Is depression cowardice? I believe in some cases it is. It can also be used as a way to avoid or escape, just like alcohol and drug use.
It takes courage to face the truth. And if your circumstances are dire and created by you, then the courage needed to face it and move forward is much greater.
I understand that there are physical reasons for depression, but I believe these are rare and short-term. Pharmaceutical companies have taught us through their advertising to believe otherwise.
If you’re withdrawing from pain medication, alcohol, drugs, nicotine, or caffeine, it is part of the natural process to feel depressed while your body adjusts. If you’ve lost something you love like a spouse, parent, sibling, friend, pet, job, or home it is normal to feel depressed for a while. But if you hang on to these sad feelings and remind yourself of your loss regularly, this is not normal. Your thoughts will take your body and spirit into a depression.
How does depression come about? It comes about by funneling all your energy into thinking about a particular problem or set of problems on a continuous basis. Then the chemistry of your body responds accordingly and makes you feel depression physically and psychologically. What happens once you have gotten yourself severely depressed? You might… Stop. Do nothing. Give up. Sulk. Feel sorry for yourself. Go to bed. Withdraw. Hide. Get scared. Lose your courage.
The act of thinking about your problems has no end. It’s like setting a depressing song on a music player to a “Repeat to Infinity” mode. Thinking and talking about how bad your situation is will never lead to a solution. And thinking about possible solutions without action is pointless as well.
The solution to depression is counterintuitive. The solution is to withdraw your attention from what depresses you and put it on what makes you feel really, really good. In most cases, this is the life that you want — and not the one you’re living. Once you’ve got into the habit of doing this you’ll begin to have the energy and creativity to work on ways to fix your problems.
This happens in part because your body is responding to your positive thoughts. And most importantly you’ll attract the outcome you want rather than the one you don’t. Then “after” you start working your plan to change what you’re unhappy about your courage will return. And soon you will be stronger than ever.