Depression Stole 13 Years of My Life… Here’s How I Overcame It

By Julia Nguyen / Contributor 

Although approximately 264 million people in the world suffer from depression, it is still a health problem that is swept under the rug rather than faced head-on. If someone is suffering from a physical illness like diabetes or hypertension, then it is deemed worthy of treatment. Depression, being an illness that impacts the brain and is, therefore, an unseen illness, is something that many choose to disregard as a legitimate issue, a problem that plagues both those who need treatment and those who interact with the afflicted. 

What Exactly Is Depression? My Story

Despite many of the misconceptions surrounding depression about it being “all in our heads”, it’s far more pervasive than that. It transcends the basic feeling of unhappiness. It is a deep sadness lasting days, months, or even years. Those who have never suffered can’t quite grasp the concept. They believe it’s as easy as brushing the feeling off and moving on, not realizing that this disease is much more complex than it seems. 

Depression is beyond sadness, it’s the sense that there is no hope and that there never will be. Endless nights spent crying and falling asleep to numb the pain, just to wake up again and repeat the vicious cycle over again. It is a perpetual downward spiral, the terrible mental web wrapping you in its cocoon, tightening its grip every day, leaving no room for you to breathe.  

It’s debilitating pain that grounds you in an endless cycle of darkness. 

It’s waking up every morning, wanting to go back to bed because you just can’t stand the pain. 

It’s being around people and feeling a sense of isolation that says you don’t belong, regardless of who you surround yourself with. 

It’s looking at the world through sorrowful eyes, only seeing the darkness, a heavy cloud that weighs you down and never lifts. 

It’s pretending to be happy and hiding away your pain while you secretly wish to leave the physical world behind. 

That was my reality for over 13 years. Depression took away my capacity to enjoy life, causing me to slowly lose my ability to maintain my everyday activities and taking away any chance of happiness in the process. The opportunity for happiness always felt like it was near, but as soon as I reached my hands out, I could feel the happiness slip through my fingers as I remained stagnant in the depression. The few moments of happiness I had experienced were fleeting and I somehow always ended up back in my depressive episode. 

After a while, it seemed as though being depressed was easier. It had a magnetizing appeal to it. Most days, it was a deep melancholy that I begged for release from, eventually transforming itself into complete numbness. Depression had a strong hold on me, and although I wanted to escape it, in some way, it kept me safe, hidden away from the world. 

I would like to blame a specific event that led to my depression, but the depression that I was experiencing was the result of a culmination of events. I had extremely low-self-esteem and was constantly criticizing myself every day. I was disconnected from myself and those around me, often isolating myself from the world. At the crux of my depression, there was unprocessed trauma from the past that I never dealt with. I didn’t understand it at the time, but in retrospect, I can see how it manifested into full-blown depression. Depression isn’t something that just happens. It builds over time, finally escalating to a peak where everything begins to fall down and misery sets in. However, it is at this height that I found the ability to climb even further. 

The Miraculous Call for Change

At the peak of my depressive episode, I finally saw a glimpse of hope. Something about it sparked a light in my mind. 

“Why am I depressed and how can I get better? Life has to be much more than just suffering.” 

This question remained in my mind. In fact, it was so impactful that I began my personal quest for answers and meaning in my depression.  

This spark was the key to change for me. I soon began a self-discovery journey which led me to overcome the depression that kept me frozen in time for so long. I slowly regained my power, no longer a victim to this monster called depression. My self-development journey involved uncovering my trauma and beliefs that kept me trapped for so long. It helped me realize that I no longer had to be a victim. The depression forced me to look within, to uncover the depths of who I was and the reason for my pain. 

Uncovering the pain meant that I had to face the trauma I experienced when I was a child and any unhealed parts of me that I had obtained over the years. Years of silent suffering and suppressed emotions finally surfaced as I peeled back the layers. I faced the feelings I avoided for many years: the guilt, the shame, the feeling of not being good enough. I began to cultivate a sense of awareness and understanding of what led me to experience my depressive episode. 

This journey has led me to where I am today, healed and finally free from the grips of depression. Through meditation and reading a myriad of self-development books, I finally understood the silver lining to my depression. I didn’t have to let it take hold of me. Instead, I took back control. I’ve learned to love myself and accept myself. I’ve learned to be kind to myself. I’ve learned that it’s okay to be sad and that it will all pass eventually. I’m happy to say that sadness is no longer my default, that most days are brighter than others, and that, through my pain, I’ve learned so much. 

Although I felt like depression robbed me of most of my life, I’ve come to learn that there was a reason for my pain. The experience taught me more about who I am and how to heal my pain so that I can help other people heal their own. 

Transforming My Pain Into Change: My Experience (and Work) With RTT

Like Rumi said, “The wound is where the light enters you.” If it wasn’t for the depression, I wouldn’t have learned everything that I know now. I wouldn’t have discovered that life has so much beauty in it, waiting to be embraced. 

That is why I decided to become a therapist, to help people realize that there is so much more to life than suffering and subduing to the voice of the ego. You don’t have to be a victim of your thoughts. You can transcend those thoughts if you give yourself a fighting chance. 

That’s when I found Rapid Transformational Therapy (RTT), a hybrid therapy that included hypnotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and parts therapy. RTT is one of the most powerful methods I’ve ever encountered, and I was amazed at how incredibly deep and effective it is. RTT helped me dive deeper into the recesses of my mind, uncovering deeply rooted beliefs that were formed when I was much younger. I felt how powerful the therapy was and I knew I had found my calling, that RTT could be the answer to solving many people’s problems. 

With RTT, we can access the events we have endured that led us to this deeply ingrained belief through hypnosis and regression. We review these memories and tie them together to understand how these memories formed a belief. Then the client is able to experience clarity on how they developed their negative beliefs, this revelation leads to an understanding that is enough to cause a shift in their perspective, that they are no longer a helpless child or victim.

RTT is healing in its ability to help shift a client’s perception rapidly and free them from the hold of the past. The client is involved with the therapist in systematically uncovering the meaning and interpretation of events and then changing them. This leads to permanent powerful change because RTT enables the mind to tell the body what to do (such as work on achieving health, turn fear into excitement, becoming indifferent to junk food, cigarettes, or even alcohol). It can tell the body how to react and how to feel and it can alter and improve the messages the body sends to the mind.

One of my greatest successes with RTT is helping someone overcome their depression and addiction to marijuana. One patient, Sarah, came to me because she was struggling with an addiction to pot and was also suffering from depression at the time. She was able to quit momentarily before, but somehow. the addiction would always come back. When we did the RTT session, Sarah discovered that she felt unimportant, powerless, and not good enough. Through RTT, we figured out why she was depressed and why she used marijuana as a crutch to feel better. She had a deep-rooted belief that she was not good enough and reality was a struggle for her to face. She used marijuana to help cover up the feelings of not being good enough because the pain of this belief was unbearable. Once she was able to connect the dots and figure out what led to these beliefs, Sarah was able to completely free herself from the depression and her addiction to marijuana.  

Although depression and similar addictions and mental illnesses can leave you feeling trapped, I have experienced firsthand what the right kind of therapy can do for your life and your mindset. Through my work, I have been lucky to have been able to help countless people overcome their challenges. If you are also struggling with depression or anxiety, feel free to reach out to me for a 30-minute consultation call to see how I can help you change your own life today Click here

Check out my website: Thedreamlifefoundation.com

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