(Newswire.net — June 25, 2019) — Depression and apathy are currently viewed as being caused by a brain chemistry imbalance or as a response to life’s challenges. Yet these symptoms of disquiet and unrest could be guiding us to a life of greater meaning and integration with metaphysical purpose.
Beyond Despair, Depression May be Connected to an Awakening
Steve Taylor, Ph.D., wrote in Psychology Today on the possible connection between depression and awakening. In “The After-Effects of Awakening,” Taylor, a psychologist, explores this profound yet mysterious association. He writes of publishing, with the aid of a co-author, a study in The Journal of Transpersonal Psychology analyzing ninety instances of what he termed “awakening experiences.” The study explored the catalysts for these awakenings and discovered that approximately a third of the individuals had an experience of depression, stress, or loss before attaining what might be described as an epiphany. Depression, for all of its pain, could be a sign of a spiritual awakening. Or what one woman described as “compassion and connection to everything that surrounded me.”
A Clarion Call to Something Greater
One of the signs of depression or apathy as a signal of a spiritual awakening is that there is often a feeling of some greater force at work. This type of depression is unlike many other instances of the blues that one may have experienced before. “This is the solitude that comes from the awareness that you are part of something bigger. A yearning that while the pain is bitter, it hints of an underlying sweetness of some greater force.” Alissa Monroe explains in “The 11 Unmistakable Signs and Symptoms of A Spiritual Awakening.” Monroe goes on to say, “Understand that your soul is likely asking for a deeper connection with the divine.”
Awakening
“Know that you are not alone, and that more and more people are being called to leave their old lives behind them, and step forward into the life they are meant to live,” the author writes of a sojourn through depression. This personal story shares the challenging and yet rewarding role of awakening and growing while following a spiritual path in “Eight Signs Of A Kundalini Awakening,” published in gaia.com.
Just as thirst is a symptom that our bodies need water, so feelings of depression, despair, and apathy could be the soul and the psyche’s method of communicating a need. Depression, is this instance, could be leading us to a union with a higher purpose or power. These feelings of dis-ease just might be the stepping stones leading to a connection with a greater force and to our a spiritual awakening.