depression

Blues or Depression? Knowing When to Seek Treatment

Advances in the study of the brain have led to a greater understanding of depression. It’s not just a bad day, but a host of symptoms caused by chemical imbalances that can more deeply root the neural pathways of the brain in a cycle of depression.

Studies have shown the depressed brain can atrophy and change over time if not treated. However, recognizing when depression has set in is one of the trickier parts to overcome because the symptoms go beyond sadness. [Read more…] about Blues or Depression? Knowing When to Seek Treatment

Originally posted on July 22, 2013 @ 2:33 am

Technology: The Reason You are Stressed, Depressed and Bored

bus
photo credit: Bert Kommerij

“In Tibet you would send a letter and not expect a reply for six months. Now if people send an email and don’t get a reply in 30 seconds they get angry.” – Tai Situ

How long can you go without checking your email? If you find a juicy bit of gossip do you have to Tweet it to everyone you know? Do you SMS more than you talk? Most of us do.And it is making us stressed, depressed and utterly bored with life.

In this post I want to talk about how I believe technology is causing us a lot of problems. In particular I hope the parents reading this will carefully consider the impact all this technology is having on their children.

What technology?

I am going to refer to “technology” a lot in this post so I thought I should clear up what I am talking about. Basically I am referring to media like Twitter, Facebook, iPhones and iPods, Blackberrys, etc. Technology that is providing entertainment. I am not referring to advances in medicine, international travel, etc.

The iPhone, the cafe and addiction

A few days ago I was sitting in a cafe waiting for a friend. I noticed that a lot of people were sitting alone and almost every one of them had an iPhone or Blackberry. Every new visitor to the cafe sat down and within 20 second was flipping away on the phone looking for apps, news or Twitter.

This, to me, is the epitome of the problem with technology – we cannot live without it. This media has become so addictive and we have come to rely on it so much, we wouldn’t know how to live without the constant stimulation. And therein lies the problem.

Technology and its links to stress, depression and boredom

Boredom
photo credit: PaperThinSerge

We are constantly stimulated by technology. We are constantly in need of a “hit” and over time that need escalates, just like the need for a drug. We are addicted to technology and it is causing stress, depression and boredom. Here’s why:

Technology and stress
The reason I believe technology is causing us to be stresses is simple – we are speeding up too much. Our lives are lived in a constant rush and this is majorly caused by advancing technologies. Think about the news; 10 years ago if you wanted news you had to wait for the evening report or the paper in the morning. Now if you want news you go on Twitter to see if there is any Trending Topics or you jump on your mobile to see what the latest news app is saying. Its fast.

And while I can see the upsides to this (great access to information, etc.) I am also acutely aware that it is causing people problems. They cannot go for very long without an update. They feel like everything has to be done at a cracking pace. And they get stressed when they haven’t had a hit in a while.

Leo Babauta over at Zen Habits has a new eBook out which is all about living simply with minimal clutter. This is what he is talking about. All the technology and speed that we have in our lives is making us stressed and the sad thing is, we don’t need to be.

Technology and depression
The relationship between technology and depression is more subtle but I wanted to write about it because I have experienced it myself. I would love to hear some reader feedback about this one.

As my long time readers will know, I used to be a bit of a gamer. My brother and I would spend hours play Call of Duty, Counter Strike and even World of Warcraft. But after a while we both started noticing something – we were depressed. There was a really empty feeling that just wouldn’t go away. After a while we linked it to the games because we realized that we were so overstimulated and when the games were off we hit a low; kind of like a sugar hit that inevitably leads to a crash. But it was more long lasting and powerful.

And media and technology are like that. We are constantly Tweeting, Facebooking and listening to music that when it all stops at the end of the day we feel depressed. Our senses finally get a moment to relax and we feel terrible. We feel alone. I think that technology is making a lot of us depressed.

Technology and boredom
The last one is obvious as it is closely tied in with the other two. Technology is making us bored. Why? Because we need bigger and bigger hits. Listening to music is no longer exciting, we need a massive show or an LCD screen in our music player. The addition to stimulation is escalating.

