Depression Newsletter
Some Frank Thoughts on Suicide
and Depression
 (Mentoring & Recovery) – Last month we were shocked to discover that Robin Williams had taken his own life. For Shannon, the death still causes her to pause and reflect on her own personal struggles with depression, anxiety, and an attempted suicide.
Warding Off the High School Blues
(Psych Central News) – Teaching kids about how people change in adolescence may reduce the incidence of depression that often accompanies the transition to high school.
Are YOU to Blame for Always Being Overlooked?
 (World of Psychology) - Have you wondered why you are so often overlooked when others aren’t? Others tend to treat us the way we treat ourselves. How are you overlooking yourself?
Group Walks in Nature Can Relieve Stress, Improve Mood
(Psych Central News) - Researchers have come up with a simple tonic for stress: Fresh air. Walk. Socialize.
take care: shubh
25/9/14
find a therapist
There’s little research to demonstrate that one degree will produce better patient outcomes than another. A “patient outcome” is you feeling better, faster. Because, after all, time itself does indeed heal most wounds. As long as the mental health professional has a Master’s or better in education, it’s likely they will all be equally just as helpful. There’s no evidence to support the idea that a graduate degree from one psychology program is better than another, or that a Ph.D. is better than a Psy.D.
for your feeling better, sooner. Find a therapist that you feel comfortable in working with. As long as they are licensed (or registered) and paid for by your health insurance, you’re good to go.
I had an experience of a comerce graduate counseller,who practices and earns good,but is very harsh ,careless.She is on her phone and typing mesages and ignoring patients
She may and she can spoil cases,
shubha
I learned professional counseling after listening about that bad counsellers case
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case 5
Depression is debilitating. Heartbreaking. Hard to get over. Well, just depressing. For depressed people, the news is not good.
But wait…It’s not the truth either.
And there is an entire field of study that shows that the things that often lead to depression — trauma, setbacks, stress, adversity — can have just the opposite effect, meaning they don’t lead to depression. Instead they lead to growth.
It’s called post-traumatic growth.
And studies on post-traumatic growth show that after major life traumas more people show post-traumatic growth than PTSD (Morris, Finch, Scott, 2007).
So just what is post-traumatic growth, you ask?
Post-traumatic growth can be defined as the positive psychological change that results from the attempt to find new meaning and resolve after a traumatic event (Tedeshi, 2004). This means that events that shake our very foundation can cause us to get stronger in specific and measurable ways.
According to Richard Tedeshi and Lawrence Calhoun, authors of, The Handbook of Post-Traumatic Growth: Research and Practice, “The struggle to find new meaning in the aftermath of the trauma is crucial to positive psychological growth, as well as the acceptance that personal distress and growth can co-exist, and often do, while these new meanings are crafted” (Tedeshi &Calhoun, 2004).
The idea is that struggling to find new meaning after trauma leads to growth.
And what are these events that can lead to post-traumatic growth?
Well, what constitutes trauma is very unique to the individual, but a basic definition is:
“anything that either causes a person to fear for his/her life, or the life of anyone else, or anything that causes a person to become emotionally overwhelmed.”
For example, a divorce might not necessarily cause a person to fear for his/her life, but may result in feeling overwhelmed in such a way that makes it hard to go to work, get up in the morning, keep a routine, etc.
What happens in situations like this is that individuals tend to show dramatic advances in growth. And it’s not that they simply put on rose colored glasses — this would be what those in the field of post-traumatic growth call “illusory growth.” Illusory growth is characterized by growth that cannot be substantiated — or a person who simply insists that “everything is great” when the reality looks quite a bit different.
Instead, post-traumatic growth is characterized by five specific domains that all tend to be linked by one common thread.
The one characteristic feature of post-traumatic growth is what is known as “dialectical thinking.” Dialectical thinking is the ability to see something from multiple perspectives, identifying both positive and negative aspects.
It’s the ability to say, “Yes I am feeling very depressed, but on the other hand, I am reaching out more, and feeling more supported,” or, “I am feeling really vulnerable, but I also recognize that I have made it through some very tough experiences, and I do feel stronger.”
