The way out of depression could be in changing the way you perceive the world around you.

There is an illness all around me in modern society that seems to be spreading like the Black Plague once did in Europe so long ago. It’s called depression, have you heard of it? Has it affected you? The more I look, the more I see it in so many people in my life, including myself. Depression sucks. It’s a real drag, and I mean real drag. It is different from the feelings of unhappiness that all humans have to deal with in their lives. It is being in a solitary prison where you are the only one who can see the walls; you are the jailor, the guard, and the prisoner all rolled into one. Sounds like fun huh? Well, we better become more aware of it because there are certain aspects of contemporary life that are causing more and more souls to lock themselves up, some believing that they have no hope of ever finding the key out.

If you look up depression on the Internet through a Google search query you will find a lot of different ways and means to manage or treat the problem. There are Eastern and Western approaches, psychological and spiritual; today there are 15,400,000 links about the subject. It seems to be on everybody’s mind and yet we don’t give it the general social awareness that we do for other illnesses. This is probably because there are so many stigmas around faults with the human mind. Broken bones and cancer we can understand or at least think we do; but we touch on a soft spot when we find a problem with that infinitely complex, helpful, magical device we call the brain.

Recently I went to a public talk by a world famous Psychologist named Dorothy Rowe who was selling her new book, ‘Depression: The way out of your prison”. I’m not going to tell you that she has all the answers, but I did like the different approach that she took to the illness. She’s not against modern medication, but she feels that it can be only part of the solution. Of course there are types of intense clinical depression that need certain chemicals to rebalance the brain to a ‘normal’ working order, but for all depression she feels that the focus could be shifted from a management to a prevention paradigm.

Dr Rowe focuses on the assertion that depression comes when one’s structure of interpreting the world around you has been affected by some deeply negative occurrences (usually in one’s youth). Her theory suggests that if a certain event happens to one hundred people, they will all probably interpret the experience in an individual, different way; the perceived ‘reality’ having been a resulting construct from one’s life experiences. For example: Let’s say you get fired from your job. Just about everyone is going to feel a general unhappiness and grieve over the subsequent period. However, many people have built positive, optimistic ways of seeing life and will just go on and feel as though the layoff was another necessary step or a momentary setback on the way to their life’s goals and dreams. “Whatever doesn’t kill me, makes me stronger.” is a common sentiment from this type of personality.

However, a person who is prone to perceiving the world around them as threatening and dangerous (maybe their parents never gave them positive affirmations as a child, or even put them down emotionally) may believe that the loss of this job is a relative ‘destruction’ of their world, their safety, their confidence. This is where the illness of depression can dig its sharp teeth in. This is a pretty mellow analogy; in reality some people have gone through hellish childhoods filled with abuse, neglect and addiction. When this type of person then has to deal with the loss of a loved one or relationship break-up, you can imagine that they would be much more prone to perceiving the experience as deeply negative. Dr. Rowe believes that these constructed structures of perceiving what happens to you can be altered, thus giving rise to a new way of seeing reality. The main idea is based around the idea that we must learn to change the ways in which we see ourselves.

If we can learn to accept ourselves with all our faults and imperfections, and realize that if we are doing our best to be a loving and giving person everyday, then we can see ourselves as being worthy, and that all is well. Then if someone else treats us badly, ignores us, or says we aren’t good enough, we can know and acknowledge that they are the person with the problem and that we don’t necessarily need their affirmation or acceptance. We can then wait for positive people to come into our lives, as like attracts like. Soon enough we will find that there is a group of people that will stand by our side and support us when things get bad because we do the same for ourselves and for them.

One of the most powerful insights I had from this experience was the sheer number of people in the room for Dr. Rowe’s speech. Each and every one had been or known someone close who had been depressed at one time in their life, thinking that they were completely alone in the world. When you see a big group of people together whom have all felt alone, you might just see into the true paradox of reality? If everyone who got depressed realized that it is a common occurrence, and connected to others in similar cases, it definitely could be a step towards healing. Could the Internet take a leading role in this process?

