Now, don't go tossing your meds into the toilet.
This is just something I've noticed in my own life and in the life of others I know who struggle with depression or anxiety. I used to have incapacitating anxiety and depression, and what I'm about to say, is BY FAR the thing that has helped me the most.
So, here's the help.
It's serving other people.
Helping other people actually helps us too.
When I look back at my own life at the deepest times of suffering, something was missing. It was the outward focus on other beings around me...people, animals, nature, etc. By focus I don't mean enjoying them, even though that helps too, I'm talking about having purpose behind our interactions with others...being on the lookout for doing good when we can or serving people who need a hand, or helping where we can.
I remember times when I'd been having a panic attack or having a really bad bout of depression and there was no choice for me but to care for another person, like my child. In those moments, setting aside my own suffering to tend to his needs, eased what I was feeling.
Having our focus continually on ourselves, what our body feels like, the thoughts we think, our personal circumstances, and things that have happened to us in the past keep us in a state of stagnancy.
The energy of Source/Creator that flows to us, isn't flowing THROUGH us when we are living in this state of stagnancy. In nature, stagnant water creates an imbalance in the environment and often becomes toxic.
When we open our hearts for the Love and Light of Source/Creator to flow THROUGH us to others, a beautiful thing happens. Our body and mind begin to align with the powerful energy of the Great I AM. Our entire being is purified by the cleansing waters of Infinite Intelligence, making EVERYTHING possible.
Peace, Joy, Freedom, Wisdom, Clarity, Healing...It's all there, waiting for us to experience as a result of the realization of Self. We can't help but know who we are when we are allowing the stream of Love to pour through us to other people. Everything we think we lack begins to fade in our lives as we give out to whomever and whatever needs the stream.
Depression and anxiety are the results of our perception of reality, our lack of understanding of who we truly are and the magnificence that we have inside of us. Many people believe this type of emotional suffering is from a chemical issue in the brain or body...and while that may be true in some sense, we have the ability to change our biology at a cellular level.
If you are curious about the science behind this, research epigenetics and the placebo effect.
Serving other people in some way, even if it's small...even if it's giving a hug, opening the door, shoveling a sidewalk, or giving a ride to the grocery store...makes us feel that stream of energy flowing THROUGH us.
It feels damn good if you ask me!
To me, helping others feels like purpose, even when I don't know what I'm doing in life...even when everything sucks...even when things seem like they are falling apart...helping someone, CHOOSING to make my purpose be about other people gives me a sense of meaning and consequently, depression and anxiety fade into the background because I'm not focused on myself.
Over time, when practiced on a regular basis, serving and giving to others with that beautiful flow of energy from Source/Creator changes lives.
Theirs AND yours.
The Caveats
Serving others does NOT mean that you give of yourself endlessly or allow your healthy boundaries to be crossed, because that can cause imbalance, anxiety, and burn-out too.
Helping and serving does NOT mean skipping out on self-reflection in order to evolve and integrate as a spiritual being.
All that being said, LOVE yourself and love others while you're at it because keeping all that love to yourself doesn't feel as good as sharing it. In the process, you just might find that anxiety and depression are no longer things that rule your life.
I LOVE YOU.
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