How's your battery?

I am not a football fan so was surprised to find myself reading an article about the Barcelona manager, Xavi, saying he will step down at the end of the season. I think it attracted my attention because it appeared only a few days after the media storm over a similar announcement by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp. Xavi said “From a mental-health level, it’s tough too. I am a positive guy, but the battery levels keep running out – and at some point, you realise there’s no point in staying.” That reminded me that I often think depression is like a car with a flat battery.

A car with a flat battery is going nowhere until someone decides to do something about it. It is the same thing with depression. To get the car started you ask someone to help by sitting in the driving seat while you push. It is hard at first then as the car starts moving and gains momentum it becomes easier. When the clutch is released the car either starts or comes to a halt. If the latter happens you must start all over again. That process is like coming out of depression, you need help, it is hard at first then gets a little easier, but it can all so easily stop. Then you have to start all over again and it is hard to build up momentum.

When the car has started that is not the end of the matter. You must keep the engine running and then drive around for a significant amount of time to charge the battery. When you do stop there are two possible results, the battery has charged and the car will start again or, the battery has failed to charge and will not start, and you need to replace the battery. If the battery has charged that is not the end of the story; you need to discover why the battery went flat in the first place. It might simply be the case that you parked the car overnight with the lights on. You will know not to do that again. Or it could be caused by an electrical fault or a faulty alternator. Investigation and remedial action will be required. All those scenarios have parallels with depression.

While writing this I was reminded of a podcast episode I listened to recently. The podcast series is How to Fail by Elizabeth Day and the episode was Series 4 Episode 4 , an interview with Mo Gawdat the former chief business officer at Google X – The Moonshot Factory, a diverse group of inventors and entrepreneurs who build and launch technologies that aim to improve the lives of millions, even billions, of people.

Mo talks about many things, but something that resonated with me was when he used a smartphone as an analogy for our lives. When you first buy the phone the performance and battery life are good then they start to decline. There is nothing wrong with the phone what is slowing performance and draining the battery is all the apps you have installed. That is like life, we install all sorts of negative beliefs and thoughts that drain us and sometimes it is the people around us that drain us. We need to get rid of those people, thoughts and beliefs to perform well and be happy.