No Stress Ever

Antidepressants Prescribed by Psychiatrists Only?

The first time I was prescribed an antidepressant, my GP turned to his cupboard and said “I’ve got some samples here. I haven’t tried this one for a while. Let’s give it a go.” Chalk that one up for the drug rep.

His diagnosis was wrong as well.

It’s a contentious issue. Should physicians without psychiatric training be dispensing psychotropic drugs?

An article by Frontier Psychiatrist discusses this problem, plus the ubiquity of antidepressants today, our collective loss of resilience and the increased role of medicine as the panacea. Interesting and challenging.

Read more of the Frontier Psychiatrist article.

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Celebrate! Traveling with Anxiety- Trip # 5

photo by Marcos Vasconcelos Photography

I’ve had a lot on my mind lately that I would like to post about, but being mid summer life is crazy with all sorts of fun. Including a trip to Miami to celebrate my 7th wedding anniversary with my hubby and 1 year old daughter. We leave tomorrow and I know that to have a successful trip I need to prepare beforehand. I have had minor morning anxiety this week because of this trip. We will not only take our daughter on her first plane ride (a 5 hour one at that) but we will also be gone for a whole week. So I know that this post is more important for me right now, and when I get back I can get out some other posts.

I am glad to go on this trip. I am glad because even though it will be really hard, I am challenging myself. I am also glad because I like doing fun things with my family. Growing up we didn’t do very much together. Sure we were poor and a trip like this with 9 kids was out of the question, but even simple things like going to a park, or the Lake which was two blocks away, or walk, or even playing in the front yard or anything like that was just never done with my parents. I didn’t think about it much then because that was my normal. But now I know that I want to make time to play together with my family. I think its important not only for creating memories, but the bonds you form as well. So this trip is about celebrating my family and all that we have accomplished over the last 7 years.

Also, I have been thinking a lot lately about happiness. A few months ago we splurged and purchased some used seadoos. I was feeling guilty about it because it was a lot of money for us for something that is luxury. I didn’t want people to know about it because I thought they would think we were stupid for sure. And then to go on a week long vacation to Miami- in today’s economy we should be saving all our pennies right?!?

However, I finally came to the conclusion that If you are an anxiety sufferer, soooo much of your time is spent stressing out and worrying and just not being very happy. I worry sometimes about the long term effects, how many years of my life I’ve stressed away. So I shouldn’t feel bad about doing something that makes me happy. We have used the watercrafts so much already, not to mention they are paying for themselves as people are renting them from us and exchanging tradework to use them! We never expected that but its been really nice. But really I shouldn’t need to justify any of it because it all makes me happy. And I should cherish the happy times, I DESERVE it. I deserve to be happy and so you do. So anytime we can do something to make us happy, I want to do it.

Ok as I have mentioned before, the point of this exersize is part of the 10 steps I do that helps to reduce my anxiety. Then I print this out and take it with me so I can reread it whenever I need to. So to try to have the happiest week I can, here are my concerns and my statements I want to remember if I start to get anxious (these statements are taken from my last trip because my concerns are the same):

• What if I am anxious the whole time? I will ruin the trip for Tyler.

Circumstances are what they are but I can choose my attitude toward them. I can be anxious and still have fun on this trip. I’ve done it before and I can do it again. I can handle this. Tyler loves me more than this trip. I love and accept myself the way I am. I respect and believe in myself apart from other’s opinions.

• Trips make me anxious. I should be nervous about this trip.

This is overgeneralizing. Just because I have been anxious on trips in the past that doesn’t set in stone that I will be anxious on this trip. I am learning to be calm. I’m responsible and in control of my life.

• What if I can’t eat anything around Ty’s brother? (he lives there and will be with us occasionally)

If I explain that I have not been feeling well and I don’t have an appetite he will most likely understand. And if he doesn’t so what! I only have to eat for myself. It’s important to take care of my own needs. I respect and believe in myself apart from others’ opinions.

• What if people want to go do something and I am feeling too sick?

If I am not feeling well be honest and they will most likely understand. And if they don’t, so what! You are here to have fun and not to please everyone else. Do what you want to do. It’s important to take care of my own needs. Its ok to make time to rest and relax. I am willing to go forward with my life and try to better myself regardless of what others think.

• What if the baby has a hard time on the plane and cries the whole time and she is miserable?

If she is really struggling and nothing I am doing is helping her, then it will be miserable yes, but it will eventually end.

Also, I want to mention that I do read all the emails and comments that I get- every single one. I may not respond to them all because of time (I work part time and am a full time mommy), but I do read and appreciate them all! So keep’em coming. Also, sometimes I will read one with plans to respond, but then it gets lower on my list and it slips through the cracks. So if you are waiting for a response and haven’t heard one I apologize. Send it again and I will get right on it.

