http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/ Therese J. Borchard, editor of "The Imperfect Mom," on her spiritual journey to mental health. en Copyright 2009 Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/imgs/bg_icon.gif http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/ 82 100 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss beyondblue1http://feedburner.google.com <span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"><img alt="treatment-resistant depression.jpg" src="http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/imgs/woman-taking-medications.jpg" width="240" height="280" class="mt-image-left" style="float: left; margin: 0 20px 20px 0;" /></span> Let's talk about the huge elephant in the living room of most depressives' homes: the fear of treatment resistant depression. What if antidepressant medications fail to work? Are you totally screwed? Confined to a life flipping burgers, not that anything is wrong with that? <p>U.S. News and World Report just ran an intriguing article, <a href="http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/brain-and-behavior/2009/11/06/chronically-depressed-what-to-do-when-antidepressants-dont-work.html">"Chronically Depressed? What to Do When Antidepressants Don't Work."</a> Reporter Sarah Baldauf discussed several brain stimulating techniques available to help people with treatment-resistant depression and mood disorders.</p> <p>She first presents the problem we face today:</p> <blockquote>Some 27 million Americans were taking an antidepressant in 2005, more than twice the number almost 10 years earlier, thanks largely to the arrival of Prozac and other effective antidepressants with fewer side effects. But a groundbreaking 2006 trial known as STAR*D revealed that about one third of people found total relief with their first drug, and around a third were not helped even after trying several drugs and combinations.</blockquote> <p>Actually, according to the Johns Hopkins literature I've read, almost 70 percent of severely depressed people do recover when experimenting with a higher dose of a medication, a longer duration, a different drug, or a medication combination. But yes, only 30 percent of patients achieve remission with the first medication prescribed.</p> <a href="http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/when-antidepressants-fail-to-w.html">Read this post &raquo;</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Xi4jKfei9KdIkntXMgqEAwP1ep4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Xi4jKfei9KdIkntXMgqEAwP1ep4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Xi4jKfei9KdIkntXMgqEAwP1ep4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Xi4jKfei9KdIkntXMgqEAwP1ep4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/beyondblue1/~4/PyhaoVKwhjs" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/beyondblue1/~3/PyhaoVKwhjs/when-antidepressants-fail-to-w.html http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/when-antidepressants-fail-to-w.html Mental Health brain stimulating therapies depression ECT TMS treatment resistant depression. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0500 http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/when-antidepressants-fail-to-w.html <span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"><img alt="TMS-2.jpg" src="http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/imgs/TMS-2.jpg" width="213" height="198" class="mt-image-left" style="float: left; margin: 0 20px 20px 0;" /></span> Here is a concise summary of four brain-stimulating techniques being used today to treat severe chronic depression. The summary appeared in the Fall 2006 Issue of the Johns Hopkins's Bulletin.<div>&nbsp; <p><strong>1. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)</strong> is the oldest and the best known and, in fact, is still recognized as the most effective treatment for severe depression. It involves the application of brief electrical pulses to the scalp to induce seizures throughout the brain. The seizures appear to relieve depression by increasing the release of brain chemicals such as serotonin and dopamine, but some other unknown mechanism may also be at play.</p> <p><strong>2.</strong> Another technique, <strong>rapid transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)</strong>, involves the placement of an electromagnetic coil on the scalp. The coil is not implanted, so no anesthesia is necessary; nor is it necessary to induce seizures (as with ECT). A pulsed high-intensity current is passed through the coil into specific areas of the brain, creating a powerful magnetic field that changes the way brain cells function.</p> <p><strong>3.</strong> Yet another approach, <strong>magnetic seizure therapy</strong>, is a combination of ECT and rTMS. It uses a coil similar to that employed in rTMS to stimulate only certain parts of the brain, but induces seizures like ECT. It is still in the early stages of development but is designed to produce fewer side effects than ECT.</p> <p><strong>4.</strong> Finally, <strong>vagus nerve stimulation (VNS)</strong> involves the implantation of a small device about the size of a pocket watch in the upper left area of the chest. The devise is connected via an electrical lead to the vagus nerve in the left side of the neck. (The vagus is one of the 12 pairs of nerves that originate in the brain.) A preprogrammed generator in the device then sends timed pulses of electricity to the nerve, which are believed to prompt changes in levels of brain chemicals associated with depression, such as serotonin and norepinephrine. A VNS device was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in July 2005 for treatment-resistant depression.