The World Looks Different if You're Depressed

DEPRESSION really does change the way you see the world. People with the condition find it easy to interpret large images or scenes, but struggle to "spot the difference" in fine detail. The finding hints at visual training as a possible treatment.  Click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading...

Via:  New Scientist

Brain's Fear Center is Equipped With a Built-in Suffocation Sensor

..."It has been proposed that panic and anxiety disorders involve a suffocation alarm gone haywire," Welsh said. "Now, this work may shed some light on this well-known phenomenon and suggests strategies for further exploration."

The findings raise the possibility that some people may be more prone to anxiety disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder, due to genetic variants they carry in components of this ASIC pathway. They also suggest that new therapeutic strategies for panic and anxiety might target changes in brain pH or the acid-sensing channels.  Click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading...

What threatens you? What do you worry about?

"When we feel threatened we turn away from soul and become obsessed or egocentric. When we feel threatened, we let the survival instinct take over. When this happens, we cannot think because perceived or real threats shut down the activity of the frontal lobe of the brain where we can think, reason and make choices. Loss of control for many is a common threat and a serious obstacle ..."


The above paragraph is an excerpt from a bi-weekly newsletter I receive.  It is often full of interesting ideas to spark fresh ways of thinking.  To subscribe to the email newsletter click the link below and you will find the newsletter link on the left side, near the top.



Via:  Soul Perspectives

Let There Be Light-Is a Wartime 1946 American Documentary Film Directed by John Huston

This documentary film follows 75 U.S. soldiers who have sustained debilitating emotional trauma and depression. A series of scenes chronicle their entry into a psychiatric hospital, their treatment and eventual recovery.

Much of the filming was shot at Edgewood State Hospital, Deer Park, Long Island, New York. The film was controversial in its extremely effective portrayal of shell-shocked soldiers from the war. It was subsequently banned after its release despite the fact that the movie was commissioned by the US Army itself, due to the potentially demoralizing effects the film may have on the soldiers.

ADVISORY: This movie has been described as shocking by some.  From an observational stand-point it is a fascinating look into the history of the governmental acknowledgment and research into Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  From a humanitarian stand-point, it is a distressing glimpse into the minds of terribly traumatized war veterans. 



Text Via: Wikipedia

Be More Sensitive to that Little Voice of Intuition...

"Most of us are in touch with our intuition whether we know it or not, but we're usually in the habit of doubting or contradicting it so automatically that we don't even know it has spoken."
-- Shakti Gawain

How to Stop Comparing Yourself to Others

We are all different yet we have a tendency to compare ourselves to others. Why? Because the marketing business makes money, because others compare us to themselves or other people, because some people get a boost out of putting us down, and from all these experiences we start feeling not good enough. Comparing yourself to others is unhealthy and unnecessary. Here's how to stop.  Click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading...

Via:  wikiHow

Helen Keller, the American author, political activist and lecturer...

This is truly an amazing three minute venture into the very hollows of the human capability to endure and overcome. Helen Keller is a great role model as well as her teacher Anne Sullivan...Take a 3 minute venture into the incredible human spirit.

Relieve the Pressure Cooker

"Even though you may want to move forward in your life, you may have one foot on the brakes. In order to be free, we must learn how to let go. Release the hurt. Release the fear. Refuse to entertain your old pain. The energy it takes to hang onto the past is holding you back from a new life."
-- Mary Manin Morrissey


Journaling is a great way to release and let go. To get things off your chest. Our minds are our own worst enemies. The same thoughts go round and round in the same old ways and keep us stuck.


If something bothers you, write about it. Get it out so you can see it from a different perspective. Let it out. Let it go.

Owning and healing your pressure cooker is an important step in claiming your power, building your esteem and making your stand.

"In truth, to attain to interior peace, one must be willing to pass through the contrary to peace. Such is the teaching of the Sages."
-- Swami Brahmanada

Via:  Higher Awareness

UCLA Newsroom: Can Thinking of a Loved One Reduce Your Pain?

Yes, according to a new study by UCLA psychologists that underscores the importance of social relationships and staying socially connected.

The study, which asked whether simply looking at a photograph of your significant other can reduce pain, involved 25 women, mostly UCLA students, who had boyfriends with whom they had been in a good relationship for more than six months.  Click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading...

Via:  UCLA Newsroom

Google Personal Growth Series: Mindsight:

This interactive talk will examine two major questions: What is the mind? and How can we create a healthy mind? We'll examine the interactions among the mind, the brain, and human relationships and explore ways to create a healthy mind, an integrated brain, and mindful, empathic relationships. Here is one surprising finding: the vast majority (about 95%) of mental health practitioners around the globe, and even many scientists and philosophers focusing on the mind, do not have a definition of what the mind is! In this talk, well offer a working definition of the mind and practical implications for how to perceive and strengthen the mind itself—a learnable skill called mindsight. Then well build on this perspective to explore ways that the mind, the brain, and our relationships are influenced by digital information flow and also how they can be moved toward healthy functioning.



Presented by Daniel J. Siegel, M.D.

Via:  Google Tech Talks

Love Yourself

"It's surprising how many persons go through life without ever recognizing that their feelings toward other people are largely determined by their feelings toward themselves, and if you're not comfortable within yourself, you can't be comfortable with others."
-- Sydney J. Harris

Racing Thoughts by Paul David

Racing thoughts is the one symptom with anxiety that can bother people the most; they do not understand how they can have such thoughts that seem so scary and come with such impact. I have heard people say they fear the beginning of O.C.D or that they have awful thoughts about those closest to them, feel that they are ‘going mad’ and that they cannot control these disturbing thoughts, they seem to come without them even thinking them. Well these do have an explanation and these worrying, disturbing thoughts really are just an off-shoot of anxiety Click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading...

Via:  HealthandGoodness.com

Being an Aware Mental Health Consumer

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is characterized by recurring, unwanted, anxiety-provoking, intrusive ideas, images, or impulses (obsessions) that may even seem silly, weird, bad, or horrible to the person experiencing them. The person also has urges (compulsions) to do ... something that will relieve the discomfort caused by the obsessions...
click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading...


Via: Merck and The Merck Manuals Online

Why You Can’t Help Believing Everything You Read

The argument about whether belief is automatic when we are first exposed to an idea or whether belief is a separate process that follows understanding has been going on for at least 400 years...click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading...

Via:  PSYBLOG

How to Be Assertive Without Being Arrogant

...'Arrogance includes feelings of superiority, elitism, snobbery, or smugness. If you're experiencing any of these, you risk being rude to other people rather than making a genuine connection through assertive communication and active listening. It's more likely that your assertiveness will pertain to getting what you want but not to creating a reciprocal relationship with another person whom you consider to be beneath your level for whatever reason. That lack of genuineness undermines the whole point of assertive communications and means that it's time for a rethink of the insecurities or elitist attitudes that might have crept in unnoticed. Even the most practiced assertive communicators can have a weak moment when they fall by the wayside and need to rechart their course; no shame in that, just do it'. Continue reading by clicking anywhere in this sentence...


Via:  wikiHow is a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. With your contributions, we can create a free resource that helps millions of people by offering solutions to the problems of everyday life. wikiHow currently contains 63,556 articles — written, edited, and maintained primarily by volunteers. Please join us by writing on a topic not yet covered, or editing an article that someone else has started