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Conquer your depression with the Depression Recovery Map and Guide

January 8, 2016 By Kay Walker

We designed this depression recovery map and guide because there are too many articles and clinical publications about depression with explanations of what causes the illness that sadly look like this:

“While the exact cause of depression isn’t known, what we do know is that it’s a 
complex illness with biological, environmental, social and genetic influences.”

While this explanation does speak to what science does not yet know about depression, it isn’t very helpful. That’s true especially for people who are struggling and seeking answers, or for family members and friends that are trying to help a struggling loved one get better. It’s especially difficult to understand depression and how a person gets it, if you’re someone who has never experienced it.

To make it simple to understand – even with all the unknowns around depression – Depression Zone has produced a depression recovery map and guide that walks you through how depression occurs, the factors within each of the three variable that lead to breakdown when not managed, and how to treat each one.

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD THE DEPRESSION RECOVERY MAP AND GUIDE

This article contains a detailed explanation of the roadmap with instructions on how to use it.

Intro to the Depression Recovery Map

So, here it is, the Depression Recovery Map:

SOURCES OF BREAKDOWN:

The minute you realize you have depression your state of health is already in a serious crisis mode. One or more of the actions you’ve taken or external factors in your life related to your body (state of physical health), your environment (environmental stressors) or the way you think and handle life (learned emotion-coping skills), is ineffective and has led to a malfunction in your mood.

People only get depression when one or more of the following variables (see image below) that contribute to overall wellbeing breakdown.

It may help to think about the human body as a car with many different components that allow the car to function when they all work together. But when one or more components of the car malfunction the entire car stops working effectively slowing it down — or all together, forcing it to stop.

So, when it comes to a person’s mood there are three variables that contribute your ability to feel good:

1) POOR PHYSICAL STATE CAN LEAD TO DEPRESSION:

If your body is not functioning at normal levels you may be experiencing a brain chemical issue that’s causing you an inability to be happy due a physical deficiency. There are many ways this can happen: Improper nutrition, another underlying medical condition, abuse of substances, a genetic pre-disposition (not fully understood yet, but there is significant supporting evidence).

The physical assessment checklist included with this infographic will help you understand if there are physical issues at play. All people suffering from depression should see a medical doctor for a thorough physical assessment.

2) ENVIRONMENTAL STRESSORS CAN CAUSE DEPRESSION:

The world around you – your environment – and what you deal with on a regular basis due to your lifestyle choices and as a result of things that happen spontaneously to you (i.e. like a loved one’s death) can affect your mental state. Prolonged stress that isn’t managed can cause a major breakdown in your mood and extract some of the joy that you experience life.

The environmental assessment checklist included with this infographic asks questions that allow you to review all areas of life to see if any lifestyle changes can be made to improve your mood.

In some cases, the depression you’re experiencing hasn’t reached the physical level and is simply a result of extreme stress due to environmental challenges. In cases like these some people simply need to make some serious lifestyle changes to improve their mood significantly. At Depression Zone we refer to this type of depression as “situational depression”.

All people suffering from depression should thoroughly assess their life to see if there are changes they can make to get closer to what they want for themselves in areas of career, relationships, self-love, finances, and purpose.

3) POOR EMOTIONAL COPING SKILLS CAN LEAD TO DEPRESSION:

If you’re not particularly trained on how to handle emotions and manage stress (most people are not well-trained to manage stress, because this isn’t something that is taught. It is often picked up from parents when kids are young), you may need to learn some new skills for dealing with life challenges. The way you choose to react when you’re dealing with a tough situation in life – aka your behavior – can cause more negative results.

The learned emotion-coping skills assessment checklist will help you identify areas to work on and improvements you can make to your behavior. All people suffering from depression to look at what behaviors they engage in that don’t serve them or that have major negative impacts on their life or other people.

ASSESSMENT PHASE:

The infographic has three accompanying checklists that help you delve deeper into each of the variables that can lead to depression. If you ask yourself the questions on the checklist you’ll be able to understand whether that variable needs work or is not a major issue.

