Depressive thoughts and feelings persist and intensify due to the maladaptive processing mode with which we react to them. Operating in the “doing mode” can be ineffective in solving emotional or non-linear problems. Signs of maladaptive processing can be observed in thinking, feeling, impulses, and physical sensations, including rumination, avoidance, a sense of being lost, taking ideas as reflections of reality, and physical sensations like tensing and muscle contraction. Through meditation, we cultivate a different way of processing experiences, allowing us to see the difference between direct sensations and our reactions to them. This brings more freedom than our habitual methods of dealing with experiences. People vulnerable to depression can benefit from bringing friendly curiosity to how unpleasant experiences are felt experientially in ever-changing physical sensations.
Reference
J. Mark G. Williams, Mindfulness Depression and Modes of Mind,2008
