Uses of Buddhism for Depression

by Jon

(Washington, DC)

I’m a 55 year old man with bi-polar disorder since my teens. The manic side is easily treatable with meds; the depression, not so much. That is not say I don’t benefit a lot from meds and Wellbutrin helps a lot but the depressive tendency is still there. Buddhism has helped me deal with the residual depression. My entrance was via the Theravada tradition but I don’t think it much matters. Here’s my take away:

1. I used to equate depressive suffering with bad mental health and considered it a symptom, a pathology. Not any more, or at least I don’t see it only that way. Now I see depressive suffering as a “noble truth” — as a facet of a large part of what it is to be alive. We humans are never far from at least some dissatisfaction, and we all suffer illness, aging, loss, and death. The depression isn’t who we are. It is something that happens, something that we can step back from and look at.

2. For me, depression comes with a feeling part and an interior monologue part: to be depressed is to be looking for (and finding) the cause of the depression. This leads to obsessive retelling of old stories about how things came to be this way. But through meditation I learned to shut off the discursive inner voice and think only about the physical pain. At first I was astonished how much physical pain there was. I’d been ignoring the pain because I’d been wrapped up in the monologue. But by focusing wordlessly on the bodily pain (and the breath) I could locate the pain in various parts of the body and watch it change and gradually subside. The effect didn’t last long at first but it was amazingly empowering to have even that much control over the depression. With time I’ve gotten better at it, more “skillful” as the Buddhists say. Of course this skill rides on the shoulders of chemical intervention, and I doubt depression can be mastered by mindfulness alone, but it is a terrific tool to have in one’s emotional toolbox.

3. Also, I get a massage every few weeks. Sometimes one just needs a spot of uncomplicated pleasure. I try to stay totally focused on the touch sensation and not drift. This is pretty easy because the touch is interesting and pleasurable. It is also an easy way to practice present-mindedness, and like any skill the more you practice it the easier it gets. So massage is sort of like meditation with training wheels. In that way it is like yoga (which is also well worth doing) because it keeps you in the here and now.

4. Once the depression is under control you can think about your life with a clarity that is impossible when you’re under its spell. I don’t buy the whole Buddhist line but this much I do believe: we are the heirs of our actions, and who we are in the future will inherit what we do and don’t do today. Little by little it is possible to build a happier life.