What dialectical thinking enables us to do is find the positives in every situation, and to use those positives to push forward. The idea is that when you are able to see that nothing is “all bad” you are also able to find strengths that you might not have noticed before. You are able to identify opportunities you didn’t know existed — or might not have existed previous the trauma. You are able to reach out to others, deepening relationships in a way not possible before the trauma. Perhaps you also feel a deeper spiritual connection as part of getting through what you didn’t think you could. And you might also feel a profound gratitude as you realize that you endured tremendous circumstances, and survived.
What I have just described are the five domains of post-traumatic growth. These are:
- A greater appreciation for life
- An openness to new possibilities
- A greater sense of personal strength
- A deepening of relationships
- A deepening of spirituality.
Post-traumatic growth, in many ways, defies everything we have been told about trauma — that it’s debilitating, that it is something that you cannot recover from, that you will be made worse by it.
Instead, what post-traumatic growth shows is that recovering from trauma is not about putting the shattered world back together just as it was. Instead, post-traumatic growth is about rebuilding the shattered world in a way that is better.
And this is something every depressed person should know.
take care~ 4 min read
 I’m not sure why more psychiatrists don’t first test for nutritional deficiencies before dispensing Zoloft or Prozac, and especially antipsychotics like Seroquel and Zyprexa. The good ones will send you to get lab work done before upping your meds or adjusting anything. Sometimes we do need antidepressants. But other times we need spinach — think of Popeye.
In addition to seeing a psychiatrist regularly, I now work with an integrative health physician who tests my nutrition levels every year. If you haven’t ever tested your nutrition levels, you might inquire with either your psychiatrist or primary care physician.
The supplements can be expensive, but you can make it back two- or threefold by not having to see your psychiatrist as often. You should talk to your doctor before taking any supplements, especially if you’re on prescription drugs.
- Omega-3 Fatty AcidsI was surprised when my results showed an omega-3 fatty acid deficiency because I eat plenty of salmon and take fish oil supplements every day. That shows you just how much fish — salmon, tuna, halibut — or flaxseeds and walnuts we need to consume to be at an optimal level. These essential minerals reduce inflammation and play a critical role in brain function, especially memory and mood. The body can’t make them, so you need to either eat them or take supplements. Omega-3 fatty acids are just one of the supplements I take every day for depression.
- Vitamin D
According to Mark Hyman, MD, bestselling author of The Ultramind Solution, vitamin D deficiency is a major epidemic that doctors and public health officials are just beginning to recognize. This deficiency has been linked to depression, dementia, and autism. Most of our levels drop off during the fall and winter months, since sunlight is the richest source. Dr. Hyman believes that we should ideally be getting 5,000 to 10,000 IU (international units) a day. However, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommends most healthy adults get only about 600 IUs daily.
- Magnesium
Chances are good that you are magnesium-deficient — up to half of Americans are. Our lifestyles decrease our levels: excess alcohol, salt, coffee, sugar, phosphoric acid (in soda), chronic stress, antibiotics, and diuretics (water pills). Magnesium is sometimes referred to as the stress antidote, the “most powerful relaxation mineral that exists,” according to Hyman. It is found in seaweed, greens, and beans. TheNIH recommends a daily intake of about 400 to 420 milligrams (mg) of magnesium for adult men and 310 to 320 mg for adult women.
- Vitamin B Complex
B vitamins like vitamin B-6 and vitamin B-12 can provide some incredible health benefits, including reduced stroke risk and healthy skin and nails. On the other hand, a vitamin B deficiency may affect your mental health. More than a quarter of severely depressed older women were deficient in B-12, according to one 2009 study.The best sources of vitamin B-6 are poultry, seafood, bananas, and leafy green vegetables. For vitamin B-6, the NIH recommends a daily intake of 1.7 mg for adult men, and 1.5 mg for adult women. Vitamin B-12 is found in animal foods (meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and milk) and shellfish, such as clams, mussels, and crab. Most adults should need to consume 2.4 micrograms (mcg) of vitamin B-12 daily, according to the NIH.
- Folate
People with a low folate level have only a seven percent response to treatment with antidepressants. Those with high folate levels have a response of 44 percent, according to Hyman. That is why many psychiatrists are now prescribing a folate called Deplin to treat depression and improve the effectiveness of an antidepressant. I tried it and it didn’t seem to make that much of a difference; however, I have several friends who have had very positive responses to Deplin. You need not try the prescription form of Deplin. You could just start taking a folate supplement and see if you get any results. Your daily recommended folate intake depends on your gender, whether you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, and age. However, most adults need at least 400 mcg daily. You can also get your daily folate requirements by consumingfoods high in folate, including dark leafy greens, beans and legumes, and citrus fruits and juices.
