Depression Through a Different Lens
I want to say something about depression that the medical model rarely says, and that I believe is true: depression is a sign from the soul, it’s saying something is not right. You attention is required.
This kind of thinking does not sit well with the narrative of depression as a chemical imbalance, a brain that is not working properly, a problem to be corrected. And I am not saying that medication is never useful or that the suffering is not real. The suffering is absolutely real I’ve witnessed it firsthand for over 30 years in mental health hospital wards, education and therapy rooms and the faces of people who’ve exhausted all other options.
What I am saying is that the depression itself is frequently a communication. The psyche's way of forcing a stop when nothing else has worked. A shutdown that is painful, yes and also purposeful.
What the Shamanic Tradition Understands
The shamanic traditions have always understood depression differently. They do not see it as a malfunction of brain chemistry. They see it as a signal that something essential has been lost or neglected that the person's soul or life force has been depleted, or that they have been living out of alignment with something deep and true in themselves for too long.
This is not a romantic or idealised view. It is a practical one. The question it asks is not what is wrong with this person, but what is this person's depression trying to protect or communicate? What has been lost that needs to be retrieved? What has been suppressed that needs to be expressed? What direction is the psyche pushing toward that the person has been resisting?
What Jung Understood
Jung wrote that neurosis his term for a range of psychological suffering including what we would now call depression is always a substitute for legitimate suffering. The suffering that depression brings is real. But it is often serving as a proxy for a different and deeper suffering that has not been allowed direct expression.
The depression says: stop. Something important is not being attended to. The work is to discover what that something is not to eliminate the signal, but to hear what it is trying to say.
A Different Kind of Work
Sacred Alchemy approaches depression with this understanding. We are not trying to fix the person. We are trying to understand what the depression is pointing toward. What has been lost. What is being avoided. What the deeper self is asking for that the surface life has not been able to provide.
This does not mean the work is comfortable. Often it requires going into the darkness rather than away from it sitting with what is heavy and asking what it needs. But in that darkness, something is almost always waiting. A truth that has not been spoken. A grief that has not been finished. A part of the self that needs to be reclaimed.
If you have been living with depression and something in this way of thinking resonates, I would be glad to talk. The first step is always a conversation.
Alexia Elliott is a hypnotherapist, shamanic practitioner, and psychospiritual therapist based in Leicester, UK. She has over 30 years of experience across psychiatry, forensic mental health, and Sacred Alchemy practice. Sessions available in person in Leicestershire and online worldwide.