After you go through the questions on each checklist, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of what’s causing your depression. The variables that are affected will dictate actions you need to take to seek effective treatment.

For example, if you have a physical issue you may realize that you need to make some diet changes to try and improve mood. If that doesn’t help, you may need to consider an antidepressant medication (if suggested by a doctor).

If you realize that there are issues in your life – like you’re struggling with finances regularly – you may need to make some lifestyle changes. These types of changes often require guidance and support from experts and/or learning new skills.

Most people find that they fall into the third variable, that they lack effective emotion-coping skills. Many people won’t even really understand what that means until they learn better ways of stress management and more productive behaviors. Emotional IQ skills are not formally taught. Most people learn as they go, which is not the most effective way of navigating life. If you need help in this area find a life coach or therapist that can work with you. Behaviors take time to retrain.

Depending on your core issues, the map will point you towards the actions you need to take to effectively treat and correct your concerns.

Keep in mind that making significant changes to any of the three variables of malfunction can take a great deal of time. The recovery process can last from weeks to years.

But putting in the work to correct issues of wellbeing is worth it. When you take the time to isolate the potential sources of depression, it will help you to take effective treatment actions and to eradicate the depression altogether (for some people) in the future.

Think of it this way: An obese person can go on a diet and lose weight, yes, but the diet only treats the weight issue not the food issue. So that person will still have an issue with food and is at a higher risk of becoming obese again.

It’s the same with depression.

Do the work now to get to the possible sources. Deal with the issues through therapy, medications or lifestyle changes, and later in life you’ll be mentally healthier than most people.

What that really means is FREEDOM. Life is great when you feel great and don’t have mental or physical issues dragging you down and know how to manage life challenges in positive ways when they arise.

CLICK HERE to download your FREE copy of the Depression Recovery Map& Guide

How to minimize crisis and achieve more of what you want in life,

January 5, 2016 By Kay Walker

Dwight Eisenhower

PLEASE NOTE: This article contains a game changing tactic for achieving more of what you want in life while minimizing crisis and feeling more relaxed and joyful. It’s all here…

How minimize crisis in your life

President Dwight Eisenhower remains the most productive and efficient president to ever serve in U.S. history. Here’s why: He created and used the “decision matrix”.

It’s a diagram that helps you evaluate what tasks are priority so you manage your time daily on what is most important for furthering you to whatever it is you desire.

When his matrix is used effectively, you can also mitigate crisis situations and decrease overall stress levels.

Learning how to follow his matrix is simple — and for most people it’s a “game changer”. When you learn how to use this you’ll immediately feel more relaxed in life. You’ll increase your levels of productivity and decrease the amount of major life crisis you experience.

Specifically for people who suffer from depression, following this model may help you take positive actions to avoid bouts of low mood. Or, if you’re trying to help someone with depression, you’ll be able to stave off major crisis situations (like depression that leads to suicidal thoughts).

Here is what Eisenhower’s Decision Matrix looks like:

eisenhowermatrix

The Decision Matrix explained:

Let’s get a few basics out of the way before we get into the full on explanation of how to use this matrix.

Your life is made up of a series of actions. Based on the actions you take you’ll either wind up in either positive or negative situations in life. Well, that’s half true.

Of course, your environment also plays a role. Where you get to in life isn’t simply about what you do – the actions you take – to get there – you also need to factor in the things that happen to you (ie. a family member passes away). So, your life is not fully in your control. Because, you can’t stop time and as time moves, things change and life changes, and well, “shit happens”.

BUT, the actions you take everyday and how you take them are vastly important determinants for your quality of life in the short and long term. Consider this: If you were to exercise for 45 minutes daily for a year, you would likely end up with a very healthy body on day 365. Conversely, if you didn’t workout or eat well and sat at a desk every day all day, you may end up with a weight issue and high blood pressure.

