Tonys Newsletter

Depression is nature’s way of pushing you out of your comfort zone

Lara Honos-Webb

Every time you are faced with a fear, realize that each time you act small because of fear – you are moving toward depression. Each time you act big in spite of fear – you are moving into a new stratosphere.Think of all the people who are stopped by fear. When you push through fear you have separated yourself from them. You will become a new creature, a different creature, a better creature, a more highly skilled creature, a more resilient creature.If you take small risks you are like the pioneers, forging new ground – expanding the world as it is currently known.If you take large risks or consistently take small risks you are like an astronaut, going where few have ever gone before, where almost every aspect of your experience, you will be discovering for the first time.If you want to heal your depression begin taking a few small risks. A small risk is one where really there is nothing to lose. You might feel rejected, or be embarrassed by taking a small risk but nothing essential is at stake. Maybe that means applying for a job or going back to school. That’s a good place to start.And when you do heal from depression, it won’t a healing into the land of the lotus eaters, where you feel comfortable, sated and satisfied. Depression is a call to breakthrough into a new life. You will heal from depression into a feeling of being uncomfortable. You will realize that enlightenment is being comfortable with imperfection, not the final attainment of perfection. You will heal from demanding perfection to being unworried about the messiness of your life.Depression will heal you from a job or career and propel you into a mission. Depression will heal you from being overly conciliatory in your relationships into a broader palette of angry, vulnerable and fearful expressions of your authentic and imperfect self.The shiny armored self is not the cure of depression it is the cause of depression.When you take the courage to reject this sanitized, white bread image of mental health, you will be on your way to healing from depression.

For more tips and tools about depression visit http://www.visionarysoul.com. Sign up for Dr. Lara Honos-Webb’s free newsletter at http://www.visionarysoul.com/newsletter.html.  Learn how to translate your pain into your purpose with individual sessions http://www.visionarysoul.com/sessions.html Dr. Lara Honos-Webb is a clinical psychologist and author of The Gift of ADHD and Listening to Depression: How Understanding Your Pain Can Heal Your Life which was selected by Health Magazine as one of the best books of 2006.

Lara Honos-Webb, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist licensed in California. She is author of The Gift of ADHD and Listening to Depression: How Understanding Your Pain Can Heal Your Life which was selected by Health Magazine as one of the best therapy books of 2006. The Gift of ADHD Activity Book: 101 Ways To Transform Problems into Strengths and The Gift of Adult ADD were released in 2008.  Her work has been featured in Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Tribune and Publisher’s Weekly, ivillage.com, msn.com, abcnews.com as well as newspapers across the country and local and national radio and television. Her books have over 125,000 copies in print. The American Psychiatric Association included the Gift of ADHD (2005) in its recommended reading list in their “ADHD Parents Medication Guide.” She specializes in the treatment of ADHD and depression and the psychology of pregnancy and motherhood; she speaks regularly on her areas of expertise. She hosts a popular podcast show, “The Sweet Spot.” Honos-Webb completed a two-year postdoctoral research fellowship at University of California, San Francisco, and has been an assistant professor teaching graduate students. She has published more than 25 scholarly articles.