</p> <p><i>*&nbsp;<a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=beyondblue1">Click here to <b>subscribe to Beyond Blue</b></a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/thereseborchard">click here to follow Therese on <b>Twitter</b></a> and <a href="http://community.beliefnet.com/beyond_blue">click here to join <b>Group Beyond Blue</b></a>, a depression support group. Now stop clicking.</i></p></div> <a href="http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/4-kinds-of-brain-stimulating-t.html">Read this post &raquo;</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/5qxCD5391KXvRrR-hYZ0gR0YiDA/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/5qxCD5391KXvRrR-hYZ0gR0YiDA/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/5qxCD5391KXvRrR-hYZ0gR0YiDA/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/5qxCD5391KXvRrR-hYZ0gR0YiDA/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/beyondblue1/~4/MWN3FfVziN4" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/beyondblue1/~3/MWN3FfVziN4/4-kinds-of-brain-stimulating-t.html http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/4-kinds-of-brain-stimulating-t.html Depression deep-brain stimulation ECT severe depression TMS Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:00:10 -0500 http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/4-kinds-of-brain-stimulating-t.html <span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"><img alt="TMS -- chair.jpg" src="http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/imgs/TMS%20--%20chair.jpg" width="250" height="216" class="mt-image-left" style="float: left; margin: 0 20px 20px 0;" /></span> I found <a href="http://gizmodo.com/5403423/neurostar-tms-depression-therapy-system-first-to-be-given-fda-approval">this review of Neuronetics' NueroStar TMS Therapy system</a> which I thought was worthy of passing on. <a href="http://gizmodo.com/5403423/neurostar-tms-depression-therapy-system-first-to-be-given-fda-approval">Sean Fallow of Gizmodo.com </a>writes:<div>&nbsp; <blockquote>Last year, Neuronetics' NeuroStar TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation) Therapy system became the first device of its kind to be cleared by the FDA for treating depression. Although, the similarity to a dentist chair was probably not a great idea.</blockquote><blockquote><p>Nonetheless, trials on 164 patients with unipolar, non-psychotic major depressive disorder using the device proved that treatment with short magnetic field pulses to the left prefrontal cortex can be a viable alternative to medication. After 30 40-minute daily sessions, half of the patients in the trial experienced significant improvement, while a third reported complete resolution. Plus, the only statistically significant side effect was mild discomfort in the treatment area. Currently, patients can receive NeuroStar treatments in a psychiatrist's office while remaining completely awake and alert.</p> <p>Given all of the uncertainty and danger surrounding many psychiatric drugs, NeuroStar seems like it's worth a shot for people suffering from serious bouts of depression. It could also be a sign of things to come. Perhaps technology like this will one day be implanted directly into our brains--making us feel awesome all the time.</p></blockquote><p></p> <p><i>*&nbsp;<a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=beyondblue1">Click here to <b>subscribe to Beyond Blue</b></a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/thereseborchard">click here to follow Therese on <b>Twitter</b></a> and <a href="http://community.beliefnet.com/beyond_blue">click here to join <b>Group Beyond Blue</b></a>, a depression support group. Now stop clicking.</i></p></div> <a href="http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/neurostar-tms-depression-thera.html">Read this post &raquo;</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/FG7AK1vkNP5n-Moz9rkENv4X_Zk/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/FG7AK1vkNP5n-Moz9rkENv4X_Zk/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/FG7AK1vkNP5n-Moz9rkENv4X_Zk/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/FG7AK1vkNP5n-Moz9rkENv4X_Zk/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/beyondblue1/~4/b660Fr1Aoyc" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/beyondblue1/~3/b660Fr1Aoyc/neurostar-tms-depression-thera.html http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/neurostar-tms-depression-thera.html Mental Health TMS treatment resistant depression Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:00:38 -0500 http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/neurostar-tms-depression-thera.html <span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"><img alt="stepmonster 2.jpg" src="http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/imgs/stepmonster%202.jpg" width="200" height="317" class="mt-image-left" style="float: left; margin: 0 20px 20px 0;" /></span> In her insightful book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Stepmonster-Look-Real-Stepmothers-Think/dp/0618758194">"Stepmonster: A New Look at Why Real Stepmothers Think, Feel, and Act the Way We Do,"</a> author Wednesday Martin, Ph.D. explains why stepmothering is the "perfect storm" for depression. Here are eight risk factors she lists:<div>&nbsp; <p><b>Risk Factor 1: Isolation and Alienation</b></p> <p>Stepmothers often feel cut off from their husbands over stepfamily issues and different from the moms in their circles of friends who don't have to deal with the tension and conflict involved in blending families.