Is Depression Self Inflicted?

Depression is defined as so many things however, I will define it as I know it from a self-inflicted perspective.

Self-depression is where one inflicts or offsets the depression mode due to self-talk. Our mind is a powerful tool that can either destroy us or build us.

In my high school, I hit a number of ditches but all in my mind. I was constantly depressed due to the comparison effect, negative self-talk, company you keep.

I constantly compared myself to the girls I termed as 'beautiful'. I hated myself and everything about me that I ended up depressed. This depression left me frustrated, angry at life and myself not forgetting asking why God didn't make me as beautiful as the rest.

But all this was product of my MIND. No one could tell what was going on in my mind however I knew and I wished I could run away from it.

Negative self-talk also emerges through failure to hit targets at work, not achieving certain goals by a certain age and life seems to be dealing with you wrongly. For ladies, the failure to get married by 20something and your classmates seem to be married and happy. This will breed frustration, anger and an overwhelming feeling of worthlessness. This is just one of the pathways to depression.

However, I learned that as humans we are all on a journey and some will arrive earlier than me but what matters is that we have all arrived. I constantly watch what I say to myself because it affects me greatly. I have cultivated the discipline of being nice to myself by complimenting myself, celebrating me and not being hard on myself when I don`t achieve my set goals.

Kizza Racheal, Uganda

Comments

Rape Is Not Just Sex. It Is a Crime of Power and You Don’t Tell Victims To ‘Just Get Over It.’

Photo Credit: Vox.com What most people do not understand is that rape is not something you just ‘get over’. No, it does not work that way. When the choice of consent is snatched from beneath you, it is a violation of not just your body but your mind too. Rape, is like a robbery in which something is taken forcefully from you with every unconsented thrust. Yet unlike robbery where items taken can be replaced, rape takes away parts of you that can never be replaced, only learned to live with. When a person is raped, it isn’t just the body that has been invaded but also the mind. And this unwarranted invasion can lead to a thrashing of a person’s mental health. Walls get broken and victims without the right help and counselling may never get around to becoming who they used to be. Their present comes to a standstill and the future turns to gloom. Some dire psychological effects of this violation may even be that victims may be broken to such abysmal levels that they acce...

“I have been both a victim of sexual abuse and most recently, rape.” Read Maureen Alikor’s Story and Her Campaign on Demystifying Abuse.

Photo: Maureen Alikor On the 16th of November 2016, my door was forced open by armed robbers who immediately striped us of all our devices and valuables. Myself and a friend. With a gun to our head, we were commanded to strip. We did. Yes, we were raped at gun point. All our pleas fell on deaf ears as they had their way, and left. Few minutes later, mobile policemen and neighbors began to converge in their neighborly pattern; in twos and threes, with folded arms, solemn looks, bowed heads and pitiful eyes; with much “sorry” and “take heart” to give, and curses intended to follow the rapists/armed robbers. But soon they left in their trickles. Fast forward to the next morning, neighbors and sympathizers converged yet again, and started dishing out various kinds of words of encouragement and advice on what to do; ranging from taking my pants to prayer altars so as to lay curses on the culprits, to burying the panties thereby burying their destinies. Others said, to...

Sista Clinik’s Ultimate Heartbreak Playlist for Women Going Through a Breakup

Photo Courtesy: Lovepanky.com Warning: This could get depressing, but oh, what the heck?! The pain is real. Like that kind of pain you feel when you accidentally hit your finger whiles hammering a nail into a wall. Or when a heavy door slams into four of your fingers without warning. Or when your baby toe accidentally hits something hard and won’t stop hitting into things at the exact spot of first injury throughout the rest of the day. You get the picture. Heartbreak is pain plus sorrow plus anger plus a little bit (maybe a lot) of insanity. Sometimes it feels like breath is being squeezed out of you or that someone pulled a plastic bag over your head. Almost every woman has experienced heartbreak—some many times more than others. For those who go scarred deepest and in the most repetitive of ways, every day is an emotional struggle. Dealing with men becomes a task executed with extra precaution because every man becomes a suspect, only in this case, guilty unti...

Sista Clinik

Search This Blog