​​​​Why Fighting Depression Naturally Makes You Depressed

Fighting depression is stressful, exhausting, and will leave you feeling more depressed.

So never think of depression as a big, bad, dangerous enemy that you have to fight, because this makes it harder for you to stop being depressed.

Instead, learn how to get rid of depression peacefully, without a fight.

Here’s why it’s important to do this.

Fighting depression every day is stressful

Treating depression as if it’s a powerful, evil villain that you have to beat is part of the Scary Approach To Depression. And fighting depression every day is nerve-racking and exhuasting.

Yes, it’s common to think about how terrible, devastating, and destructive depression is, and that you therefore have to fight it. But it’s not a good way to think about depression, since it will make you struggle more with depression.

Think about it: this view of depression naturally turns you into a nervous wreck, robs you of your peace of mind, makes you feel like you’re perpetually in “battle mode”, and therefore prevents you from truly resting.

The result of all this is that it leaves you feeling stressed, anxious, unhappy, and exhausted… And naturally more depressed. So it’s a terrible way to approach depression.

Seeing depression as powerful weakens you

It gets worse: the more you build depression up in your mind, as being some sort of a terrible, looming Godzilla monster that you always have to fight, the weaker and more helpless you feel in comparison.

After all, by focusing on how big, terrible, and mighty depression is, you’re not recognizing or appreciating how powerful and capable you are.

The result of this is that you have lower self esteem and self confidence, which also contributes to depression.

Furthermore, if you become convinced that depression is so powerful that you can’t ever beat it in your never-ending fight, this kills your energy and motivation to do things to stop being depressed, like improving your thinking and lifestyle.

The predictable result is that you remain depressed and stuck with a “monster” that you’ve built up in your mind.

Don’t fight depression: it’s not an enemy

Fortunately, it makes no sense whatsoever to think of depression as a dangerous enemy that you have to fight.

Instead, it makes way more sense to think of depression as a condition that alerts you to improvements you can make in your life.

For example, just like burning your hand on a hot stove alerts you to take your hand off the stove, experiencing depression alerts you that you can do things to stop being depressed, like improving your thinking and lifestyle.

This is completely true, if you think about it. After all, if you’re depressed, you are undoubtedly thinking in ways that contribute to depression (like thinking that depression is a very powerful, dangerous enemy).

So depression is alerting you to changes you can make in your thoughts and lifestyle, not threatening you. And this means you don’t have to fight it.

Fighting depression is like fighting a fire alarm

To understand just how misguided it is to waste your time fighting depression, imagine that you hear a fire alarm ringing in your house. Would it be smart to go fight the fire alarm and do battle with it?

Of course not! That would be ridiculous. Instead, it would be much smarter to put out the fire that caused the fire alarm to ring in the first place. Once you do that, the fire alarm will naturally stop ringing.

Depression is like the ringing fire alarm. Once you change things that make you depressed, like negative thoughts, your depression will stop “ringing” and naturally go away.

Once you appreciate that depression is like a ringing fire alarm, you don’t waste your time stressfully fighting it anymore. Instead, you are more calm and relaxed, and intelligently get rid of depression in a more peaceful way.

Stop fighting depression & start learning from it

You have just learned how to change your thinking from “Depression is an enemy that I have to fight” to “Depression is a condition that alerts me to opportunities for improvement in my life”.

By making this change in thinking, you natural enjoy greater peace of mind, confidence, and self esteem, especially since you appreciate that you can easily handle depression in a constructive way, without having to fight it at all.

Feeling better like this already helps you feel happier and less depressed… Which is exactly what you want in the first place!

Also, with this mentality, you don’t waste time identifying ways to fight depression. Instead, you naturally focus on doing things to improve your life and situation, which is what actually helps you stop being depressed.

The overall result is that you become and remain depression-free faster and easier, in a more peaceful, enjoyable way, without a fight or a struggle.


Next: Is It Wrong To Be Depressed? →


You are here:

Section 3 Lessons:

  1. Can you be depressed for no reason?
  2. How long does depression last?
  3. Why fighting depression naturally makes you depressed
  4. Is it wrong to be depressed?
  5. Is it my fault that I am depressed?
  6. How to stop being depressed and be happy

Next Section In The Depression-Free Course:

Section 4


About the author

Hi, I'm Dave Fonvielle, the founder of Always Greater. On this website I teach you step by step how to be happier and more successful achieving your goals, whether it's completing a small personal to do task, like doing the dishes, or a large business goal, like launching a new product. Get my free 3 Tiny Habits for Being Happier & More Successful training for all of this right here.