Possibly a radical view of depression and the origin of more severe mental problems.

[Tobin S.]

6. I hear you, gtro.

The response to the circumstances that led to your depression initially may well have been a survival mechanism. Whatever happened to you back then might have put your psyche in survival mode, cutting off access to certain areas in your mind in an attempt at self preservation. It could have happened early enough in your childhood development that it became a sense of identity for you as it did me. It worked. We are here now. We have survived. It has served its purpose. We just don't seem to be able to set that old tool aside.

But people do get better. There is hope for that. It has taken me a long time, 14 years since I started taking meds, and there have been some really challenging times, but the trend for me for that period of time has been for improvement.

Regarding self-loathing: The next time you feel that hatred getting the best of you try this. Whatever you were doing before you were overcome with that feeling come back to it. Give it your full attention. Become totally present in the current moment. You might find that those old feelings of hatred dissolve or at least start to lose their grip on you and begin to be less painful.

But, yeah, that self hatred is a conditioned response and it's hard to overcome. But you can. I know it.