Retreating to our mental closet

I have a friend who says he goes in his (mental) closet when he has a really bad day with depression. He seeks a quiet place in his home where he can be alone and where he does not have to interact with others for awhile. Here in his “closet”, he can do some reading, or his writings, or just sit and think and analyze and try to work out some solutions to what is bothering him, so that he can come to accept his thoughts and emotions. He says that time seems to be the real cure and then he can go forward again.

My "mental closet"

A friend and I share with each other our ups and downs of depression. We compare notes and analyze; we try to help lift each other; and we certainly try to be there for each other and be supportive and encouraging.

We have both come to the conclusion that when we have our down depression times that we apparently go off to our own mind place for awhile to work things out. We get mentally away from what is troubling us and causing our depression at the time. We even, upon necessity, get away (sort of) from people for a short while, also. After a while we are able to realize that things are not as bad as they seem at the time. At that point we can handle our self and those troublesome problems.

We have lovingly called this mental away place....our “mental closet”. Here in our mental closet we take the time necessary to sort out and work out the things that have sent us into our depression. It could be family problems, it could be high expectations we place on our self, it could be disappointments, fears, frustrations, and overwhelmed about something.

Our mental closet is a time-out place (a room in our home, a nice quiet park, a drive in our car, etc) where we can digest and comprehend and learn about and express our self. It is a place to fully get a hold of our emotions, and a time to gather our self and define our thoughts.

I am NOT talking about deserting our families. But with their love, compassion, understanding and support, they will allow us the short time we need to work through our difficult times and then come back refreshed, being our old selves, and feeling like we can handle things again.