Depression is no walk in the park. I’ve been there, done that. And decided it wasn’t for me! Yes, in my 20s I was experiencing severe clinical depression, and was on the verge of being put in a mental home, after continual attempts to take my own life.

What changed? I changed. I decided to start loving myself, instead of hating myself. And over the course of the next few years, I said good bye to the meds, good bye to the depression, and hello to the life I now love so dearly.

Today on I Love Me the Podcast, I share the very real journey of depression – the one I experienced first hand – and the steps I needed to take in order to overcome my mental health struggles for good.

It’s my intention that sharing my story here today, will inspire you, offer you hope, and give you the insight you need to start your journey to a healthier, happier you. Please know that however dark your days, all you need is a willingness to love yourself, and then love yourself a little bit more each day.

So whether you’re struggling with your own mental health or supporting someone who’s in the throws of a mental illness, may you leave this episode knowing that depression is NOT a life sentence, and that you can break free, so you can enjoy the life you are here to live.

With World Mental Health Day tomorrow, I wanted to share my very personal story on how I went from depressed and suicidal, to living medication and depression free.

To living a life that feels good from the inside out, and puts a smile on my face, every single day.

So today will be my story – a story of hope.

And then over the next few weeks, I’ll share ways you can help support your own mental health.

Because our mental health is everything.

If we don’t feel good about ourself and about our life, then we’re not really living.

And you my beauty, are here to live a beautiful, fulfilling life.

A life that lifts you up, and supports you and makes you feel all warm and tingly inside.

That is what I want for you.

And so that, is why I begin today… with my story…

A story to offer you the hope you need to set out on your pathway into loving and accepting yourself.

Depression was a dark shadow that had always followed me around, waiting to creep up on me in my most vulnerable moments.

In fact, I spent most of my teens and early 20s depressed.

Not just sad.

But depressed.

Like really depressed.

The trying-to-commit-suicide-every-other-weekend kind of depressed.

The kind of depressed person who’s told by professionals she needs medication for life, and will always experience depression.

The kind of depressed that almost lands you in a mental home!!

I was 21 when I officially became a statistic, officially diagnosed with severe clinical depression, and advised to start taking anti-depressants.

And so I did, all the while seeing psychologists, one psychiatrist and a couple of counsellors at various points.

Within a year of this, my emotions stabilised thanks to the drugs, exercise and regular sessions with my counsellor.

But the medication had given me more than a stable outlook only life, it had also given me an extra 15 kilos.

Yes, I was now 15 kilos heavier, thanks to one of the side-effects of the anti-depressants.

So a year and half into my meds…

And feeling I’d overcome the worst of the illness, I began coming off the meds under the guidance of my GP.

That’s when the emotional roller-coaster began.

I was up, I was down.

I was all over the place, no longer able to keep my moods in check.

I’d just started seeing a guy, and he became the punching bag for my mood swings and erratic behaviour.

I went through periods of being ok.

I’d book in for a counselling session, and she would help me work through my latest issues.

But I found that the sessions would only help manage the depression, just like the meds.

They’d helped manage the depression, not get rid of it.

Meaning that in order for me to stay mostly sane, I needed to rely on meds and counselling sessions, which wasn’t what I wanted the rest of my life to look like.

Within a year of being medication free – and threatening to take my life on numerous occasions – I hit rock bottom.

I’d had enough, of myself.

And of life.

I was done.

I went to say goodbye to my partner, in not so many words, and he knew, exactly where I was headed…

So he left work, called my parents, and that’s when they decided the only way to keep me safe if I refused to go back on the meds, was to spend some time in a mental home.

That’s when it hit me.

I’d got that mentally ill, that now I needed to be in a mental home.

It was both a shock… and the conscious realisation I needed.

I did NOT want to go into a mental home…

That was not how my story was going to unfold…

And so I made a promise on that day, that I would get better.

I would do whatever it took, to work out how to overcome the depression, and I wouldn’t stop, until I was depression-free.

And so the real journey began…

The journey of figuring out what causes depression and how to overcome it.

Not entirely sure where to start, I began seeing an acupuncturist.

I’d found acupuncture to help with some of my other issues in the past, and so I began regular sessions.

The sole purpose of the acupuncture was to ease the depression from a physical perspective, so I could then have the mental capacity to work on the root of the depression; the mind stuff.

The acupuncture for me, acted like a natural anti-depressant, without the side-effects.

In fact, instead of it supplying me with happy chemicals, it helped get my body producing its own happy chemicals.

And that was part of the problem when I came off the anti-depressants.

Since the meds had been supplying my happy chemicals, my body had stopped producing them, meaning that when I stopped taking the tablets, I wasn’t getting any happy chemicals.