</p> <p><b>Risk Factor 2: Rumination</b></p> <p>What happens when you are isolated from the rest of the pack, estranged from the group of moms who are clueless to your issues? You think. A lot. Too much. Way too much. Martin quotes Yale psychologist Susan Nolen-Hoeksema, Ph.D, who defines ruminative thinking as "a cycle of rethinking the past, worrying excessively about the future, not taking action, going over and over the same issues, letting concern spread to other issues, until there's an avalanche of concern and a feeling of being overwhelmed."</p> <p><b>Risk Factor 3: Relational Tendencies</b></p> <p>Martin calls the stepfamily a "tinderbox of sorts," when you consider the combination of the stepmother's relational tendencies with that of her often less emotional or relational husband and a bunch of resentful stepkids.</p> <p><b>Risk Factor 4: Overcompensation and the Need to "Fix It"</b></p> <p>Writes Martin: "With the specter of the wicked stepmother floating above our heads, we are under enormous pressure to prove--to the world and to ourselves--that we are not corrupt or sadistic, that we are, in fact, good, even perfect and beyond reproach. A fifty-eight-year-old stepmother named Belinda calls this the "Cinderella-in-reverse syndrome"--the stepmother's drive to be whiter than white, better than best, and her tendency to overcompensate at her expense.</p></div> <a href="http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/stepmonster-8-reasons-why-step.html">Read this post &raquo;</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zeT23Jz_EaJb5Uy0RnzpfILoHRo/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zeT23Jz_EaJb5Uy0RnzpfILoHRo/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zeT23Jz_EaJb5Uy0RnzpfILoHRo/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/zeT23Jz_EaJb5Uy0RnzpfILoHRo/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/beyondblue1/~4/x3EVUTHURU4" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/beyondblue1/~3/x3EVUTHURU4/stepmonster-8-reasons-why-step.html http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/stepmonster-8-reasons-why-step.html Depression depression remarriage stepchildren stepfamilies stepmothers Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0500 http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/stepmonster-8-reasons-why-step.html <p><span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Group BB rose.jpg" src="http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2008/06/12/Group%20BB%20rose.jpg" width="50" height="87" class="mt-image-left" style="float: left; margin: 0 20px 20px 0;" /></span><br /> I started a discussion thread on <a href="http://community.beliefnet.com/beyond_blue">Group Beyond Blue</a> called <a href="http://community.beliefnet.com/beyond_blue/go/thread/view/47331/20976293/Stepmothers_and_Depression?sdb=1">"Stepmothers and Depression,"</a> where I asked stepmoms to weight in on whether or not stepmothering is the "perfect storm" for depression, as <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Stepmonster-Look-Real-Stepmothers-Think/dp/0618758194">author Wednesday Martin</a> suggests. <a href="http://community.beliefnet.com/beyond_blue/go/thread/view/47331/20976293/Stepmothers_and_Depression?sdb=1">To get to the conversation, click here.</a></p> <p><i>*&nbsp;<a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=beyondblue1">Click here to <b>subscribe to Beyond Blue</b></a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/thereseborchard">click here to follow Therese on <b>Twitter</b></a> and <a href="http://community.beliefnet.com/beyond_blue">click here to join <b>Group Beyond Blue</b></a>, a depression support group. Now stop clicking.</i></p> <a href="http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/group-beyond-blue-stepmothers.html">Read this post &raquo;</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/xK3duueW_zEaglTZaa9vSQWTRgY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/xK3duueW_zEaglTZaa9vSQWTRgY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/xK3duueW_zEaglTZaa9vSQWTRgY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/xK3duueW_zEaglTZaa9vSQWTRgY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/beyondblue1/~4/YIbOWqh6R6E" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/beyondblue1/~3/YIbOWqh6R6E/group-beyond-blue-stepmothers.html http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/group-beyond-blue-stepmothers.html Anxiety Mental Health depression remarriage stepchildren stepfamilies stepmothers Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:05:29 -0500 http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/group-beyond-blue-stepmothers.html <span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"><img alt="nami.jpg" src="http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/imgs/nami.jpg" width="620" height="166" class="mt-image-left" style="float: left; margin: 0 20px 20px 0;" /></span>On Veteran's Day, I thought it was appropriate to site some statistics about veterans and mental health:<div>&nbsp; <ul> <li>Almost one in three veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq confront mental health problems.</li> <li>On an average day in this country, suicide claims another 18 veterans.</li> <li>Approximately 30 percent of veterans treated in the veterans health system suffer from depressive symptoms, two to three times the rate of the general population.</li> <li>More Vietnam veterans have now died from suicide than were killed directly during the war.</li> <li>Approximately 40 percent of homeless veterans have mental illnesses.</li></ul><br /><ul> </ul> <p>Please. Let's support our veterans.</p> <p><i>*&nbsp;<a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=beyondblue1">Click here to <b>subscribe to Beyond Blue</b></a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/thereseborchard">click here to follow Therese on <b>Twitter</b></a> and <a href="http://community.beliefnet.com/beyond_blue">click here to join <b>Group Beyond Blue</b></a>, a depression support group. Now stop clicking.