- Amino acids
Amino acids — the building blocks of protein — help your brain properly function. A deficiency in amino acids may cause you to feel sluggish, foggy, unfocused, and depressed. Good sources of amino acids include beef, eggs, fish, beans, seeds, and nuts.
- Iron
Iron deficiency is pretty common in women. About 20 percent of women, and 50 percent of pregnant women, are in the club. Only three percent of men are iron-deficient. The most common form of anemia — an insufficient number of red blood cells — is caused by iron deficiency. Its symptoms are similar to depression: fatigue, irritability, brain fog. Most adults should consume 8 to 18 mg of iron daily, depending on age, gender, and diet, according to the NIH. Good sources of iron include red meat, fish, and poultry. If you really want to get more red blood cells, eat liver. Yuck.
- Zinc
Zinc is used by more enzymes (and we have over 300) than any other mineral. It is crucial to many of our systems. It activates our digestive enzymes so that we can break down our food, and works to prevent food allergies (which, in turn, averts depression in some people, since some of our mood disruptions are triggered by food allergies). It also helps our DNA to repair and produce proteins. Finally, zinc helps control inflammation and boosts our immune system. The NIH recommends a daily intake of 11 mg of zinc for adult men and 8 mg for adult women.
- Iodine
Iodine deficiency can be a big problem because iodine is critical for the thyroid to work as it should, and the thyroid affects more than you think: your energy, metabolism, body temperature, growth, immune function, and brain performance (concentration, memory, and more). When it’s not functioning properly, you can feel very depressed, among other things. You can get iodine by using an iodine-enriched salt, or by eating dried seaweed, shrimp, or cod. I take a kelp supplement every morning because I have hypothyroidism. The daily recommend amount of iodine for most adults is about 150 mcg.
- Selenium
Like iodine, selenium is important for good thyroid function. It assists the conversion of inactive thyroid hormone T4 to the active thyroid hormone, T3. It also helps one of our important antioxidants (glutathione peroxidase) keep polyunsaturated acids in our cell membranes from getting oxidized (rancid). Most adults need about 55 mcg of selenium daily. The best food source of selenium is Brazil nuts, which contains about 544 mcg of selenium per ounce.
 Here’s a quick checklist to know if you’re addicted to a toxic relationship:
- You have more bad moments than good but you can’t let go because you’re always chasing another fix of the good.
- The relationship depletes rather than energizes you. It takes away from other areas in your life.
- You lose resources (emotional, financial, interpersonal) but no matter how great the cost, you continue with the relationship. You can’t seem to make rational calculations.
- When you try to leave, you can’t seem to follow through; you go through withdrawals. You cave, and you relapse.
- You pretend every time you make up, it will be different. You consistently ignore the fact that the past is the greatest predictor of the future. You will be back there, in pain, again. But you have selective memory (i.e. denial.)
- You’re lying to your friends and family about the way you’re being treated; you’re minimizing the pain so they won’t turn against your partner, or urge you to do what you already know you should do, which is end the relationship.
- OR you’ve alienated good people in your life who don’t want to stand by idly and watch you suffer anymore.
Now here’s how you can start extricating yourself, once and for all.1) Admit to yourself that it is an addiction.
The act of naming something as bad for you is an important first step. It begins to pierce the denial. But you’ll have to name it again and again, like a mantra.
That’s because as an addict, you are compulsively driven to try to improve a relationship that never improves for any significant period of time. You are chasing a fantasy, and it is robbing you of vitality in other parts of your life.
Worst of all, it is sapping the strength you need in order to leave. You’re so drained that you feel you have no choice but to stay.
That is not how love works. It is how addiction works.
2) Recognize that you do have a choice. In fact, you’re making one every second you remain in the relationship.
Now think what you’re choosing. Are you choosing sanity? Happiness? Safety? Security? Self-esteem?
Or are you choosing the opposite of those things?
If you’re choosing self-destruction, ask yourself why. “I love him/her” is not an answer you should accept any longer.
You might want a therapist to help you with this. There could be many contributors and if you allow them to go unexplored, then you never leave. You stay in a painful, no-win situation, and every day you do so, you’re exposing yourself to more damage that you’ll have to correct later.