That’s why when people come of medication, they usually spiral down back into depression, often worse, than when they first started taking the medication.

So, by getting acupuncture, I was able to not only get my supply of happy chemicals, I was able to get my body producing them again.

And in doing so, instantly take away the risk of self-harm.

I also learnt that there were other ways that helped my body produce more happy chemicals, so I started eating differently, exercising more…

I joined a Laughter Yoga group, after discovering that laughing is such a powerful way of healing mental and physical imbalances.

And I gave up coffee – which I’ll share more about in a future episode.

So now I had this physical support, which was adding to my emotional support, I sought out a new type of therapist.

This therapist taught me that depression was simply a ‘label’ and we could choose to lose the label of depression.

Up until that point, every psychologist or counsellor I’d seen, had only talked about managing the depression, not getting rid of it.

It was this realisation that I got to ‘choose’, that totally opened my mind to a new way of thinking about the condition.

I kept learning more, like how I had started to believe certain things about myself – taking on beliefs – that had led me to essentially be ‘programmed’ to experience depression.

And it was this programming, which I talk more about in Episode 2 – Programmed for Love – that I’d taken on a child, and was responsible for 90% of my thoughts, actions and beliefs.

In understanding this, I decided to train up in techniques such as Time-Line Therapy, Therapeutic Hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming, so that I could learn how to change that programming.

So I could clear the beliefs that made me feel bad about myself, and led to the negative thinking and self-sabotage patterns.

It was in these trainings that I realised that the root cause of depression, is our programming; the beliefs we take on as a child.

And once we’re able to clear those beliefs, then we can be depression-free.

And that’s what happened for me.

I spent time clearing beliefs, getting to the root cause of my issues, and what amazed me the most, was that once a belief was gone, it was gone.

And as the beliefs disappeared, so did the depression.

Less than a year after learning how to clear beliefs… I was depression free.

That was over 16 years ago now and the depression has never returned.

Instead, I have a much deeper understanding of myself, a much greater love for myself, and the tools to travel through any difficult times in my life.

Because life is full of ups and downs, but when we are more consciously aware of how life can knock us around, we’re able to glide through those challenges more easily, without them plunging us down into the depths of depression.

Now this is the condensed version of events that led to me being depression-free.

I actually kept a journal during my days of depression, recording everything that worked, why it worked and scientific backing behind that method or approach, and once I was depression-free, I wrote that up into my first book The Upside of Down: A personal journey and toolkit for overcoming depression.

So if you’re looking for a more in-depth guide to overcoming depression, that book is a really great place to start.

But for me, the book was only the start.

So inspired by all I’d learnt, I then developed a 5-month program – which I now call my One-on-One Intensive – so I could help people become completely depression and pill free.

Clear the programming that was at the root of the depression.

And cultivate a lifestyle that supported them in continuing to live depression free.

I’ve been running that program now, for 15 years, and I’ve helped soo many people overcome their mental health challenges, which to me, is proof that anyone can overcome depression…

IF they know how.

And that’s why I wanted to share my story with you, to let you know that:

It’s 100% possible to overcome depression.

If that’s what you truely want.

Because unfortunately, a lot of people have been led to believe that depression is a life-long condition…

This is what I’d been told by countless authority figures…

When quite frankly, it doesn’t have to be.

Through my own personal experience, and having worked with so many clients since, I know anyone can overcome depression, if that’s what they want.

The trick is…

In order to have a full recovery – where the depression doesn’t come back – you need to address the root cause.

Medication, exercise, vitamins and eating well, while helpful in managing depression; they don’t cure it.

Yes, we need to change our lifestyle to support a depression-free body, but until we get to the root cause of the depression, then the depression will hang around, and sneak back in as soon as your ‘management strategies’ such a getting a good night’s sleep and enough vitamin D…

As soon as they fall by the wayside, that’s when depression can re-emerge…

Yet…

When you clear depression out – at the root cause – there is no depression to sneak back in.

It’s gone!

So, let me share more about what exactly depression is…

Chances are your doctor told you that you have a ‘chemical imbalance’ in the brain.

And it’s that chemical imbalance that’s responsible for the depression.

Well..

Then we need to ask:

What caused this chemical imbalance in the first place?

Because brain imbalances don’t just happen.

There needs to be a cause, right?

That’s the law of the universe: Cause and Effect.

Everything has a cause.

It’s just that you may not be aware of the cause.

So what causes this imbalance?

Well…

When we have a thought, it triggers a chemical response in the body.

If this thought is positive it sends happy, healing chemicals into the bloodstream.

If the thought is negative, it sends toxic chemicals into the bloodstream.

Chemicals like cortisol.

This has been shown to be true by numerous scientists and researchers such as biologist Bruce Lipton and neuroscientist and pharmacologist Candice Pert.

