Depression is a common mental disorder. Many people struggle with the sense of hopelessness and despair, lack of meaning and purpose, deep prolonged sadness, irritability, and feelings of emptiness. Further, they may feel a loss of pleasure in pursuing activities that were very pleasant and satisfying in the past. These are only one part of the spectrum of various symptoms of depression.
This post explores how depression diminishes positive emotions and traps individuals in a cycle of low motivation, impaired functioning, and deepening hopelessness. Why does it feel so lasting? Why can’t someone just “snap out of it”?
There is no way out of this feeling: why does depression seem so lasting?
It is very difficult to discover why people cannot just “snap out” of depressive feelings. According to biopsychosocial model, complex contributing factors include:
Biological factors: genetics, brain chemistry, hormonal changes.
Psychological factors: cognitive distortions, difficulty regulating emotions, suppression of emotions, learned helplessness, childhood trauma, negative thinking patterns and beliefs (e.g., “I am worthless”), rumination, low self-esteem, perfectionism.
Social factors: environmental factors, social isolation and lack of support, stressful life events.
The complex interplay between several factors leads to a self-reinforcing loop of negative thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. It can feel like drowning in emotional quicksand: the more one struggles alone, the deeper they sink. When someone is so deep in the quicksand, it becomes more difficult to come out of it without any external help.
Events such as bereavement, job loss, or childbirth can trigger depression, but often it occurs without a clear cause. Then it is even more enigmatic what is going on with them—the person in question could be puzzled by her own mental states and processes, so that confusion will usually feed into an already intense sense of helplessness.
“How did this actually start?”
“Will I ever feel OK again?”
“Why can’t I simply snap out of these thoughts?”
“Why can’t I stop thinking this way?”
Questions like these may multiply with every new day, offering no solutions, making problems bigger with every lived moment.
Lack of motivation
Depression can wear a disguise: looking from the outside, it may look like apathy, laziness, or disinterest. This is not even the surface of the phenomenon; every psychotherapist knows that beneath the surface lies a tornado, a complete mental and emotional shutdown, where even the simplest tasks seem impossible to perform.
Lack of willingness could include mental exhaustion, loss of interest, struggling to get out of bed, emotional withdrawal, and losing a sense of hope, purpose, and life direction. Depression is not only “ordinary sadness.” It is also mental fog that lasts for hours, days, and weeks, and it seems that it will never end. Along with that, all the relationships and activities that a person might have enjoyed in the past may be perceived as meaningless, shallow, and irrelevant. People with depression will stop reaching out not because they do not care—but because they simply do not have the capacity to reach out. From that perspective, it is much easier to understand the inability to get out of bed or to produce any life change.
While there might be underlying neurological changes in depression, like changes in the regions of the brain (amygdala, basal ganglia, and hippocampus), one should be very cautious when talking about chemical imbalances, because this figure of speech simply does not capture the complexity of the phenomenon. In fact, the chemical imbalance theory has been put under scrutiny in some meta-analyses. Research suggests that it is not only about having some chemicals (e.g., neurotransmitters) too much or too little.
So, we all must be incredibly careful when we think about depression in a certain way (for example, low levels of chemicals or changes in the brain cause depression). We don’t fully understand the complex biological changes in the body. Furthermore, it is especially important to be cautious when we make claims about causality. There are a set of circumstances and a chain of events that stem from early childhood, and which have led to the present-day situation, with all previously mentioned biological, psychological, and social factors. We should even question usability of the concept of causality: can we really answer that question and say with certainty what causes what? Instead of asking this question all over again, it may be more helpful to ask, “What is this trying to tell me?”
During psychotherapy, it is especially useful to understand how early childhood experiences shaped certain cognitive schemas (deep-seated beliefs about ourselves and the world that guide our reactions—often unconsciously shaped by early experiences), emotional responses, and behavioral patterns. Then it is also very useful to explore how present-day life circumstances set a context for depression, where depression starts to be part of a person’s lived experience. Hence, these insights can move the person to a deeper understanding of the meaning of depression in a particular life stage; it is only then that all the symptoms, emotions, thoughts, and behaviors will be seen as something not shallow and devoid of meaning—but rather really important, a message from the mind-body about processes that might be addressed and understood more.
The reconstruction of the disorder
Throughout history, human suffering has been interpreted in many ways. Today, depression is one of the dominant frameworks through which we understand emotional pain, loss of meaning, and diminished motivation. But what if depression isn’t just a clinical label or a set of symptoms? What if it is a meaningful response to life circumstances, a story that deserves to be heard, understood, and re-authored?
