Mood Shifters

Is it possible to catch someone else’s depression? It’s easily understandable that we can catch another’s cold.  But is it really possible to get an infection like a dis-ease of the mind too? I can only venture that it’s true. Through self-analysis we can usually tell what ails us. We are upset with a loved one, worried about our future or even lamenting a situation in our chosen vocation. It just never occurred to me that a transfer of feelings like depression could be airborne so to speak. It might make sense to make this connection to compare it to when we are around happy people the feeling we come away with is that sense we are lifted as well so why not depressed too?  Lately I have found that when I encounter an individual with a deep sadness or a chronic depression that I come away feeling that my soul is sick as well. 

Depression can be like a spider’s web we can’t free ourselves from when we have no weapons to fight it off. I can usually shake these feelings off but when the anxiety can’t be named it has a sense of foreboding I can only describe it as free floating. It takes creativity to ward off these evil spirits with positive self-talk by taking inventory of what I am grateful for.  When I can name what I am ‘down’ about it seems easier to extricate myself from the malaise. I’m able to wrap my brain around something tangible something I can rationalize. When the words remain hidden I need to conjure up my own incantation to ward off my fear. The false evidence appearing real whether it’s someone else’s or mine needs to be banished by the things we are grateful for. That might not necessarily have us leaping for joy but it can usually counter balance any feelings of despair and loneliness.  

Energy Vampires stay away!