Moods and Attitudes: Treatment Options for Depression

Via: UCTV

Psych Central World of Psychology Wonders About, if There is Such a Thing, a Good Side to Depression?

10 Possibly Good Things About Having Depression by Therese J. Borchard... A snip from  her actually quite playful list of what she considers the silver lining side of things.  I like the idea because it is absurd...I mean, who dare ask such a bold question?


Reason #9. I have fascinating conversations with strangers.
Here’s how the majority of my first conversations/introductions go with people who I sit next to on the plane, train, or at my son’s soccer games:
“So what do you do?”
“I write a mental health blog.”
“Oh. That’s interesting. How did you get into that?”
“I had a major nervous breakdown and wanted to kill myself for about two years. So one day I told God that if I ever woke up and wanted to be alive that I would dedicate the rest of my life to helping people who are trapped in the Black Hole.
That morning came.
And you, what do you do?”

About the Brain

The brain has been described as a three pound universe.  It has come to be thought of in those terms because quite literally; we live in our brains. The brain is our personal, private universe.  It is through our brains that we experience ourselves and the environment.  It is though our brains that we understand our relationship to others.  Scientists think of the brain as the organ of reason, language, complex social relations, and morality. It is, after all, what makes us distinctly human.  Click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading... 

Via:  The Brain Injury Resource Center

“Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, "I will try again tomorrow.” M.A. Radmacher

How to Block a Distressing, Recurring Thought Pattern with Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP)

A distressing and recurring pattern of thought is often difficult to block if you do not have the right strategies. However, with this simple mental conditioning technique from neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), you may be able to eliminate a distressing thought pattern permanently.  Click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading...

Via:  wikiHow

From WikiHow Collaborative a How-To Manual on a Large Number of Topics

Under the subcategory Relationships and Social Interactions on wikiHow, you find Managing Conflict and Difficult Interactions.  There you will find a 'How To' titled: How To Be Persuasive.  It is interesting reading in itself from many viewpoints surely, but what I realized while reading it was that it is valuable information for us to keep in mind in our daily interactions with others.  Especially when you suspect the subtleties of such types of mind games in the mix.

For the article in wikiHow on persuasiveness, click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading...

Via:  wikiHow

Staying grounded: A self-help exercise

It is very important to stay ‘grounded.’ If you are feeling disoriented, confused, or upset, you can do the following exercise:

• Sit on a chair. Feel your feet on the ground. Press on your thighs. Feel your behind on the seat and your back against the chair.
• Look around you and pick six objects that have red or blue. This should allow you to feel in the present, more grounded, and in your body. Notice how your breath gets deeper and calmer.
• You may want to go outdoors and find a peaceful place to sit on the grass. As you do, feel how your body can be held and supported by the ground.

Via  : Gina Ross and Peter Levine, Emotional First Aid

"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence...Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." - Calvin Coolidge

Child Sexual Abuse

Psychological Harm

 

Child sexual abuse can result in both short-term and long-term harm, including psychopathology.  In later life Psychological, emotional, physical, and social effects include depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, eating disorders, poor self-esteem, dissociative and anxiety disorders; general psychological distress and disorders such as somatization, neurosis, chronic pain, sexualized behavior, school/learning problems; and behavior problems including substance abuse, destructive behavior, criminality in adulthood and suicide.  Click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading...

via: Wikipedia 

Be aware of your thinking

"There is a thought in your mind right now. The longer you hold on to it, the more you dwell upon it, the more life you give to that thought. Give it enough life, and it will become real. So make sure the thought is indeed a great one."
-- Ralph Marston


Most of our self-talk comes unconsciously from our subconscious. Yet every thought that exists in our subconscious got there through a conscious decision to accept that thought.
We need to become conscious of our self-talk so we can at will choose to replace negative beliefs with positive ones. We have the power to choose an identity we love, but we need to do the work. The process of changing our subconscious beliefs requires awareness, diligence, consistency and repetition.


"Man is made or unmade by himself. In the armory of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself. He also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace."
-- James Allen


Via:  Journey to Awareness email series

Imagine Your Ideal Future

"Your imagination is your preview to life’s coming attractions."
-- Albert Einstein


If you were to create an ideal future for yourself, what would it be like?


All things that now exist in form were once simply ideas in consciousness. We each hold the power to manifest different circumstances for our lives. If we wish to manifest a new reality for ourselves, we need to consistently focus our imagination on the ideals we seek to realize.


Remember to explore your ideal in terms of qualities, not people or things. What qualities do you most want in life? Freedom? Respect? Playfulness? Abundance? Whatever qualities you seek, imagine experiencing them now and be open to new ways to discover those qualities appearing in your life.


"Change is created by those whose imaginations are bigger than their circumstances"
-- Unknown source

Via: Higher Awareness

Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood. -- Marie Curie

Defense Mechanisms

Theories have described the process by which we protect ourselves from awareness of our undesired and feared impulses. Defense mechanisms are our way of distancing ourselves from a full awareness of unpleasant thoughts, feelings and desires...while defense mechanisms are used in an attempt to protect oneself from unpleasant emotions, they often result in equally harmful problems.  Below is an excerpt from the article.

Compartmentalization is a process of separating parts of the self from awareness of other parts and behaving as if one had separate sets of values. An example might be an honest person who cheats on their income tax return and keeps their two value systems distinct and unintegrated while remaining unconscious of the cognitive dissonance.

Fantasy, when used as a defense mechanism, is the channeling of unacceptable or unattainable desires into imagination. This can protect ones self esteem as when educational, vocational or social expectations are not being met, one imagines success in these areas and wards off self condemnation.

Repression is the blocking of unacceptable impulses from consciousness.

For more on common defense mechanisms and the theory, click anywhere in this sentence to continue to continue reading...

 

 Via:  Planet Psych

Consciousness-Mind Over Matter: A Quantuum Perspective

An Interesting View to the Question of Consciousness

Facing Reality (1954)

Depression Treatment Lacking for Many People

Treatment for major depression is abysmal, according to a study published today in the Archives of General Psychiatry. In a national survey of 15,762 people, it found that only half of all people with depression received treatment. And among those who did receive treatment, only 21% were getting care that is consistent with American Psychiatric Assn. guidelines.  Click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading...

"Live out of your imagination, not your history". Stephen Covey

Causes & Symptoms of Amnesia, Fugue & Multiple Personality Disorders

Dissociative disorders occur when a person becomes dissociated or separated from previous memories, thoughts, and feelings. Amnesia, for instance, occurs when a person experiences a sudden loss of memory; multiple personality disorder occurs when he experiences a change in identity. Extreme physical or psychological stress is the typical cause of dissociative disorders.  Click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading...

via:  Suite101.com

An Interesting Essay on Identity and Loneliness

We all derive identity from the world around us. As infants, we are just a jumble of diverse biological processes over which we have no authority, and our first task in life is to develop a coherent personality which “pulls together” this fragmented confusion. Our first sense of coherence comes from our unconscious identifications with the persons around us. Then, as older children, we look around and see what the world shows us. Some things in the world appeal to us more than others; that’s because some things purport to show us something about what’s missing in our own lives and to offer us some knowledge of what seems to be hidden from us. So, from all the things that appeal to us in the world, we create images of how we want to see ourselves, and then we set about making ourselves “seen” in the world so our images can be reflected back to us through the desire of others. Click anywhere in this sentence to continue reading...