</i></p></div> <a href="http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/on-veterans-day-some-grim-stat.html">Read this post &raquo;</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/VjfLwrmE5XjqtpRBWPNDNwYKYqE/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/VjfLwrmE5XjqtpRBWPNDNwYKYqE/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/VjfLwrmE5XjqtpRBWPNDNwYKYqE/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/VjfLwrmE5XjqtpRBWPNDNwYKYqE/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/beyondblue1/~4/tfXdQGsU0NQ" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/beyondblue1/~3/tfXdQGsU0NQ/on-veterans-day-some-grim-stat.html http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/on-veterans-day-some-grim-stat.html Mental Health mental illness veteran's day veterans Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:54:50 -0500 http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/on-veterans-day-some-grim-stat.html <span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Fort Hood.jpg" src="http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/imgs/nidal_hasan.jpg" width="180" height="260" class="mt-image-left" style="float: left; margin: 0 20px 20px 0;" /></span> I've read plenty about the psychology of Major Hasan, and what would cause one to open fire like the tragedy at Ft. Hood. Of all the articles I've read, I think <a href="http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2009/11/09/the-psychology-of-hasan-the-ft-hood-shooter/">John Grohol of Psych Central makes the best case for why this happened</a> and what we can learn from it. In his post called <a href="http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2009/11/09/the-psychology-of-hasan-the-ft-hood-shooter/">"The Psychology of Hasan: The Ft. Hood Shooter,"</a> Grohol writes:<div>&nbsp; <blockquote>One might say that the Internet postings attributed to him, if authenticated, were really cries for help and to be heard -- "Look at me, I hate your war and am a loaded pistol just waiting to go off. Let me out of the service." But investigators hadn't progressed very far in examining whether to take the postings seriously and if they were even made by Major Hasan.</blockquote><blockquote><p>Between the on-base harassment for his religion, his denial of a request to be released from military service early (although it's unclear he ever actually formally tried to do this), and his upcoming deployment to the theater of operations in the Middle East, combined with his own anti-war views and unapologetic religious beliefs all seemed to have led to this man committing the most tragic and irrational act imaginable.</p> <p>As I've argued previously, such acts can never be fully understood or explained because at the core of it, they are irrational acts. Many people object to the war, but virtually none of us kill others to make that point. Many people, when they feel like they have no way out of their life and have lost all hope, turn to suicide. But for some reason, a very tiny percentage of people take that inward anger (depression) and turn it outward, against others, in an act like this one.</p> <p>This isn't to apologize for Major Hasan's actions or try to minimize their impact. Indeed, what Hasan has done is to likely change the very way the military looks at its own base security and how it handles soldiers internally who seem to have significant issues that are not being successfully resolved. And perhaps -- just maybe -- it will again reinforce to the heads of our armed services, the vital impact mental health plays in soldiers' lives. While it's possible nothing could have changed the outcome of this particular tragedy, perhaps there are things we can learn to help prevent future such tragedies occurring.</p></blockquote><p></p> <p><a href="http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2009/11/09/the-psychology-of-hasan-the-ft-hood-shooter/">To continue reading Grohol's article, click here.</a></p> <p><i>*&nbsp;<a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=beyondblue1">Click here to <b>subscribe to Beyond Blue</b></a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/thereseborchard">click here to follow Therese on <b>Twitter</b></a> and <a href="http://community.beliefnet.com/beyond_blue">click here to join <b>Group Beyond Blue</b></a>, a depression support group. Now stop clicking.</i></p></div> <a href="http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/fort-hood-nidal-malik-hasan-an.html">Read this post &raquo;</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/4N4fjLa8hEzBiKXufiowe2WOqmY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/4N4fjLa8hEzBiKXufiowe2WOqmY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/4N4fjLa8hEzBiKXufiowe2WOqmY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/4N4fjLa8hEzBiKXufiowe2WOqmY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/beyondblue1/~4/LExvvWKc2IM" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/beyondblue1/~3/LExvvWKc2IM/fort-hood-nidal-malik-hasan-an.html http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/fort-hood-nidal-malik-hasan-an.html Mental Health army Fort Hood Hasan mental health military mental health Nidal Malik Hasan Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:08:33 -0500 http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/fort-hood-nidal-malik-hasan-an.html <p>I always love to read <a href="http://knowledgeisnecessity.blogspot.com/2009/11/depressed-or-thinking-deep-my-take.html">what blogger John McManamy has to say in response to a blog post of mine.