| ||
| ||
|
||
|
|
|
Learn To Take Control of Depression
While depression is a growing epidemic in western society, it remains to be one of the most treatable as well. While the medical profession looks first to medication, I believe only the most severe cases require any long-term medical treatment. If you look at the criteria for diagnosing depression, you will notice that most of it relies on behavior and thinking. Two things that we can consciously control, even if in the pit of depression it does not seem like it. I was clinically depressed for several years in my early adulthood, and have since worked with hundreds of people suffering from anxiety and depression. What I have seen in people who get through the depression without medication, is that they relearn how to not act and think depressed. They learn that they are responsible for their depressive thoughts and behaviors even if they do not feel great. I remember taking half an hour to roll off the couch and do a push-up when I was depressed because I knew I had to do something that went against how I was feeling. Cognitive-behavioral therapy has always been known to be effective in dealing with most depressed people. The basis of this is to understand how your thoughts influence your feelings and behavior, then to work to change the habitual thought patterns in a beneficial way. Some of the more common depressive thinking patterns are to: catastrophize, to attribute specific events to always and never (over-generalizing), and to argue against hope and positivity. Just these three can lead us to think that everything is always worse than it really it is and will never get better. The more someone tries to cheer a depressed person up, the more the person argues and holds onto their view, because they think nobody else can understand how bad it is for them. We get into a habit of negative perception, and exclude any evidence that it can or is getting better. At the root of depression you will usually find anger (at self, others, and the world), feeling alone, fear, hopelessness, and helplessness. Often depressed people will have some social anxiety, causing them to isolate and be uncomfortable around others. When you talk to a depressed person they are usually trying to convince you how bad it is, so they are also looking for validation. Rather than trying to convince you that it is not as bad as you think and will get better, I would rather start where you are and agree with you. I would ask you how being this depressed and having such a terrible life benefits you and why you would want to stay there. The truth is that most depressed people get a benefit from being depressed, and it is often that nobody expects anything of them, and they can justify their ineffective behavior. Being depressed is easier than dealing with life and taking action to improve it. We fool ourselves into believing that we are helpless and there are no options to make it better. Depression becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy that helps us prove how bad our life is because we don't do anything to change it. I have found that sometimes having suicidal thoughts can actually bring about positive change because when you get that desperate you are usually willing to see other options and maybe choose one over killing yourself. While I know that depression can usually be helped without medication, I am not totally against taking short-term antidepressants as long as it is in combination with other things as described above. If all you do is take the meds, any improvement is attributed to the meds and you don't learn to live differently and feel a sense of personal power. However, sometimes the meds can help us just enough so that we can start making these changes and then eventually when our life looks better, we can be weaned off of them. For a full program to help you overcome depression at WholeLifeGym click below. Sean has been a therapist and life coach for oveer 13 years. He is a published author and founder of WholeLifeGym.com, home of "The 10 Pillars of Health and Happiness" eBook.
MORE RESOURCES:
Depression - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Recognizing Depression's Warning Signs Depression is a serious illness, not a harmless part of life. It is a complex disorder with a variety of causes. I'm Not Depressed; I've Just Been Having A Lousy Conversation With Myself Not long ago, I attended a mastermind group. During the meeting, one of the women went into a litany about how terrible things had been in the past few weeks and how depressed she felt as a result. What's Causing My Depression and Fatigue? Chronic Fatigue and Chronic Depression are absolutely systemic in our society today. Recent studies done by the AMA and CMA purport one in four people in North America are suffering from some form of chronic fatigue or depression and it's expected eight out of ten of us will experience similar afflictions in our lifetime. FDA Approves Vagus Nerve Stimulation as a Treatment for Depression On July 15th, 2005, the U.S. Omega 3 EPA: Natures Very Own Anti-depressant Since Dr Malcolm Peet, a consultant psychiatrist at Sheffield swallow court hospital released his findings about the effects of Ethyl Epa and its effects on people suffering from depression and low moods, many other studies have been performed using Ethyl Epa to help treat depression and related disorders. The vast majority of the studies that have been performed consistently confirmed that Ethyl Epa, a natural substance found in omega 3 fish oil, helps relieve depression and low moods. Fighting Depression by Restoring Your Routines When we have depression, one of the things we drop from our lives is a routine. Most humans need routine as it adds structure to our lives. Disability is NOT a Life Sentence On September 30th 1998 I was crossing the street in a crosswalk when a young man ran through a red light running me over at 40 mph. He dragged me down the street as he tried to leave the scene of the accident. Wellbutrin For Depression: When Its More Than Just The Blues We all have blue days:We're missing someone we've lost, the expected promotion didn't come through, we've exhausted ourselves over the holidays. But when these feelings continue for a long time and begin to interfere in your life, you may have an illness that doctors call major depressive disorder (or depression). Chronic Fatigue Syndrome And Depression Are Not The Same Thing! Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a very misunderstood illness and this is perhaps why there are so many myths about it. Perhaps the most common myth about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is that it is effectively a mental condition, and another name for depression. Depression - Causes and Treatments Depression has long been considered a character flaw indicative of morally weak minded individuals. However, new research clearly shows that depression has distinct biochemical roots that affect the way nerve cells work. Vagus Nerve Stimulation Should be Used Early in Treatment when Traditional Antidepressants Fail Lifetime Prevalence of Depression and the Age-of-Onset Report Distributions of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(DSM) in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication The paragraph title sounds complicated, but the study conclusions are critical and simple to understand. Lifetime prevalence estimates are as follows: anxiety disorders, 28. Antidepressants 101- What You Absolutely Need to Know IntroductionChange in social and economical states throughout the world although has brought prosperity among the individuals of the world but at a price. It has brought both physical and mental stressors. Quick Steps To Reduce Your Worries Looking for a way to reduce the amount of worrying you do?Edward W. Smith, motivational speaker, author and TV show host, who specializes in quick tips on how to move your life ahead even faster, offers the following advice. Senate Finance Committee Delays FDA Approval of Vagus Nerve Stimulation Therapy for Depression On June 15th, 2004, FDA's Medical Devices Panel recommended that the U.S. Are You Someones Puppet? Four Ways People Manipulate Others With the current interest in mental health topics, a mental health language has emerged with words such as manipulation, boundaries, limits, rescuing, dependence, and codependence. Many people are unclear what these words mean when applied to relationships. Depression Explained Depression is a mental state marked by melancholy, pessimism or dejection. Depression can also be defined as a psychotic condition characterized by stuporous withdrawal from reality and intense guilt feelings. So You've Been Diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder? If you've been diagnosed with bipolar disorder (also known as manic depression) you are not alone. It has been estimated that over 2 million people in the United States suffer from this form of mental illness which involves episodes of both mania and depression. Raise Your Feeling Frequency with a Loving Smile In every moment of our life we have the choice to think any thought we like. Sometimes we forget that we have the freedom to choose what we think in any moment. Hurricane Recovery: Steps to Start Putting Your Life Back in Order It seems unreal, another major storm hitting Florida after experiencing four last year. The beginning of hurricane season, Floridians were just starting to get past the destructive events that caused many of people stress and even, depression. Cure Against Depression and Low Self Confidence Depression strikes most of us and it can make us paralysed. It is essential that we do not let it get too much influence on our lives.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