I actually think this phenomena is quite dangerous as the younger generation now needs bigger hits to be entertained. The simple pleasures in life are no longer enough because they have experienced amazing things all the time from such a young age. I think it has a lot to do with why drugs and alcoholism are so prevalent. But I could be wrong.

Next time you have a break from work become aware of what you want to do. I am betting you shy away from relaxing and sitting back and grab for a phone, a TV or some Facebook action. Being still and alone is no longer enough for us.

Creating a need, not solving a problem

The interesting thing about this media and technology is that the new innovations do not solve a problem or need, they create one. In the old days marketing firms would sit down and think about some problems that people had and then try to create a technology to solve that problem. Not anymore! Now they create technologies and make us feel like we need it. In fact, I now think that these things create more problems than they solve.

What do you think?

Originally posted on September 15, 2009 @ 11:36 pm

5 Ways to Destroy Your Daily Depression

photo credit: AdamCohn

We all know the feeling of daily depression. It is that sh$%house state where you feel depressed for no particular reason. You can’t seem to get excited or happy about anything and you feel boxed-in, trapped and alone.

In this post I am going to show you 5 simple ways to destroy those feelings of daily depression. Everyone can use these suggestions and I promise at least one of them will make a difference in your life.

Daily depression vs clinical depression

Before I get into the meat of the post I want to qualify some terms. Daily depression is a phrase that I came up with to describe that general feeling of being down in the dumps. We all get it occasionally – it might be related to work or marriage or your life in general – but it is basically just feeling down for no real reason.

Clinical depression, on the other hand, is a more serious issue. This type of depression can severely affect the way you live your life and requires treatment from a doctor or counselor. While daily depression might be a symptom of a more serious type of depression, this post is more about how to destroy those down-and-out feelings that we all get sometimes.

The idea of destroying feelings

I want to talk about something important here. The idea of “destroying” your feelings is an interesting one. The idea is based in Buddhist thought and my interest was sparked when I read a quote by the famous master Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche who said this about his ego:

“I don’t like you. I am going to destroy you.”

The idea here is that his ego is the source of his problems and as such he is going to do everything he can to cut that ego off at the root. We can do the same thing for our depression. We understand that it is causing us problems and as such we are going to try to eradicate it.

Now, I do not think that “destroying” necessarily means violence and explosions and angry retaliation. You are never going to solve your depression that way. What it does mean is that you are going to take certain steps to ensure that you conquer it. Think of this destruction as coming about through peace treaty, not war!

5 ways to destroy your daily depression

photo credit: BL1961

Now that I have done a little bit of in introduction I would like to get into the main part of the post. Here are five ways that you can start destroying your daily moods of depression. See how they work for you. And don’t forget, if I miss anything out please leave a comment and let us all know.

1. Get into some wide open space
I work from home. I sit in a nice little room with my nice little laptop. My cat sits next to me on a blanket and watches me all day as I type away. It is quite lovely. But every now and then I get a massive case of cabin fever. My mood changes and I feel depressed, cooped up and down for no real reason. When this happens I find that wide open space cures me.

So, I grab my laptop, get in my car, stop off for a coffee and head up to a spot about 10 minutes from my house. It is a beautiful lookout area that overlooks my entire city. Here is a photo I took for you all today:

View of my city

The place is chirping with birds, buzzing with bees and there is a serene breeze that comes down the hill and washes over the whole area. I open up the windows of my car, turn on my lap top and work while the wind blows over me. There I am, in the center of wide open space, working away.

Depression destroyed.

Wide open space is actually listed in many ancient Buddhist texts as a way to destroy feelings of depression. When you are in the middle of space you feel alive, invigorated and full of energy. Your mind slowly starts to loosen up and you lose those feelings of captivity – captivated by work, money, mortgages and stress. When your mind loosens up into the space you become free, open and calm.

If you want to destroy your daily depression I highly encourage you to find a place where you can go and just sit in space. It might be the middle of a super large football field or it might be a lookout like mine. It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that you take time to relax and open up into the space. Let your mind loosen up into its natural state.