About the Author

Jesse S. Somer
M6.Net
http://www.m6.net
Jesse S. Somer has been locked in a prison of his own mind. The way out was within.

Summer vacation is coming to a close. All the trips,
fun activities, and camps are soon to be wonderful
memories. Hopefully, your child or children had a
great period of down time and are refreshed and ready
for a new and eventful school year.

I know many parents are quite ready for the new and
eventful school year. As much as we love our children,
they can be exhausting for some parents. Sometimes the
down time the summer vacation offers breeds some
unexpected and even undesirable behaviors. Whatever
the case, school starting brings a pleasant reprieve
for many parents.

Happy Day, The first day of school is just around
the corner. What do we do next as responsible parents?
Run to the store to buy all the necessities to have
a successful student. The clothes, tools of the trade,
everything that could possible be necessary. We help
them pack that bag and send them on their way.

One major thing many parents tend to forget for whatever
reason.

You may have prepared your little one with all the
material items he or she may need, but how about the head?
Yes, the head and I don’t mean what’s on top. I mean the
inside. Their beautiful head may very well be filled with
a load of anxiety.

For some children this anxiety can be very real and
overwhelming. For some, it’s healthy.
For some children however, the anxiety of the beginning
of school can be terrifying. Many different situations
that may seem small to adults can be extremely difficult
for some children.

For the sake of empathy, I’ll give two examples.
First, the simple act of getting on a school bus and finding
a place to sit can be terrifying. If your child is not the
most popular or even close, he or she may not know many
of the other students on that bus.

The act of having to walk down that isle on the bus
while everyone watches and then try to find a seat to share
can be sickening for some children. Of course, this
happens first thing in your child’s day so this could
have an impact on the rest of the day.

OK, maybe not the rest of the day. Maybe just until lunch
time. This is the second example I promised you.
For some children, the act of trying to get place to
sit while eating lunch can be very difficult as well.
Try to imagine having to walk into a room and find
a place to sit when you are not a confident child.
It’s easy if when you walk into the room and the others
start yelling your name but that doesn’t happen very
often for the average child, let alone the quite child
that may not have many friends.

Based on my own experience, these are very real,
uncomfortable situations for some children that should
not be minimized.

What can you do for your child? How to help your child
with that first day anxiety?
I’ll tell you. Here are some proven ideas.
Talk to your child about these scenarios. Make sure
your child knows he or she is not alone when it comes
to understanding how difficult these situations are.
Try to instill a sense of control which will ease
the sense of anxiety. It won’t get rid of the problem,
but a sense of control empowers people including children.

Give your child real control over the situation by sharing
a few concrete suggestions to use that he/she is comfortable
with. Suggestions that your child feels they contributed.
Make sure your child has much of the say and is comfortable
with the solutions that will be used.

The first day may be exciting for some. Remember, it may not
be so exciting for others. Instead it can be a head filled
with anxiety based on lack of control.

Lets wish for the best for all our children.

About the Author

Frank W. Thatcher Jr., an experienced educator specializing in
many areas such as behavior modifications, emotional challenges,
and parenting issues. He has assisted many in setting goals and
experiencing success for themselves and their children.
His providing proven materials which promote success…
http://www.onlineshoppersmarket.com/parenting1.html

Among the hardest parts of living in the modern world is stress and anxiety. With worries about work, the environment, the economy, natural disasters, terrorism, and the general state of the world, it seems that there is no end to the number of things to worry about. Though we cannot control many of these things, they still weigh on our minds and cause us stress and anxiety. However, despite these concerns, we should try to avoid stress and anxiety.

Stress and anxiety are, at their hearts, mental problems. They are conditions in which the mind is racing and constantly circling around certain concerns. The concerns may be seemingly mundane, but the concerns keep recurring until they push out all the other thoughts in the brain and create their own towering mass of worry. And this tower is, in itself self-propagating simply because stress and anxiety tend to create themselves because stress and anxiety cause the mind to condition itself to stress and anxiety.

