The Power of Now

Hi @theaveragejoe,

thanks for posting this. My friend lent me "The New Earth" by Tolle and I had to read it a few times for the message to sink in. I think it's a great book and I absolutely agree with living in the present moment as a road to happiness, or at least to contentment, anyway.

When I was severely depressed, I doubt I would have been able to practice 'living in the now', as my mind was just too sick. I could not concentrate on anything and I could not read books, either. I was not able to focus on the words in order to read. It was just too difficult.

I think this strategy could work for someone who was anxious or only mildly depressed - but for severe depression - I'm not so sure. I would say; seek treatment for depression first and then after you are getting better, maybe try mindfulness meditation or 'living in the now' in order to stay well.

Hey @theaveragejoe

Thanks for sharing your post. I am going to have to look for the book that I have; it could be the same book. 🙂

Thank you Sahara,

I am going to reply to what you said but please do not see it as an attempt to discredit what you said. I respect your point of view and I do not wish to correct it. I am simply replying based on my experiences as a sufferer with Bipolar and also the experiences of my wife who also has Bipolar...

how we cope with depression varies from person to person and I feel that it is hard to compare depression in terms of mild or severe. A milder depression can be severe enough for some people while a chronic depression may not be enough to stop a very resilient and determined person.

There have been many times that I felt I could not get out of bed, that I was incapable of doing anything. But I forced myself, and it was painful. I found out that the more I tried to get up and do things, to force myself, the less severe the depression became.

Sure you can say that my depression is not severe enough because I am able to function even when depressed. I may question your rationality by saying that my depression is very severe only that I don't listen to it's voice, I don't believe what it says to me and that is that all is hopeless and that nothing will help and that I need to give up on life. I don't listen to this voice even though it is there. I do the opposite and with great difficulty in the initial stages.

I feel that it is wrong to look at any mental disorder in terms of mild or severe. It is impossible to measure in that the severity is not visible. Defining its severity in terms of how the person copes is also problematic in that it takes away the amount of resiliance or lack of it which is also very important.

Why do some people cope and other don't? I think that resilience has a lot to do with it and I feel that mental health professionals know this quite well. Unfortunately, or fortunately (depending on what side of the fence we are) some people are genetically more resilient than others. This applies for any mental disorder including schizophrenia.

Hi Sadgirl, I have read the book a few times and each time I understand it differently because understanding changes as we grow intellectually and in terms of wisdom.

I think that discussing it with other people gives us a chance to see perspective that we would not otherwise perceive.

Hi @theaveragejoe,

yes, it presents us with a problem, trying to classify depression into categories such at "mild", "severe" and so on. One of the factors that mental health professionals use to assess patients is whether of not they can function adequately in society. So you might get someone who is severely depressed who is also high-functioning and they might be seen as less sick than someone who is only moderately depressed but lacks the will to get out of bed and take a shower.

You cannot see in inside someone's head and know the extent of their suffering.

While I was depressed, I was able to continue working, up until a point. Strangely enough, while I was home alone, my depression was so bad that I believe it tipped over into psychosis, at times. And yet, I could drag myself to work and function adequately enough so as my co-workers (who I was reasonably close to) did not even ever stop and say 'are you Ok?'

Very sick people walk amongst us and we are not even aware of their presence!

If I was able go to work, then why wasn't I able to practice mindfulness or 'living in the now'?

I suppose one reason was because I would have had to begin practicing it while I was home alone? And a person with a brain full to the brim with terror and horrifying, distorted thoughts which are extremely disturbing does not want to be anywhere near the present moment!

But yeah, maybe in order to get through the ordeal, I did at times possibly use mindfulness instinctively to survive. I used a lot of benzo's and alcohol, too.

Thank you for your reply Sahara,

I totally agree with what you are saying. It was terrifying for me to do mindfulnesas when, as you say, I was terrified to be in what I thought was the HERE ANS NOW.

The thing is the THE HERE AND NOW IS NOT THE PAST and when I trained myself to leave the past behind, and focus on the now, that is when my fear evaporated. Only the past and past events can terrify us, because that is the time when things went wrong in our lives. But if we take this away, we then have nothing to fear.

Mindfulness sounds simple enough, but it is very hard to do. It is a matter of practicing, trying over and over again. The most important aspect of mindfulness, I feel, is to leave the past behind, even if for a few minutes per day. Thinking of the past is the main problem, and something that we don't necessarily need.

OK, we have stuffed up big time in the past; we have done stupid things; and people have done terrible things to us. Can we just leave it behind for a few minutes, to give our brain a chance to recover from the constant rumination? That is the beginning, and most important aspect, of mindfulness.

Can you focus for five minutes without thinking about the past? THink about a shape, a feeling or a sensation that has nothing to do with anyone or with any past history? It can be done, I do it.

Hi @theaveragejoe,

I was just reading that some studies indicate that meditation and mindfulness can actually trigger psychosis in susceptible people. How interesting.

I think maybe this is because of the lack of stimulus you have while meditating? So psychosis has a chance to "emerge" perhaps?

It's like when people use those floatation tanks for relaxation. if the relaxation is prolonged, then a certain percentage of otherwise healthy people with eventually begin hallucinating. Intriguing. It's due to the lack of sensory stimulus.

Some studies support meditation for psychosis and some studes warn against it.

Thank you Sahara,

I was not fully aware that mindfulness can trigger psychosis in some individuals. Good to know and always good to learn from others.

Also, please forgive me if I tend to sound like an expert when I write. I must make it clear that I am not an expert, or at least I don't consider myself one. I am just a sufferer who is looking for answers and I am very cuirious and inquisitive. I read a lot, though some things may escape me.

It is interesting to have read that both Freud and Jung suffered with some form of mental disorder. Jung in particularly suffered with psychosys. But he believed that even psychosis plays a part and that it can be controlled, as he did, with lots of knowledge and wisdom. He certainly controlled it well, and used it to come up with the most interesting ideas.

Jack Nicholson, the great actor, suffers with psychotic bipolar one disorder and he once said: "I have tried to be sane once, It was the most boring 2 minutes of my life." And ..."Gee those voices certainly comes up with some pretty good ideas!"

Perhaps the psychosis has its meaning and may be an energy that rather than being suppressed, may need to come out. Who knows for sure?

It is true that many aboriginal cultures considered psychosis to be a sign of greatness and as a sign of being in touch with a higher power. Funny enough, many indigenous people with psychosis, or mental disorders, have become witch doctors (Shamans) and are highly regarded in their culture.

This way of treating those with mental disorders takes away the sting from mental disorders, or mental illness, and people that are treated so well seldom become violent, or cause problems for themselves and others. They use their disroder, or at least they learn to, to their advantage. This I have read somewhere but, as usual, I prefer not to take sides these days and just look at the information and talk about it.

Thank you for you interest, Sahara, and I also thank all the others that read and reply. I love this forum, it is fantastic and people are able, as they should, to be reasonably free to discuss things.

What I write about concerns me. I am not taking sides or trying to tells others what to do. I am just asking questions, learning and trying to find answers with the help of the people. Cultural differences do exist and being a migrant my writing behaviour is a tiny bit different from that of Australian born people. But that should be OK. Difference is the spice of life 🙂