SITUATION

Task

Think of an event that caused you to experience some of the symptoms of depression and fill in the boxes below with your own thoughts, feelings, physical reactions, and behaviour.

Sometimes it can be difficult to identify our thoughts. It may feel as though our heads are very ‘full’ and that there are no specific thoughts. Sometimes it can help to think; “If my mind was on a TV screen, what would other people see?” this might help you to notice what is on your mind.

Some people find that they have images in their mind rather than thoughts, therefore drawing an image about what is on your mind might also be helpful.

Your Feelings Your Behaviours

Your Thoughts Your Physical Reactions

Please spend the next 5 minutes watching the video below. This person describes his experience of depression, referring to it as a big black dog that follows him around. Notice that this video has been watched over 11 million times! Just type the link below into your web browser. Perhaps you may see some similarities in your experiences of depression.

www.bit.ly/I-had-a-black-dog

You may want to write down some of your thoughts and reflections from watching the video.