Another approach that works for some people is to develop the habit of being aware of oneself entering the spiral, and pay close attention to the process... to what my body is doing, what kinds of thoughts are entering my mind, what those thoughts are connected to, what external events are triggering them, what feelings they are eliciting, what memories/fantasies those feelings are evoking, and so forth.
For some people, that kind of introspection is not only a good way of causing the spiral to evaporate in the short term, but of causing the habit of spiraling to gradually subside.
(This is importantly distinct from identifying with and reinforcing the depressive thoughts and feelings themselves. That is, it's not "Everything sucks... I'm stupid and worthless... I can't get project X done... it's going to suck and everyone's going to yell at me... etc.", rather it's "I am feeling sad... I'm curling up in my chair... I'm judging myself... I'm thinking about project X... I'm fantasizing about failing at project X... I'm fantasizing about people treating me badly because I failed at project X... etc.")
That's an interesting technique; it sounds rather zen-inspired. Did you invent it, or where did you come across it?
As I understand it, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy ("CBT") suggests arguing with your (sometimes negative) inner voice using all the rational-argumentation techniques at your disposal.
For example: "Everything Sucks" => "That would be an example of overgeneralization; if everything did suck, then like fish in water, we would have no word for it. The world is how it is, and there are positive aspects and negative ones. ...
My girlfriend suffers serious depression. She has sleep disorder, anorexia, chronic pain, problems to concentrate, low selfesteem, daily low mood, listlessness and is very indecisive. On the other side she considers herself very happy apart from the "depression periods" and we have a great time together. We already consulted a psychotherapist, but there is waiting time about one month. I buyed her fishoil capsules, because she eats no fish and there is mild evidence that it helps treating depression (I don't think this will affect her depression greatly, but fishoil seems like an overall good idea). We often go on walks to catch some sunlight and get her some exercise.
She says she never want's to take antidepressants because she fears to get dependent from them. I think she might change her mind if there are very good arguments in favour of them. She is quite rational in spite of not knowing the LW-stuff. Does anybody of you know if there is any information of the succes rate of medicamentous (and psycho therapeutic) treatment available?
I highly appreciate any advice.
Furthermore i want to call attention to the topic of depression. A huge share of the population suffers at least once in their lifetime under depression (~20% in Germany). Sadly it's often not taken serious and a big taboo to speak about. Many people see it as self-inflicted. My girlfriend's mother doesn't believe in depression as a disease (see diseased thinking). It's a paradigm of irrationality that hurts people.