. The negative neural messages that go back and forth drown out the healthy messages.
Scientists don´t know if the dysfunctinal transmission of signals in the brain is a cause of effect of depression.
So you can have low self-esteem from the beginning and by treating yourself in mean critical way you can transform your brain so it functions in a way that leads to depression. It´s also possible that you have the dysfunctional transmission in the brain and therefore no matter how much you are fighting the depression you feel that you are stuck.
I think this is interesting for all people who have depressive thoughts. Sometimes you can hear other people tell you ”let go of that thought and have fun” or ”you will ruin the vacation for the rest of us if you can´t stop ruminating about this” which can make you feel even more worthless than you did to begin with. It´s good to know that if you have got stuck in a depression it´s not only to force yourself or to try a bit harder in order to feel better. You might have this dysfunctional transmission which makes you continue falling in negative feelings even though you try hard to get better. I am not saying that you should just stop trying if you think about this (you still need to do the behavior changes) but sometimes that is not enough and then you need to be less critical of yourself.
I want to point out again that no matter what way it is you need to do work yourself to fight the depression but knowing that there might be harder for you because of dysfunctional brain transmissions can make you be more accepting towards yourself.
To be continued…
Cognitive Behavior Psychologist Monica Emanell
www.kbtemanell.se
Depression, low self-esteem and the brain
I want to mention something interesting reasearch teams have found recently when it comes to depression. The depressed brain may transmit signals in dysfunctional way which makes the same depressive thought go back and forth instead of disappearing after having been processed once (read more Scientific American mind). The studies show that the areas in the brain that are involved when it comes to mood, concentration and conscious thought are more connected in depressed people than in those who are not depressed. The negative neural messages that go back and forth drown out the healthy messages.
Scientists don´t know if the dysfunctinal transmission of signals in the brain is a cause of effect of depression.
So you can have low self-esteem from the beginning and by treating yourself in mean critical way you can transform your brain so it functions in a way that leads to depression. It´s also possible that you have the dysfunctional transmission in the brain and therefore no matter how much you are fighting the depression you feel that you are stuck.
I think this is interesting for all people who have depressive thoughts. Sometimes you can hear other people tell you ”let go of that thought and have fun” or ”you will ruin the vacation for the rest of us if you can´t stop ruminating about this” which can make you feel even more worthless than you did to begin with. It´s good to know that if you have got stuck in a depression it´s not only to force yourself or to try a bit harder in order to feel better. You might have this dysfunctional transmission which makes you continue falling in negative feelings even though you try hard to get better. I am not saying that you should just stop trying if you think about this (you still need to do the behavior changes) but sometimes that is not enough and then you need to be less critical of yourself.
I want to point out again that no matter what way it is you need to do work yourself to fight the depression but knowing that there might be harder for you because of dysfunctional brain transmissions can make you be more accepting towards yourself.
To be continued…
Cognitive Behavior Psychologist Monica Emanell
www.kbtemanell.se