Preface

This book is about spiritual growth and the role that depression can play in it. Central to that growth is learning how to change our behavior so that we can have better relationships with others.

If you are honest with yourself, you have to admit that it is only tough times that give us a strong enough desire to change ourselves. Depression gave me the unbearable feeling that I need to do anything I can to change myself into a better person.

Please don’t misunderstand; depression is far from some kind of sign that a person is not acting right, or some kind of punishment for his behavior. Depression is a real and horrible mental illness, that in the case of clinical depression, often has nothing at all to do with our circumstances in life.

However, that does not mean that we cannot find lessons in it. I believe that facing depression gave me the insight to see that true spiritual growth should be measured by how I am acting in my day-to-day encounters with others. My own “Dark Night of the Soul” was the most important step in becoming who I am today.

“I have come to measure spiritual advancement, not alone by the light that surrounds one when he meditates or by the visions he has of saints, but by what he is able to endure in the hard, cold light of day.”¹ This has been my favorite quote for some time, but I now include how we react to things as part of how we endure; an insight that was until recently not clear to me.

While the focus of much of this book is the similarity of experience in depression and mystical experience, more important is the result of such experiences. Any true advantage in depression must by definition have better behavior as a major outcome. I believe the changes in my actions, as judged by those around me, have proven that I have begun to find The Depression Advantage and put it into action.

As part of writing this book, I created a new talk based on the ideas outlined later in Redefining Our Scale. I have found that people are very open to looking at depression in a different way. I have been approached by many people who say that their experiences have been similar and have also begun to see depression in a whole new light. I hope you can find it in yourself to look for a new way to “see” depression too.

I fully believe in the possibility of turning depression into an advantage. I think I have made some great strides in the right direction. As I learn more about myself through depression, I look forward to the day when my actions will always demonstrate my insight. That will be a glorious day indeed.