Depression symptoms include lack of pleasure in anything, difficulty making decisions, poor eating (often over eating), poor sleeping and difficulty doing daily tasks. What are the consequences of these symptoms? Reduced immunity, increased stress related medical problems like high blood pressure, obesity, gastrointestinal problems and cancer, reduced productivity at work, loss of jobs, loss of income,increases in addictions, reduced quality of life which all increase depression and keep the spiral going DOWNWARD.

What do we do? The next set of articles will talk about how to stay sane in an insane world.

Take optimism, for example. When you see the glass as half full, life tends to be a little less overwhelming. That’s because when you have a problem, you know you’re already halfway to the solution. With that attitude, you feel energized and hopeful that you can do almost anything. Positive energy attracts positive people, who give you more energy and can lighten the load even more. As your stress levels are reduced, your health and happiness improve.

Don’t discount how important energy is to your wellbeing – and, remember, you only have so much of it. You can choose to use it wisely or to fritter it away on wasted time, worry, regret and resentment. Once it’s used up, something has to give — usually your immune system or your patience.

Think about the last time you were burning the candle at both ends—working a full time job, trying to keep up a house, be a good spouse and chasing your kids and pets around. Were you pleasant to be around, or did you lack the energy to be patient and forgiving? Were you well rested and feeling healthy, or sick and tired of being sick ad tired? Did have time to attend to good personal habits, or did you use spray deodorant instead of shower, dress in those not-too-dirty clothes from the laundry hamper and eat leftover pizza for breakfast on the way to work?

Personal Strategy
So what does that all mean to you?
It means you’re responsible for/in control of your own destiny. You’re the only one who can prioritize your life, so it’s your responsibility to figure out what you need to be happy and what you need to do to make that happen. …

Just because something works for your partner/significant other or neighbor doesn’t mean it will work for you. Some people would rather die than exercise. Others would rather do anything than go to counseling and talk about the “F” word (Feelings). You have the ability to choose the solution you are most comfortable with. As you start to have less “stress” in one area, everything else will start to improve.

It also means that your energy is precious. Use it wisely and life will seem effortless; waste it and you’ll spend each day swimming up stream. If you have read this far, you believe that you have room to improve, so choose one or two of the suggestions below and see what happens.

Emotionally: Do one thing every day that makes you truly happy. A good belly laugh does wonders. Play with your kids. Get a comedy video. Watch the birds and squirrels in your yard.

Mentally: Try being more optimistic in the way you interpret things. If it’s raining, don’t focus on it being a gloomy day. Think about the good things: It’s cooler it is because of the clouds, or you don’t have to water your lawn today! Find something that challenges your mind or your creativity such as crosswords, puzzles, restoring an old car or redecorating a room in your house.

Physically: Go outside for 20 minutes each day to breathe the fresh air and get sunshine. Go on a 10-minute walk. Let yourself go to bed whenever you get tired for a week.

Socially: Make a list of people you enjoy. Call one of them each day. Send an e-card for no reason, or just take stock of how many wonderful people you have in your life.

Spiritually: Engage in random acts of kindness (See Resources below)

Environmentally: Clean up. You don’t have to be June Cleaver, but a tidy house or work space can make you more productive and generally happier. Get Feng Shui for Dummies and try out a few of its suggestions. Put flowers on your table to brighten up a room. Get some cookie dough from the store and bake your way into a sweet smelling house and very happy children.

Each week pick one area of wellness and experience how small (relatively painless) changes can help you feel happier and healthier in every aspect of your life.

Resources
Seven Habits of Highly Effective People series by Stephen R. Covey
Please Understand Me by David Keirsey
Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff series and website by Richard Carlson Ph.D.
The Book of Lists series by Sandra Choron
Books by SARK http://www.campsark.com

http://www.actsofkindness.org/

1.Mistakes are never acceptable. If I make one, it means that I am incompetent. This is overly generalized. Would you expect your best friend or your child nto never make mistakes? When they do, do you think they are incompetent? People make mistakes. Next time you make a mistake. Remind yourself that you are only human. A mistake does not mean anything negative about you, it means…you goofed. Try to find somthing to learn from it, like how you can avoid making that mistake again. Remind yourself how many other things you are competent at.

2.When somebody disagrees with me, it is a personal attack against me. Okay, sometimes this is true, especially on the internet. Nevertheless, WHY are they attacking you? Most often people lash out at others because they feel insecure. The other possibility is that you are at least partly wrong (See above). Be open to other people’s point of view. You do not necessarily have to agree. When you disagree with someone, are you personally attacking them? My guess is no. So why do you think they are attacking you?