</a> So far they've all been positive. I fear the day he disapproves. Because he is very smart, and it always gets ugly when smart people don't like you. </p> <p>In his post, <a href="http://knowledgeisnecessity.blogspot.com/2009/11/depressed-or-thinking-deep-my-take.html">"Depressed or Deep Thinking: My Take,"</a> John writes:</p> <blockquote><strong>Proposition One:</strong> Any depression that is not part of my temperament sucks - whether mild or severe. Take my depression - please. They throw me off my game, ruin my day, wreck my life. Whether it's a depression that is the equivalent of a mild cold or one that is psychic double pneumonia I seriously don't want to be inside my brain on this planet when my neurons have gone on strike. If this is the disease that Peter Kramer is talking about, I'm behind him one hundred percent.</blockquote><blockquote><p><strong>Proposition Two:</strong> At the same time, mild to moderate depression is part of my temperament, my personality (as is hypomania). As opposed to my disease depressions, I'm very comfortable in this state. It is a part of who I am. My energy is down, my thoughts tend to be very dark, but - here's the key difference - I thrive in this state. My neurons are working with me, or perhaps me with my neurons. It's as if I'm calmly sifting through the ideas I rounded up in my hypomanic frenzies, whether I'm lying in bed, at my desk, or taking a walk. If this is Dr Kramer's version of just thinking deep, I would have to respectfully disagree.</p> <p>What we are talking about is the classic distinction between "state" and "trait." Trait is who we are. State is invasion of the brain snatchers. But no distinctions are ever as clear-cut as they seem.</p> <p>We tend to get hung up on DSM-IV check lists while ignoring a key DSM injunction - namely that we are only in a state of mental illness when the symptoms interfere with our ability to function (as in work or relationships). So - from my personal perspective - if I am comfortable and not struggling while depressed, then I hardly have an illness that needs treatment.</p> <p>Now let's flip it. I also get hypomanic, and I've written a lot about this. Here's the test: For Marilyn Monroe to act like Marilyn Monroe (at least when she's up) - that's normal, for Marilyn, anyway. For someone else to act like Marilyn Monroe, on the other hand - that's probably a sign that very bad things are about to happen.</p></blockquote><p></p> <p>His post is brilliant. Truly. <a href="http://knowledgeisnecessity.blogspot.com/2009/11/depressed-or-thinking-deep-my-take.html">Click here to keep on reading.</a></p> <p><i>*&nbsp;<a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=beyondblue1">Click here to <b>subscribe to Beyond Blue</b></a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/thereseborchard">click here to follow Therese on <b>Twitter</b></a> and <a href="http://community.beliefnet.com/beyond_blue">click here to join <b>Group Beyond Blue</b></a>, a depression support group. Now stop clicking.</i></p> <a href="http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/john-mcmanamy-depression-or-de.html">Read this post &raquo;</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/JkOxhPqcEPf0L3G_lZCmcpIL87o/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/JkOxhPqcEPf0L3G_lZCmcpIL87o/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/JkOxhPqcEPf0L3G_lZCmcpIL87o/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/JkOxhPqcEPf0L3G_lZCmcpIL87o/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/beyondblue1/~4/BoPnU6U7EdE" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/beyondblue1/~3/BoPnU6U7EdE/john-mcmanamy-depression-or-de.html http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/john-mcmanamy-depression-or-de.html Inspiration and Prayer Mental Health creativity depression melancholy Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:00:33 -0500 http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/john-mcmanamy-depression-or-de.html <span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"><img alt="s-BODY-WEIGHT-large-1.jpg" src="http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/imgs/s-BODY-WEIGHT-large-1.jpg" width="260" height="190" class="mt-image-left" style="float: left; margin: 0 20px 20px 0;" /></span> <a href="http://blogs.psychcentral.com/weightless/">Psych Central has just launched another super blog</a>, authored by Psych Central contributing writer Margarita Tartakovsky on the <a href="http://blogs.psychcentral.com/weightless/">topic of eating disorders.</a> Tartakovsky's blog, called <a href="http://blogs.psychcentral.com/weightless/">"Weightless," </a>covers a variety of different angles on this topic, and I was honored to be one of the first interviews on the blog. You may find <a href="http://blogs.psychcentral.com/weightless/2009/11/eating-disorder-recovery-qa-with-therese-borchard/">my interview by going to Weightless by clicking here.</a> I have excerpted some of the questions and answers below.<div>&nbsp; <p><strong>1. How and when did your eating disorder start? What do you think contributed to it?</strong><br /> <br /> My eating disorder started in the sixth or seventh grade, once I began to dance (ballet) seriously and get pressured by my dance instructors to maintain a willowy figure. By the time I was in eighth grade, I wanted to pursue becoming a professional ballerina, and to do so (at that time ... I hear the pressure on young dancers is less now) pretty much required watching absolutely everything you put in your mouth. By the time I was in ninth grade, I was no longer menstruating and weighed 103 pounds (at 5"8').<br /> Even if I hadn't pursued dance, however, I was extremely susceptible to an eating disorder at that time. My parents separated when I was in fifth grade, and our home life was a bit of a mess in the years that followed. As so many adolescents do, I manipulated my relationship with food because it was one thing that I could control ... the only thing at that time, and so it gave me a false sense of power, which was very seductive.