I started
going to a therapist because of depression and work problems. Up until now,
the direction was that the depression was mainly due to a chemical imbalance.
Now my therapist wants to go back to intensive psychotherapy to address ACOA
issues. I am afraid going into these memories will send me back into deep
depression. The literature says that the process is painful but nothing explains
what the consequences can be. Can it send me into another
depression?
We know from scientific research that the brain and the
mind have a mutual influence on each other. Not only can chemical and electrical
activity in the brain affect emotions, but pure psychological activity, such
as meditation and
hypnosis, can actually
alter brain chemistry. So, even though
depression may
have a material
cause in brain neurochemistry, it can also have a
final cause
in psychological conflicts, often around issues such as guilt and
victimization.
Understanding all of this,
then, perhaps you can realize that getting to the final cause of depression is far
preferable, and or more practical benefit, than just using medications to suppress the
material cause of your depression.
Psychological
treatment for
depression, therefore, in effect teaches you how to take command of your
thoughts and other psychological processes so that you don’t end up
feeling victimized by all the difficulties you have to cope with in daily
life. You learn that no matter what happens in the environment around you,
you still have options for how to respond
honestly and
responsibly.
Some persons,
however, because of emotional wounds from childhood, can experience simple
environmental triggers that get blown up way out of proportion to the reality
of the situation. It’s as if the stimulus of the present is carried
back into the past by a sort of emotional bridge, where it activates all
sorts of feelings of childhood helplessness. So, one moment you’re an
adult receiving a criticism from your boss, and the next moment you’re
a terrified child who wants to run and hide from the world.
These sorts of
irrational—that is,
unconscious—triggers
can make the management of depression extremely difficult. That’s why
persons who have emotional wounds from childhood, such as ACOA (Adult Children
of Alcoholics) issues, need to resolve those issues in
psychotherapy
in order to make the task of managing depression more,
well . . . manageable.
Coming to terms
with your ACOA issues, though, will be hard work. As an adult, it will be
necessary to confront the terror you felt as a child because of a parent
who, because of his or her alcoholism, was irresponsible, neglectful, critical,
and, often, abusive. You will have to confront many different feelings, such
as worthlessness
and sadness,
argumentativeness,
confusion, and insecurity—and maybe even
suicidal thoughts.
You will often want to run and hide. It will be an often terrifying process
of working past all your unconscious
defense mechanisms
to confront the ugliness within yourself—such as repressed
anger and
hatred—that
you would prefer did not exist. But, if you have done the preliminary work
of learning to recognize feelings of victimization when you feel them, you
can accomplish the whole psychotherapy process without falling into clinical
depression.
No
advertising—no sponsor—just the simple truth . . .
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