{"id":24848,"date":"2014-03-10T21:36:23","date_gmt":"2014-03-11T05:36:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=24848"},"modified":"2014-03-10T21:36:23","modified_gmt":"2014-03-11T05:36:23","slug":"how-meditation-can-help-cope-with-depression-and-addiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-meditation-can-help-cope-with-depression-and-addiction\/","title":{"rendered":"How Meditation Can Help Cope With Depression And Addiction"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

<\/p>\n

Meditation has changed my life. Some people start meditating for self-development; others see it as a way to relax.\u00a0 For me, it was my state of mind which pushed me to start the practice: I was suffering from panic attacks and depression.<\/p>\n

When I started out I really had no idea how meditation worked, and I didn\u2019t think that it would have such a profound impact on me.\u00a0At first, I saw it solely as a relaxation technique.\u00a0I thought that when I started to meditate, positive emotions and peace would appear of their own accord and my depression would pass.<\/p>\n

But it didn\u2019t turn out like that.\u00a0Over time I came to realise that meditation isn\u2019t simply a relaxation technique or \u2018benign antidepressant\u2019 \u2013 it is much more than that, and my attempt to use it to cope with depression and panic attacks ultimately gave me results that I never imagined.<\/p>\n

\"meditation_depression_addictions\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I will refer to my own experience, but I believe that this experience is universal and can therefore be applied to anyone with similar problems.<\/p>\n

Depression<\/h1>\n

I used to believe that depression was some kind of curse by which I had been struck. I would think, \u2018I\u2019m a normal, intelligent guy. I don\u2019t know why I\u2019m suffering; I don\u2019t deserve this.\u2019<\/p>\n

I had absolutely no idea why I had depression, and therefore I didn\u2019t know how to combat it. I didn\u2019t want to take antidepressants, and so, at the advice of a friend, I started to practice meditation.<\/p>\n

Meditation gave me the opportunity to have a look at myself, my thoughts and my emotions extrinsically \u2013 because meditation is observation!\u00a0Observing your emotions without becoming involved in them!\u00a0 All my shortcomings and weaknesses were laid bare before me!\u00a0I can\u2019t say that this was a completely painless experience, for I began to see that I wasn\u2019t as great and clever as I thought.<\/p>\n

And, most importantly, I began to understand the link between my character traits, my emotional habits and my depression.\u00a0I realized that depression isn\u2019t a curse.\u00a0It is telling me that something within is out of whack \u2013 in the same way that physical pain signals the body isn\u2019t working properly.<\/p>\n

And it hadn\u2019t come from nowhere!\u00a0I was very emotional, sensitive, vulnerable, touchy, lazy, shy, egotistical and withdrawn. My depression had grown from these characteristics! \u00a0I realized that in order to escape it, I myself must change.\u00a0Meditation offered me the chance to do this!\u00a0 I realized that my thoughts and emotions were not me<\/i>, and therefore I could control them.<\/p>\n

This can apply to anyone! You are not your emotions!\u00a0The practice will help you get to know yourself more deeply and give you insight into the reasons for your problems.<\/p>\n

Panic attacks<\/h1>\n

Panic attacks are sudden bouts of panic accompanied by increased heart rate, shallow breathing, feelings of fear and intrusive thoughts. All in all, they are very unpleasant.<\/p>\n

Meditation taught me not to identify myself with my fear. I stopped thinking of it as part of me. Yes, it will appear, but why should I succumb to it?\u00a0It is nothing more than my body\u2019s response to an adrenaline rush, which is what happens during a panic attack. Why should I fear the fear?<\/p>\n

On one occasion I tried to observe the sense of fear, to see how it developed.\u00a0 I observed it along with my emotions during meditation, without associating myself with them. I realized that there is nothing to fear in them; after all, I can\u2019t die or lose my mind because of fear!<\/p>\n

