There are plenty of theories out there on depression and plenty of ideas on solutions. Anything from... SMILE MORE to getting into the deep neurosis of your hidden sexual repressed fantasies about your mother. Every year, many people in Ireland and throughout the world, still committ suicide and still suffer terribly from Depression.

When I first trained with the Samaritans, I took issue with one particular thing that they taught. They advised that you would often ask the person have they contemplated suicide.. I was concerned that bringing up the thought might be hazardous to their health. I now realise however that CLIENTS are FAR LESS DELICATE than I had always been led to believe.

After working with more than 3000 people over the last 7 years one to one and even more in training sitautions, I have developed many understandings about clients of all degrees of problems. At a recent training with Frank Farrelly (mentioned later in thsi months newsletter), Frank (with 47 years worth of clinical experience with private clients and in mental hospitals) argues the very same point. In working with people, many therapists have learned to be very scared over what they do and don't do, what they say and don't say... often the question is who has more fear.. the phobic or their therapist.

Now, my theory of depression I am presently describing in a book I am writing on Suicide and Depression. I am writing it as something which I believe can connect with many people who are feeling suicidal. I believe that it can be groundbreaking.. my reasons are because of the success I have gained with such depressed clients.

My method of working with them involves using NLP, cognitive behavioural therapy, some Rogerian client centred work, some provocative therapy and some other methods I have found useful. My theory about why it works so well is the following.

It has often been said that DEPRESSION IS ANGER TURNED INWARDS.... Well my controversial contradiction of this is that often THE SOLUTION TO DEPRESSION CAN BE THIS VERY SAME ANGER. My method is based on getting people who are depressed to get angry about the situation of their lives and to bring that ANGER into ACTION which in turn becomes DETERMINATION which to me is the best opposite to DEPRESSION you can get. If you are Happy you can be depressed again... IF YOU ARE DETERMINED... you are moving in the right direction...

Depression becomes often a state of letargic self pity and disgust, where the client couldn't be bothered do anything because their is NO POINT. They find everything is 'On top of them' and 'pushing them down' (depressing). What I talk about people doing is grabbing themselves by the scruff of their neck and pulling themselves out.

We have choices. By angering the client in any way I can, I make the client aware of their situation and make them sick of pity. I get them to realise the situation is terrible... but not hopeless... I focus on getting them driven to Active Anger against what is happening... and create an immediate worse feeling attached to SUICIDE. They learn to see suicide as the most 'fucked up' (forgive my coarseness... those of you who have not been victim to my irreverant use of the English Language before) solution... and they see the only other one to fight it and REFUSE TO GIVE UP..

Some people will say, you fight depression, you lose... I say, it depends how... IF YOU REFUSE TO LIE DOWN AND GIVE IN... IF YOU TAKE CONSTANT ACTIVE STEPS AGAINST IT... IF YOU FIND THE 'ROCKY' part of you... I believe ANYONE AND EVERYONE CAN GET OVER IT.

But you don't understand, it's chemical... it's physical... it's real depression... it's genetic... it's a really messed up situation.. I hear some saying. My response to you is simply this. In terms of it being chemical... our brain chemistry is vastly different from day to day... any kind of deficincy can be dealt with if the person learns to change their thinking. Genetically, we are predisposed (they think) towards depression which simply means more likely.. it says nothing about getting over it. In terms of 'really bad situations', ASK VICTOR FRANKYL or the DALI LAMA... or thousands of individuals over the years who have gone through immense hardships and still have a fantastic attitude towards life...

So, in short, my belief is that the depressed can be helped by getting them to face up to their situation, accepting it, realising that it is messed up and that THEY CHOOSE how long they feel this way... Getting them angry at the situation and Determined to change things... offering and teaching them ideas and solutions from technologies such as NLP and CBT to assist them change their way of thinking. EVEN SUICIDAL PATIENTS and CLIENTS... we connect with them when we are HONEST as they see it... the more we say it'll be OK the more they feel we lie... when we HONESTLY tell them things are 'fucked' we become credible. Then we can show them how and why IN OUR TERMS... Then I believe they have the power to change.

How do I know this? Not just cause of my results with clients. Because I was there a decade ago myself suicidal and without any NLP or Psychology, I pulled myself out simply by BECOMING DETREMINED and TAKING THE HITS and CONTINUOUSLY GETTING BACK UP. I saw it as a fight which I was losing repeatedly and when I said to myself.. I can't take much more, I repeated immediately, BUT I HAVE TO KEEP GETTING BACK UP.

Those of you who have attended the Practitioner and Master Practitioner with us have heard some of the case examples of people I've worked with. The one thing I find is that, while some will leave me liking me and some won't... ALL of them leave and make decisions which get their lives back on track.

The Caveat Empor to beware of is that I recognise that it is dangerous for anyone with no experience in working with clients who are depressed to attempt to bring about this response but those with good instincts and experience I believe would gain massively from it. But a lesson to be realised is that clients often are not as impressionable as we might think. Sometimes I feel all a client needs is a good kick up the ass... we are all like that sometimes. How dare I say it? Because I believe it to be true.. and I'm really realising how much HONESTY and GENUINENESS can help PEOPLE CHANGE!!!