3.To be content in life, I must be liked by all people.
Not everyone is going to like you. Get over it. If you like yourself, then it really does not matter if other people like and validate you. Many people will not like you because they are insecure or they have “stuff.” Are you really going to let their “stuff” bring you down. Take a personal inventory. Are you a good and nice person? Do people have a legitimate reason not to like you? If so, then do something about it. If you require other people to tell you you are okay, then you need to work on liking you. Take a personal inventory of all of your strengths and good qualities. Keep a journal of good things you do each day. When you start feeling bad, review your journal. Be as creative as you would like.

4.My true value as an individual depends on what others think of me. (See 3 above)

5.If I am not involved in an intimate relationship, I am completely alone.
There is a huge difference between being alone and being lonely. Even when you are not in an intimate realtionship, you are not alone. Make a list of your friends and family who love you. People who cannot stand to be out of an intimate relationship do not like to spend time with themselves. They do not like themselves. Make a list of all of the qualities you look for in an intimate relationship. See how many of those needs you can provide for yourself or get met with your friends and family.

6.There is no grey area. Success is black and failure is white.
See 1 above. We all make mistakes and rarely do we succeed perfectly at something. I remember having recitals and giving speeches in which I goofed up. My teachers always told me that if I kept going, nobody would probably notice. They were right. The speech or recital or whatever was still a success, even if I was not perfect. Part of success too is knowing your limitations. Successful people know when they need to ask for help, or simply say “I don’t know.”

7.Nothing ever turns out the way you want it to.
Well, that is a defeatest attitude. List 5 things that have turned out the way you wanted. List 5 more that have not turned out how you expected, but it turned out okay. We do not always get our way, but if we focus on what we do not have or did not get, we will always be miserable. What do you have? What positive came out of it.

8.If the outcome was not perfect, it was a complete failure. (See 1 and 6 above.)

9.I am in absolute control of my life. If something bad happens, it is my fault.
You cannot control the weather. You cannot control other people. All you can control is how you react and what you do. Bad things happen to good people. The question is, do you let it destroy you, or do you figure out how to deal with it and move on. Take responsibility only for the things that you do have control over.

10.The past always repeats itself. If it was true then, it must be true now.
The definition of insanity is doing what you have always done and expecting different results. You have the ability to change how you deal with things now. Similar situations will arise. Use your past knowledge to help you deal with them better.

It is important to note that, during the first few months after a loss, many signs and symptoms of normal grief are the same as those of complicated grief. However, while normal grief symptoms gradually start to fade within six months or so, those of complicated grief get worse or linger for months or even years. Symptoms of complicated grief can include:

Constant focus on the loss and reminders of the loved one
Intense longing or pining for the deceased
Problems accepting the death
Numbness or detachment
Bitterness about the loss
Depression or deep sadness
Difficulty moving on with life and carrying out normal routines
Withdrawing from social activities
Feeling that life holds no meaning or purpose
Irritability or agitation
Lack of trust in others

Exactly why two people can go through the same situation and one develops complicated grief while the other does not is not clearly known. We believe that the following risk factors make a person more prone to developing severe symptoms:

Current or prior history of depression, PTSD or substance abuse
Lack of a support system or friendships
Number and degree of stressors in the 6 months prior to the loss
A sense of responsibility for the death
An unexpected or violent death
Suicide of a loved one
Close or dependent relationship to the deceased person
Being unprepared for the death
In the case of a child’s death, the number of remaining children
Lack of resilience or adaptability to life changes

Additionally, people who experience complicated grief often lack continued support after a few months. Friends and family tell them to “get over it,” or “move on.” If they could they would. In treatment we often find that people with complicated grief symptoms feel an extreme lack of control over everything. They benefit from a combination of narrative and cognitive behavioral therapy to help them make sense of their life and the world again.

All CEUs is approved by NBCC, NAADAC, CAADAC and most other states to provide continuing education to counselors, nurses and addictions professionals.

All CEUs, in conjunction with Dr-Is-In steadily work to provide mental health counselors (LMHCs and LPCs), Nurses (LPNs and RNs) and social workers (LCSWs) in all states, including Florida, Georgia, North Carolina (NC) and Texas (TX) an affordable way to access current best practices and translate reasearch to practice. Each year SAMHSA puts tens of thousands of dollars into creating, publishing and disseminating the Treatment Improvement Protocols, yet few people are aware of them. The same holds true for the APA and the American Counseling Association. We want to make continuing education something you do, not because you have to, but because you want to.