Depression is a Symptom of Chronic Repression

Trauma, whether its a single event or a series of events, cuts us off from parts of ourselves that are the source of our life-force energy.

If these parts are repressed, we naturally feel deflated, trapped and powerless. ⠀

Repression is the opposite of expression and when repression becomes the norm, it turns into depression.

Depression is a sign we had to repress the most vital parts of ourselves in order to survive.

What did we have to repress?

Our power

Depression is a sign we’re in unbalanced power dynamics with someone or something. Trauma was a moment of powerlessness, and our body believes the only way to survive is by giving its power away. Being in our power can feel too much for the nervous system.

Our emotions

Depression is a sign our body has learnt that the only way to survive is by repressing emotions, especially anger, grief and fear. To fit in and be functional, we disconnect from how we feel and our body sees emotions as threats.

our primal instincts

Depression is a sign we had to cut off primal instincts, such as healthy aggression, our sensual self, spontaneous movement or our voice. Instead of being liberated embodied beings, we feel caged inside our bodies.

Our Needs

Depression is a sign important needs of ours aren’t being met, and likely for a very long time. We might not even see they’re not being met as we never had them met. This can feel normal to us because we don’t know any other reality.

Our vitality

Depression is a sign we’re disconnected from parts of ourselves that can lead us to vitality. It’s like a universe of new possibilities we don’t see because our body isn’t familiar with ease, comfort & aliveness.

Our Intuition

Depression is a sign we don’t trust ourselves and what we deep down know to be true. We can be very wise and might be getting lots of messages from our intuition but because we don’t feel worthy of trust, we ignore them.

When we’re depressed, our body lives in a paradox.

It wants out of it AND it doesn’t feel safe – yet – to experience anything else.

For example:

Being in our power, when our body hasn’t tasted its healthy expression, can feel unsafe to our nervous system.

Expressing and having our needs met, when our body isn’t used to taking up space this way, can be a shock to the nervous system.

Staying with our emotions, when no one stayed with us as we were having them, can feel unbearable to our nervous system.

Trusting ourselves, when our perceptions were shamed, ridiculed, or ignored, can create so much fear in our nervous system.

So, our body will need to gradually renegotiate its relationship with power, our emotions, our primal instincts, needs and desires, & self-trust so that it no longer associates those things with being in danger.

As a result, we gradually get out of the terror of freeze and shutdown which is trapped in our body when depressed and we move towards healthy expression of what we had to repress.

For this to happen, we need to work directly with our bodies, and it’s a big part of the work we do inside Healing Trauma Guided by the Body.

Moving from fear-based repression to healthy expression.

If you wish to participant in the next round of my most comprehensive course to date, join the waitlist to be notified when doors are open!

Healing & thriving wishes, 

Effie