It was interesting to hear on the news this week that at last depression is recognised as seriously debilitating. So many people feel embarassed when suffering the symptoms of depression, this leads them to ignore the early warning signs and resist going to the GP until the illness has developed significantly. When they finally do ask for help there is still a reluctance to taking medication. I've heard many people talk about feeling a failure.
I think it is significant that while many of us will take care to look after our physical well being, by taking vitamins and simple precautions to resist infection, we take little or no care of our mental well being. So perhaps it would be helpful to get together some ideas of how to look after ourselves during particularly stressful times. We all know we are living in very stressful times at present; from global threats of climate change and terrorism to our country's financial situation and right down to our own personal pressures at this time of the year.
Everyone will have their own idea of what is good for themselves but why not try to get a list together of little things that help lift your mood. It might be a long soak in a hot bath, to sit a read a good novel for a half hour at least, an opportunity to meditate for a few minutes, perhaps giving yourself a manicure, a trip to the gym, time to bake a cake, listening to a special piece of music, a run or walk in the country, etc.
Once you have made a list of your special treats then try to make sure you do one at least every other day.
Another good habit to get into is to review the day before going to bed and find three positive things that have happened for you. If three is too difficult then begin with one and build up to three. It may take some time to be able to recognise the positives, so often we are programmed to notice the negatives that positives slip by unnoticed.
Thursday, 10 December 2009
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There is an interesting notion that depression stems from early attachment to the maternal caregiver gone wrong...
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to thank you for such a refreshing piece of work. I was looking for people with similar interests to myself and I found your blog.
I am a counsellor working with people who are experiencing trauma either as a result of serious crime or from their time in the military.
Counselling is a fascinating thing however, unfortunately in the United Kingdom we live in a culture of prescribing medication and so its tablets and potions for everything, including mental health and trauma and the spiritual health is never even looked at.
Many of the people with whom I work have been on tablets for years without ever even touching the real issues. In Jan 2010 I gave up my job to travel India and I settled there for 12 months amongst the Tibetan community in exile. One of the key things I noticed here was not only do the Indians and Tibetans view trauma very differently but also in the poorer communities they have less concern about money, mainly because they don't have any.
Since returning to the UK recently, I have utilized my skills knowledge and experience to work in a spiritual and unique way encompassing counselling and meditation as a tool for healing. I very much enjoyed your work and would love to follow your blog and would appreciate if you could check out mine.
Thank you again for a beautiful and interesting piece of work.
Tenzin Dasal