There is research to suggest that the mind gets used to stress and anxiety and, once it is conditioned, it will quickly return to stress and anxiety. In fact, there is some evidence that shows that stress conditioning may actually begin when we are too young to do anything about it. Children who face a great deal of stress will find their minds altered such that they will quickly return to a state of stress at the slightest provocation. It is almost as though the mind misses the state of stress and anxiety and wants to return to it once it has found the state.

Unfortunately, this creates serious problems not only for the mind, but also the body. Stress and anxiety put a great many demands on the human body. It causes headaches, high blood pressure, ulcers, sleep problems, immune system deficiencies and can even swell the joints, which can cause severe problems with conditions such as arthritis. As well, stress and anxiety can result in depression, memory problems, and even alcohol and drug abuse for those who suffer from stress and anxiety regularly. Thus, stress and anxiety are not merely problems of the mind, but they are problems of the mind that can cause problems in the body. The mind does, in surprising ways, control the body. And a mind that is overly taxed can lead to a body that is overly taxed.

Thus, you must understand that you can also control your mind. Stress and anxiety do not need to take over your mind. In fact, you can control how your mind responds to the problems that arise in life.

Remember that you can decide not to be stressed. You do not have to be anxious. You can change your mind and let things slide away. Yes, there are many things in this world to worry about. However, worrying about them will not change many aspects of the modern world. Constantly thinking about work, the environment, the economy, or politics will not change them. Instead, resolve to change things that you can change and do not worry about what you cannot control.

The thing to keep in mind is a sense of perspective. Yes, work is stressful, but do you need to worry about being attacked by a lion when you leave the office? When you go shopping for groceries, do you need to think about whether there will be a pack of marauding barbarians in the produce section? Hopefully, the answer is, “No.” Thus, you do not have the same concerns as our forebears and you should keep that in mind. Life is pretty safe these days and the so-called “Age of Stress” is entirely of our own creation. We are stressed about things that we decide to be stressed about. And the things that we are stressed about really aren’t that important in the long-run scheme of things.

Stress and anxiety are, seemingly, enough to worry about on their own. So don’t fall into the trap of keeping them going. Keep life in perspective, keep yourself on an even keel and remember that you can control your own mind. If you can manage to do that, stress and anxiety to not need to take over your life.

About the Author

Trevor Dumbleton is the owner of http://www.LowerYourStress.com/ a categorized resource directory for everything to do with stress.

You’ve been lying for a couple of hours, your eyes closed and you wanted to fall into a deep sleep but can’t make it. You tried a little more… and again… and again… it goes. At 2 o’clock you fell asleep but at 5 o’clock in the morning you wake up devastated because you found out that you only slept for 3 hours. You lied again but sleep is so elusive… so you get up and eat your breakfast but you wondered why your day is already spoiled…you are easily irritated, annoyed and you felt that everything was not in their proper order… the world again started to become topsy-turvy…then you ask yourself why can’t I sleep?

If sleepless nights are bothering you, this may be a sign of insomnia or depression. Insomnia is a symptom not a separate disorder. A complaint of this needs a clinician to inquire further to disclose the underlying etiology of the complainant. Depression, conversely, is a serious medical condition that involves the body, mood, and thoughts. The main three depressive disorders are Major depressive disorder, dysthymic disorder and bipolar disorder.

Sleeplessness may be due to mood disorder, either depression or mania. Treatment of mood disorder leads to normalization of sleep. Some patients suffering from insomnia require a pharmacologic treatment. The long-term use of benzodiazepine or barbiturate hypnotics though is not advisable because it might develop into tolerance, dependence, or worst delirium.

Depression attacks without warning and creates desolation, chaos and negative effects. Twenty million Americans are enslaved by depression and at times this result to suicides. Whatever the result, everyone affected is a loser. Some of its symptoms are: pessimism, “empty mood, guilt feelings, restlessness and irritability, suicide attempts, changes in appetite and weight, difficulty concentrating, decreased energy and insomnia or oversleeping. If you have five or more of these symptoms and are present for at least two weeks, you better seek professional help.

