Depression Blog

Depression is a mental condition that affects millions of Americans each year. Symptoms of depression can vary depending on which type of disorder you have. Two types of depression are Manic Depression, which is also known as Bi-Polar Disorder, and Post Partum Depression. When seeking depression help, several self-help techniques should be considered between visits to your psychologist.

Post Partum Depression is a condition that affects new parents after the birth of a child. It usually begins within the first month of having a child. This condition can be very serious if left untreated.

If you have high energy, optimism, and active behavior after your depressive episodes, you may be suffering from manic depression. This form of depression is also known as bipolar disorder. It consists of mood swings between mania and depression, or only severe manic episodes. Several symptoms of manic behavior include a decreased need for sleep, high energy levels, and an exaggerated sense of self-importance.

If you are interested in treating your depression through self-help, you should try to exercise more often and change your diet. Self-help is beneficial because it allows you to treat your depression symptoms naturally without relying solely on medications from your therapist.

Endorphins are released through exercise and this helps give your body a more energized feeling. They are created in your brain, spine, and other areas of your body. Several benefits to exercise are the following:

• Stress reduction
• Less anxiety and feelings of depression
• An increase in self-esteem
• Better sleep

Changes in your diet can affect the structure of your brain causing both chemical and physiological changes. These positive changes affect both your mood and mental outlook. A change in diet can also help you feel better about yourself while allowing you to live a much healthier life.

This post was contributed by Ashley Jennings, who writes about depression help.

If you’re suffering from anxiety you may feel like you can’t do anything without that familiar tight feeling in your chest or having your thoughts and worries race through your mind. Anxiety can be a debilitating condition, but you don’t have to let it run your life. There are some small ways that you can work towards managing your anxiety that may be able to help you get it under control and let you live your life as you’d like.

1. Face your worries. If you think you have a mole that looks cancerous or worry that you’re at risk for illnesses don’t just let these anxieties fester. Make the time to face them head on by making an appointment at the doctor’s office or whatever else will satisfy your particular worries. Ignoring the things that make you anxious won’t make them go away and will only make you feel worse.
2. Work out. You may not realize it, but exercise can be a great way to release pent up tension and anxiety. Whether you like to run or engage in things like yoga, make time in your schedule to get up and moving. You’ll be healthier and the endorphins exercise releases will put you in a better frame of mind.
3. Don’t self-medicate. There is no easy way out of anxiety. Numbing your feelings with alcohol, cigarettes, drugs and even fatty foods is only a short term fix. You might feel better for a day or a few hours, but then your anxiety will be back and feel twice as bad. Avoid simple solutions and work towards finding a long term way to deal with anxiety instead.
4. Just breathe. Focused breathing can do wonders for lowering anxiety. It gives you something simple to focus your attention on rather than on all the things you are worried about. Consider a class on meditation or relaxation to aid you in learning how to do this properly.
5. Change your thought process. The brain is a highly malleable organ, and one that can be retrained to think in a different way with a little practice. When you feel negative thoughts or worries creeping into your mind, make a conscious effort to shift your thinking. Sometimes it can also help to have a friend nearby who can give you a reality check to keep thoughts from spinning out of control.

This post was contributed by Tara Miller, who writes about the pharmacy schools. She welcomes your feedback at TaraMillerr00 at yahoo.com

It is a fact that a large number of mothers find themselves in emotional turmoil within the first few weeks of the birth of a newborn. Approximately 50 – 60% of women are affected by this phenomenon known as the ‘Baby Blues’.

Approximately 5 – 10% of women affected by Baby Blues enter a more severe state referred to as Postpartum Depression (or Post Natal Depression), while a smaller number, approximately 1 in 1000 may be affected by a disturbance referred to as Postpartum Psychosis.

What affects the emotions of a new mother?

There are a number of factors that may affect the emotions of a new mother, which include:

• Dramatic shifts in the levels of a number of hormones.
• Blood loss during a normal delivery
• The trauma of labor.
• Pain experienced after a delivery, especially in the case of a caesarean.
• Loss of sleep.
• Expectations not met by the mother.
• Lack of family support.
• Financial problems.
• Problems with the new baby.

These are some of the identified problems that lead to mothers being thrown into a state of Baby Blues.

Postpartum Blues

Postpartum Blues is the most common Baby Blues affect a new mother experience. Symptoms often include irritability, anxiety, insomnia, loss of energy, loss of appetite and loss of concentration.