I became interested in what would happen if I tried to increase the sense of fear.\u00a0I wouldn\u2019t fight it, like I normally did; I wouldn\u2019t think, \u2018I\u2019m going to die, I\u2019m losing my mind, my heart\u2019s going to stop\u2019.\u00a0I would try to fully absorb myself in thinking, \u2018what happens, happens\u2019.<\/p>\n

At first the fear actually did increase, but I continued to monitor it and wasn\u2019t afraid.\u00a0And the panic attack passed!\u00a0I realized that I could control everything, and it is meditation that taught me this.<\/p>\n

Thanks to this, I stopped being afraid of the panic attacks, and they passed.<\/p>\n

Meditation teaches you to observe your emotions and thoughts. It teaches you to accept everything that is happening to you and not fight it. If you learn to accept, your fear will disappear.<\/p>\n

Smoking<\/h1>\n

My mind used to always be wondering, jumping from subject to subject, never giving my brain a rest.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t notice that my mind had this habit; or rather, I didn\u2019t see it as a problem.\u00a0Meditation gave my consciousness the chance to settle down, stay in one place, relax\u2026<\/p>\n

I realized just how much this strong internal anxiety was determining all my behavior and habits.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t be by myself for any length of time because I became bored. And so to escape the boredom, I would browse the internet, play computer games, drink and smoke\u2026<\/p>\n

I realized that my dependency on cigarettes was not just due to a physical addiction to nicotine, but my psychological need to constantly be twiddling something between my fingers, to stimulate the pleasure centers in my brain, soothing my troubled psyche\u2026<\/p>\n

And if I never got rid of this need, I would never be able to give up smoking!\u00a0It was as plain as day.<\/p>\n

Meditation calms the nervous system, making you more relaxed.\u00a0It is time a person spends alone with themselves. Therefore they learn how to overcome their fear of loneliness, of quiet, of boredom. These are some of the fears that propel people towards all kinds of harmful pursuits.<\/p>\n

Meditation helps to remove the psychological preconditions of any addiction \u2013 loneliness, boredom, anxiety, nervousness, self-doubt, etc.\u00a0So why do you smoke (if indeed you do)?\u00a0Think hard about what\u2019s stopping you from giving up.<\/p>\n

Alcohol<\/h1>\n

As I\u2019ve written above, I drank and smoked out of boredom.\u00a0 I would drink alcohol in total excess.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll add one more thing that has allowed me to easily part ways with my harmful habits:\u00a0 meditation has given me a feeling of happiness and self-sufficiency; I almost always feel good, so I don\u2019t need to use alcohol to make myself feel better.<\/p>\n

In whatever way people justify their use of alcohol, the fact is that they drink or take drugs because they need them!\u00a0They need them to be cheerful, to deal with stress, to block out their fears, to suppress unwelcome emotions, to forget.<\/p>\n

But if people had an effective way of dealing with their stress and fears, one which let them be happy and upbeat and wasn\u2019t harmful or addictive, why would they need anything else?<\/p>\n

Nowadays I never use alcohol or nicotine.\u00a0 I also virtually never drink caffeine.\u00a0\u00a0I\u2019m happy to spend time by myself, and I\u2019m always in a state of comfort and joy \u2013 so why would I drink?<\/p>\n

You will stop drinking and smoking only when you stop needing to!\u00a0When you can find the source of joy and peace within yourself! Meditation may be the way to access this source!<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h1>\n

Meditation has helped me not just in my battle with harmful habits and depression, but also to increase my willpower, improve my intellect and physical health, and become more sociable and confident.\u00a0It has helped me gain insight into myself, and into my relationships with friends and life.\u00a0 Thanks to this practice, I\u2019ve got rid of my shortcomings and weaknesses (of which I had very, very many).<\/p>\n

Meditation isn\u2019t just a relaxation technique, like many people think.\u00a0It is an effective instrument for self-knowledge and self-control; an instrument with whose help you can change your identity and become the kind of person you want to be!<\/p>\n