Another factor that contributes to sleeplessness is the food intake. Yes – the food that we eat! If you ate several bars of chocolate or sip a glass of rum the night before, chances are your bloodstream will be suffocated with extra sugar. Too much sugar or alcohol in the blood stream pulls out forces to fight the body’s enemies. Your brain needs glucose and because of the “pull out” it results to glucose shortage. The brain reacts to the problem, that reaction grabs you out of sleep.

The next time you lack sleep, recall what you have eaten or drank the night before. You might be able to save a trip to your doctor by finding the real cause. You might even opt for a healthier lifestyle. Don’t let depression and insomnia beat you down!

About the Author

For Inquiries about the articles visit http://www.onlinehomemedicalsupply.com

What is a Panic Attack?

You are driving across town, and get caught at a red light for a few minutes. As you sit there, you begin feeling a bit strange. Suddenly, your heart rate increases, a cold sweat starts on your forehead, and you feel faint. You can compare the initial feelings with the type of instant nervousness you get when you receive terrible news about a loved dying or having an accident. Your mind races to calm yourself down and relax, but you have lost faith in yourself. You continue to try and regain control by looking at the light and hoping it turns green. It has only been seconds, but it feels like half an hour. You begin to think of the last time this happened. You begin to have trouble breathing, pulling in quick short breaths. Your hands and feet go numb and are cold. Your stomach hurts and your lungs have a sharp pain. Your chest is tight and feels like a sledge hammer is banging on your chest cavity. Your vision becomes blurry, and you can’t concentrate on an image too long or you know you will faint. You begin to wonder what will happen if you have a heart attack, or pass out in the middle of traffic. Humiliation starts to set in. You begin to worry about passing out and what people will think or do. This causes more panic. You have to get out of here, right now! Finally, the light turns green, and slowly the car in front of you pulls ahead and you go through the light. You immediately feel better, and the symptoms decrease. A few blocks ahead however, is another light. You begin making calculations in your head to see if you will make the next light green. As you get closer to the light, you anticipate the worse. You will get stuck here as well. Sure enough, the light turns red before you have a chance to zoom through. That idiot in front of you could have gone on yellow, and then you would be okay! Now the panic process begins again.

A panic attack causes a very fast reaction within the human body. The attack alters the functions of many organs such as the brain, heart, lungs, bladder, kidneys, eyes, muscles, and others. When our brain released the adrenaline, we start to experience a sudden rush of blood. Our heart begins pumping harder and harder. The blood flow is increased throughout our bodies. During this time, our respiration increases and we began breathing faster and faster. This is only the beginning of a panic attack.

Breathing Techniques:

Before you can control your panic attacks, you must be able to remain somewhat calm during a panic attack. I know what you’re thinking, “How am I supposed to remain calm during a panic attack?”. Well, it is not easy. However, at the first onset of panic symptoms, you need to start monitoring your breathing. You will probably begin taking quick short breaths as soon as you get the panic feelings. You will start to breathe from your upper chest instead of your diaphragm. The best way to get a handle on your panic is to take slow deep breaths and reassure yourself with each one. I use a little trick of inhaling and saying to myself “Peace” with each inhalation. I make sure the breath is deep enough that my stomach is pushed out. I hold the breath for three seconds and then exhale all of it while saying “Relax”. It is important to exhale all of the air in order to keep the balance between oxygen and carbon dioxide in the body. It will be hard at first to do this. You first instinct will be to take quick breaths because you think you are having a hard time breathing. However, if you continue to take quick breaths, you begin to hyperventilate and that will only make things worse. Just tell yourself you will be okay and slow your breathing down immediately when you feel the panic coming. At this point, don’t worry if you feel faint or have a hard time concentrating. You concern at this moment is you’re breathing. You will notice how much quicker you regain control when you practice this method. Your panic may dissipate for a few moments and return, but just start over again as soon as you notice your breathing increasing. I have found that the more you catch the panic, the less it will show up. I use this technique everyday when I eat lunch out. Yes, it is hard and difficult. At first I had a very tough time not “running away”. However, I would just concentrate on my breathing and catch all my negative thoughts and replace them with positive statements such as the ones listed below. I notice that with each passing day it is easier and easier to eat in a restaurant when I am confident I can catch my panic before it becomes a full blown attack. I feel the ability to slow your body down by breathing “deep” is the first line of defense in a panic situation. I know it has stopped my panic from becoming a full blown attack hundreds of times.

