Oscar K

I can comment on the "cycle of darkness" metaphor. We are not helpless confronting a metaphorical cycle. A cycle can be reversed and darkness obviously needs light. The important thing to understand is the nature of metaphors. Metaphors only exist when we pretend, imagine and make believe them into existence. Depression plays awful tricks on our poor psyches so maybe we should just play a few clever tricks right back. I have an unlimited supply of clever and powerful metaphors to counteract the debilitating effects of depression. Perhaps this can help a little. Oscar

Welcome new friend. I can tell you that you are a person who has found a home here. Confusion is a requisite for membership in the human race. Please keep posting your concerns and check out other posts. We are here to help.

One trick I employ to help me is to repeatedly "anchor" myself outside the depression abyss. The deep, dark, dangerous depression cave is always a part of us but we need not take up long term residence. I do give myself permission to take temporary shelter in my depression cave as long as I stay close to the ENTRANCE/EXIT. My feeling is that depression plays the most awful tricks on our poor psyches so maybe we should just play some clever tricks right back. Hope this can help a little.

Welcome new friend to our forum family. We are not professionals but we do try our best to help each other. I truly believe that we are never helpless confronting Old Man Depression. Please keep posting your concerns and check out other posts. Problems have solutions. Our goal is to not leave anyone behind in their depression "cave". Oscar

Welcome new friend to our forum family. Hopefully you will find a supportive home here. I would just comment on the "drowning" metaphor you invoked . Perhaps you are telling yourself to metaphorically let go of excess emotional baggage. We are not professionals but we do try to help each other as best we can. I firmly believe that we are never helpless confronting Old Man Depression. I believe we can counteract the debilitating effects of depression with powerful and clever metaphors. Anyway please make yourself at home and keep posting your concerns. Oscar

Welcome new friend to our forum family. Very sorry to read about your predicament. We are here for each other. You can express your self here as much as you need. Problems have solutions and we are never helpless confronting Old Man Depression. Keep posting your concerns and we will try to help. Oscar

Welcome new member. Getting lost and trapped within oneself is a way to describe depression. I believe we all have access to metaphorical tools to help us find the way out of the depression "cave". My motto: DESPAIR not / REPAIR a lot. Hope you find some meaningful support and insights here.

Welcome new friend to our forum family. Our goal is to not leave anyone behind in their depression "cave". Please make yourself at home and post your concerns when you feel the need. We will try to help as best we can.

Welcome new member to our forum family. I would just point out one insight that might help. We all have a vast depression abyss within. Trying to fill that emptiness only creates a hole somewhere else. My approach is to metaphorically "anchor" myself outside my deep, dark dangerous depression "cave". Old Man Depression plays havoc with our psyches so my thought is that we should play some clever tricks right back. Please make yourself at home here and check out some other posts for meaningful insights. We are all here for each other. Oscar

Very nice to meet our new member friend. Hope you find a supportive home here. You mentioned emptiness and of course this is a quintessential symptom of depression. I believe we are all metaphorically EMPTY. The question then becomes what do we do with that emptiness? Personally I try my best to metaphorically "anchor" myself outside my depression "cave". We do understand what it is like to be a mess. My motto: DESPAIR not / REPAIR a lot. Please keep posting your concerns and we will try to help. Oscar

Welcome Dan to our forum family. Our goal is to not leave anyone behind in their depression cave or your case "giant rut". I will always insist that we are never helpless confronting Old Man Depression. Please make yourself at home and keep posting your concerns. We are here to help. Oscar

I don't really have answers but I do know that we are deep mysteries to ourselves and each other. My approach is to try to "anchor" myself outside my deep , dark depression "cave".

One trick I try to employ is to store or bank some of the high from the good days to be withdrawn for the bad days. Old Man Depression is relentless in dragging us towards the abyss. We must be vigilant and clever with powerful metaphors. I like to call them : CLEVERful MEDaphors. My motto: DESPAIR not / REPAIR a lot.

You're welcome.

My experience reveals depression to be a natural formation / resource. I invoke the cave metaphor to describe my depression. A cave in nature is formed by erosion, stress and upheaval. I believe everyone of us is metaphorically EMPTY. The issue becomes just what do we do with that emptiness. For me it ain't going away any time soon so I may as well put my depression "cave" to use. I must try to keep myself metaphorically "anchored" outside my deep , dark dangerous abyss. I give myself permission to take temporary shelter inside myself but long-term residence is not a healthy option. Anyway maybe this can be food for thought. Always here to discuss metaphors. Oscar