My name is Nikolay Perov. I am an author of the blog Nperov.com – Personal Developmen Step by Step<\/a>. I write about coping with personal problems like depression, anxiety, bad habits, and developing your personal skills. Many of articles on my site are devoted to meditation. Meditation has changed my life and I want to share this experience with you!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meditation has changed my life. Some people start meditating for self-development; others see it as a way to relax. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12163,"featured_media":24891,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[32,210,21,6],"tags":[53,3561,3562,4642,4654,66,4629,2038,1419],"yoast_head":"\nHow Meditation Can Help Cope With Depression And Addiction - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In this post I will talk about the ways in which meditation can help you cope with depression, panic attacks, and alcohol and cigarette addictions.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-meditation-can-help-cope-with-depression-and-addiction\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Meditation Can Help Cope With Depression And Addiction - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In this post I will talk about the ways in which meditation can help you cope with depression, panic attacks, and alcohol and cigarette addictions.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-meditation-can-help-cope-with-depression-and-addiction\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-03-11T05:36:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/meditation-depression.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"303\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pickthebrain\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erin Falconer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-meditation-can-help-cope-with-depression-and-addiction\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/meditation-depression.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/meditation-depression.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":303,\"caption\":\"surviving depression\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-meditation-can-help-cope-with-depression-and-addiction\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-meditation-can-help-cope-with-depression-and-addiction\/\",\"name\":\"How Meditation Can Help Cope With Depression And Addiction - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-meditation-can-help-cope-with-depression-and-addiction\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-03-11T05:36:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-03-11T05:36:23+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5\"},\"description\":\"In this post I will talk about the ways in which meditation can help you cope with depression, panic attacks, and alcohol and cigarette addictions.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-meditation-can-help-cope-with-depression-and-addiction\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-meditation-can-help-cope-with-depression-and-addiction\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-meditation-can-help-cope-with-depression-and-addiction\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How Meditation Can Help Cope With Depression And Addiction\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5\",\"name\":\"Erin Falconer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Erin Falconer\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/erin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Meditation Can Help Cope With Depression And Addiction - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","description":"In this post I will talk about the ways in which meditation can help you cope with depression, panic attacks, and alcohol and cigarette addictions.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-meditation-can-help-cope-with-depression-and-addiction\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Meditation Can Help Cope With Depression And Addiction - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","og_description":"In this post I will talk about the ways in which meditation can help you cope with depression, panic attacks, and alcohol and cigarette addictions.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-meditation-can-help-cope-with-depression-and-addiction\/","og_site_name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","article_publisher":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pickthebrain","article_published_time":"2014-03-11T05:36:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":500,"height":303,"url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/meditation-depression.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary","twitter_creator":"@pickthebrain","twitter_site":"@pickthebrain","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Erin Falconer","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/","name":"Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-meditation-can-help-cope-with-depression-and-addiction\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/meditation-depression.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/meditation-depression.png","width":500,"height":303,"caption":"surviving depression"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-meditation-can-help-cope-with-depression-and-addiction\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-meditation-can-help-cope-with-depression-and-addiction\/","name":"How Meditation Can Help Cope With Depression And Addiction - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-meditation-can-help-cope-with-depression-and-addiction\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2014-03-11T05:36:23+00:00","dateModified":"2014-03-11T05:36:23+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5"},"description":"In this post I will talk about the ways in which meditation can help you cope with depression, panic attacks, and alcohol and cigarette addictions.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-meditation-can-help-cope-with-depression-and-addiction\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-meditation-can-help-cope-with-depression-and-addiction\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/how-meditation-can-help-cope-with-depression-and-addiction\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How Meditation Can Help Cope With Depression And Addiction"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2da8ae162c097bdb749ab098472b4cc5","name":"Erin Falconer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1173c63284b173ff225e5f87a1af5028?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Erin Falconer"},"url":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/author\/erin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24848"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24891"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}