</p> <p><strong> 2. Many women with eating disorders are reluctant to seek treatment. Some describe their eating disorder as a friend and, as a result, tend to be very protective and secretive about it. What motivated you to seek treatment?</strong></p> <p>I didn't really seek treatment. Treatment sought me. What I mean was that it wasn't until my freshman year at college that I really admitted to having an eating problem and started to ask myself the hard questions about what might be lurking behind it. Throughout high school, I simply transferred my eating problems to alcohol abuse. It was only when I gave up drinking, right before I graduated from high school, that I could begin to heal. </p> <p>So when I asked a counselor at school early my freshman year where I could find a support group for my drinking, she invited me to come back, suspecting there was more to my story than the need to stay away from booze. She is the one who confronted me with my eating problem, and also my depression and OCD.</p> <p><strong>3. Eating disorders are tremendously treatable but the key is to find the right treatment. How did you go about seeking services? </strong></p> <p>I was tremendously blessed to treat my eating disorder while attending Saint Mary's College in Notre Dame. Since it is an all women's college, the school provided excellent resources. For example, one semester I logged in everything I ate into a nutrition software program. That way, with the help of my counselor, it could guide my diet, and let me know if I was eating enough calories, the right kinds of foods, etc.</p> <p>My counselor helped me to begin eating three meals a day. I entered a contract whereby I would have to tell her if I started to skip meals. In many ways, that first year of recovery--my freshman year at college--was like starting to learn healthy living from scratch. It didn't feel right, because my life had been so unmanageable from the beginning.</p> <p><a href="http://blogs.psychcentral.com/weightless/2009/11/eating-disorder-recovery-qa-with-therese-borchard/">Click here to continue reading the interview.</a></p> <p><i>*&nbsp;<a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=beyondblue1">Click here to <b>subscribe to Beyond Blue</b></a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/thereseborchard">click here to follow Therese on <b>Twitter</b></a> and <a href="http://community.beliefnet.com/beyond_blue">click here to join <b>Group Beyond Blue</b></a>, a depression support group. Now stop clicking.</i></p></div> <a href="http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/recovering-from-an-eating-diso.html">Read this post &raquo;</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/G34tR3wduhlfmKUfElsAAAqAxDM/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/G34tR3wduhlfmKUfElsAAAqAxDM/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/G34tR3wduhlfmKUfElsAAAqAxDM/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/G34tR3wduhlfmKUfElsAAAqAxDM/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/beyondblue1/~4/R-weIiBBe2E" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/beyondblue1/~3/R-weIiBBe2E/recovering-from-an-eating-diso.html http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/recovering-from-an-eating-diso.html Food and Health Mental Health adolescent eating disorders anorexia eating disorders Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0500 http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/recovering-from-an-eating-diso.html <p><i>Among some very insightful posts </i><a href="http://blogs.psychcentral.com/weightless"><i>on the blog "Weightless"</i></a><i>&nbsp;is this one on ways to recognize poor body image....</i></p> <p>In this day and age, it seems like a positive body image is a rarity. Whether you fit today's skinny standards or wish you did, most women have issues with their bodies. Some may argue that bickering with one's body is as old as time. We frequently hear friends and family lament about their thick thighs or pudgy middle. Personally, whether I'm with family or friends, an hour doesn't go by without someone saying that they shouldn't be eating that much, must skip dessert, need to lose weight or can't fit into a shirt that was recently roomy.</p> <p>Here's a list of indicators that your image may be suffering more than usual (and ways to fix it below that):</p> <ol> <li><b>You notice only negative things in the mirror, car windows, storefront windows, etc.</b> Instead of seeing your positive physical traits, you're more likely to be found bashing your body, and nitpicking at every nook and cranny.</li> <li><b>You have a tough time taking compliments.</b> It isn't that you're too polite to take a compliment; it's that you truly believe you don't deserve them.</li> <li><b>You rarely think you look good.</b> Even wearing a favorite outfit doesn't help you to feel good in your skin. You rarely feel beautiful or even pretty.</li> <li><b>You compare yourself to everyone.</b> For many of us, comparisons are as natural as breathing. But, while you're comparing your appearance to everyone else's, you rarely have anything good to say about yourself. It's always, "her thighs are so much slimmer than mine." "Her waist is much smaller." "I wish I had her body."</li> <li><b>It takes you forever to pick out an outfit -- more often than not.</b> Do you have a moment -- more like many moments -- where you've been cooped up in your room, trying on tons of clothes? You can't see your floor, partially because it's overflowing with clothing and mainly because your face is filled with tears. There's nothing wrong with your clothes-it's just that everything is wrong with your body.