WHAT IS "UNDERSTANDING" AND "UNDERSTANDING DEPRESSION"?

A Preparation for Understanding Depression

The intention of this book is to help those who are depressed to attain an understanding of their depression and themselves that will expand their perceptions and experience of what depression is and change for the better their relationship with depression, with the possible outcome that its painful effects will be greatly diminished, and that a level of self-understanding and self-acceptance will be achieved. However, for “understanding depression” to even be possible, we must first have a clearer sense of what we mean when we speak of “understanding” in and of itself. For, “understanding,” in itself, covers a spectrum of meanings within the multiple process we simply label as “understanding.” So we ask the following question in order to begin to build a foundational context through which to understand depression.

What is “Understanding ”?

“To understand” indicates and illustrates a process of the steps in the development of understanding, which presents a logical order:

1. “to infer (something not stated),”

2. “to learn of or to hear of,”

3. “to grasp the importance or significance of,”

4. “to perceive the meaning of, or comprehend,”

5. “to interpret or comprehend in a specified way,”

6. “to become familiar with; have a thorough knowledge of,” and

7. “to regard as agreed or settled.”

Thus, we see that “understanding” begins unconsciously through inference in 1, then to external influence in 2, and intuitional sensing or feeling in 3, which leads toward mental perception and conscious understanding in 4, then interpretation and specific understanding in 5, and then we internalize our interpretation so that it is thorough and familiar to us in 6, and finally, in 7, we all agree on the common understanding we have established.

“Understanding” denotes not just an intellectual or mental perception, but also a mind-body comprehension and lived experience. It is a way of seeing that is based in our own experience and is therefore a grounding of theory in practice, that is, of the story of our life in the actual physical experience of us living our life. Understanding, when grounded in experience, puts us “in touch with concrete, earthy … reality.” With the experience that comes through understanding and the understanding that comes through experience, we are enabled to live fully. To understand is to get beneath, to “stand under” the surface and see what is hidden there. From such a vantage point we have greater comprehension, for the full scope of knowledge is both the obvious (above the surface) and the hidden (below the surface). Of course we are still not able to see everything that is obvious or hidden, so understanding is recognized as an attempt to simply do the best we can do, with an awareness that we’ll never see everything or know it all.

What Does It Mean To “Understand Depression”?

To “understand depression” is to undergo this process of awareness which begins with an unconscious, intuitive “sense” that to open ourselves up to the process and experience of

depression has meaning for us; we have grasped its inherent value and importance and seek to “understand” it even though we cannot as yet explain or “make sense” of it. We may have heard of this “other side” of depression from others or read about it, or we may have finally reached a point within ourselves at which we realize that a “deeper significance” of our depression has been working silently within us and is now “stirring” us to the point that we are feeling it without knowing what it is. As we come to focus our attention on “understanding depression,” we begin to consciously perceive it in a different way, perhaps for the first time. We may even have a glimpse of the meaning behind what is happening within us when we are depressed, and discover that we are able to see and interpret our depression in new ways.

In due time, as our understanding increases, we find that our depression is more familiar to us and no longer so alien or frightening. Our understanding of depression is something we become able to apply to ourselves in our own lives and also to others. We find that we are learning what depression is and how it works, both in itself and within ourselves. We have observed how we react and respond to depression, and learned what we can do to change our reactions and responses to be more in line with who we really are, what we want for ourselves, and how we want to be. This is how the process of “understanding depression” can unfold and express itself in our lives.

Through this understanding and close observation, we come to the paradoxical reality of “the myth of depression.” On one hand, we discover that what we call “depression” has been inflated to be much more than it actually is, and, on the other, we recognize depression’s mythic identity and power; that it is all that it is claimed to be and far more. In Chapter Ten, this idea of depression’s “gift of paradox” is further explored.

To understand the meaning of depression is to begin to comprehend the reasons why it manifests itself specifically as it does in our life. To understand the meaning of our depression is to both comprehend and accept ourselves as being affected by depression. Such an understanding enables us to grant ourselves a bit of compassion, and objectivity towards ourselves. Within this understanding of depression and of ourselves in depression comes a clarification and a recognition of the purpose that this depression may serve in our lives. Within the disease lies the cure. We can recognize depression more as a dis-ease, as a psychological unease or imbalance, than as a physical sickness, for its symptoms carry with them the possibility of self-understanding and self-discovery, which, in turn, can lead us to wholeness and healing.