Please accept my apologies first, as there seems to be some misunderstanding. If my first post in this thread generated a feeling of being ‘insensitive’, that was absolutely not my intention. Trying to clarify…
While reading the first post of this thread(by OP), from my perspective, the following things were the ones that mainly stood out...
1. tell own story / share experiences / coping strategies
2. depression & medication / anxiety / obsessive behaviour / anything else mental health related
Clarification w.r.t (1): Though I don’t remember having experienced any lengthy period of depression, the normal negative feelings/emotions such as sadness & worries were there in the childhood and further stages of life...till few months back. Not completely eradicated, but, pretty close to it. Since there are no direct depression-related stories to share from my side and being left only with strategies to overcome worries(close link to depression), I replied in the form of a general statement about the adopted strategy, i.e. ‘try and understand the mind, its flow/generation of thoughts...’. On hindsight, I should have added that the try & understand part should be done after the depression phase has passed. Also to recall what triggered the recently passed depression phase, maybe with the help or support of a close associate, to find the root cause(s). The bitter part of this exercise is that it mostly ends up in a confrontation with oneself...about certain things which might have been swept aside under the carpet, in the past. If the habituated mind wins, the person returns to square one, but, in case the person succeeds and overrides the habituated mind, that would qualify as a step forward in the right direction. Certain things(Description/Definition of Mind) I have skipped as they are connected to beliefs & can’t be proved in a normal way, so I have jumped straight to the conclusion part of my experience, “everything falls into place beautifully”. Ultimately it is for the individual to undertake the journey and it is absolutely possible for anyone...by attempting repeatedly to understand ‘why the mind works the way it works?’ The answer will find that person if one persists on that to the point of obsession, in a positive sense.
Another important clarification: What I meant by “it is all in the mind” is that...To take a step in the right direction w.r.t both Body and Mind, consider the following steps:
a. attempts to think & truly realize one’s shortcomings
b. investigating the actual reason of how the shortcoming came in the first place
c. identify corrective measures after knowing the reason
d. deciding to act despite possible aversions or adverse situations
They all occur in the Mind.
An unhealthy Body will of course affect the Mind and vice versa. But the decision towards seemingly simple tasks like a) consume nutritious food(when hungry), b) drink natural water(when thirsty), c) work up a sweat by physical activity(daily), d) engage in mind-relaxing or passionate activities(in moderation) & e) go to bed(when sleepy) for attaining the goal of a Healthy Body starts from the Mind. So the first thing towards a sustained step forward in the right direction starts with the training or conditioning of the Mind...consciously.
Clarification w.r.t (2): It is a fact that certain drugs have side effects that include depression and/or mood disorders. Also, different states of the mind(anger, anxiety, happiness, motivation etc.) affect(negative or positive) the normal functioning of the Body. Without understanding the reason for a particular State of Mind, overriding the system by administering chemicals is probably not the best option, because the functioning of the Mind can’t be fathomed by normal methods.
I will delete my posts in this thread, if required, in case if it was felt to be offending or hurting as I can visualize the possibility of the same, despite the good intentions from my side.