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Having been depressed, and come out the other side, I feel
empathy for the people who are stuck in depression with little sense of
direction. Like many others, I found that depression can be a powerful learning
experience - or a powerful trap. Used as a tool - depression offers a time to
evaluate
"What makes sense in life?"
It's easier for health professionals and many of their
patients to attempt to use drugs as a substitute for improving life. Medication
with alcohol or nicotine, anti-depressants or stimulants is easier than
applying intelligence, focus and analytical skills to complex emotions and
difficult relationships.
Consequences of Depression
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If you feel depressed, we recommend
that you visit a medical doctor or clinical psychologist, especially
if you consider harming yourself or others. Please refer people with
symptoms of depression to appropriate health professionals.
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Depression is probably part of your life. If you are not
depressed - probably some people around you are - symptoms of depression
affect about 10% of the world population. I find that common causes of depression are
not so much life crises as unsatisfying relationships and lives that lack
meaning.
If you have quality relationships and a strong sense of purpose - a crisis is
just another step!
Depression is also associated with
food allergies,
limiting beliefs,
stress,
codependence,
addiction and relationship entanglements.
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Depression is the inability to
construct a future
Rollo May |
Depression is a reminder that something is
missing in your life, or that you are abusing, mistreating or ignoring
important people. Martyn Carruthers
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Depression reduces quality and sense of life. Depression that concerns
the behavior of other people often seems to originate in
earlier relationships. Depression often starts in
codependent, symbiotic or dysfunctional families. I suggest that relationship
problems require relationship solutions.
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Sometimes depression makes more sense
than joy - depression can motivate a search for meaning. Does your life make sense?
A joyful sense of life often includes:
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- strong, known values
- strong supportive beliefs
- sense of connection to life
- sense of purpose or vision
- motivation to achieve a vision
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- healthy mind in a healthy body
- your place within a community
- transpersonal sense of connectedness
- intimate home with an
appropriate partner
- nurture children / projects
to independence
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You can deal with depression - or you can deal with its consequences.
We help motivated adults enjoy better relationships, plan their lives, exercise,
and enjoy sleep and healthy diets. People facing alcohol or drug addiction can
reach out to drug
treatment hotlines for recovery programs and sober living.
Depression & Drugs
The manufacture and sale of anti-depressants is a
multi-billion dollar industry. Although the most common anti-depressants may be alcohol
and nicotine, trying to manage depression with prescription psychoactive drugs
can have consequences
worse than depression. Many anti-depressants are addictive and have
unpleasant side effects, especially with
older clients.
The more expensive anti-depressant drugs are
SSRI - selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors such as Zoloft,
Prozac or Paxil. These drugs increase serotonin in the brain.
(Many older and cheaper anti-depressants are MAOI or MonoAmine
Oxidase inhibitors, with worse side effects. MAO inhibitors such as Nardil,
Parnate and Marplan may be prescribed if other medications don't manage
depression.)
Symptoms of Depression
Depressed people often describe unpleasant moods, thoughts and self-perception. A depressed
person may have difficulty making decisions - the day-to-day tasks of paying
bills, caring for children, meeting people and making telephone calls may
seem overwhelming.
If the following symptoms are present each day for a few
weeks; and interfere with daily chores such as work, self-care,
child-care, sleep or social life; please consider finding professional help:
- Preoccupied with death or suicide
- Insomnia and/or major sleep changes
- Appetite and/or major weight changes
- Decreased energy, fatigue - always tired
- Feeling hopeless, helpless or pessimistic
- Feeling guilt, worthlessness, helplessness
- Loss of interest or pleasure in work or profession
- Little pleasure in activities that were once enjoyed
Sadness, anxiety, emptiness, restless and irritable Little interest or pleasure in romance or sexual activity - Difficulty concentrating, remembering, making decisions
Depression, Disease & Guilt
In my experience, most depression seems to be a healthy response to an unhealthy
environment and/or unhealthy relationships. People at higher risk
of chronic depression include those suffering from
schizophrenia,
bipolar disorder,
codependence or
mental illness.
Common issues underlying chronic
depression are guilt and shame, which can result if you:
- abused, traumatized or tortured someone
- were abused by someone but you blame yourself
- blame yourself for some misfortune to yourself or to others
- betrayed or abandoned someone important (violating trust, e.g.
abandoning a child)
- mistake one person for another (e.g. perceiving an
ex-partner as an abandoned child)
Managing Guilt & Shame
If people try to withhold emotions, sooner or later they will express them.
Depression often seems to result from withholding guilt.
This guilt may reflect regret for abuse, abandonment, betrayal, etc - or
guilt may be a result of transference, such as parental alienation
(PAS), sexual abuse or
emotional incest.
We find that guilt and shame are often expressed as
depression, and, if unresolved, may result
in nervous breakdown or suicide attempts. Long-term solutions require
that people who have hurt others clarify and balance this hurt, and/or that
they change any relationship entanglements. (See
emotional maturity.) People facing
alcoholism or drug related depression can seek an
alcohol rehab center to gain sobriety and overcome the addiction.
Many people seem to try to control guilt and depression with
distractions (TV, sex, gambling, etc), psychoactive medications
(including nicotine, alcohol and caffeine) and dissociation (withdrawal,
self-hypnosis and meditation). Such emotional
control is usually short-term; continued use of drugs or other distractions may result in
obsessions and addictions - without resolving the underlying depression.
Electroconvulsive Therapy (Electroshock - ECT)
Electroconvulsive therapy is passing an electric current through
a human brain to cause a convulsion. Electroshock is used on people with depression, mania and sometimes schizophrenia,
especially people who do not respond well to, or abreact to,
medication. (I see ECT as an attempt to delete difficult memories rather
than assimilate them ... Martyn).
The side effects of ECT include electrocution, brain
damage, nausea and headaches, memory loss, distractibility, difficulty
with multiple tasks, trouble with arithmetic and language. See
Electroshock.
Lasting Solutions for Depression: Wisdom & Integrity
Intelligence is not wisdom. Intelligent people
may become depressed if they cannot find effective solutions for problems that less intelligent
people do not perceive. We help motivated adults evaluate their emotions,
explore their relationships and develop their
emotional maturity.
Would you like to
benefit from our experience?
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