‘My passion is lost, my life force gone, I am adrift on a vast ocean. I once thought I knew who I was and where my life was headed but I can no longer find the connection to my inner being to guide me to my destiny.

I question my worth as a human being. Am I really wanted and needed in this world? I am deeply saddened, weak and vulnerable. My instinct is to curl up and retreat. In the mornings I struggle to rise. I have cut myself off from friends, stopped reading my favourite books and food does not interest me, no matter how delectable. I no longer get pleasure out of life. Every day is a struggle. I am barely surviving.‘

Most times when we suffer from depression, we don’t know it. Depression causes us to shut down. It correlates closely to the freeze stage of the fight, flight and freeze stress cycle. In the freeze state we are preparing to die, in the same way an animal does once it has been caught by predator and is about to be eaten.  It has given up hope of survival. This is why depression makes us dwell on death and dying.  The freeze response shuts the nervous system down in preparation for death.

Emotionally we feel numb. The mind is foggy, exhausted, and it is difficult to think clearly. Physically there is no energy and it is hard to be active and motivated. Our life force is weakened as we are preparing for our end.

One of the most important defenses against depression is healthy bonding with our mother in infancy. The mother is the child’s emotional battery, the source of her life energy. Through her love and care the mother is convincing her baby that she is an important being, worthy of attention. The baby connects to her mother and returns this love. She feels safe and valued, and the pleasurable experiences with her mother and father make her excited to explore the world. Once her confidence in people and life has been built up in this way, she is resilient to the setbacks and challenges she will encounter in her life. Her optimistic outlook will safeguard her against depression. Her sense of belonging within a family will give her identity and purpose in life.

If we did not get to have a good bonding experience in childhood, we do not have the ‘emotional charge’ for living and we are prone to depression when faced with hardships. In a state of depression we regress to our early infant stage of life. This causes us to feel vulnerable and weak, withdraw from life and go into the foetal position. Once regressed, we have lost our way, we cannot recover and rebuild ourselves. In this state there is no sense of inner wholeness, no core self, the glue that holds us together is gone, we lose our sense of who we are.

How Fractal Therapy Works Through Depression

Fractal Therapy revives our energy for living and helps us find our way back to joy. It uses fractal body movements to regulate the nervous system, so that it does not remain locked in the low energy freeze state. Fractal body movements improve regulation by activating the amygdala, the part of the brain that produces the fight, flight and freeze survival responses.

In situations where we have become extremely stressed, our flight, flight and freeze survival responses become active so that we can defend ourselves. For example our survival instincts will help us cope when losing a loved one, being retrenched, struggling with unemployed, loss of wealth or health, when we suffer physical injuries or other traumas.

These primitive survival reactions help us to overcome challenges by either fighting back, avoiding danger, or shutting down when no solutions can be found.   When we have been pushed beyond our limits, no longer have the endurance and cannot find the answers, the freeze response causes us to shut down.  At this point we have given up and given in and are no longer fighting to survive.

Fractal Therapy replicates the soothing that a mother provides her infant, in order to protect her baby against distress. Fractal Therapy moves the nervous system out of its’ state of defensiveness and back into a state of thriving and energy. The fractal body movements activate a release cycle of fight, flight and freeze. This release naturally balances the nervous system, moving it from being locked in pain and danger back into pleasure and confidence.

Once the nervous system is in a balanced state, the reason for living returns.  Instead of pessimism and gloom, life seems full of promise and possibilities. Infant emotions are evolved into adult powers: feelings of helplessness and hopelessness are replaced by a sense of ‘I can do this.’

This transformation allows you to walk with a spring in your step and once again enjoy the many pleasures life has to offer. You like yourself and value your talents. You feel at ease with your place in life. A dark cloud has lifted, a weight has dropped from your shoulders and you feel light, happy and fulfilled.