I wanted to share this video from Matthew Hussey with you because I think it delivers an important message that I repeat to my clients all the time: there is hope in one good hour! I also share with you how to re-create more good hours so you can get better in the long term.

The key messages from Matthew Hussey

A few points Matthew covers in the video:

• difference between feeling depressed and suffering from chronic depression
• comparision between chronic emotional plain and chronic physical pain and how to handle them
• chemical imbalance doesn’t mean there is nothing that we can do about it

What I love about this video is when Matthew Hussey explains what chronic emotional plain and chronic physical pain have in commun. He describes how the level of pain modulates during the day. It is not always the same level of pain. So if the pain level changes, we can focus on the better hours and try to look at ways to make more of these better hours in the space of one day.

How to create more better hours

Let’s pay attention to these better hours. What happened during this time that made me feel better?

• Did I exercise?
• Did I speak to someone I loved?
• Did I think about something in the future that I am really excited about?
• Did I spend time on a project that means a lot to me?
• Did I do something for myself?
• Did I do something to help someone else?

Let’s observe what makes us feel better and do more of these things so help oursleves feel better, even if this only slightly. The more we do these things, the better we feel, starting an upward spiral of wellbeing.

Identifying with depression

In the video Matthew talks about people who identify with being depression: “depression is who I am”.

This really touched me because this is a label that doctors tried to put on me when I had recurrign severe depression. However I think it is important to detach ourselves from this label.

I knew depression wasn’t all I was because I had entire years where I was not depressed in between severe depression episodes. This is why I rejected this label and started my journey of seeking how to overcome depression on my own.

So if you do identify with depression my message to you is: please don’t. You are so much more than depression. Depression is a medical condition that you can recover from if you want it hard enough and are ready to do the work.

Further resources

I attended the Matthew Hussey Retreat twice and learned so much from it. This is where I discovered so many of the tools I am using everyday, such as stress management, conflict management and looking at things differently (reframing).

Matthew is a wise man and I would highly recommend following him if you don’t already! Here’s where to find him: https://www.howtogettheguy.com/blog/

If you want to read more on how to overcome depression for good, click here.

Try the advice from Matthew Hussey and let me know how you get on

Have you tried following Matthew’s advice? Did it work well for you? I’d love to hear your stories. Let me know in the comments.

And remember, happiness is a choice, and you are in charge!