I will outline attitudinal difference between acknowledging and accepting depression.
Acknowledging means that you are fully aware of your negative mental state and have the choice of finding ways to deal with it. This also means that you are not in denial. Those who have not acknowledged their state of mind and emotions caused by depression do not have a choice but suffer.
Acknowledging also means that you now reached the point where you can embark on the depression road to make life better. You can seek more information about your particular version of depression, find the right medication, and engage with a therapist.
Acknowledging also means that you can start self-observation, self-examination, and self-awareness practices. There are a lot of resources out there. My advice would to be read some and identify a few sources that really resonates with you (like it is your style) so that you can put reading into practice.
The most important thing is to get on the road and do something about depression.
Now the accepting!
While it takes a level of acceptance to deal with depression, I need to warn about too much of it. Below are some of the common effects I've seen which are detrimental to managing or eradicating depression.
Helplessness
When someone accepts their depression as an unchangeable condition, the constant reminder of this status can turn into a perpetuating and self-fulfilling phenomena to get even deeper into depression. The helpless state then causes a lack of inclination to reach out and practice self-care.
Making Depression an Excuse
Too much acceptance also can cause people to rationalize their lack of productivity, mood, motivation, and so forth. The danger here is that people will stop trying to push themselves moving forward because they are down.
Making Depression bigger than it actually is
Formal or informal diagnosis of depression can blow things out of proportion. Some people with mild depression could develop a larger problem simply by knowing that they have a mental health condition. Hypochondriacs are especially prone to this. Also, kids who are diagnosed too early could worry more, feel different/weird, and ultimately develop incorrect self-concept and mental coping mechanisms.
There are a lot of other things that could be said but I hope this short post gives an idea why your attitude must be acknowledgement (as in not denial) but not acceptance (in a sense that nothing can be done about it).
Acknowledging means that you are fully aware of your negative mental state and have the choice of finding ways to deal with it. This also means that you are not in denial. Those who have not acknowledged their state of mind and emotions caused by depression do not have a choice but suffer.
Acknowledging also means that you now reached the point where you can embark on the depression road to make life better. You can seek more information about your particular version of depression, find the right medication, and engage with a therapist.
Acknowledging also means that you can start self-observation, self-examination, and self-awareness practices. There are a lot of resources out there. My advice would to be read some and identify a few sources that really resonates with you (like it is your style) so that you can put reading into practice.
The most important thing is to get on the road and do something about depression.
Now the accepting!
While it takes a level of acceptance to deal with depression, I need to warn about too much of it. Below are some of the common effects I've seen which are detrimental to managing or eradicating depression.
Helplessness
When someone accepts their depression as an unchangeable condition, the constant reminder of this status can turn into a perpetuating and self-fulfilling phenomena to get even deeper into depression. The helpless state then causes a lack of inclination to reach out and practice self-care.
Making Depression an Excuse
Too much acceptance also can cause people to rationalize their lack of productivity, mood, motivation, and so forth. The danger here is that people will stop trying to push themselves moving forward because they are down.
Making Depression bigger than it actually is
Formal or informal diagnosis of depression can blow things out of proportion. Some people with mild depression could develop a larger problem simply by knowing that they have a mental health condition. Hypochondriacs are especially prone to this. Also, kids who are diagnosed too early could worry more, feel different/weird, and ultimately develop incorrect self-concept and mental coping mechanisms.
There are a lot of other things that could be said but I hope this short post gives an idea why your attitude must be acknowledgement (as in not denial) but not acceptance (in a sense that nothing can be done about it).
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