Yes let's keep each other posted on our progress with challenging this thought and it's cycle :) Got a really silly tips for you and i am afraid people might laugh at me for saying this out loud. But it really helps me. It has nothing to do with challenging thoughts so it is in the wrong thread but i does have to do with happy vs sad. So here goes. I make sure to try and notice every little moment of happiness i get in a day. and the really really strong happy moments, i give them a shape and a sound and a colour etc. So that later on when i need them i can remember them more easily and how it felt to be that happy. It is like giving them substance helps me keep them warm and safe in my heart so i can know them even when things are tough. I just started this a few days ago, but it is helping me stay positive. This was started by my mom who really beleives in creative thinking and imaging. For example: I woke up the other morning and i felt really happy and cosy. I was about 10-15 minutes feeling completely happy and content and relaxed with no tension while i was in bed waking up. A whole 15 minutes of bliss just for me! So later in the day after i had managed to stress myself out again lol and i could not for the life of me rember how that morning felt! So my mom asked me this morning what was the colour and shape etc of your happiness this morning. So i said: "My happiness was a pale and velvety pink. Like the petal of a very soft and delicate rose which smells like spring." And then it came back to me, how i had felt that morning. Of course in the present i still felt stressed but i knew and remembered i had had that very precious moment and that i would have others like it and that just made the rest of my day easier somehow. Plus, when i thought i was getting depressed i could tell myself, if i was depressed i wouldn't have had that kind of happiness in the morning lol Anyway, this might sound tacky but i still wanted to share it with you since it has helped me in the last few days and since we both share this fear of depression. Keep me posted on how yuo are doing challenging this and i will keep youposted on my end. Together we can do this ;P -Diva

Hey Diva, thanks for posting this. I too fear getting super depressed. Lately i just have been feeling sad abotu everything...and it really brings me down. I'm so afraid of the word 'depression.' Everything negative is associated with it.... anyhow, I will try to challenge it as well... WE can do it together!

ok, i will give it a try. Thanks for giving an end to grab the tiger by lol Was afraid i would end up grabing it head forst and get eaten lol If i have trouble with it is there anyway you and me can work through a concrete thought challenging together though? I mean i will try it on my own but if i have trouble would a concrete effort together be possible in any way? -Diva P.S.: But i WILL try my best to challenge this on my own! I am my own best defender! :P

Diva, Start with the source: the depression. If you challenge the thought that you are slipping back into your depression, it should help the subsequent anxiety that inevitably follows. Hope this helps. Danielle _______________________ The PC Support Team

Hi danielle: First off, your answer did help and thank you very much for helping me out so much! I appreciated greatly. I do tho have some morre questions: You said: Again, this will take some time and some practice. So keep challenging your thoughts and take it one step at a time. Just acknowledging when you are sad to self is a good place to start. Also be sure to take the time to examine why your sad. If it is because of your anxiety, you can challenge any negative thoughts you have by focusing in on the progress you're making and the victories you've had. (Sorry for the cut and paste but it helps me focus on what i wanted to answer) Ok i get why acknowledging i am sad helps. I mean if i ignore it it bottles up and i feel bad and i don't know why and this might make me anxious. Also, i get that if the anxiety is making me sad, seeing all the stuff i have managed to do even with the anxiety might help make me feel better. But it is the challenging your thoughts i don't get how to do with this one. I am not sure where to start! Do i start with the anxiety side of it or the depression side of it. I am not sure how to start challenging this and i figured mybe a more concrete example could help. Say i am thinking: "Oh no, I am sad again and that means i am going to get super depressed and go into despair!" Then that makes me feel anxious and i think: "Oh no, now i feel anxious too, that means i will panic and everything will be horrible!" I feel very lost with this and a concrete example surely would help because i am having trouble figuring this one out. In the last two days the thoughts ihave challenged i feel like i did an ok job with but they were simpler and more straightforward to deal with. So if you could help me out, with this one i would be really greatful cause i keep wondering: Where do i start? What do i challenege first? And how do i do it? Anyway, thanks agian :) -Diva

Diva, It's quite the cycle. One feeds on the other. Start by trying to understand that it is okay to be sad sometimes and that by working through the emotion and releasing it, you help get rid of it. Everybody cries sometimes and there is nothing wrong with that. A few tears won't make you depressed. Again, this will take some time and some practice. So keep challenging your thoughts and take it one step at a time. Just acknowledging when you are sad to self is a good place to start. Also be sure to take the time to examine why your sad. If it is because of your anxiety, you can challenge any negative thoughts you have by focusing in on the progress you're making and the victories you've had. Hope this helps. Danielle _____________________ The PC Support Team

Hi, I while back i had a real deep depression while dealing with this anxiety thing. So now when i relapse I become afraid of getting really depressed again. So this time around in this relapse i was really just being analytical and trying to be positive and kind of avoiding expressing to much emotion especially when it was sadness or anything leading to it. Now my therapist noticed this and asked me to challenge myself and start expressing my emotions (little by little) again to those around me and in my journal and everything. Well i started last night but i noticed i was sad so that made me anxious. So now i want to know how i can challenge that thought, and i mean really challenge it. I want to challenge it so i know that being sad wont make me depressed! so that when i am sad i dont get anxious on top of it. Especially cause atm being sad makes me anxious and being anxious makes me sad. So i want to challenge that! I am in session three and i am trying to learn how to challenge my thoughts on my won but i could sure use help on this one :) Thank you -Diva