I hope everyone can celebrate the happy moments in their lives and really cherish them. Remember, you deserve it!

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Tips to Monitor Your Depression

Depression is a common problem and today’s it affects millions of people lifestyle. Waiting too long can have shocking effects. Depression is the only number one cause of suicide, and it can be treatable if we would only familiar the problem.

Suicide has a dishonor attached to it. People often don’t want to confess that problem because they’re afraid others will not realize and they are afraid other people will think they are weak for not being able to treat with everyday issues. Teenagers and the elderly are the most common age groups that suffer depression mostly. Rising group of people in their mid thirties and forties are experiencing severe depression due to tension.

It is essential to monitor your depression and the level of depression. The three levels of depression are:

1) Major depressive disorder
2) Dysthymic disorder,
3) Manic sadness.

In major depressive disorders, the depressed person feels depression for the most part of the day. They experience a lack of satisfaction and confidence in every area and activity. The symptoms of major depressive disorders are excessive weight loss, excessive sleeping or the inability to sleep, loss of energy, a feeling of dishonor, and feelings of suicide.

In the Dysthymic disorder the patient experiences depression for two years or more along with the following symptoms: difficulty eating or overeating, difficulty sleeping or excessive sleeping, severe tiredness, loss of self esteem, the difficulty in making decisions, the general feeling of hopelessness.

Manic depression also known as bipolar disorder that has many symptoms as people don’t recognize as depression it is label of sharp periods of deep depression. There are following symptoms: over extravagant sense of self importance, rapid talking with the need to keep talking, racing ideas at a rapid sequence of thoughts, increasing types of activities that are heavily goal oriented such as school and work.

Many other types of depression include postpartum, anxiety, endogenous depression, situational or reactionary depression, melancholic depression to name just a few.

Depression does not go away by itself. While you can feel some time of relief where it appears like everything is okay if there is no more depression these are not permanent relief not a cure for what basis of them.

If you are experiencing any symptoms of depression please go for medical advice. There is much that can be done to ease the symptoms that allow you to survive a happier more fruitful life.

Visit the original post at: Depression Help

Popularity: 15% [?]

Tips to Monitor Your Depression

Depression is a common problem and today’s it affects millions of people lifestyle. Waiting too long can have shocking effects. Depression is the only number one cause of suicide, and it can be treatable if we would only familiar the problem.

Suicide has a dishonor attached to it. People often don’t want to confess that problem because they’re afraid others will not realize and they are afraid other people will think they are weak for not being able to treat with everyday issues. Teenagers and the elderly are the most common age groups that suffer depression mostly. Rising group of people in their mid thirties and forties are experiencing severe depression due to tension.

It is essential to monitor your depression and the level of depression. The three levels of depression are:

1) Major depressive disorder
2) Dysthymic disorder,
3) Manic sadness.

In major depressive disorders, the depressed person feels depression for the most part of the day. They experience a lack of satisfaction and confidence in every area and activity. The symptoms of major depressive disorders are excessive weight loss, excessive sleeping or the inability to sleep, loss of energy, a feeling of dishonor, and feelings of suicide.

In the Dysthymic disorder the patient experiences depression for two years or more along with the following symptoms: difficulty eating or overeating, difficulty sleeping or excessive sleeping, severe tiredness, loss of self esteem, the difficulty in making decisions, the general feeling of hopelessness.

Manic depression also known as bipolar disorder that has many symptoms as people don’t recognize as depression it is label of sharp periods of deep depression. There are following symptoms: over extravagant sense of self importance, rapid talking with the need to keep talking, racing ideas at a rapid sequence of thoughts, increasing types of activities that are heavily goal oriented such as school and work.

Many other types of depression include postpartum, anxiety, endogenous depression, situational or reactionary depression, melancholic depression to name just a few.

Depression does not go away by itself. While you can feel some time of relief where it appears like everything is okay if there is no more depression these are not permanent relief not a cure for what basis of them.

If you are experiencing any symptoms of depression please go for medical advice. There is much that can be done to ease the symptoms that allow you to survive a happier more fruitful life.

Visit the original post at: Depression Help

Popularity: 15% [?]

5 Good Reasons to Track Your Mood

Therese Borchard, fabulous writer at Beyond Blue, recently interviewed me for her blog. Here it is, reproduced in full.

Today I have the pleasure of interviewing one of my first Internet buddies, James Bishop, who runs the site FindingOptimism.com and writes the Finding Optimism blog which has been voted as one of the top depression blogs by Psych Central. James also is the brainiac behind Optimism Software, a tool to help you track your mood.

Question: Why did you develop the software, James? Was there a certain “Aha!” moment you’d like to share with us, as though you were sitting on the Oprah set?

James: An “Aha!” moment? Yes, I’ve had lots of those.

