Self-Help Tips : How to Tell If You Have Low Self-Esteem

"To tell if you have low self-esteem, look in the mirror and analyze how you feel about what you see. Identify low self-esteem that greatly affects people's lives with tips from a licensed psychologist in this free video on self-help".

Via:  Dr. Art Bowler

Depression's Evolutionary Roots: Two scientists suggest that depression is not a malfunction, but a mental adaptation that brings certain cognitive advantages

Depression seems to pose an evolutionary paradox. Research in the US and other countries estimates that between 30 to 50 percent of people have met current psychiatric diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder sometime in their lives. But the brain plays crucial roles in promoting survival and reproduction, so the pressures of evolution should have left our brains resistant to such high rates of malfunction. Mental disorders should generally be rare — why isn’t depression?  Click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading...

Via:  Scientific American

Status: a more accurate way of understanding self-esteem(?)

Brain research is doing two things. In part it is explaining the underpinning functioning of things we already know, like the importance of mindfulness (see last week's post). However, some research also points to the need for a major overhaul in our thinking. This appears to be the case with self-esteem.
While there's no question that there's a deep human drive for a feeling of self-esteem or competence, this feeling of competence is almost never assessed on it's own: we are social beings at the core, and as such our sense of competence appears to be deeply connected to others around us. Self-esteem may not be an accurate way of understanding this feeling of 'okayness', when we actually measure this constantly against others. Instead of self-esteem, we need to start thinking about the more dynamic sense of 'status'.
Click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading...

Via:  Psychology Today

An Overview of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy in the Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder

BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy is based on a bio-social theory of borderline personality disorder. It is hypothesized that the disorder is a consequence of an emotionally vulnerable individual growing up within a particular set of environmental circumstances which are refered to as the Invalidating Environment.
 
The term Invalidating Environment refers essentially to a situation in which the personal experiences and responses of the growing child are disqualified or "invalidated" by the significant others in her life. The child's personal communications are not accepted as an accurate indication of her true feelings and it is implied that, if they were accurate, then such feelings would not be a valid response to circumstances....Click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading...

Authors: Barry Kiehn and Michaela Swales

Via:  Psychiatry Online 

MedicinePlus...Trusted Health Information

Interactive Health Tutorials

The tutorials listed below are interactive health education resources from the Patient Education Institute. Using animated graphics each tutorial explains a procedure or condition in easy-to-read language. You can also listen to the tutorial. Click anywhere in this sentence linking you to a huge clearing house of health resources and education...

Via:  US National Library of Medicine and National Institute of Health

"Come to the edge, he said. They said: We are afraid! Come to the edge, he said. They came. He pushed them, And they flew..." - Guillaume Apollinaire

Cognitive Neuroscience of Mindfulness Meditation

Mindfulness meditation, one type of meditation technique, has been shown to
enhance emotional awareness and psychological flexibility as well as induce
well-being and emotional balance. Scientists have also begun to examine how
meditation may influence brain functions. This talk will examine the
effect of mindfulness meditation practice on the brain systems.






Speaker: Philippe Goldin: A research scientist  in
the Department of Psychology at Stanford University

Via:  Google Tech Talks

Disturbing Emotions: ENVY

Envy (also called invidiousness) may be defined as an emotion that "occurs when a person lacks another’s (perceived) superior quality, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it. The difference from the word jealousy is that the envious person wishes the other man did not have the envied blessing. It can also derive from a sense of low self-esteem that results from an upward social comparison threatening a person's self image: another person has something that the envier considers to be important to have. If the other person is perceived to be similar to the envier, the aroused envy will be particularly intense, because it signals to the envier that it just as well could have been he or she who had the desired object. Bertrand Russell said envy was one of the most potent causes of unhappiness. It is a universal and most unfortunate aspect of human nature because not only is the envious person rendered unhappy by his envy, but also wishes to inflict misfortune on others. Although envy is generally seen as something negative, Russell also believed that envy was a driving force behind the movement towards democracy and must be endured in order to achieve a more just social system...click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading...

Via:  Wikipedia

Create An Easy & Playful Flash Animation That Reflects Your Mood

Here is a LiNK to my moods...
Make your own mood in a abstracted and colorful animated painting...

UCSB Emeritus Professor of Sociology Thomas Scheff Explores the Place of Emotion in the Midst of Thought.

Via: UCTV  A 24-hour, non-commercial television channel that broadcasts the best in educational and enrichment programming from the campuses, national laboratories, and affiliated institutions of the University of California. UCTV delivers science, health and medicine, public affairs, humanities, and the arts to a general audience, as well as specialized programming for health care professionals and teachers.

Worst Things to Say to Someone Who Is Depressed

Some people trivialize depression (often unintentionally) by dropping a platitude on a depressed person as if that is the one thing they needed to hear. While some of these thoughts have been helpful to some people (for example, some find that praying is very helpful), the context in which they are often said mitigates any intended benefit to the hearer. Platitudes don't cure depression.  Here is an excerpt from the list.  The number of them demonstrates the large number of us who are ignorant to the trials of clinical depression...

10. "Why don't you just grow up?"
11. "Stop feeling sorry for yourself."
12. "There are a lot of people worse off than you?"
13. "You have it so good, why aren't you happy?"
14. "It's a beautiful day!"
15. "You have so many things to be thankful for, why are you depressed!"
16. "What do you have to be depressed about".
17. "Happiness is a choice"
18. "You think *you've* got problems..."
19. "Well at least it's not that bad."
20. "Maybe you should take vitamins for your stress."
21. "There is always somebody worse off than you are."
22. "Lighten up!"...Click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading...

Via:  Dr Ivan's Depression Central
This site is Internet's central clearinghouse for information on all types of depressive disorders and on the most effective treatments for individuals suffering from Major Depression, Manic-Depression (Bipolar Disorder), Cyclothymia, Dysthymia and other mood disorders. This site is maintained by Dr. Ivan Goldberg, with no financial support from any public, nonprofit, or pharmaceutical source.

Accept Change

Life continually evolves. We’re always moving into new experiences, new possibilities. This constant change unsettles the personality, which finds security in stability. But with life always in flux, that security is an illusion. We experience pain by trying to hold on to things that are not solid.

Life becomes joyful when we can open to the constant flow and ride freely with it. This requires us to let go of the need to control. We need to learn to trust.

"Can it then be that what we call the ‘self’ is fluid and elastic? It evolves, strikes a different balance with every new breath."
-- Wayne Muller

Via: Higher Awareness

Dr. Tracey Skale of Greater Cincinnati Behavioral Health Speaks About Her Work With People With Schizophrenia.