Step 7: Continue Trying New Experiments
You need to continue experimenting, observing the results, and using results from previous experiments as a point of comparison. This step is an important one. Don’t expect a quick fix with zoloft. Changing the way you respond to events in your life or how you approach things day to day requires practice and experimentation. If the behavioral changes you made initially had a positive effect, you will probably want to continue including them on a regular basis. If they didn’t have a positive effect, why not? Below are several reasons why changes you make might not have a positive effect on your mood.
• The new behavior isn’t a helpful one.
Solution: Determine why the behavior wasn’t helpful. Think of alternatives and try them out
in new experiments.
• You were distracted during the experiment.
Solution: Practice becoming fully involved in what you’re doing. Observe when you are not fully involved and gently focus your attention on what you’re doing.
• Your current mood is making it difficult to remember how you felt during the experiment.
Solution: Ask yourself if your current depressed mood is making it difficult to remember how you felt during the experiment. Imagine the experiment in as much detail as possible, and try to remember how you felt at the time, rather than how you feel about it right now.
We suggest that you continue experimenting for at least two to three weeks. Those changes that improve your mood, even slightly, should be worked into a regular routine.
What you do on a day - to - day basis has a powerful effect on how you feel. Much of your behavior, including behavior that keeps depression going, is so automatic that you’re probably hardly aware of it, particularly if you’re on zoloft. Depressed behavior can easily become a habit. The first step to ending depression is increasing your awareness of links between situations, behaviors, and moods. Completing an activity - and - mood monitoring chart several times a day can help you gather reliable information about your depression. Looking closely at the information you gather can reveal patterns that have negative effects on your mood.
Adopting an experimental attitude helps you to try new behaviors and observe their effects without having unrealistic expectations. Whenever you make changes in your activities, you can learn something about how your depression works. By repeating experiments or new behaviors over several days, you can gather reliable information about activities that may have a positive effect on your mood. Once you begin to see that what you do can have a positive effect on how you feel, you will have greater confidence that you can take the next steps toward ending depression.