</li> <li><b>You skip events because you don't think you look good enough.</b> How often have you declined an invite to a dinner date, party or other engagement because you felt too fat to leave the house?</li> <li><b>You criticize your body regularly.</b> "My stomach is gross." "My thighs are enormous!" Do these phrases resemble your daily mantras?</li></ol><br /><ol> </ol> <p><a href="http://blogs.psychcentral.com/weightless/2009/11/7-signs-your-body-image-is-bruised-and-5-solutions/">Click here for 5 solutions to your bruised body image.</a></p> <p><i>*&nbsp;<a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=beyondblue1">Click here to <b>subscribe to Beyond Blue</b></a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/thereseborchard">click here to follow Therese on <b>Twitter</b></a> and <a href="http://community.beliefnet.com/beyond_blue">click here to join <b>Group Beyond Blue</b></a>, a depression support group. Now stop clicking.</i></p> <a href="http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/7-signs-your-body-image-is-bru.html">Read this post &raquo;</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/C3-ON1SsaMTQ9aEcONR0JT7nqms/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/C3-ON1SsaMTQ9aEcONR0JT7nqms/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/C3-ON1SsaMTQ9aEcONR0JT7nqms/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/C3-ON1SsaMTQ9aEcONR0JT7nqms/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/beyondblue1/~4/nD45SxjtIFQ" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/beyondblue1/~3/nD45SxjtIFQ/7-signs-your-body-image-is-bru.html http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/7-signs-your-body-image-is-bru.html Food and Health Mental Health body image eating disorders Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:00:30 -0500 http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/7-signs-your-body-image-is-bru.html <span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"><img alt="Haley Scott 2.jpg" src="http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/imgs/Haley%20Scott%202.jpg" width="303" height="378" class="mt-image-left" style="float: left; margin: 0 20px 20px 0;" /></span> It was January of 1992.<div>&nbsp; <p>I was a junior at Saint Mary's College in South Bend, Indiana. There was a blizzard the night before, and a friend and I were supposed to eat breakfast with another friend who lived on campus. We made it over to room after trudging through the snow, and breakfast smelled delicious, but by the expression on her face, we knew something was terribly wrong.</p> <p>The night before, the bus transporting Notre Dame's women's swim team hit a patch of ice and flipped over on the side of the road about four miles from campus. Two of the students died, and one had been paralyzed.</p> <p>The three of us held hands for a moment of silence followed by a prayer.</p> <p>I remember that moment as clearly as I do the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. So I was a bit taken aback when I heard the announcement after church last Sunday that a woman who was supposed to be paralyzed for the rest of her life, one of the women on the Notre Dame bus that crashed in 1992, would be the featured speaker of the adult lecture series.</p> <p>Haley Scott DeMaria was the Notre Dame swimmer who lost two of her teammates and laid in the snow unable to move anything on the night of January 24. The 18-year-old was told by the medical staff that she would never walk again, and that the sooner that she accepted her condition and fate, the better.</p> <p>As I sat in the audience, listening to her story, I was inspired by her shear determination and perseverance.</p> <p>She dismissed the nurses who said she was in denial to think she'd ever be able to use her legs again. Instead, she fought. She fought so hard. Every day. Through multiple back surgeries and physical therapy. She didn't give up when it would have been so easy to.</p> <p>I recognized the tools of empowerment that she spoke about--faith, family, friends, community--as those of us with chronic illnesses and severe mood disorders employ every day to make it through the day. And I really related to the times of grieving she described ... when she so wanted her old life back again. She would say to herself during those moments, "That life is gone. Let it go. But answer this question: What do you want from your life now?"</p> <p>Like Haley, I yearn for my old brain chemistry and healthy condition ... the old days before I had to make appointments with five kinds of doctors (endocrinologist, cardiologist, internist, psychologist, and psychiatrist) ... before my pituitary tumor and valve regurgitation, and before I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and Raynaud's Phenomenon. </p> <p>But that's a useless exercise.</p> <p>However, I CAN ask myself, "Where do we go from here?" Let's think about all the things we CAN do, and let's try like hell to make progress. So, whether it's numbness in our legs and painful cramps in our back like Haley experiences, or a black out in the emotional center of our brain ... we can trudge forward together in our limitations, maybe even BECAUSE OF our limitations, in the sense that they give us new meaning for our life.</p><p><b>To read more about Haley's story, visit her website at </b><a href="http://www.HaleyBook.com"><b>www.HaleyBook.com.</b></a></p> <p><i>*&nbsp;<a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=beyondblue1">Click here to <b>subscribe to Beyond Blue</b></a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/thereseborchard">click here to follow Therese on <b>Twitter</b></a> and <a href="http://community.beliefnet.com/beyond_blue">click here to join <b>Group Beyond Blue</b></a>, a depression support group. Now stop clicking.