Building on the biopsychosocial understanding, a constructivist perspective further explores how personal meaning shapes depression. From a constructivist and narrative perspective, disorder is not something meaningless, only seen as a fixed disease entity; it is something that should be understood and explored. Only then can it be restructured through core changes in the person’s meaning systems.
It is not enough to view depression solely as a set of symptoms; it must also be understood as a complex pattern of beliefs, emotions, behaviors, and bodily experiences.. They all form a coherent story within a person’s life. The disorder is constructed in the sense that it makes sense to the person from a certain perspective—it is an integral part of their meaning system, internal logic, or personal constructs. For instance, a person who experienced childhood abuse may have developed survival strategies rooted in submission—believing that complying with authority was the safest path. When this person becomes an adult, the same strategies lead her to develop interpersonal relationships (in her private and work life) in which she is bullied and put down most of the time. After a certain period, the person in question might start distancing and isolating from other people again to protect her space and regulate strong emotions. But that protective strategy backfires, leading to lack of motivation, action inhibition, and eroding the capacity to experience joy or take meaningful action.
Symptoms are therefore trailheads to beliefs, meanings, and protective strategies that lie underneath. A therapist working within this framework does not just treat symptoms; they map the internal landscape. They help clients uncover rules like “I must be perfect to be loved” and explore how these beliefs were formed and why they persist.
Recognizing adaptations and the protective intent of these beliefs, the psychotherapist will shift the focus of her work as well: instead of “fighting the disorder,” she might curiously explore how the disorder was constructed and why it persists.
Healing comes from co-constructing new narratives and evaluating them in real life. Motivation might be restored through the process of behavioral experimentation and experiential validation. New healing narratives will emerge from this course of action. These narratives serve as powerful tools, enabling individuals to reinterpret their experiences and foster resilience. As they engage in this life-changing journey, personal growth and deeper connections with others often follow. Depression, once seen as a barrier, becomes a doorway to transformation.
Other therapeutic approaches
Some other approaches, like Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Internal Family Systems, might be smoothly integrated into a constructivist and narrative framework.
The unique contribution of ACT is its focus on core values and behavioral change. ACT encourages clients to formulate their core values—what is profoundly important for them and provides their lives with a sense of purpose. ACT does not push for immediate change; instead, it focuses on accepting where a person is right now and moving in a meaningful direction through a series of exceedingly small steps.
ACT tackles a strange paradox: motivation emerges from action, but the action starts with the acceptance of the fact that the person is not ready to move. Clients who successfully take small steps (called “committed actions”) will probably experience an increase in motivation only after initiating the journey, although they may feel awkward when reconnecting with what truly matters to them.
Internal Family Systems is an approach with the fundamental assumption that the mind is not unitary and monolithic—it is fragmented. We all have different parts, and they are more or less aligned with each other. Sometimes they are like an orchestra that produces harmony, and sometimes they produce cacophonic music. This idea is similar to the constructivist notion of “community of selves.” In the IFS approach, therapists use mindfulness to observe these parts and produce meaningful change in their functioning. It is truly a dialogical perspective on the inner world of a client. The psychotherapist is only a facilitator. The client is actively establishing new connections with their various parts or selves. For example, the client might be curious about the Depressed Part, what kind of job she is doing for the client, when it was created, and what the intentions of this part are.
The therapist and the client cultivate a compassionate perspective on all the parts (“No bad parts”), actively inquiring about their hopes, dreams, and fears. Only after gaining a deeper understanding and validation of the Depressed Part can they try to heal the wounds and produce change.
Conclusion
Instead of viewing depression as a “scary monster,” it is more useful to consider it a mental disorder and a body-mind state that possesses its own internal logic. Understanding this internal logic, even if it appears irrational from an outside perspective, is a crucial goal of psychotherapy. Lack of motivation is not merely a deficiency; it also signifies the presence of a different mode of psychological functioning that requires in-depth exploration. Depression carries specific meaning within the broader context of an individual’s life, so once we grasp the underlying mechanisms, we can dedicate ourselves to changing them to foster a healthier psychological state. This process often requires examining the individual’s past experiences and current circumstances, which enables a more profound understanding of their emotional landscape. The process of recovery may be like learning to navigate a dense forest with new tools and supportive guides, instilling hope and agency even when the path ahead is unclear. By promoting self-awareness and resilience, we can assist individuals in navigating their challenges and creating a more fulfilling life.
Vladimir Mušicki, PhD 