The decision matrix simply allows you to organize the actions you take so that they you are doing what you need to do NOW to get to get yourself to a FUTURE YOU DESIRE. (And also, so you avoid a future you don’t desire!)

The time management errors most people make:

Many people spent the majority of their time in Quadrant 1. If that’s you, it means you mainly engage in tasks that are urgent and important. In other words, tasks that require your immediate attention and contribute to some long-term goal or commitment in life. Activities like:

Delivering a work project by a short deadline
Calming a crying baby
Seeing your doctor to get a plugged ear de-waxified
Cleaning out a moldy kitchen fridge

Yes, these are important things to do, but spending most of your time here is a trap that’s easy to fall into. You see, us humans are hardwired to manage short-term disasters first. It’s how our early ancestors survived. It’s a mechanism that’s hardwired into our brain and it keeps us safe.

But the brain doesn’t delineate, which is why we can sometimes fall into a trap of living a life where we are always “putting out fires”. That means, we get into a routine of always reacting to crisis, versus doing what needs to be done to ensure the crisis never happens in the first place. As smart as our brain is, sometimes we need to override it’s automatic mechanisms.

The problem with having a “I have to do this now!”mindset is that it can put you in a reactive mode in life. From this perspective you are always rushing to finish or fix something. Your thinking becomes narrow with no concern for the long-term future. Which ultimately defines where you are going in life.

You can’t avoid Quadrant 1 altogether. There are times where crisis situations arise around you that are not under your control. For example, if your boss drops a project for a multi-million dollar client with a two-week deadline on your desk, it’s in your best interest to comply even if you don’t exactly want to (especially if you want to keep your job!).

But, the way you work is on you. You can be someone who rushes last minute the night before. Or, the moment you receive the project you can spent some time planning your hours of work over the two-week time frame to ensure you’re not rushing and have time to do your best work.

Which person would you rather be?

Now, if you spend most of your time on urgent activities that are unimportant – they don’t further a future that matters to you – you might spend most of your time in Quadrant 3. Activities like:

Dropping what you are doing to help a friend or family member do something that requires immediate attention and is important to them but doesn’t further your life
Going to a job you hate every day without making any other plans to change your career
Responding to personal text messages or emails that get in the way of important tasks

If the majority of your time is spent in Quadrant 3 you’re likely busy yet you often feel like you’re not getting anywhere in life.

What’s worse is spending most of your time in Quadrant 4. If you spend most of your time having fun, engaged in activities that make you feel good but don’t forward your life in any productive way, you’ll likely have an enjoyable life but limited achievement. These activities are primarily distractions. You may feel unfulfilled in life. Do you do these things often?:

Watch tv
Play video games
Browse the web or social media
Shop
Gamble

This not to say that you shouldn’t engage in fun. It’s very important for your mental health. But, if you have too much fun it doesn’t forward your overall commitments.

How to manage your life so you feel relaxed, organized, “on top of things”, and you get where you want to in life:

If you already divide your activities like the diagram below – spending most of your time in Quadrant 2 – then, BRAVO! If not, you might want to try this right away:

decisionmatrix2

Spend approximately 75% of your time engaged in activities that are IMPORTANT but NOT URGENT. If you do this, you’ll minimize crisis situations because in many cases you’ve already taken care of these issues before they developed into major problems. If you throw out expired food on the day it goes bad you’ll be able to avoid a dirty, moldy, stinky fridge.

Many people with depression don’t spend enough time doing important but not urgent activities

When it comes to depression many people have not developed effective daily management skills for their own wellbeing. Which means, they either don’t know what to do, or don’t do what’s healthy and good for them enough of the time. So, their system malfunctions.

They may not eat well or engage in exercise, or they may be dealing with negative situations on a daily basis for a prolonged period of time that cause a stress overload and collapse. Doing many of these healthy and simple and sometimes “not urgent” activities are extremely important for long-term health and avoiding future bouts of depression.