I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder about 6 years ago, and I started on the difficult path of finding appropriate treatment. At the same time Anna started keeping a paper health journal. In 2004 I took part in a 6-part education course for people with Bipolar, and was introduced for the first time to the concepts of “triggers” and “wellness strategies”. This changed my orientation towards my treatment, from being a passive recipient of medicines to an active participant in my own well-being. While medicine was the backbone of my treatment, I now understood that to really “live well” I needed to make other changes.

I soon became frustrated with the paper journal, and turned to my old friend Excel to manage the data better. Perhaps the biggest “Aha!” was discovering, by looking at the data, that there was a connection between my diet and moods. We later found that I am very sensitive to preservatives and other artificial additives. My mood deteriorates a couple of days after eating culprit foods, and the storm cloud hangs around for about 5 days. It took us a couple of years to spot this pattern in my mood, and we wouldn’t have seen it without the spreadsheet. I thought “wow”, imagine what else people could find using this system.

Since then I’ve found many things that trigger my depression, that help me to recognize a fresh episode is coming, and that help me stay well. All along I’ve felt that anyone else with a mood disorder would benefit from being proactive with tracking their health. So I tossed it around in my mind for a couple of years, and then decided to build the Taj Mahal of mood charts.

Question: What are five good reasons to track your mood?

James: In a nutshell, the reason for tracking your mood is to learn more about yourself and achieve better health.

1. Triggers and warning signs. By using a mood chart you can monitor the patterns in your life and identify negative influences (or “triggers”) that you need to avoid, and early warning signs that your health is deteriorating.

2. Wellness strategies. A mood chart can help you to find the small things, as well as the big, that help you to stay well. It can show you the impact of the positive strategies that you adopt on your well-being.

3. Planning for health. Optimism is a case in point. It is designed for a person to bring together an understanding of their triggers, early warning signs or symptoms, and wellness strategies. It gives them a better understanding of their health and helps them to develop a plan for remaining well. That is the key. The purpose of a mood chart should be to plan for wellness, not just keep a record of illness.

4. Actively participate. Rather than be a passive recipient of treatment, or just seek treatment in reaction to a new episode, a mood chart can help you to have more involvement in your health and a sense of control. In general people achieve better health outcomes when they educate themselves and are proactive about their health.

5. A health professional’s dream. By keeping a mood chart you can provide your health professional with a precise, detailed history. It removes the problem of memory recall and gives an accurate picture of what has been happening. It gets to the bottom of what is or isn’t working, which helps them to give more relevant, appropriate advice and treatment.

Every person’s illness is different. As I read elsewhere today, “One Size Fits One”. For many people treatment is difficult, a slow process, or not entirely successful. A good mood chart is an effective way to increase the chance of success.

To read more Beyond Blue, go to http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue.

Visit the original post at: Finding Optimism

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Depression: Different Types and Symptoms

Clinical depression is named as depression, “the blues,” biological depression, major depression. But all means are same as feeling sad and depressed for weeks or months at a time and feelings of hopelessness, lack of energy. Psychiatrists guess that one in four women and one in ten men develop depression during their lifetime; depressions involve at least one in 50 children under 12 and one in 20 teenagers.

Generally, the symptoms of depression contain:

• Feeling sad, discouraging and despairing

• A loss of attention and pleasure in normal actions

• Loss of hunger or weight

• Loss of sex drive

• Sleeping problems such as an inability to get to sleep or early waking

Types of Depression

Psychotic Depression:

Sufferers of psychotic depression begin imagine things, sounds, voices and visuals that do not exist. Those are referred the hallucinations which are not “positive” like they are with a manic depressive.

Melancholic Depression

It is primarily caused by biological factors and affecting only around 1-2% of the population and same number of males and females. It can occur on its own part of Bipolar Disorder.

Major Depression

A person with major depression feels a thoughtful and constant sense of depression and despair. Major depression is combination of symptoms that obstruct with the ability to work, study, sleep, eat and enjoy once pleasurable activities.

Cyclothymic disorder

Cyclothymic disorder is when a person has alternating mood swings of excitement and depression. Often, a person with cyclothymic disorder has a relative with bipolar disorder.

Psychotic depression –

Psychosis involves seeing things that are not there present, feeling everyone is against you and having delusions.

Non-melancholic

It has to do with psychological causes, and is very often connected stressful events in a person’s life or in conjunction with the individual’s personality style.

Non-melancholic depression is the three types of depression.

• A unhappy mood for more than two weeks

• Social destruction

Visit the original post at: Depression Help

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8 Hours a Day Spent on Screens

in the New York Times

The advertising industry’s “Council for Research Excellence” commissioned a report into media usage, which found that the average American watches 61 minutes of advertising and promotions a day. A senior researcher at Turner Broadcasting says that the data is “actually quite comforting” for the TV industry.