Now, we need chemicals like cortisol to kick in to help us get out of harm’s way in super-lady speed when we get caught in a burning house, or if a bear happens to chase us down our suburban street.

Cortisol has a very important job to do.

But… its purpose is not to continue to be activated day-in-day out.

What I’m saying, is that when we’re stressed-out or experiencing fear, this mis-informs our body to start producing chemicals like cortisol.

Too much supply of these chemicals and we create an imbalance.

So now you know your ‘thoughts’ create the chemical imbalance.

But what creates our thoughts?

Our belief system.

Beliefs we’ve taken on as a child, and have become our truth.

These beliefs get stored in our subconscious mind.

Now like I said, our subconscious mind is responsible for 90% of our thoughts, actions and behaviours.

So if we believe, for example, ‘I’m not good enough’ or ‘I’m a failure’ or ‘I’m alone’ or ‘I’m not wanted’ or ‘I’m not loveable’ then of course we’re going to think negative thoughts, and in doing so, trigger off a host of unhealthy chemicals surging though our body.

However, if we believe ‘I am good enough’, ‘I’m perfect just as I am’, ‘I’m connected’ ‘I am deserving’, ‘I’m wanted’ and ‘I am loveable’ then we’d enjoy more positive thoughts.

As a result, our body benefits from a nice flow of happy chemicals like serotonin, oxytocin and dopamine.

No negative beliefs = no chemical imbalance.

Which would mean…. no depression!!

Now you might be asking:

What creates the negative beliefs?

They come from our upbringing.

As I explain in Episode 2 – Programmed for Love – we adopted our belief system directly from the big people we spent the most time around as children.

Your mum or your dad or your carers held a host of unhealthy beliefs like ‘I’m not worthy’ or ‘I can’t change’ or ‘I’m ugly’ and you adopted them as your own.

As a child we learn quickly – we’re like a sponge – and we absorb all of what we see and experience.

Now unless you own a time machine, you can’t go back and change your upbringing…

… but the good news is, you CAN change your beliefs.

So how do you overcome depression?

You change your beliefs.

Positive healthy beliefs, lead to a positive healthy self-image and self-belief, which leads to a happy and stable person who is depression-free.

A person who loves themself.

If you want to get to the root cause of depression, then you need to work directly with the subconscious mind and clear out the limiting beliefs that are creating the depression in the first place.

Using medication or lifestyle changes – while these can be helpful as part of the process of healing – they don’t get rid of depression.

They don’t address the root cause of the illness.

So if you want to overcome depression – like get rid of it completely, so it doesn’t come back!!! – then you need to clear out the beliefs that are causing the depression.

And that’s why I created my One-on-One Intensive, to guide people through the process of clearing the depression-causing beliefs…

…while also helping them make the lifestyle adjustments that will ensure they can maintain a healthy, depression-free body long-term…

A body that has happy, healthy chemicals flowing through it.

If you’ve been struggling with depression and not been able to get to the bottom of it – like I was for many many years – then by all means get in touch.

I’ll pop a link to the One-on-One Intensive in the show-notes, so you can read more about the program.

But what I really want you to understand is this:

Depression doesn’t need to be your life-long travelling companion.

If you’re quite literally over depression, and no longer wish for it to play a part in your life, then there are ways you can become depression-free, like I did, like my clients do…

I’ve created a 5-month program where every single client who is committed to that program is depression and med-free by the end of it…

There are testimonials on my website, where my clients share their journeys out of depression; which can be so good to read and watch, because I know for me, hearing that other people did it, made it feel more possible for me.

And that’s part of the healing process… knowing that it’s possible.

That you CAN live depression-free.

Now…

If, you’re at risk to yourself right now, know that:

Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

Depression can be temporary, if you choose it to be.

You simply need the support around you to guide you through.

I’ve trained with Lifeline Australia – I was an advocate for them for many years – and they are a great free resource you can call upon anytime if you’re thinking suicidal thoughts.

If you just need someone to talk to.

They have a beautiful team of people, who can help you move through that desire to self-harm.

Their number is 13 11 14.

And if you do want to get to the root cause of the depression, start where feels manageable for you.

Maybe it’s my book The Upside of Down.

Maybe it’s getting some acupuncture…

Joining a laughter group… I’ll share more about how to do that next week…

Or if you’re ready to dig out the root cause of the depression, maybe it’s my One-on-One Intensive.

Get in touch, see what I have available.

But know that whatever you decide, you’re not alone.

There are people and resources that can be there for you, on this beautifully raw journey into self-love.

I have plenty here on my website gettingnaked.com.au

Or seek out what resonates most for you at this time…

From my love-rich heart to yours, please know that you are seen, you are loved, and that you are worthy of living a life of your choosing.