DISMANTLING DEPRESSION!

As I began to write this book, a year and a half ago, I had just come out of one of the worst depressions of my life. It became clear to me that I cannot depend solely on medication and doctors to control this debilitating and life threatening illness. It is up to me to make the changes necessary to get this depression under control and to keep it under control.

January 17, 1999 I was at the lowest point of my life. I was losing everything I owned, my kids and my self-respect! I got on my knees and I begged God to help me. When I got up from that prayer, I knew what I needed to do. This plan is a direct result of that prayer. It was as though the plan had been laid out before me. I believe that it was laid out before me. I have found that when I use the formula, it is successful. My main problem has been sticking to it. Kind of like a diet, or quitting smoking. I can honestly say that I stick to the plan about 90% of the time. I do know that without this plan in place, I would not be here today. For the next thirteen weeks, we will be studying the things necessary to bring you and I, out of the pits of depression. We will incorporate, diet, exercise, personal study, personal prayer, praying for others, and journaling into our daily lives. We will also study the affects of daylight on how we feel. It is said that if you do something for six weeks or more, it becomes a habit. We are going to create some good habits!

I will give you scripture, and a devotional to think about, to ponder and to apply to your own life. I may also give you scripture to look up and also recommend books for further reading. We will look at the diagnostic criteria for depression and use this as a gauge for where we are at, and where we want to be! We will keep a daily prayer journal, and we will keep track of what we eat, and do. WHAT I WILL NOT DO!!! I will NOT overload you to the point that you get depressed, just by reading and doing this workbook. My goal here is to give you the tools needed to work out of depression. Not make the depression worse. Better yet, this plan, if you work it the way it is designed to be, you WILL feel better, and stay out of depression.