When a person has depression they have already reached the level of a health crisis situation. In some cases, it could be avoided by changing activities in a person’s lifestyle.

If you’re a caregiver with a depressed loved one and you’re reading this article you should also keep this in mind. You want to make sure your loved one is engaging in healthy actions on a daily basis to ensure they minimize depressive symptoms and prevent their situation from getting worse.

You also want to avoid waiting to make sure they get the help they need. Waiting wastes time and makes the situation worse is most cases. It’s human nature to think “I’ll deal with this tomorrow”. When it comes to depression waiting can lead to suicide.

Try this today!

The power of Eisenhower’s decision matrix is in its application. Put it to use in your life. Try it for a week and witness the results. You’ll likely feel more in control, more relaxed, more joyful.

Download and print this Eisenhower Worksheet PDF to help you organize your activities and produce results immediately.

Natural mood boosters: Healthy ways to get an immediate boost of happy

December 16, 2015 By Kay Walker

Natural mood boosters The brain is in a constant state of trying to get away from pain and move towards pleasure. It’s a built in survival mechanism all humans possess. So when we feel depressed its natural to gravitate to unhealthy behaviors to feel good. This is not ideal long term. Behaviors such as indulging in drugs or alcohol, eating too much food, avoiding people and situations, shopping, may cause an immediate mood boost but it’s superficial.

Your brain powers your body and and controls everything you do. Doing the following activities will help you activate an immediate supply of positive brain chemicals. Stick to the list below for healthy activities you can engage in to help you feel better on-demand. They are all natural mood boosters!

Natural mood boosters for an immediate boost of happy

MOOD BOOSTER #1: PERFORM A HIGH INTENSITY AEROBIC ACTIVITY:

Why it works:

You’ve likely heard the term “endorphins” and that they get released when you exercise, which causes a positive mood. Well have you ever consider why this happens and how it all works? If you’ve ever wondered here is a quick explanation:

When you exercise your brain processes the information it receives from your body by recognizing it as a moment of stress. The brain does not delineate between good stress and bad stress it just sends a message to the brain that sounds like “I’m under attack. Time to deal with it”. The same built-in survival instincts humans have to cope with crisis (the fight or flight system) kick in to manage this moment of stress on the body.

Endorphins are stress fighting chemicals that are released in the brain when the body signals “threat”. So naturally they are released. The main role of endorphins is to counteract and minimize the pain so you can maintain function to deal with the situation. Endorphins are pain blockers, which means they do the opposite, activate feelings of euphoria.

In order to protect you from the “threat” your brain also releases a protein called Brain Derive Neurotrophic Factor, BDNF. It counteracts the body’s stress by sending more calming chemical signals to cope. This is why you often feel a high sense of clarity during and following exercise.

What to do:

Below are some high intensity aerobic activities to consider. If you don’t have the energy or fitness level to do some of these activities, start small with walking, yoga, tai chi, swimming, dance and other aerobic activities where you can gear up the intensity level when you feel like you can. Here are some activities to consider: Running, roller blading, ice skating, skiing, dance, swimming, plyometrics.

A minimum of 20 minutes a day is the magic number. This has been proven from many significant research studies. 20 minutes is all you need.

MOOD BOOSTER #2: SNIFF AN ESSENTIAL OIL:

Why it works:

The Olfactory system is the name for the chemical processes that carry information on smells in the environment to an individual’s cognitions. Their are many parts to how this system works. For the purposes of understanding how a human understands smell all you need to know is that nerve cells located in the nose carry information through a complex and speedy process to nerve cells in the brain.

Olfactory receptor sites send information to a part of your brain known as the limbic system. It is the oldest part of the human brain and a center for processing emotions. Information on smell sensations are driven to the limbic system first therefore they enact an automatic feeling response before being relayed to the cortex and entering a person’s level of comprehension. That means before you register what your smelling, cookies baking for example, you could be thinking about your grandma or feeling spontaneously happy.

