Depression and the Shifting Window of Tolerance

Depression has been a transformative experience, and as a visual artist, I turned to painting to explore what I felt.

During therapy, my therapist introduced me to the concept of the window of tolerance. It immediately resonated with me.

It’s a term from neuroscience that describes the optimal zone of emotional arousal where we can function and cope effectively. Inside this window, we can think clearly, feel safely, and respond rather than react. But outside of it—when we shift into hyperarousal (anxiety, panic, overwhelm) or hypoarousal (numbness, shutdown, dissociation) - life can start to feel unmanageable, even threatening.

As I moved through depression, I began to notice how my own window had narrowed. Things that once felt manageable became overwhelming. I lived more and more outside of that window - in states of either flatness or frenzy - and even small stressors could derail me.

This painting is my attempt to capture that.

It shows the contrast between life inside the window and what happens when it begins to shrink. What was once a spacious and flexible place for experience becomes rigid, fragile, and claustrophobic. 

But what surprised me most was what happened as I began to feel better.

I expected my window of tolerance to “go back to normal”, but it didn’t. I realized that depression had permanently reshaped how I respond to stress. Sometimes my window is wider than before, sometimes it’s still narrower. It’s more dynamic now, more sensitive. And I’ve had to learn to work with it rather than fight it.

This discovery has changed how I approach healing. I’m no longer chasing a return to “before.” Instead, I’m building a relationship with who I am now.

Art continues to be a bridge for me, a way to witness my experience without needing to explain it all. This painting is part of that witnessing.