The New York Times reports it with a straight bat, which is a pity. Next time they might point to the effects of so much screen time.

Click to read more of the New York Times article.

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Foods Linked To Nutrients For Stopping Depression And Anxiety

A proper diet can boost your mood combined with exercise, fresh air and sunshine. If you are depressed, here are some essential nutrients and foods that your body desire. These foods help to reduce depression, anxiety.

Selenium mineral can keep away from feeling anxious, depressed or aggressive. It is more easily captivated in its natural form in synthetic sources such as vitamins. Two shield Brazil nuts; a sunflower seeds or a serving of swordfish will give you the 50 micrograms you need to feel good.

The foods that contain protein find an amino acid called tyrosine which boosts two brain chemicals that elevate mood. Protein minerals food also gives good energy levels and enhanced concentration.

Calcium relieves mood swings, depression, irritability and tenseness in women who suffer from PMS. You can find it in fortified drinks such as soy milk, orange juice with calcium. A cup of these drinks provides you half of your daily calcium necessities.

A vitamin D has been linked to affective disorder. Our bodies create the vitamin naturally when out to sunlight but often not in sufficient. Milk is the source of vitamin D. The body requires two cups milk in a day to get the Vitamin D.

Omega - 3 fatty acids help brain-cell receptors, thoughts and feelings. Snack on 10 walnuts a day and 3 times a week for dinner. Bake salmon with a sea salt, lemon, garlic and dill for a taste of heaven.

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Therese takes Mood Charts Test Drive and Survives

Friend and wonder blogger Therese Borchard gave our software a try and survived the technology to write a post about it. I’ve copied it in full below. I’m also reciprocating with links to a few of her very helpful posts.

From Beyond Blue:
12 Ways to Keep Going

From Huffington Post:
12 Things I Learned from My Therapist

And from Psych Central:
Vitamin D and Mental Health

Therese’s article

Ever since I was discharged from the inpatient psychiatric program at Johns Hopkins, I have kept a mood journal where I daily record the amount of hours I sleep, my mood (rating it a fantastic and serene no. 1 to a frazzled, and I’m-headed-back-to-the-community-room no. 5), any foods that have triggered hyperactivity or irritability (such as a triple espresso and half of a chocolate-mousse pie), my anxiety level, any medication and vitamin/supplement changes, and a list of things I’m obsessing about: weight, job, friends, sisters, yada yada yada.

My journal looks like my house: messy … dangerously messy. I scribble something down and then Katherine gets a hold of the pad and draws a mermaid, or a big X through the object of obsession. In other words: it’s not a good system. Not at all. And it can’t really do the job of picking up patterns in order predict relapses. The information is too unorganized for that.

So ….

I decided to try the Optimism Software that my blogging buddy James Bishop has designed. Keep in mind that I am a technological moron, and had to ask him about 10 times how to download it. (If I can do it, you can definitely do it.) But after it was on my desktop and I could open it and start inputting my dysfunctional habits, I decided he was a genius.

Because it is much more than a software.

It’s a way of making you a more active part of your recovery.

For example, in that last month I’ve been using the software, I have become more disciplined about my sleep hygiene. I go to bed at 9:30 every night, and I get up at 5:30 in the morning. Knowing that I have to track my sleep in Optimism makes me less apt to act on the “This is brilliant! Let’s stay up all night!” thoughts that come in right as I’m about to shut down for the night.

I’m also more aware of the contents that I put into my mouth. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that James’s software makes me eat better. (He would be very wealthy if this was the case.) But knowing that I have to record the items that tease my mood (pancakes with lots of maple syrup, double chocolate-chip cookies, mochas, fruit pops) make me more aware of the connection between the two (cookies and mood). And, I’m thinking that this awareness will eventually translate into more will power. At least that’s the plan.

The act of recording your diet, sleep, exercise, and stressors makes you more accountable. James writes:

Optimism prompts you to keep a detailed record of all things that affect your state of mind. By monitoring patterns in your life you can identify negative influences that you need to avoid, early warning signs that your health is deteriorating, and the inputs and activities that benefit you most. Simple charts highlight cause and effect relationships that you might normally miss, and you can develop a Health Plan to follow and update as you learn more about the things that positively and negatively affect you.

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Supporting a Loved One with Mental Illness

by Kate McLaughlin

This is a very helpful, practical article if you are caring for someone with a mental illness. It really gets to the heart of how you can understand, support and help, while also looking after your own health.

“If you have a family member or friend who’s been diagnosed with a mental illness, you’re probably wondering what you can do to help. Although new forms of therapy and medication make it possible for many individuals to lead full, independent lives, the support of family, friends and peers remains an essential element in the recovery process.”

…read more on supporting a loved one with a mental illness

Mental Health Best of the Web

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