Depression Fighter

Self help for depression fighters

Depression Fighters

Importance of digestive health on mood

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If you’ve seen a health professional (or professionals) for depression and no one has asked you the question: “Are you regular?”, you need to understand how a healthy bowel is related to your mood. (Aside from the fact that being irregular is uncomfortable).

Your nervous system is the component of your body that allows information to travel from your brain to the rest of your biology. A major component of that system is called the enteric nervous system (ENS).  It’s also commonly referred to as your “gut brain” since it sits at the top of your gut.

How the two brains interact

Your “gut brain” and your actual brain are made from the same types of tissue. Which means the gut brain contains sheaths of neurons that are embedded in the walls of your gut. They both produce the neurotransmitter – or chemical messenger – called serotonin. Your gut produces 95 percent of all the serotonin in your body.

In terms of digestion the serotonin is your gut helps stimulate enzymes from the pancreas. It helps you break down food and move food through your digestive tract.

The gut brain and brain in your head, your cranial brain, cranial brain talk to one another through what’s known as the vagus nerve, that extends from the base of your brain to the abdomen.

U.C.L.A.’s Dr. Emeran Mayer is researching how the trillions of bacteria in the gut “communicate” with enteric nervous system cells. His believes that in the coming years psychiatry will need to expand to treat the second brain in addition to the one atop the shoulders.

A good reason to learn how you can stay regular. If you are suffering from bowel issues, treating those issues could help improve your mood.

 

What is: Mindfulness?

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What is Mindfulness?What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is the act of maintaining moment-by-moment awareness of your thoughts, feelings, the sensations your body experiences, as well as, your surroundings. It involves being non-judgmental of each experience that you observe.  From this perspective there is no morality, no “right” or “wrong”.

The practice comes from the fundamentals of Buddhist meditation. Though,  it can be practiced during daily life away from being in a meditative state.

Since 1979 a secularized version of mindfulness was used in Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), that was launched at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

What’s the purpose of mindfulness?

The purpose of mindfulness is to heighten your sense of awareness of yourself.  This way you learn to see yourself from a perspective an outside view. You see in yourself as another person may experience you.  The notion is that when you learn to see yourself more clearly you can learn how to deal with your thoughts, feelings and behaviors in a way that is proactive and beneficial for what you truly desire.

Mindfulness training teaches you:

  • How to notice what you’re experience in a given moment.  Being in a mindful state is like observing an object under a microscope.  You don’t just see it you see it’s particles.
  • Be aware of your sensations and your breathing, and how not to react to negative emotions.
  • Recognize your thoughts and how they create your emotional experience. Learn that your thoughts and feelings change and are not based in reality.
  • Get more joy out of life by being hyper-focused on the experience of life.

A quick exercise in mindfulness:

An easy way to understand mindfulness is to take 5 minutes to do this quick exercise.

  1.  Prepare a small segment of orange. If you don’t have an orange you can use a different piece of fruit, or a small piece of food (like chocolate).
  2. Set a 5 minute timer.
  3. Sit in a quiet place with little distractions.
  4. From the moment you start the timer you will spend 5 minutes examining the orange (or piece of food). Look at it as if you are looking at it under a microscope. Observe the texture of it’s peel. Observe it’s pulp. Observe the color. Smell the orange. Now put the orange in your mouth. Feel the way it feels. Take a bite. Taste it but don’t indulge in the flavor. Mindfulness is about observing how something is without judgement. If you have thoughts about how good it tastes acknowledge your thoughts and bring your awareness back to the orange. Experience the orange for the entire 5 minutes.

Spending 5 minutes observing an orange may seem silly. The point is to learn how to refine your awareness. It’s also to learn to accept how things are, to accept reality without judging it.

Mindfulness practice helps you to understand why you do the things you do. When you understand that you are doing something, or what thoughts are involved in making you behave in ways you don’t want to, you can learn to choose new ways of handling situations.

 

Types of major depression

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Types of major depression

There are six common types of major depression and they are listed with symptoms below.

Types of major depression

Major depressive disorder, also referred to as unipolar depression

  • Interferes with ability to function
  • Affects all areas of life – relationships, work, sleep eating
  • Episodes may occur several times in a person’s life
  • Slowed movements, speech and thinking, speak less, some stop speaking
  • Have recurring thoughts about their own death – range from thinking about it to seriously considering

Manic-depressive disorders, more commonly known as bipolar disorder

  • Serious mental illness involving episodes of depression that alternate with mania. Mania is feelings or greatness and elation, sudden energy, and feeling uncontrollable power. Sometimes depression and mania occur simultaneously shifting from one to the other rapidly.

