Considerable depression is caused by repression of negative feelings such as anger. Dr. Theodore Issac Ruben, eminent psychiatrist and author of The Angry Book , reminds us that when we deny our true feelings and smile when we feel like snarling, the suppressed anger can lead to anxiety, depression, insomnia, psychosomatic illness, alcoholism, frigidity, impotence, and downright misery. Anger turned in on ourselves can drive us down into a spiral of depression. 1 Depression can be a denial of emotions. Faulty thinking is another cause of depression.
Many counselors believe that feelings follow thoughts.
That is, negative feelings follow negative thoughts while positive feelings follow positive thoughts.