This is also because the region of the brain that receives information about smell – called the olfactory bulbs – is linked to regions of the brain that process emotion and a correlated to associative learning. This is why smell is connect to memory. Smells are recognized, meaning you need to learn them to be able to recall and label hem later.

Because smell is so deeply linked to emotions, good smells can bring about positive mood states. And this is done simply and quickly by taking a whiff of your favorite scents.

What to do:

Purchase one or more essential oil sand take a whiff when you need a quick mood boost. Common positive mood enhancing scents are: Vanilla, Peppermint, Lavender, Lemon, Orange, Rosemary and Cinnamon. Whatever you choose make sure you associate the smell with happiness by taking a whiff before you purchase.

MOOD BOOSTER #3: INTERACT WITH POSITIVE PEOPLE

Read Montague, a behavioral neuroscientist and professor at Virginia Tech studies how the dopamine system works in humans. His lab has learned that the same system in the brain that gets deployed when someone takes an illegal and dangerous drug that makes them feel good momentarily also fires when people interact with other people. The system involves the stimulations of the chemical dopamine.

What that means is, the same affects you can get from drugs and alcohol can be caused from simply interacting with other humans.

What to do:

Spend time with family members and friends you enjoy spending time with. Decrease your level of time with people that don’t make you feel good. At minimum, and if you don’t particularly feel like socializing, go be around people. Go to public place. Sit in a coffee shop or a restaurant. Go to a park. Walk through your city. Go be with people in any way you can.

MOOD BOOSTER #4: HAVE AN ORGASM

The euphoric feeling produced by an orgasm is linked to the nerves sent to the brain’s pleasure center, or reward circuit. The sexual arousal felt in the body floods the brain with a surge of happy brain chemicals.

The areas of the brain impacted by sexual arousal include the amygdala, nucleus accumbens, ventral tegmental area (VTA), cerebellum, and the pituitary gland. These brain regions are all connected to emotional regulation and hormone secretion. Over 30 brain regions are stimulated during an orgasm.

Dopamine is also released during orgasm. It is a feel good chemical. It’s the same chemical that some antidepressants target.

During orgasm a brain region call the lateral orbitofrontal cortex gets turned off. It controls self evaluation, reason and self control. It momentarily stops the brain from thinking the thoughts that are running as a results of anxiety and depression. It shuts down fear and anxiety for a short period of time.

When a woman experiences as orgasm the amgydala brain goes it to a state of relaxation. For men, relaxation to the same area reduces aggression.

Overall, the body experiences deep relaxation and pleasure. The heart rate slows.

What to do:

Have sex with a loving and trusting partner or masturbate if you feel comfortable doing so.

MOOD BOOSTER #5: BE GRATEFUL

Being grateful is a positive mind state. And when you focus your awareness on a memory, person, or object that you are grateful for, your brain activates blood flow in brain regions that increase production of a crucial “happy” brain chemical called dopamine. This quick release sends your body a quick flood of feeling good emotions.

In 2009, the National Institutes of Health examined brains of subjects thinking thoughts of gratitude. They had higher levels of hypothalamus activity and increased dopamine levels.

What to do:

Many experts suggest keeping a gratitude journal and logging what you are grateful for each day to help you cultivate this type of positive thinking, so it comes more naturally. This can be a useful practice. A study from UC Davis (2003) reported that adults who keep gratitude journals are more determined, attentive, enthusiastic and have higher energy levels than those who don’t.

But, being grateful doesn’t have to be even this complicated. It’s as simple as thinking about a memory, person, or object for as little as five minutes a day.

Also want to learn about antidepressants? Download Kay Walker’s antidepressant cheatsheet

Is it adrenal fatigue or depression?

December 15, 2015 By Kay Walker

Adrenal fatigue is a lesser known syndrome that has similar symptoms to major depression. Some experts believe adrenal fatigue is misdiagnosed as depression often. It’s important to understand the differences because the treatment for adrenal fatigue does not require medication. It simply requires some changes to diet, time and sleep to rest and repair the adrenal glands. Read on for more information….

