No Shortcuts to Healing

I was reading this article last night, and I found it to be true.
There Is No Simple Solution for Depression

In it, Therese talks about how she went through so many “cures” in dealing with her depression, and that none of them really cured much of anything; some even made her worse. She makes the point that there is no one simple thing you can do to cure depression. It requires more than that.

As I read it I was reminded of all the headlines we read online these days. Numerous medical studies reach reasonable conclusions, but are often sensationalized by headline writers. So when a study shows that some people seem to deal with depression a little better by doing yoga, eating better, exercising, etc., suddenly there is a rash of headlines about how that is the “secret to overcoming depression and anxiety!”

Maybe not. Perhaps we can pause to consider that, in reality, the study suggests that exercising, changing your diet, or any other measures may offer some benefits, but they aren’t the key to overcoming depression. Depression is a complex thing that occurs inside the most complex organ in the body. First, we only scratch the surface to understand how it works. Depression is also something that manifests itself and is caused by different things in different people. To say that there is a simple “fix” is ridiculous. But there are readers to attract, so I doubt we’ll see less sensational headlines soon.

The same can be said for healing from childhood abuse or any trauma. I’ve known one thing to work wonders with one person, and the same thing does more damage than good to another. Because their trauma isn’t the same, and their brains are not handling trauma the same way. We don’t know why, necessarily, but it’s clear that people are very different in the ways that trauma affects them; trying to treat them all the same way, with the same “cure”, doesn’t work.

Sure, there are some things you can do that will generally help you feel better about yourself. Taking care of yourself physically is good and makes you feel better about yourself. But it’s not going to cure mental illness or PTSD any more than doing those things would somehow prevent them. As Therese points out, nothing worth having comes easy. If it were that easy, we wouldn’t have the epidemic of depression and anxiety that we do.

So, as a survivor, understand that there are no shortcuts and no right way to heal. Don’t expect a quick recovery from something that has impacted your entire life up until now. As I always say, we didn’t get to this point overnight, and we won’t heal overnight either. It’s work.

On the other hand, know that you can heal. Starting down that path may be one of the hardest things you’ve done, but it will be worth it. Nothing worth having comes easy, but since you’ve survived the trauma, you will survive the healing work, too.