Thank you for this wonderful forum, there is so much great information here.
As someone who found a way to end my life-long struggle with depression just two years ago, I feel compelled to share my own experience and what has changed my life in a beautiful way. I always believed that my mind was my own worst enemy, always dwelling in negative thoughts. I tried many different anti-depressant pills that only seemed to give me another terrible side effect. I was even hospitalized twice in mental health treatment centers for suicidal thoughts, hoping they could help me, but none of these conventional methods of dealing with suffering seemed to change my outlook on life. I saw a therapist for cognitive behavioral therapy and even tried hypnosis therapy. The therapy helped me find some motivation, but it still wasn't getting at the root of the problem.
I randomly met a girl who told me she was into Buddhism and had also been depressed, and she overwhelmed me with her genuine compassion and kindness. She understood me and the pain I was in more than anyone I had ever met in my life. I felt so much relief in my heart from her words that I was moved to tears. I thanked her, gave her a hug, and we went our separate ways. As soon as I got home I bought a book on Buddhism and started reading, determined to see what it was all about.
My depression had completely disappeared withing a month of studying Buddhism and meditating on my own. My entire view of life had changed and for the first time in my life I had peace of mind and was no longer tormented by my thoughts and emotions. The most important thing I learned is the practice of mindfulness and meditation. To simply bring my awareness to my breathing and my body, letting go of all the thinking and worrying, is a liberating experience.
With mindfulness and meditation, I learned to stop running away from my suffering and stop feeding my suffering. I learned how to look at my thoughts and feelings and say to them, "I know you are there my sorrow or my anger, and I will make friends with you so I can understand your roots." Slowly the more I would practice this the more I began to see the causes and conditions that were leading to my suffering. I've come a long way in the past two years and my life gets better every day as I continue to learn about and practice mindful living.
I apologize if this bothers anyone. My only hope is that this might help those who suffer as much as I once did. No matter what we believe in or what we do with our life, it's so important to be aware of how powerful our mind is and how important it is for us to develop and understand ourselves with the practice of mindfulness.
Here are some of my favorite resources for mindfulness if anyone is interested:
Thich Nhat Hanh's book - The Heart of the Buddha's Teaching: Transforming Suffering into Peace, Joy, and Liberation
He has written over 100 books and has several practice centers -
http://plumvillage.org/mindfulness-practice/
Jon Kabat-Zinn's book - Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life
May we all find peace and joy in this beautiful life we have.
In loving-kindness,
Chris Brickett