3) Develop an exit strategy.
That means plan out everything–from what you’re going to tell the other person, to how to marshal the support of friends or family or a professional, to what you’ll do on the lonely nights ahead when you feel weak and want another hit (think of it as relapse prevention), to how to get back on the wagon if you do relapse (i.e. how to end things all over again rather than simply fall back into old routines.)
Remember that reunions feel so sweet, but getting high for a while won’t change the fundamental underlying problem.
Love yourself more than you love the addiction.
I know, easier said than done, but if you never say it, if you never try, then it will certainly never be done. You’re making a healthy choice just by reading all the way to the end. You just completed your first step.So you’re doing okay, cruising right along. Suddenly you realize that you’re slipping into a depressive episode. Once that depressive state starts to hover over you like a dark cloud, remind yourself that it’s only temporary. You will get out of it.It’s so much like a rollercoaster ride that it can make you physically ill as well.
Here are six helpful tips to get you through on not just a daily basis, but an hourly basis. Don’t look too far ahead too often — that can be overwhelming.
1. Art therapy.
Put on your favorite upbeat, happy music and dance the day away if you need to. Draw or paint. Sculpt with clay. These can help to give you a physical release of tensions built up inside you.
2. Pet your pet.
Give love to a pet that you already have. Just petting your dog or cat or bunny or whatever you have also gives that “release” feeling and takes away feelings of depression and sadness.
If you don’t have a pet, try to pick yourself up and get yourself to a pet store or an animal shelter. And while you’re petting your animal, talk to him or her. The loyalty of a good pet is irreplaceable.
3. Light therapy.
Do you seem to become depressed in the winter? When we have less light, we are cut short of vitamin D, according to MayoClinic.com and WebMD.com. Besides our feel-good brain receptors, vitamin D also aids in bone health, kidney function and osteoporosis.
If you notice this deficiency, talk to your doctor about a lightbox. This is not a tanning lamp, so there’s no risk of skin cancers. Most of the time, as long as it is prescribed by medical doctor, insurance will pay for it. If not, you can still purchase one from a medical supply store. They run around $200.
4. Physical activity.
Get up, throw on some sweats or shorts and go for a walk. The fresh air and the sounds and sights of nature are a natural pick-me-up.
If this seems difficult when you’re depressed, start a small routine of even one thing when you’re feeling well. Start going for a walk in a specific area at a specific time every day. Once you get into the habit of doing this, you’ll actually start to feel good.
5. Have a sanity buddy.
If you have at least one person to turn to when you need and want to, that’s good enough. Let them know that you’re not yourself. Educate them a little on the goings-on of depression and they’ll better understand when you either need space or checking up on, a shoulder to cry on or someone to rip you out of your shell for a short time.
6. Make a happy list.
Start small: favorite colors, places you’d love to visit. Pictures of your favorite place in the world can be on your happy list. That’s the whole concept of a happy list: stuff that makes you feel happy, makes you laugh, or just makes you feel good.
Use all of your senses for this exercise. List as many and as much as your heart desires. I guarantee that by the end of your list, you’ll be either smiling or just all around feeling better if even for a little bit. Do a happy list whenever you wish, add to it, or remake a new one any time.
  hen a person has been resistant to every form of depression treatment, is it possible that their illness stems from a different place? In a recent New York Times article Hillary Jacobs Hendel, a psychotherapist, writes about a patient who experienced what she calls “chronic shame.”
Hendel’s patient, Brian, had tried every type of treatment but electroconvulsive therapy, which he didn’t want to do. After meeting with him, she learned that he was neglected as a child.
During our initial sessions I developed a sense of what it was like to grow up in Brian’s home. Based on what he told me, I decided to treat him as a survivor of childhood neglect — a form of trauma. Even when two parents live under the same roof and provide the basics of care like food, shelter and physical safety, as Brian’s parents had, the child can be neglected if the parents do not bond emotionally with him … Brian had few memories of being held, comforted, played with or asked how he was doing.
Hendel says the “innate” response to this kind of environment is distress. Brian blamed himself for that distress, believing he was the reason why he felt so alone. He felt shame for being abnormal or wrong. “For the child, shaming himself is less terrifying than accepting that his caregivers can’t be counted on for comfort or connection.” This is called attachment trauma. It results from a child seeking safety and closeness from their parent — yet the parent is not close or safe.