Relaxation:

It is also important to relax. First, find a relaxing cd or tape to listen to. Anything with ocean waves, natural sounds, etc will work. You are going to listen to the cd while you talk yourself into deep relaxation. It is hard at first, but don’t give up! Lay down on your bed and get comfortable. I know you hear that heartbeat all ready, but just ignore it for now. Start by telling yourself you are going to relax. Close your eyes, and make sure your clothing is not restrictive. Start the music and take deep breaths. With each inhale say “Peace” and with each exhale say “Relax”. It is a good idea to wait a few minutes and just concentrate on the music. When you mind starts to wander, immediately turn it back to the music. After a few moments, say to yourself, “My scalp is relaxing, and I can feel it tingling as it does.” You should be able to feel your scalp relax a little. Then proceed to your forehead, and down to your eyes, your cheeks, nose, lips, entire face, neck, shoulders, etc…… You will be amazed as the muscles began relaxing on your command. It may take a while to relax. During a high anxiety time, it has taken me over 40 minutes to fully relax. I would be almost through when my heart would start racing and my heartbeat would be in my ears, etc. I just ignore my racing heart and start over. Once you are completely relaxed, enjoy the serenity for as long as you want. You may find it hard to stay in the relaxed state because you mind is not used to being relaxed. If it starts to wander and produce panic thoughts, start over. I usually do this just before going to sleep, so I just turn over and go to sleep. The results are great. I notice the next morning I am a lot less anxious than the previous night. My day usually goes a lot better when I have done deep relaxation the night before. If you have trouble, try getting a hypnotic cd and learn the way it talks you through reaching a deep state of relaxation. In deep relaxation, you will not be able to “feel” your arms, hands, legs, or feet. You will be very limp and heavy. You may feel some of your muscles start to twinge on their own, this is okay. It is only your muscles getting comfortable. Remember, our bodies are so used to be wound up, it takes a little while to unwind. It may be scary at first, but just trust yourself, or me, or whoever you need to trust to get there. I promise you will see a difference in your anxiety. We have too much stress in our bodies, especially those of us who suffer from high anxiety and panic attacks. By relaxing, we are giving our bodies a chance to rest without the “clenching” we normally put it through each day. Also, the more you relax your entire body, the more you will be able to relax it during the day when you feel a panic attack coming on. I cannot stress enough how encouraging you will find this exercise to be.

Self Talk:

I also want to share with you other things of encouragement. The way we talk to ourselves can play a big role in our anxiety and panic. If you take the time to listen to your thoughts, you will find that many are negative. I use the following positive thoughts for encouragement. They are not listed in any particular order, but I think you will know when you can use them. It is very important to catch your negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones.

- I am not ashamed of my panic and anxiety

- What can I learn from Panic instead of being terrified of it?

- I want to face the symptoms to gain new skills.

- It’s okay to be anxious.

- I won’t guard against anxiety and panic.

- I will consider all of my “tests” as practice, not “tests”.

- I will be okay with myself if I am not able to do something I want to do. I will not consider it a failure, just practice.

- I can live with uncertainty.

- It’s okay if it doesn’t work.

- I will allow the anxiety to do what it wants without trying to stop it.

- I will try to allow myself to let go of control. The more I can let go, the better.

- Each panic situation is an opportunity to practice.

- The best way to get through panic is to allow it.

- I can accept these thoughts for what they are - feelings. I have had them before and it’s no big deal.

- The more I allow the panic and anxiety the better.

- This will get better, it just takes time. I can try to accept that I am making progress.

- Setbacks are a normal part of recovery. I will try and welcome them as they happen.

- It’s okay to have a panic attack. I will try not to fight it and allow it to happen.

- The more I allow these panic feelings the better.

- When I stop caring about panic attacks, they will go away.

About the Author

Jamie has suffered personally from Panic and Anxiety attacks. He has a at Victoria Technology