The Dangerous Law of Attraction

If you've seen the widespread movie The Secret, or you're a practitioner of magic(k), or you have really optimistic friends, you've probably heard about the law of attraction. What you think about, it says, is what you draw into your life.

This tends to work really well for your optimistic friends, who constantly brood over their fulfilling relationships, dwell on their prosperity, and languish in their joy. Not so easy if there's a festering, stinking black cloud worming its way into your soul, though.

This law certainly must work, because it doesn't discriminate. It rewards the positive thinker and punishes the pessimist. Suffering from depression makes this one a real kick in the jimmy, too, since thought=pain already; just realizing that your own negative thoughts could be drawing to you things that reinforce and justify themselves can make a person sink even deeper into the hole - why bother trying?

Break the Blame Cycle
Teaching depressed people about the law of attraction is a great idea - when they're not depressed. It may make them less likely to slip back in, if they can master the thoughts that keep them from the pit. But that's not how it works when the disease is making headway. If you're depressed and dwelling on how negative thoughts create a negative life, it's going to balloon out of control faster than you can imagine.

Don't stop and dwell on how the universe punishes you for suffering - put the brakes on that runaway train right now. Won't do you any good. If the law of attraction is keeping you down, first thing to do is ignore the law of attraction.

Here's what you get if you are depressed and think about the law of attraction:

• Blaming the Universe for your problems
• Blaming God for your problems
• Blaming yourself for your problems

None of the blame solves anything, and it really doesn't matter why depression is happening anyway. There will be time to think about attracting things into your life when you have some positive thoughts. For now, you need to shove that idea out of your mind the way New Yorkers ignore a homeless person on the street.

Time Enough for Attraction Later
It should be clear that I consider depression to be a crafty opponent, one that's inside your head and whispering things to you that make you sink deeper into the pit. Everyone has to judge for themselves, but at the darkest hour I don't think you'll see a lot of success trying to think positive thoughts. There will be time to use the law of attraction later, once you're out of the current hole.

It should be possible, though, to change the subject of that conversation in your head. Don't think about (fill in the bad idea here) right now. Make up a shopping list or walk up and down the stairs ten times. Make a phone call or pet the cat. Anything to distract yourself from that one thought, just for now.

Small Steps
A big part of depression is being overwhelmed by the big picture. No big picture allowed here! Just stop thinking one negative thought by thinking about something neutral. There will be time for more another day. For now, setting aside that shovel with which you're digging that hole, just for a moment, should be enough.

Fish Oil is not Snake Oil

Studies have not shown if fish liver oil helps with depression. Science sometimes fails to be like the thing that it studies; that is, slow-moving and focused. I have not the slightest idea if fish oil has any impact on depression (although it is probably as effective a placebo as anything else out there), but I'm pretty sure that you aren't going to get fast results out of a natural phenomenon.

Any scientific study must be funded, and most funding comes from the companies that profit from research - the ones making products that they can sell. Sunlight, plants you can pick from your own garden, and air just aren't going to be studied as serious treatments for anything since they're free and plentiful (unless a marketing person can find a way to sell us what we already have, a la pet rocks); things like fish oil and cow pies and cat hair are all common enough that it would be tough to charge a lot for treatments derived from them, also discouraging the really big research bucks. We aren't likely to see long-term studies on depression treatments that nobody can make money from.

There have been some amazing breakthroughs for treatments of all manner of diseases through new drugs. That doesn't mean that every drug is wonderful, nor does it mean that every disease's cure is in pill form. Well-trained pharmaceutical representatives earn a great living convincing doctors to prescribe their products, and no one is out there equally passionately pitching St. John's wort, taking a walk every day, fish oil, getting a puppy, copper bracelets, and believing in God (at least in doctor's offices). Plenty of alternative therapies may be effective, but the medical community isn't designed to find out.

Of course, I can't say that I would like the idea of being accosted by fish-oil salesmen.

Medical Reinforcement (sort of)

Dr. Neubauer has located some studies that support what I have stated previously, namely that there are steps you can take to improve your mood and your sense of accomplishment, including caring for pets and exercise. I understand that his training is scientific and so he will only support any treatment option so far as the scientific method can document its success, but I take exception of his downplaying the value of these treatments, as well as herbal remedies like St. John's Wort, which I will discuss more in detail in a future post. For now, suffice it to say that there have been studies that demonstrate this herb's efficacy, just not, apparently, published in any journal the doctor respects.

I'm also not surprised that he does not include such vehicles as prayer and self-affirmation, as these are exceedingly difficult to document in a laboratory. Being unverifiable is not the same is being unsuccessful, however. Expectation is often half the battle.

Maybe it's the fur?

RemedyFind has an extensive amount of information on depression, ranging from details on the various kinds of depression, to a regular newsletter on new research, to an extensive list of treatments rated by members. Only the top ten best-rated treatments with at least one hundred ratings are displayed on the front page, but the complete list is really quite instructive. Sortable alphabetically, by average rating or number of ratings, it goes through so many options that I realize I have a lot more research to do just to understand them all. For example, I did not know that a gluten-free diet has been proposed for treating depression. Apparently none of the RemedyFind members have tried it yet, but it's interesting to see that an alternative like that, or contraceptives, or even just reading blogs and email newsletters are included as potential alternatives.

I think some of the therapies that have not yet been sufficiently evaluated to be included in the top ten are quite instructive. Only 36 members have tried prayer, and it scores an 8.1. More amazing still is the emotional support of pets, scoring an impressive 8.9 with 63 votes in. I'm going to keep an eye on the list to see how those two, in particular, do as more ratings come in. I've spoken a bit about prayer already, so I'm going to speculate a bit about pets, in particular mammals, since that's where my own experience lies.

I have had cats as companions all my life. They are incredibly empathic creatures, sensitive to your moods and able to sense when you're about to go to the bathroom, settling on your lap just moments before the pressure in your bladder builds to a climax. Granted, they have a sadistic sense of humor, but they also use this sensitivity to know when you need to be reminded of the nature of love. I have only had one dog, but he and the others I have known have made it obvious that, although they may be slightly less sensitive to the shifting moods of the human, they are even moreso a vehicle of unconditional love. Love is, in my opinion, the vital tool that pets wield, both innocently and adeptly.

Your pet does not judge you if you can't get out of bed one day. Their eyes do not accuse if you forget their birthday. They don't laugh at you when you try and fail, or give up without trying. This raw emotion of love that they project is in its most primitive form, unrefined by the nuance of human behavior. It is easy to understand, and it is easy to accept that there are no motivations for it. If depression has led to anhedonia then that love may be the first form of pleasure the victim is again able to feel. In turn, the victim will be more likely to take care of basic tasks, such as feeding, walking, and litter cleaning, for the pet than they are for themselves in some cases.

Feeling love. Completing basic tasks. For some serious sufferers, this marks amazing progress.

Other animals, rodents and fish and reptiles, probably can achieve similar results. However, insidious as it is, depression can turn that love into responsibility, and responsibility into guilt. There is no magic bullet, but the right pet can make a wonderful impact.