Actually, I discovered the power of wide open spaces when I was in India. I wrote about it in this post on my rock high in the Himalayas.

2. Meet with some healthy friends
Time for something a little bit more scientific. I recently heard about a study which involved a whole bunch of depressed people. The study gave them each a different method for dealing with their depression and in the end it was found that associating with people was the most effective method. However, it was the method least engaged in because quite often you don’t feel like seeing anyone when you are feeling depressed.

Human beings are, for the most part, very social creatures. We are built that way. We live in communities, marry other humans for (ideally) the long term and we raise big families that last lifetimes. We love socializing. So it makes sense that being around other people is going to make us happy.

However, there is a danger here. Quite often human beings choose to socialize with the wrong crowd. We pick people that give us instant gratification, take us out for big Friday night benders and ultimately lead us down a self-destructive path. What I would like to propose is that instead of picking just anyone to connect with, you connect with healthy friends and family.

Here is my reasoning. Once I was in India attending a teaching of a very great lama. This lama was teaching about how to safeguard your ethics and he started the teaching by saying something very profound:

“A crystal reflects whatever color is around it. Put white paper underneath and it turns white. Put black paper underneath and it turns black. Be careful who you associate with. Put a rose in a bag of fish and soon the rose will stink too. Be careful who you associate with.”

I was quite struck by his words and it immediately hit me that our friends and associates have a massive effect on who we are and how we behave. If we hang out with criminals we are probably more likely to be involved in a crime. But, if we find healthy, happy, compassionate and loving friends it is more likely that their positive influence will rub off on us.

If you are experiencing feelings of daily depression it is a great idea to meet with some people that live a healthy and happy life. Go out for lunch or meet up to watch a DVD. The very act of being around a compassionate person will benefit your mind in so many ways. It is very rare that you leave feeling worse than when you arrived.

3. Eat food that accords with your mood

photo credit: nicholaschan

Food is something that we need to choose carefully. It is not just something we eat to fill our hunger, it is our fuel, our lifeblood, our energy. Choose the right food and you can feel energetic, healthy and awake. Choose the wrong food and you can be left feeling depressed and heavy.

The idea of choosing foods that suit your mental state is not one often heard of in Western society. We are mostly concerned with low carb, low calorie, low fat or some other health kick like that. But in the East they often pick foods based on the season and how their mind is behaving.

For example, if you are feeling sleepy, depressed and tired it is a good idea to eat light foods like fresh fruits, fruit juice and other natural produce. You want to avoid heavy things with lots of fat in them. On the other hand, if your mind is going a million miles and hour you might want to try eating some heavier foods like wholegrain bread sandwiches, free range eggs and milk. This will help to slow your mind down a little bit.

On the whole I suggest that everyone should eat a diet based mostly around natural foods. This does not mean you have to go organic or anything like that, it just means you should avoid man-made foods like pasta, baked goods, candy, bars, soda, etc. and replace them with fruits, vegetables, free range eggs, etc. A healthy body often leads to a healthy mental state.

Here is another post I wrote about foods that make you stressed, anxious and depressed.

4. Shift your perspective
Quite often daily depression comes about due to a negative perspective. Instead of seeing all the positive things in life you focus on the bad things. Instead of seeing the potential in your situation you focus on the doom. One way to destroy your depression now and in the long term is to shift your perspective.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama often talks about how important it is to shift your perspective. If you can shift your perspective you can turn your the worst hatred into the best compassion. For example, let’s pretend that a drink driver crashed into your car causing you to go to hospital. It would be easy to hate this person. But, if you use logical thoughts you might be able to shift your perspective from hatred to love. Perhaps the person was drinking because their partner just cheated on them? Perhaps the were drinking because they had a terrible upbringing and are suffering from severe depression. What if they spend all day and all night regretting what they had done to you? Would you still want to be angry?

This is just one example of how you can shift your perspective. The same can be done for any situation that makes you depressed. If you are thinking a lot about how much your work sucks then make a shift to thinking about how lucky you are to even have a job after the latest financial crisis. If you are worried about being an angry person make a shift and think about how fortunate you are to be able to recognize that there is work to be done. Simple shifts like this can go a long way.