This emotional state generally resolves itself within a couple of weeks with good family support.

Postpartum Depression

Although the symptoms are similar to that of Postpartum Blues, this is a more serious condition. This condition often lasts longer and the impact on mother and baby is more profound. Often mothers affected by Postpartum Depression experience difficulties in caring for her newborn child. They also develop an extreme anxiety over the newborn’s health.

This condition may occur within the first six month of a delivery. Mothers affected with this condition should immediately consult medical assistance.

Postpartum Psychosis

In these instances the mother will not only experience a disturbed mood, but she will also break ties with reality. Symptoms include hallucinations and delusions and this condition may present itself within the first month after delivery. Often these mothers may consider harming themselves and their infants.

Women diagnosed with this condition should immediately seek assistance from a qualified psychiatrist.

People who suffer from depression will often feel helpless and out of control.

This type of helplessness is triggered by depression and is ultimately fed by the lack of control they feel toward their life and everyday situations.

However, there are two types of people when it comes to control; those who like to have control and those who are indifferent. Helplessness during depressive episodes typically affects both types of people in very different ways.

People less concerned with having control- They will believe that they are unable to take control of every day situations, feeling overwhelmed and lost. This person will then stop functioning as normal and become unable to enjoy activities and socialising.

People who feel they need control – These people will try to control things they can’t, in turn this will cause them to assume responsibility for things out of their control. Carrying all this guilt and responsibility will often lead to frustration, anger and anxiety.

Helplessness is not always due to a lack of external control over a situation, sometimes people feel helplessness over a lack of internal control over their own thoughts and feelings.

Common thought patterns lead to both external and internal helplessness, unfortunately unless you are able to break these patterns your situation is not going to change. We all know there are many solutions to each problem we face, sadly depression rarely lets you see them.

Help from a councillor or psychiatrist has been proven most beneficial to those suffering with the feeling of helplessness. The route taken is one of understanding and reprogramming your thought process.

A therapist will increase the responses given to you by your thought processes, so this will enable you to find solutions to your problems and gain control. Instead of feeling overwhelmed and seeing no way out, you will be able to stay calm and take control of the situation without feeling trapped and helpless.

It is so easy to forget that the seed of helplessness is bred into us from an early age, because this is something we learn in life it is something we can change with professional help.

Routine is a key part of everybody’s life and it is especially important for those suffering from depression. Start small and then gradually build up your own expectations of what you feel you can do within your day, there is a big difference between difficult and impossible.

Remember that withdrawal and decreased routine is a common early indicator of depression, therefore it is easy to understand why routine is the obvious first step to accomplish.

At this stage it is important that you understand small steps are fine. Once you have listed each step in your daily routine, you will find your already well on the way to recovery.

Here are the steps to help in your recovery:

Regular routine enables you to function better
Set yourself small daily tasks you feel you can do. Write them down and don’t worry if you don’t want to do them, this is fine just do them anyway.

Challenging your sleep and wake cycle
Set a routine for the time you go to bed and the time you awake. If you find you are struggling with your sleep pattern don’t break in to the habit of sleeping in the day. Maintaining this routine will ultimately help you reach your goal.

Make regular exercise part of your routine
You should build exercise into your daily routine as this is proven to motivate and also promotes better sleep.

Build your routine around your daily chores
Allow a certain amount of time each day to do your house-hold chores. Avoid setting aside a specific day each week to do this as it can easily become overwhelming. Instead break them down into smaller more manageable daily tasks.

Organise your meals and eat regularly
Set yourself specific time’s each day to plan and make your meals.

Do things you enjoy
Encourage yourself to do things you enjoy or used to enjoy. By doing this it will make your daily routine that bit easier. Your depression may not lift immediately but the benefits will soon become apparent.

Encourage yourself to keep working
Although you may feel you can’t face work, it is a big part of your daily life and routine. It is easier to add to your daily routine than it is to start from scratch.

Fitting your family and friends into your routine
It is very easy for someone to distract you from your routine. Arrange a set day and time each week to see your family and friends, this will ensure your other daily routines are not disrupted.

Television and the programmes you love
Take the time to watch the programmes you love, and don’t feel guilty about sofa time being part of your routine. Organise the days and times your favourite programmes are on, sit back and enjoy.

