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How masturbation can help relieve mental and physical pain

March 12, 2015 By Kay Walker

When you feel severely depressed and you’ve exhausted all your options, you can get brief reprieve from the mental and/or physical pain you’re experiencing by masturbating. It will give you major relief on the spot, when you need it.

If you masturbate already, this advice won’t make your uncomfortable. If you don’t, keep reading this article. It will provide you with an understanding of the physiological processes involved in masturbation and how they can temporarily reduce uncomfortable emotional and physical pain

This is science. It’s not wrong or bad to masturbate. It’s completely normal and natural. There is nothing wrong with touching your own body and genitals to bring yourself to orgasm. And it could help you when nothing else can.

Unlike other methods of pain relief – drinking, drugs, overeating, yelling at someone, hiding your life away in a dark room – it’s a healthy way of dealing with biological or neurological pain.

It’s a brilliant way of relieving the mental and physical tension that occurs from anxiety and depression. And it’s something you can do on your own, anytime, anywhere, privately.

How masturbation can help relieve mental and physical pain

How orgasm relieves pain:

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.

Quick tutorial in masturbation

If you don’t masturbate regularly, all you need to do is to touch your body and genitals where it feels good. This is a personal journey.

If you find that you can’t concentrate enough, there are tools you can use that will help you, try:

Vibrators
Sexual images or videos
Help from a partner
Lubricants
Music

Masturbation can help when nothing else can. It’s a healthy way of relieving the pain. Find some private time, alone and give it a try.

What all suicidal people have in common

March 10, 2015 By Kay Walker

There is one common denominator shared by all individuals considering suicide. Every person who wants to take their life is suffering from: Major depression, also known, as clinical depression.

Happy people don’t want to end their lives. They look forward to most days and understand life it is not always perfect. Depressed people, on the other hand, do. They see life as exhausting and painful. And if they don’t see an end to the pain is possible in the near future, suicide can seem like the only logical way out.

What all suicidal people have in common: Major Depression

Definition and self-diagnosis checklist for Major Depression:

North America’s popular medical web site, WebMD.com defines Major Depression this way:

Most people feel sad or low at some point in their lives. But major depression is marked by a depressed mood most of the day, particularly in the morning, and a loss of interest in normal activities and relationships – symptoms that are present every day for at least 2 weeks.

Diagnosing depression: What criteria do health professionals use to diagnosis severe depression?

Health professionals use the DSM-V, a medical text that lists the diagnostic criteria for all neurological disorders (illnesses that affect brain chemistry), to formally diagnosis depression. Below, is the outline they use.

DSM-V Criteria for Major Depressive Disorder:

Five (or more) of the following symptoms have been present during the same 2- week period and represent a change from previous functioning; at least one of the symptoms is either (1) depressed mood or (2) loss of interest or pleasure.

[Note: Do not include symptoms that are clearly due to a general medical condition, or mood-incongruent delusions or hallucinations.]

Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day, as indicated by either subjective report (e.g., feels sad or empty) or observation made by others (e.g., appears tearful). Note: In children and adolescents, can be irritable mood.
Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day (as indicated by either subjective account or observation made by others).
Significant weight loss when not dieting or weight gain (e.g., a change of more than 5 percent of body weight in a month), or decrease or increase in appetite nearly every day. Note: In children, consider failure to make expected weight gains.
Insomnia or hypersomnia nearly every day.
Psychomotor agitation or retardation nearly every day (observable by others, not merely subjective feelings of restlessness or being slowed down).
Fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day.
Feelings of worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt (which may be delusional) nearly every day (not merely self-reproach or guilt about being sick).
Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day (either by subjective account or as observed by others).
Recurrent thoughts of death (not just fear of dying), recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for committing suicide.

a) The symptoms cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning.

b) The symptoms are not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition (e.g., hypothyroidism).

If you fit into the above criteria, you could have Major Depression. If you believe that is your diagnosis, you should continue to read the literature on this page. It will help you now while you wait to get professional help.

Depressed and waiting to get professional help: Common challenges

January 17, 2015 By Kay Walker

If you’re depressed, it’s likely that it’s taking way too long for you to get the help you need. The question is, what do you do in the meantime?

Especially, when you’re unable to work, your body aches, you don’t want to talk to anyone, and all you want to do is hide in the dark and sleep.