Remember, the mind can be trained. You are in control of that training. It might not seem like it at the moment but the more you work with your mind the more responsive it will be. After a few months of shifting your perspective you might find that the negative one never arises at all!

5. Start helping others with their depression

photo credit: super.heavy

One of the most meaningful and powerful ways to destroy your daily depression is to start helping other people with their depression. This is a fail safe method that will enhance the quality of your life and make you feel like you are doing something worthwhile.

Helping others with depression does not mean going and getting a psychology degree and sitting people down on a big couch and listening to their life problems. It is more than that. It is a lifestyle, a mental attitude, a commitment to be of assistance. Did you ever have a person you could go as a teenager where you always felt safe? It might have been your best friend’s dad or a sporting coach. Do you remember how that felt? It was like getting a bear hug from the universe! Whatever you were doing and wherever you were you always knew you could go to see that person.

Well that is what I am talking about. Being like that for other people. When they are down and in the dumps they can come to you knowing that you care. This is one of the greatest gifts you can give a person and it is one of the most rewarding ways to deal with your depression.

I would like to finish this article with one of my favorite quotes of all time. I think this quote perfectly sums up the sentiment of this final point. I read it often.

“For as long as space endures,
And for as long as living beings remain,
Until then may I, too, remain
To dispel the misery of the world.”

– Shantideva, The Way of the Bodhisattva

Originally posted on December 17, 2008 @ 5:19 am

6 Ways to Beat Depression During the Winter Months

photo credit: jdebner

The days are getting shorter, the air is getting colder and you are starting to feel pretty down. It’s winter. A lot of people suffer from increased feelings of depression during the winter months. In this post I want to show you a few ways that you can help beat the winter blues.

Seasonal Affective Disorder – Clinical Winter Depression
Did you know that there is actually a clinical form of depression that only occurs during winter? It is called Seasonal Affective Disorder and it is much more than just the winter blues. People who are affected by winter depression have serious symptoms like anxiety, fatigue, weight gain and more.

If you think that your winter blues are more than just winter blues then it is important to go and see your doctor. The tips I have given here will help but they are not a replacement for a medical diagnosis.

6 ways to beat depression during the winter months

1. Get outside often
As you might have already figured out, there is scientific evidence showing that depression increases when there is less sunlight. Sunlight causes the production of Vitamin D in your body and this is a natural antidepressant. If you don’t get a good amount of sunlight it is likely that you will start to feel depressed.

It is important to get outside in the sun often. Now I am not talking about getting dangerous amounts of sun as this can lead to sun burn and skin cancer. What I am talking about is a sensible amount, morning or late afternoon, when the sun is not too powerful.

2. Exercise regularly
Exercise is a fantastic way to help beat the winter blues. I love to get out and go for a run in nature. Near my house there is an old forest with a beautiful creek running through it. For many years I have gone jogging there just to be alone, enjoy the wildlife around me and breathe some fresh air.

But exercise makes you feel good for other, more scientific reasons. When you exercise your body releases a hormone called endorphins which make you feel happy. So every time you exercise you are helping to beat your depression in a very natural and healthy way.

3. Drink green tea
Recently I wrote about the health benefits of tea and in that post I mentioned that tea is a very helpful antidepressant. Green tea in particular is said to be very good for the mind.

The best green tea to buy are those from Japan and Central China. Green tea needs a certain temperature to grow properly and it seems as though these ancient cultures know exactly where to get the best green tea.

4. Avoid coffee
Coffee agitates your mind. It can cause you to feel anxious stressed and depressed. The problem with this one is that I know that most of my readers drink coffee. And according to the poll that we ran some of you drink a LOT of coffee!

If you are feeling down this winter I would like you to try cutting back on the coffee. Switch to green tea and watch the changes that occur in your mood and how you feel. I guarantee that after the initial slump of getting over coffee you will feel much better.

