The most common conversations that we have around depression and anxiety revolve around scientific literature. We look at how anxiety and depression can be relieved or solved through pharmacological responses or cognitive-behavioral solutions.
This is all helpful and it’s all true, but sometimes that isn’t enough. Some people spend a lifetime on pharmacological products and still deal with symptoms of anxiety and depression. While some people go the route of ketamine infusions to get relief from treatment-resistant depression and anxiety, that is not the only option.
There is something to be said for hope and faith. How on earth can hope and faith have any effect whatsoever on depression and anxiety? Let’s talk about it.
The Hopefulness
A big part of any spiritual framework is a belief in something greater than yourself. That can help you maintain hope even on the longest of roads. When you have faith in something you believe that by holding onto it that it’s more than wishful thinking, positive change can and will come.
It’s important to expect that things will get better. If that isn’t present, what point is there to follow through? Life can be difficult, it can be challenging, and hope is key to getting through that relatively unscathed.
The Open-mindedness
When you are filled with hope you are more openminded to new and different ways of handling anxiety and depression. Sometimes, the people who need the most help are the people who have found traditional treatment partially or entirely ineffective.
So, what comes next? If you have tried CBT, you have tried medication, then what’s left? With the open-mindedness of hope ensures that you never give up. Hope fills you with the power to do everything possible to move away from depression and anxiety.
For some, that means more prayer. Prayer, like meditation, offers stress relief and helps us feel more in control of our lives. Prayer doesn’t have to be the traditional idea of prayer, it could also include journaling, meditation, sitting in peace and quiet, spending time in nature, or otherwise. While prayer isn’t always effective, it can help.
Positive Evolution
Spiritual practices, whether meditation or prayer, communing with nature, or with fellow believers in a service, may provide you with a boost in attitude and behavior. These positive boosts help you fight anxiety and depression. Prayer or meditation can help you recognize your emotional reactions more clearly thus preventing the typical knee-jerk reaction.
Sometimes the best thing you can do is accept the present and just do nothing, it’s a lesson that you can learn through the positive evolution that comes through hope, faith, and practice your spirituality.
The Change
When you look at your life through the lens of being a spiritual journey, then you no longer view problems as obstacles. Instead, you recognize problems as opportunities to learn and grow. You get the sense that, at any given moment, you are exactly where you are supposed to be.
I want to be clear; hope and faith won’t necessarily leave you jumping with joy as though no harm can befall you. It’s more about understanding that with difficulty comes growth and every setback is an opportunity.
Often, depression and anxiety stem from stress which comes from our inability to control everything. If you tend to react with disappointment, anger, sadness, or any other negative emotions, I want you to take it as an opportunity.
Take a step back and ask yourself what hope and faith can teach you at this moment and what opportunity may be uncovered by this problem or obstacle.