Here’s a list of some of the challenges you could be dealing with right now and ways to deal with them powerfully from someone who has been there.

Depressed and waiting to get professional help: Common challenges

CHALLENGE: You don’t want to socialize with anyone

Right now, for you, talking could take too much of effort. It can be extremely stressful when you have to explain what you’re dealing with. Or, defend yourself for not wanting to be social. You could also be suffering from feelings of guilt. You might be thinking you’re a burden to others and you don’t want to put them out by letting them know how bad you feel.

Words from someone who’s been there: Don’t put yourself down for not wanting to be social at this point of your life. It’s okay. Give yourself a break. Allow yourself to be alone if you need to.

What is important though, is that you are as honest as possible (as you feel comfortable being) with people who are closest to you. Be straight with them. Teach them how to communicate with you. Tell them how much time you need to be alone. If you tell them what you are going through when you feel better you won’t have to deal with a trail of broken relationships.

CHALLENGE: Your body aches

Physically your body might be in breakdown. If you feel like you are 100 years old it’s because biologically there could be things happening to you that are causing your body to go into slow motion.

The cause could be stress, which leads to inflammation in the body and tension in the muscles. Or, it could be a neurological issue causing you to have difficulties processing information in the brain. You may also have fibromyalgia.

Words from someone who’s been there: Treat your sore body with physical therapies. Take hot baths. Sit in a sauna or hot a tub. Get a massage. Do whatever exercises you can do to loosen up. This could be anything from stretching, walking, or yoga to running. Find what works for you.

CHALLENGE: You can’t stop yourself from eating

If you’ve developed binge eating disorder it’s quite normal during severe depression. When the body is experiencing pain the brain goes into a survival mode seeking pleasure to help it cope and to keep you alive. When you can’t get happy sometimes food is the only thing that provides you with the pleasure you are craving.

At the neurological level, the brain acts before you take action. So, if you feel powerless with your urges, that is because you kind of are. When the brain is starved of the nutrients it needs to create serotonin, your body craves sugar and carbohydrates.

Words from someone who’s been there: Try to control your eating by staying away from food when it’s not meal time. When you do eat, eat in the company of others. Even though it might be embarrassing, ask others for support to keep food away from you by locking cupboards.

Do your best not to blame yourself if you can’t stop eating. It’s a phase that will pass. If you are gaining weight rapidly you can lose it when you are healthy. Weight comes and goes and it’s under your control. I personally gained 30lbs during my depression and lost it within 2 months during my recovery.

During this time, it’s important to eat a well balanced diet as best you can – carbs, protein, vegetables, fruits and dairy. Avoid eating processed foods. They will make the issue worse.

CHALLENGE: You don’t want to eat

If you have no appetite you may not be eating properly. That’s a major issue if you are trying to get healthy. It’s essential that you eat a well balanced healthy, process-free diet.

Words from someone who’s been there: Ask for support from someone close to you to help you eat. Eat with others if you can. If you really can’t bring yourself to eat, get a shake from a health store. It will help you get the nutrients you need to get better and it takes no effort to make or ingest.

CHALLENGE: Your body is weak but your mind is jumpy

You know what I mean if this is happening to you. You feel like a senior citizen but your brain is skipping from one thing to another. Or, you just find it impossible to concentrate on anything.

Words from someone who’s been there: Busying yourself with a basic task like cleaning a room, playing a simple game, or painting a picture can help. Sometimes talking to someone can help stop the mental chatter. Music is another great thing to put in your ear. You may need to walk around with an ipod and a set of ear phones.

Sometimes nothing helps. The important thing to know is that it will get better. It’s just a phase. If it’s really bad, go to the emergency room. Sometimes physicians will prescribe a temporary sedative medicine to get you through a rough time.

CHALLENGE: Your thinking about killing yourself but you don’t want to have to

When the pain of life is unbearable and you can’t see an end, it’s easy to get hopeless. If can’t stop thinking about suicide you are in an emergency situation. If the thoughts are going as far as to how you would take your life, you are not in a state to even trust yourself.

Words from someone who’s been there: If you are having suicidal thoughts that are persistent and constant the best thing to do is to let someone know. Choose someone you can feel comfortable talking to and who will be able to deal with what you say to them.

Call a crisis line for support. Call 911 for immediate assistance. Don’t think you can wait it out.