5. Keep eating fruit
When summer comes around we get a burst of amazing fruits like mangoes, grapes, raspberries, melon and so on. And the hot weather makes you want to eat them! It is too hot for heavy meals so you start eating a lot more fruit. And fruit is a natural antidepressant.

But when winter floats around all the good fruit disappears and we start getting cravings for carbs and heavy fatty foods. We want to eat hot stuff, not cool fruits. This is a bit of a shame. Try to keep your fruit intake up in the winter if you start to feel a bit down. I try to eat a fruit salad for breakfast everyday and I swear it is what keeps me healthy and well.

6. Be aware of the depression
One technique that you can use is to be aware of the depression creeping in during the winter months. The simple act of just being aware of it will actually make it feel a whole lot more manageable.

This is a simple meditation technique called mindfulness. All you are doing is becoming aware of the thoughts and watching them come and go. You don’t need to judge them or try to conceal them – just observe them and let them go. This is a powerful way to combat depression.

Conclusion
Winter time is difficult for a lot of people. For many people the winter months mean depression and fatigue. But there are some things that you can do. Try the tips I have suggested above and see how they work for you. But, remember, if you think your winter blues are getting worse you should always see you doctor.

Originally posted on November 18, 2008 @ 1:44 am

5 Small (But Big) Ways to Beat Depression Every Time

“If you don’t think your anxiety, depression, sadness and stress impact your physical health, think again. All of these emotions trigger chemical reactions in your body, which can lead to inflammation and a weakened immune system. Learn how to cope, sweet friend. There will always be dark days.”

Kris Carr – New York Times and #1 Amazon best-selling author, wellness activist and cancer survivor.

photo credit: JSmith Photo

Depression is pretty horrible. I went through a period of bad depression a few years ago. Getting out of bed was hard. Going to work was hard. Smiling was hard. But, I got myself sorted and life seems a whole lot better now.

However, depressed thoughts still come and go. Sometimes during the course of my day I will just start to feel crap for no particular reason. And because I decided a long time ago that these depressed thoughts weren’t going to weigh me down anymore I adopted quite a few strategies to deal with them. This post is designed to give you a few small (but big) ways to beat depression every time.

Realize that depression is transient

Ways to Beat Depression — Depression is transient, don’t forget that

One of the best things I ever did was to firmly resolve in my mind that depression, like everything else, is a transient phenomena. Like a rainbow, a puddle, a bubble or a cloud in the sky – depression does not last. It never does and it never will.

Even the unfortunate souls with the most severe cases of depression are happy sometimes. There are a few moments in the day when their depression fades and another emotion sweeps over them. They might be watching a comedy show and a joke snaps through their depression and gives way to laughter. They might be out for a walk and see some animals playing and experience joy. Or they might see the new political candidates speeches on Youtube and experience patriotism. However bad your depression is I guarantee that you are not depressed 100% of the time.

Reminding yourself that depression doesn’t last actually makes your stages of depression seem a lot less potent. I noticed this for myself – I went from having actual panic attacks complete with elevated heart rates and vomiting to just a few “down” moments. I used to be afraid of depression when it came – now I know it doesn’t last.

Be careful with the label “I have depression”

I have to be really careful here as I know a lot of people will kick up a fuss about this comment. Let me be clear, depression is an illness. In the words of Will Ferral, “…it has real doctors and everything!” But I sometimes wonder whether telling yourself “I have depression” really makes things better. From my own experience I can tell you that it actually made me feel a whole heap worse.

Why?

Because the diagnosis “you have depression” is very solid. It is very fixed. It seems unchangeable. But like I noted in the first point, depression is actually very transient. It is impermanent. It doesn’t last. But when you are told you have depression you run the risk of labeling yourself as a depressed person. And that is very solid.

Of course, diagnosing people with depression and depression related disorders is very important. It is vital to the health and recovery of that person. Without that diagnosis the person might not get the drugs or the counseling that they need. It is not the diagnosis, as such, that I have an issue with. My issue is with labeling yourself as a depressed person.

