‘If you suffer from depression it is likely you have been burdened [by] and struggled with control problems most of your life’, comments Les Carter, author of Imperative People.  He suggests, ‘Most of our adult behaviours are extensions of patterns learned in our formative years, …so that we become…predisposed…from early training’.

In order to have the emotional balance you desire and to be released from control, you will need to adjust how you perceive yourself and how you interact with others.  You might start with the following. 

·         Become aware of any self-controlling tendencies.

·         Don’t accept responsibility for matters that really don’t belong to you.

·         Try not to be hard on yourself.

Developing an awareness of unnecessary self-control can be a major step in breaking depression’s hold on you.  As you realise the potential emotional damage of over-controlling thoughts and behaviour, you can commit to a better alternative, thereby gaining freedom.

(from 10 Steps to Combat Depression - by Larissa Anne)