Dysthymic disorder

  • Milder form of depression that lasts longer.
  • Feeling of melancholy
  • Unable to get really excited about life
  • Can still function but feel gloomy

Seasonal Affective disorder

  • Often brought on in the winter months, though it can occur as a reverse
  • Could be a result of disruption of circadian rhythm or lack of Vitamin D
  • Full spectrum lights can help
  • Less that 2% of people in Florida have SAD, while 10% of people in New Hampshire do

Psychotic depression

  • 15% of depressed people experience delusions or hallucinations
  • Often need to be hospitalized to prevent themselves from suicide

Postpartum depression

  • 4 weeks – year after a woman gives birth
  • Most women experience baby blues, postpartum is far more severe
  • May involve delusions or hurting themselves or their newborn
  • Many women feel a great amount of guilt
  • 10% of new mothers

 

How to manage finances when you are sick

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How to manage finances when you are sickUnfortunately, when you are sick your bills don’t go away. And while you can reduce many of your responsibilities  – get a friend to cook your meals, get Grandma to pick the kids up from school, take a few weeks of unpaid vacation time off work with being penalized – financial obligations are still your’s to deal with.

It’s also important to you take all the actions you can to mitigate your financial stress. It can cause you stress that – in your unwell mental state – you can’t afford to deal with.

How to manage finances when you are sick

Here are some points to keep in mind and some resources to consider to help you deal with your financial situation.

1)  Health trumps finances. While both are important to manage and keep in check, if you are dealing with chronic health issue, it is your main priority. That being said, financial health is a part of your overall wellness. So it’s important to keep up with bills as you can. But, if it comes down to spend your savings on saving your life or paying your water bill, while both are important you should always save your health first. Remember the old adage: “If you don’t have your health, you have nothing.”

2) Be open with your employer.  It’s not your employer’s job to manage your health or to keep tabs on how your doing. So if you are dealing with a mental health issue that is affecting your ability to work, you need to confront the issue by discussing it with your employer. When you have this conversation it helps to have doctor notes to back up your diagnosis. All companies are different and your boss will be able to direct you to resources available to you.

3) Be open with your community.  The term community in this sense means your friends, family, neighbors and close aquaintances.  Be honest and upfront with people you feel comfortable discussing your health and financial concerns with.  Ask for their input.  Often when you share and ask for support from people you trust they will help you by sharing about a similar situation or suggesting actions you can take.

4) Seek support at the level of government. If you don’t have insurance coverage or aren’t getting the support from your employer (or your situation has had you quit or be fired from your job) seek out government assistance.  Tap into to your local resources.

According to the Social Security Administration, more than 1.3 million are granted Social Security disability benefits because they suffer from a mood diagnosed mood disorders. Mental illness has become the second most common diagnostic category for beneficiaries. Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)  provides benefits for those who have paid FICA taxes and no longer can work because of a long-term disability.

5) Consolidate and reduce.  During this period you need to focus on your health and reduce costs in all other areas.  Track your weekly and monthly spend to find areas where you can save.  You may need to make major life changes such as moving homes, or selling property. The focus should be on reducing your output and maintaining your income. You may need to support yourself using savings during this time. It’s not ideal but sometimes it’s necessary.

6) Appoint a health advocate.  If you are having trouble managing your finances because your symptoms are getting in the way, or you need help setting reducing your spending etc. ask a friend or family member to assist you with your finances.

7) Be cognizant of wait times.  If you are applying for financial support, or support from insurance companies, or even taking your own money out of savings, remember that sometimes there are time constraints.  So, if you are not work plan ahead so that you have money to support yourself.

8) Be honest with your service providers and creditors.  Tell the truth about your situation. Sometimes creditors will work with you to try and work out a plan that you are able to handle. It is not always the case but it is worth a try.

9) Reach out to crisis support centers. Most cities have crisis centers. Some of them will help you manage financial issues and get you on track. Search online for your local center and call them to inquire into what’s available.

Be aware of the financial implications caused health implications. Managing finances isn’t always easy when you are treating a chronic health issue. If you aren’t in a good financial situation before you get sick you will likely have to deal with more issues and debt afterwards. Don’t blame yourself for this. It’s just the reality of what happens. Do your best to take care of your finances by taking the actions on this list. And when you are healthy you will have more energy and can get back to work and pay your debt off.

Are you having trouble getting the help you need?  Want immediate support and relief? CLICK HERE.

Affirmations and how they work

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Affirmations and how they workWhat is an affirmation?

