My Battle with Depression: A Series of Counselors

It is commonly accepted that a person seeking to learn a new subject must start at the most basic foundational points for that field of study and, as each is learned and mastered, then it is possible to use that to advance to the next higher level of study.


For example, people who become experts in higher mathematics must first start out learning to count numbers.  Next they will learn to add, subtract, multiply and divide.  From here they can starting learning simple algebra as preparation for advancing in the various areas of higher mathematical thinking.

It is the same with learning how to replace the life-long habit of negative self-defeating behaviors and attitudes with healthy ones.  A person must learn and master the basic skills, (the ones I didn’t get to learn while living in fear of being attacked by bullies), and then use those basic skills to master the next level of healthy mental and emotional development.

For each of these “new levels of learning” my circumstances also ended up with my having a new counselor.  There was also usually a passage of time between the end of what would be the end of one session of learning a new level and when I would realize the need for and feel ready to take on the next new level of personal growth.

When a person first learns a new life skill and feels good about their growth, I believe that it is normal for that person to want to believe that, just maybe, perhaps, they are where they need to be and that they just need to allow the process of using this new life skill to bring about the positive changes they desire.

I believe that it is not normal for a person seeking to learn to live with healthier attitudes and a healthier self-image to keep telling themselves that they are still broken and need more fixing.  I suppose it feels like learning to learn how to have a positive attitude and self-image.  You’re developing a new skill that will only improve over time.

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In sharing this part of my life, I am not seeking to promote myself as being better than anyone else.  I am simply seeking to use a part of my life to make the point that I am not better than you, I simply exercise my right to not stay stupid.

You have the ability to make the same decision.  You have the ability to decide that you are going to do whatever it takes to learn how to overcome just one more negative self-defeating behavior, and then another one after that.  It’s your life, take charge of it and learn how to live it so that you do not become someone else’s bully or continue to live as if you are their victim.

David W. Kemper, Author
© Copyright 2014 by David William Kemper.  All right reserved
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