If depression is the emotional expression of the immobilization response, then the solution is to move out of that state of defense. Porges believes it is not enough to simply remove the threat. Rather, the nervous system has to detect robust signals of safety to bring the social state back online. The best way to do that? Social connection.
For people who don’t prefer social connection, I’ve seen that exercise works well
Edit: just want to highlight that polyvagal theory, the main point behind this article, is unsubstantiated thus far
All my and my wifes depression come from problems that we cannot really solve. I mean when there is a source of depression I don’t really see a solution until the source is rectified. If your depressed because your homeless and living on the streets talking with people will not get rid of it.
I spent quite a while paying for therapy to overcome depression.
Problem was that my depression was basically just caused by poverty: Too poor to afford healthy food, a car, a living situation that didn’t include unstable abusive narcissists causing me stress, lack of sleep, constantly guilt tripping me for things I had no control over, shaming me for enjoying anything they didn’t approve of, telling me I have mental issues.
So … what I need is money, a fresh start, a new living sitch… and I am paying a bunch of money for my therapist to also become depressed at my situation and just give me the same CBT exercises I already know.
Why did I pay for all those sessions?
Oh right, my roommates were gaslighting me.
I am currently extremely not depressed now that I am finally faaaaar away from them.
Literally the reason why I don’t bother. What’s the point to feel content that my father is a disappointment or that I feel like one dispite the fact i felt I made all the right choices in life. No spending that cash on therapy is not going to make all the issues go away. It will just make me feel like it’s acceptable? F that. My problems wouldn’t be an issue if I had more money.
I just had the same experience with therapy and psychiatry. Even Zoloft does nothing, it might dull it slightly but it doesn’t fix the problems underlying my depression.
I make $77,000 a year, and I’m living the same as a person making minimum wage in the 70s.
I have a side job too, and I’m still struggling to just feed myself and pay rent. I don’t know how people working serving and retail jobs are even affording to live inside.
There is absolutely a difference between situational acute depression and generalized chronic depression — and they require different approaches
I suppose the response to that would be that the social interactions which makes you anxious are unhealthy social interactions, And that, instead, you should be having social interactions that don’t cause anxiety for you.
Of course, without knowing more, that’s just speculation.
Depression has many causes:
- For once, people work too much. It exhausts the body and we feel tired.
- For two, there’s the meaninglessness of life. It’s difficult to stay motivated when nothing makes sense/there is no future.
- Thirdly, positive sexual experiences strongly cure depression. Since the dating market is largely fucked (no pun intended), well that option doesn’t exist to large parts of the population.
- Fourtly we’re socialized to hide depression. As everybody knows, the first step to solve a problem is to recognize it exists. Stigmatization of depression has held back effective treatment for way too long.
Fourtly we’re socialized to hide depression. As everybody knows, the first step to solve a problem is to recognize it exists. Stigmatization of depression has held back effective treatment for way too long.
“Hey, how’s it going?”
“Good, you?”
Honesty about our emotional state (with people who aren’t trusted friends / partners) is programmed out of us by social norms.
Porges believes
This is an interesting article and yet you’ve chosen to quote the most speculative unscientific part of it from the final paragraph.
“Have you tried going outside” is not a scientific cure for depression.
That’s not what it’s saying at all, it’s talking about immobilization as a survival strategy as induced by the body’s neurophysiology, think of it as another option after flight vs fight responses.
Here’s the report mentioned in the article https://explore.bps.org.uk/content/report-guideline/bpsrep.2020.rep133
Edit looking closely, the report itself doesn’t mention anything about the immobilization defense.
Edit2 so on further review, I agree that this article is low quality. Apologies, was just browsing while half asleep and thought it was interesting
Polyvagal theory itself does not seem promising so far. Oh well, editing this post to highlight that…
Overworked is my depression.
I once was a recluse I didn’t go out for months at a time. Most mentally lucid and healthy I’ve felt.
When people are told that depression is an aberration, we are telling them that they are not part of the tribe. They are not right, they don’t belong. That’s when their shame deepens and they avoid social connection.
And that’s not the only reason people are made to feel they’re not part of the tribe, that they don’t belong. There are many things in this modern (post modern?) world that cause us to become alienated from other people, even and especially those in our own community. The nature of community itself has changed. Many relationships and social institutions feel more tenuous or impermanent.
It’s a vicious cycle: people feel alienated from others, it causes them stress, the stress causes anxiety, that leads to the immobilization response and depression, the effects of the anxiety and depression cause people to become further alienated from others, and the process accelerates and perpetuates.
