Memories and Emotion

Have you ever noticed that when you feel depressed, it seems as if you've always been depressed and that you will always feel depressed forever? And when you're flying high, you feel as if you have always felt great and you'll feel good forever?

I'm reading a book about memory now, and it says that studies show that memories associated with different emotions are stored in different places in the brain. Thus, when you feel depressed or unhappy, the memories associated with those feelings get stimulated. When you're experiencing joy, the memories associated with those feelings get stimulated.

I remember when my former workplace was about to hand out lay-off notices to hundreds of people and a trainer was brought in to help people realize what kinds of skills they had. He asked us to divide into small groups and think of times when we had accomplished something at work that we were proud of, and to think about what skills we displayed in bringing about that achievement. Then, we each got a chance to share that accomplishment with the whole group. We had, for the most part, come into this training session feeling gloomy about the impending job cuts, but we left feeling empowered because we remembered the times we had done well and realized we could do well in the future, perhaps in a new job somewhere else.

So, if you are feeling blue and only bad memories are surfacing, try to deliberately and consciously dig into your mind for some good memories. You may deliberately try counting your blessings. You may find that by focusing on positive memories you will trigger the feelings of well being next to those memories and lift yourself out of your depression.