An affirmation is a statement or phrase that is either real or made up, that you say repeatedly to yourself to reinforce its truth. What you believe about yourself or a situations shapes your thoughts and your thoughts shape your behavior. So, if you can shift what you believe by forcing yourself to learn a new “truth”, your thoughts and behaviors will transform, as well.

Affirmations and how they work:

How affirmations work:

Your brain does not know the difference between what is real and what is fantasy. It’s easy to understand this concept by thinking about the way you interact with a movie.  Sometimes you get so caught up in what is happening on screen that you empathize with the characters by crying or laughing. (Aside: The same is true for visualizations. Your brain doesn’t know the difference between a imagining action and actually doing it).

Affirmations help you reframe your thought patterns through the science of neuroplasticity. This is the brain’s ability to change structure through the process of thinking.  So processes that involve thinking – such as learning a new skill – have the ability to reshape the brain’s anatomy in both positive and negative ways.

Quick example of neuroplasticity: One famous study that led to the discovery of neuroplastictiy, proved that London taxi cab drivers had a larger brain region for memory (called the hippocampus) retention due to the job’s demands on them drivers ability to remember routes.

Affirmations allow you to shift what you think about a situation more quickly. Sometimes, even if you don’t quite believe them, they can help you think positively. Or they allow you to hold a reality based thought in your focus while you have a tendency to think otherwise.

That means, if you were once told you were fat when you were young, even as an adult you may have a tendency to think “I’m fat” or “I’m going to get fat”. And those thoughts may have nothing to do with your current reality if you stand on the scale. Eitherway, you tend to see the thought before the truth and that thought shapes your actions, in this case, dieting, starving yourself, working out to an extreme etc.

Thoughts get worse when they aren’t challenged by reality. This happens especially if you don’t test the thoughts in the real world by asking others for their opinion to validate what’s in your head. Additionally, when you spend too much time alone the thoughts learn to go round and round and can become pervasive and obsessive.

Choosing or creating an affirmation:

How do you know what to say to yourself? You can choose to say a phrase that empowers you by reading something that is already written.  Choose a quote and repeat it over and over. Start with five minutes a day. Use a phrase the helps you break out from your depressed mood, or make you feel a bite better. It could be as simple as: “This time in my life will pass, tomorrow will be better”. Or as personal as “I am the best Mary Kay sales woman in the region. Today I will land six sales. I will make calls I don’t want to make because I know the more conversations I have today, the closer I will get to earning a new car”

Affirmations don’t have to be true, but they do have to be believable to you and possible in reality. Therefore this would only work: “I will help millions of people” , if you believe you can actually do this. It is a stretch for some people.

How to create an affirmation that makes you feel confident, excites you, or improves your thoughts about a situation:

  1. Decide what it is you want most for yourself in the near future.
  2. Write down the reality of where you are in relation to that future. These should be FACTS only. That means they are variables that can be measured in distance time and form.
  3. The last one to four sentences should be positive or “I will” sentences that are completely made up but realistic and related to what you want in your future.
  4. Your affirmation can be as long or short as you want it to be.  You should not go over 25 sentences. It should be something you can read 1 or more times a day to presence yourself to what you’d like to achieve.

EXAMPLE:

“I have been living with a depressed mood for eight months. My body aches.  I have less energy than I used to.  I tend to sleep as much as I can through the day. I am frustrated because I’ve seen many doctors and am not getting healthier. I am taking antidepressants but I am getting sicker. I’ve gained 30lbs. I have suicidal thoughts.

I know that 90% of people who suffer from depression get better. It may take some time but and even thought I feel sick, I am taking positive actions. I am doing everything I can. I have an incredible family and friends in my support system. I am loved. I hated my body right now but I love myself.

When I get better I will save millions of people by sharing what I’ve learned. I feel bad today but tomorrow I will hope to feel better. If not tomorrow, I will likely feel better in the near future. I know what goes down must come up”.

OR

“Today is the worst day of my life. I will keep living for my family. I have a wife and kids that need me. Tomorrow will be a better day if I continue to take healthy actions towards my recovery”

OR

“This too shall pass”

OR

“I am a beautiful gift to the world”

Or, start with music:

If you aren’t ready for affirmations or think it’s not for you another way to use the similar technique is to listen to a song over and over that makes you feel good. Repeatedly singing postive lyrics can make you feel confident and help you shift your mood and focus.

For example: “I am Super woman. Yes I am, Yes I am.” – from Alicia Keys song “Superwoman”

 

Want more valuable tips and tactics for defeating depression?  Take the 7 Day Feel Better Now anonymous online course. CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE.