Depression and anxiety can be measured in terms of degrees.

One can feel very mildly depressed and slightly anxious and barely realize it.

Or one can feel extremely depressed, and be utterly disabled by the numbing or agonizing state of emotional exhaustion.

While the conventional medical world approaches the treatment of depression from a chemical and genetic standpoint, there are also psychological causes and cures for depression that are worth looking into.

One of the less discussed and yet quite powerful ways to leave a defeated emotional attitude has to do with thinking.

How you think about yourself, your life, your accomplishments (or lack thereof) can cause you to feel demoralized.

This is important to recognize because when we feel emotionally burdened by disappointment, it’s easy to presume that some external circumstance is the cause.

But if you examine your negative feelings more closely, you will see that they stem from how you are THINKING about your circumstances.

If you feel insecure and frustrated about a financial problem, for instance, what you really feel badly about is your THINKING about your financial problem.

You may be facing foreclosure, bankruptcy or skyrocketing credit card interest rates because of a missed payment or a late payment, joblessness or the blow of getting laid off, but none of that is real cause of your emotional problem.

If you feel confused, nervous and burdened by emotional heaviness because of a marriage problem, a child behavior problem, an unwanted divorce, or even because of the threat of aging, look more closely at what is happening in your mind.

You will see that it is your thinking about those challenging issues that makes you feel emotionally defeated.

Dwelling in thoughts that bring us down keeps us feeling down.

By looking for the thought that is causing you to feel depressed, you can find that thought and let it go.

As long as we look “outside of ourselves” for the cause of our sadness, worry and loss of motivation, the thinking that causes those negative feelings remains unconscious and beyond our control.

Trust is really the emotional cure for the depression that many feel.

Underlying feelings of anxiety translate into the emotionally heavy state of depressing emotion that makes life feel like a burden.

Leaving depression starts with a choice: CHOOSE to base your life on trust instead of fear.

Choose to seek out and mentally let go of those thoughts that keep you in the grips of anxiety and unhappiness.

A strategic approach to team building can also help you beat the blues.

Think of all the people that you relate with as members of your emotion-team. Then choose to “team up” with those who support your emotional goal of feeling great, and spend less time with those who undermine that goal.

In other words, spend as little time as possible with people who bring you down emotionally. Nurture friendships and associations with people who help you to feel uplifted.

Because of all the news about depression flooding our media in recent years, it’s fairly common knowledge that physical exercise offers help the depressed person.

A brisk walk or a more strenuous workout releases endorphins that may ameliorate the emotional strain of feeling worried and discouraged.

Another self-help treatment for feeling blue and suffering with insecurity is doing what inspires you, like painting or writing or baking.

Finally, expose yourself to motivational speakers, motivational writing, motivational websites and motivational videos. Taking in positive messages is like planting seeds of happiness in your soul.