The following is one of my daily routines:

Ultimately organisation is the key to forming any routine in your life. Once you have built the foundations and listed each task in your daily routine, it will then become second nature to you.

But why is it such an up hill struggle to be a happy person and think positively?

This is all about the way we have been brought up, the lessons we have been taught by our family and those around us.

My own experience has brought me to believe, I have been raised in a worried and anxious environment. My family have never been carefree, they suffer more than most with stress and worry.

I see people around me portraying the qualities of those close to them, weather they have been surrounded by positivity or even a negative influence. Therefore we are all inevitably by products of our environment.

Daily I challenge myself to avoid certain thoughts and generally negativity, I have not totally accomplished this yet but I have come along way.

With faith and determination we can change our way of thinking and become the people we want to be.

Recently me and my partner have taken up spinning classes, we both really enjoy them and it gives me a buzz.

I was a gymnast for a long time, that was before I started working longer hours and having other commitments. It is important to me to keep my body toned, I’ve always been petite but I find it hard to get real firmness.

Motivation comes in bouts with me; I find it really hard to get myself in the right frame of mind for sport. Without a gym partner I think I would just not bother to go.

Its silly really because once I get there I really enjoy it.

After some thought I have realised, this is yet another area of my life in which I feel the need to depend on someone else. It is easy to rely on others for many things and that why I do it, because I can.

This is something I have to address along with the other fifty things on my list.

Learning to be my own person and enjoy my independence will be a big step in the right direction. I hate feeling lost without company, especially as I used to love being by myself because it gave me focus and contentment.

Of course I would never advise anyone to hide their depression from everyone around them. It is very important you do have someone you can talk to about this, and someone there to support you.

Being diagnosed with depression can be a trying time for anyone, there will be some people who you won’t want to confide in.

It can be very difficult to hide your depression depending on the severity or your condition and the symptoms you display. Don’t be alarmed by this and think everyone will know your depressed, this isn’t the case.

Here listed are a few helpful tips I learned along the way:

• Avoid being in uncomfortable situations, if you find you need to ‘get out’ just make your excuses and do so.

• Duvet days are always the hardest to disguise but I found that crying ill was a great way to hide my depression, we all feel terrible when we are ill.

• Crying a lot was something I struggled with at first, a lot of the time I put it down to stress at work or PMT even the occasional boy troubles. They all worked a treat.

• Hiding away from the world can be a lot harder, you need to remember that we all have bad times and it isn’t abnormal to want to spend some time alone. If however this explanation isn’t suffice then a shortage of money could be another route to take, although you could leave yourself wide open to the old faithful “I will lend you some”.

The best thing you could do for you today: Anticipate what your explanation will be should the situation ever arise where you need one. Be strong and be true to yourself as the one person you cannot hide from is you.

When relationships end it is a sad time for everyone, sometimes we make it harder on ourselves when we refuse to let go. I know I find it that much harder to to cope with all matters of the heart since my depression.

We all know it is difficult to loose someone we love, this is why most people suffering from depression stay in unhappy relationships. The fear makes you unable to comprehend being alone especially when you have grown to depend on that person.

Being needy and feeling completely out of control is so hard to deal with and that’s without the worry of the one person you love no longer being there.

Are you that person stuck in a relationship and you know it isn’t going to work? There is nothing more self destructive than what you could be doing to yourself right now by just holding on.

Depression is hard enough without added stress, if you are unhappy and you know things aren’t going to change then make the decision that is best for you.

Put yourself first and take care of the person you are, don’t let unhappiness drag you down into a dark pit where you see no way out.

You can survive this and you will.

My own experiences have brought me to the conclusion that things do get better, just find the time for yourself and be sure it is all about you. You can be selfish and put your self first, make that new start you need and learn to love yourself above all.

Stated below are the 4 steps I use daily to help combat my anxiety and panic; One of the most important tips I could give anyone with this is perseverance and determination.

1. Don’t be afraid of saying no – Do only what you want to do and not what is expected of you or wanted by others.

2. Stop fearing what may happen – Don’t let the thought of what could happen rule your day and take over.

3. Don’t feed your negative thoughts – Stop allowing yourself to build scenario’s in your head about everything negative that springs to mind.

4. Recite positive affirmations – Tell yourself how great you are and recite all the positive things about you.

Please don’t think this is a quick fix however if you discipline yourself and follow these steps daily you will find you ultimately gain control of your anxiety therefore combating your panic attacks.