Hendel also is a clinical supervisor with the AEDP Institute. She specializes in a treatment called accelerated experiential dynamic psychotherapy. Because Brian didn’t trust his own emotions, he was unable to use them as a compass for living, she explains. She aimed to use AEDP to bring this emotional life into awareness and allow Brian to experience his thoughts and emotions in an actively supportive environment.
Unlike traditional talk therapy, the therapist in AEDP is emotionally engaged and actively affirming. Hendel repeatedly grounded Brian into the present moment, as he still fought bouts of “wordless suffering.” When he was more stable they worked on validating his emotions and helping him to feel them fully. “When I noticed tears in his eyes, for example, I would encourage him to inhabit a stance of curiosity and openness to whatever he was feeling.” It sounds a lot like mindfulness — being in the moment and staying observant without judgment.
Over time Brian learned to express his feelings and practice self-compassion. In a way, he became the kind of parent he never had. Before treatment he had no template, no model for doing this.
What struck me the most about Brian’s story is how adversely affected we can be simply by having no model — not just having overtly bad ones. I didn’t have the caregiver who was distant, unfeeling, inaccessible, or uninvolved. I had the unsafe kind. My worth was very clearly communicated through physical violence and verbal abuse. But it’s no different. Depression is so inherent in childhood trauma it’s as natural to us as breathing.
What comes to mind for me is the feeling of being “unlovable,” and that is the seed of shame. The feelings of the parent, whether expressly communicated or intuited by the child, become internalized and automatic. And the state of being alone and powerless is so pervasive we don’t even know how they shape our lives — even our treatment.
During my years in talk therapy, most of my sessions focused on my trauma history. Practical techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy were more often aimed at controlling my panic attacks and anxiety. Why didn’t we talk about depression? Why did I accept a prescription for anti-anxiety medication but not antidepressants? Because I had denied my depression for so long that I believed I was powerless.
When I had a panic attack, I knew something was wrong, but depression was different. A therapist wanting to talk about my depression felt like he or she were questioning my very existence. It was as if taking away sadness was pulling the rug out from under me. It was my way of life. When therapists asked how long I had experienced symptoms of depression, I didn’t understand the question. The answer was, “for as long as I can remember.”
It took a long time to face the fact that sadness wasn’t supposed to be something that lived in my shadow and took hours, weekends, weeks away from me while I sheltered in bed or in the bathtub wishing I could blink and no longer exist.
Childhood trauma isolates, then depression keeps that person all to itself. If I could give anyone advice, it’s share. Talk to people about how you feel — especially your therapist. Join a Facebook group like Group Beyond Blue or the peer support forums on Psych Central. Don’t keep depression’s secrets.
Finding the roots of depression is illuminating, but it’s not enough. We’re all just looking for a model that helps us manage our emotions. If you see someone struggling, offer your support.
References
Rholes, W.S. & Simpson, J.A. (2004). Adult attachment: Theory, research, and clinical implications. New York: Guilford Press.
Freyd, J.J. (1996). Betrayal Trauma: The Logic of Forgetting Childhood Abuse. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Bloom, S. L. & Farragher, B. (2010). Destroying Sanctuary: The Crisis in Human Service Delivery. New York: Oxford University Press.
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When it comes to psychiatric medications, certain side effects get all the publicity. But living with the side effects of medication, even “easy” ones, means the person taking them has to give up something.
Why are some jokes perceived as funny and others not? According to new research, the more complex a joke, the less likely it is to elicit laughs.
All of us use defenses to deal (or not deal) with emotions – and sometimes to avoid painful feelings. Once we become aware that we are avoiding something, we can ask ourselves what emotions might be there.
(Tales of Manic Depression) – Erica's laundry basket is empty, yet the shirt on her back remains. Why? Because when you are depressed you don’t necessarily change your clothes.
It is apparent that something is out of sorts. At first the person who was extremely charming, almost too good to be real has now become intimidating, demanding and even threatening. The pathological lying over trivial matters, even when caught, can no longer be ignored. They are unreliable, unrelenting, irresponsible, disruptive, outrageous, traumatizing, insincere, unrepentant, lawless, and shameless. It appears they are sociopathic.