Is it adrenal fatigue or depression?

What is Adrenal Fatigue?

A syndrome that’s similar to major depression in many ways. It occurs when the adrenal glands begin to function below the necessary level. This is often a result of prolonged stress and the way it puts pressure on the cells and systems of the body, and in this case, the adrenal glands, which are located above the kidneys.

As the name of the syndrome suggests, extreme sleepiness is a prime symptom. This lack of energy disable an individual’s level to function physically and mentally. Many people report feeling sleepy, depressed, and physically unable to do what they used to do. In extreme cases, a sufferer will have trouble getting out of bed for more than a few hours.

With this malfunction at the adrenal level other systems are put under pressure. Common additional symptoms are changes in hunger and weight, fluid and electrolyte imbalance and lowered sex drive.

What causes adrenal fatigue?

The adrenal glands in your body sit on top of your kidney’s and they mobilize during stress. they secrete a hormone that manages your energy levels, immune system, and heart rate. When they undergo too much stress and for too long, they can’t keep up. The end result is an experience of adrenal fatigue.

During adrenal fatigue the glands still do function but not well enough.

Symptoms of adrenal fatigue:

Tired for no reason.
Trouble getting out of bed in the morning even if they’ve slept at least 6-10 hours.
Feeling overwhelmed and stressed.
Have trouble dealing with stress.
Craving salty and sweet food.
Feeling more awake after 6PM.

How is adrenal fatigue diagnosed?

Even though adrenal fatigue has been around for many years, it is less discussed and understood among doctors of Western medicine than doctors who use natural remedies. You’re loved one may need to see a naturopathic doctor for a diagnosis.

Physicians will use a simple saliva test, commonly known as the Cortisol/DHEAS Saliva Test, to measure the level of the stress hormones DHEAS and cortisol in a patient’s saliva.

Treatment for adrenal fatigue

Dietary changes, natural supplement, sleep and time are all the is needed to repair the adrenals to their optimum levels of function and get your loved one back to health.

Additional resource to check out for more information is the book: Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome™ by Dr. James L. Wilson

How action can help you feel good immediately

August 31, 2015 By Kay Walker

If you are feeling stressed or experiencing a great amount of negative thoughts specifically related to a life situation it’s probably because you are stuck in between making a choice about what to do. Misery lives in between choices. So if you are thinking about a life situation over and over again the best thing you can do is take an action. Action will give you power. It will give you control again over the situation.

Research suggests that happiness involves being in a state of movement towards the things you’d like to accomplish in your life. If you are considering what to do about a specific set of circumstances and you are stuck thinking about it you are not getting anywhere.

Action leads to results. This is as true a fact as gravity keeps your feet on the ground. Taking an action will always produce a result. Sometimes those results aren’t what you want. Though, knowing what you don’t want will often lead you to knowing what you do want.

If you don’t know what to do, take an action. Stop thinking about taking action. Take an action that you think will make you better and move you forward to what you want.

For example:

If you don’t know what course to take in school the best advice is to sign up for a course anyway. Do something you like and find out if it’s a fit or not. If you decide you want to be a lawyer and then choose it, start school for it and find out it’s not for you, you can choose something else. But taking action – ie. enrolling in a course – will get you out of the agony of trying to decide what to do.

You always have choice. Life happens but it’s up to you to CHOOSE what you want to do about it. And choosing a path involves starting by taking small actions.

Try this:

Step 1: Identify the situation that’s been bothering you, that’s causing you stress, where you feel stuck.

Step 2: Decide what the ultimate goal would be if you could have it.

Step 3: Make a list of all the possible actions that would move you in that direction.

Step 4: Choose one simple action

Step 5: Once you’ve taken action, when you produce a result, evaluate it. Then follow the same process (the same 5 steps listed here) to decide what new action to take.

Taking action puts the power of life back into your hand. It will give you power. It will make you feel good and move your life in a forward direction. Start small.