The title of this strategy is be careful with the label “I have depression” and that is all I want you to do. Be careful. Do not continually remind yourself of your diagnosis. You do not want to repeatedly tell yourself that you are depressed. In the same way that repeatedly telling yourself that you are fat leads to more problems, repeatedly telling yourself that you are depressed will make you even worse.

This is about avoiding extremes and using your mind to reinforce positive tendencies, not negative ones. It is not about pretending you don’t have an illness. You very well might have one. What I am asking is that you don’t let yourself get bogged down in your ideas and notions about that illness.

Learn the value of human contact

photo credit: Fabiana Zonca

When I was going through a particularly bad rough patch after a tough break up one of my dearest friends came over to my house… every day. For almost the whole summer this friend rang me up in the morning to meet for breakfast, called me at lunch time asking where we were going to eat and in the evenings took me to the gym or martial arts center. For six weeks this friend of mine got me out of the house, off the couch and out with people.

And it was one of the best things that could have happened to me.

What my friend did was truly amazing. I don’t have many friends who would have gone to such consistent lengths to take care of me. And two things about this time stood out to me:

Knowing people love you makes a difference
Being around other people helps

The two lessons here are about helping people with depression and helping yourself when you have depression. If you are depressed you need to get out and be around people. It doesn’t matter how you do it, science has shown that having human contact helps depression.

The second thing is that if you know someone who is feeling down you should go and help them. Get them out of the house, take them out for a walk and get them out with people. This will not only help their situation, it will also help your depression.

Eat and drink healthy

photo credit: avlxyz

Something that seems small but actually had a massive impact on my levels of depression is how I ate. By learning what foods make you depressed and avoiding them you can seriously change the way you feel.

I have written about this many times but it is something so important that I want to stress it again. Bad foods make you feel bad. Good foods make you feel good. Just like the saying goes, “you are what you eat“. If you want to feel better mentally start eating cleaner foods.

So what are we talking about here? What foods make us feel bad? The big ones for me are coffee and fatty foods. Coffee makes my mind run at a million miles and hour and I have trouble settling down. This is bad for people who are really anxious. And fatty foods that are really heavy cause your mind to be sluggish and sad.

Try to eat all natural foods like fruit and vegetables. Get lots of chili and ginger and other natural medicines. Eating a natural diet full of really fresh and tasty foods will absolutely change your life.

Get out in the sun and run

Scientists and doctors are now spouting the benefits of two things for depression: sunlight and exercise. Mix the two together and you have got a recipe for a better mental state.

Forget the gym with its stale air, televisions and plastic people – get outside in the sunlight and start running. Take your dog or your buddy and hit the dirt while the sun is shining on your skin and face. Go somewhere where the air is fresh and the view is inspiring. If you have a local park or forest then head out there. Spend as little as 15 minutes a day doing this and your depression will seem like a thing of the past.

Some of the happiest moments in my life have been when I was out alone in the woods running in the sun. Just me and the trees and the birds chirping away. I am particularly fond of jogging where there is running water – the sound is so soothing and magical.

If you aren’t a big runner it doesn’t matter. Walk. Or, join a football or soccer team. Play tennis on the weekends. There are so many amazing things to be doing out in the sunshine and all of them will have a positive and immediate effect on your depression.

Conclusion

Depression is not a fixed state. There are things you can be doing all the time to beat it. Don’t sit by passively and be a victim, start doing things that will really get you happy. Nine times out of ten your mild depression can be alleviated with some change in your behavior or lifestyle.

What has helped you? Leave a comment – it might really help someone!

Originally posted on August 26, 2008 @ 3:25 am

Work Causes Depression Says Study: What Do You Think?

Today I was watching the news and they had a story about a recent study that has shown that about one in six Australian’s can attribute their depression to their work. You can read the news article here.

I found this pretty interesting. I have never really considered that work would cause people to spiral into clinical depression. But I could be wrong.

I would love to hear what your opinions on this study are. Have you ever been seriously depressed because of work? Or has work magnified something that was already there?

What do you think?

top image: photo credit: azharc

Originally posted on June 2, 2008 @ 7:35 am