</i></p></div> <a href="http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/mindful-monday-what-kind-of-li.html">Read this post &raquo;</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/AbboHwdCZaEOKmTeKgNqhmh08Ys/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/AbboHwdCZaEOKmTeKgNqhmh08Ys/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/AbboHwdCZaEOKmTeKgNqhmh08Ys/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/AbboHwdCZaEOKmTeKgNqhmh08Ys/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/beyondblue1/~4/EZRaHt61G7k" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/beyondblue1/~3/EZRaHt61G7k/mindful-monday-what-kind-of-li.html http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/mindful-monday-what-kind-of-li.html Depression anxiety depression goals paralysis perseverance Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0500 http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/mindful-monday-what-kind-of-li.html <p>Figuring out the cause of a relapse, or even a rough spot bordering on relapse, is a bit like solving a riddle or working on a hard crossword puzzle. It's like a long, dreaded hour in Advanced Calculus class (even though, you know, I never made it to that room). There are the new triggers. For me that's grieving my recreational sport I so enjoyed--running--because I want to avoid a hip replacement at all cost. Reading my junior-high journals and processing those painful memories didn't help. But there are the regulars, who lurk behind most of my dark patches...a denial of my illness, the misconception that I am the dirty-blonde version of Wonder Woman, and, of course, unrealistic expectations. </p> <p>I so appreciate your help navigating through this forest of fears. So, listen up for some of your own wisdom.</p> <p><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/iZnUjigfju8&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/iZnUjigfju8&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object> </p> <p><i>*&nbsp;<a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=beyondblue1">Click here to <b>subscribe to Beyond Blue</b></a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/thereseborchard">click here to follow Therese on <b>Twitter</b></a> and <a href="http://community.beliefnet.com/beyond_blue">click here to join <b>Group Beyond Blue</b></a>, a depression support group. Now stop clicking.</i></p> <a href="http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/video-getting-through-the-roug.html">Read this post &raquo;</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vPicV45fNknP4Rnjmgfriw-hDDA/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vPicV45fNknP4Rnjmgfriw-hDDA/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vPicV45fNknP4Rnjmgfriw-hDDA/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/vPicV45fNknP4Rnjmgfriw-hDDA/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/beyondblue1/~4/X-6NS6EkYBU" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/beyondblue1/~3/X-6NS6EkYBU/video-getting-through-the-roug.html http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/video-getting-through-the-roug.html Video Posts Beliefnet Beliefnet Community Beyond Blue community support depression depression blog relapse rough spots therapy Therese Borchard youtube video Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0500 http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/video-getting-through-the-roug.html <span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"><img alt="anxiety woman, real simple.jpg" src="http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/imgs/lady-depressed_300.jpg" width="300" height="357" class="mt-image-left" style="float: left; margin: 0 20px 20px 0;" /></span> <p><em>Image by Susie Cusher.</em></p> <p>In my post, <a href="http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/10/group-beyond-blue-disabling-an.html">"Disabling Anxiety: What Do You Do?"</a> I asked you for your techniques on managing anxiety. I posed this question on a <a href="http://community.beliefnet.com/beyond_blue/go/thread/view/47331/20554169/Disabling_Anxiety_What_Do_You_Do">discussion thread in Group Beyond Blue</a>, too. <a href="http://draletta.typepad.com/explorewhatsnext/">My therapist friend, Elvira Aletta,</a> gives us yet 10 more tips in her Psych Central blog post,&nbsp;<a href="http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2009/10/19/ten-more-ways-to-lower-anxiety/">"Ten More Ways to Lower Anxiety,"</a> which is a sequel to an excellent post I featured the other day:&nbsp;<a href="http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2009/09/30/10-ways-to-lower-anxiety-and-find-empowerment/">"10 Ways to Lower Anxiety and Find Empowerment."</a></p> <p>Skimming through Real Simple magazine at the check out line of the supermarket, I came across <a href="http://www.realsimple.com/health/mind-mood/emotional-health/ten-ways-to-cope-with-anxiety-00000000021548/index.html">Dr. Robert Leahy's article "10 Ways to Cope with Anxiety."</a> Dr. Leahy is the director of the American Institute for Cognitive Therapy and the author of many books on the subject. His suggestions will help you calm your nerves:</p> <p><b>1. Repeat your worry until you're bored silly.</b></p> <p>"...take the troublesome thought that's nagging at you and say it over and over, silently, slowly, for 20 minutes. It's hard to keep your mind on a worry if you repeat it that many times."</p> <p>Dr. Leahy calls this technique "the boredom cure." Behavioral scientists call it 'flooding'. I'm not so keen about this technique for my extremely anxious patients who are having trouble regulating their thoughts and emotions. If your anxiety is on the milder side, however, and you have the courage to do this, I recommend you think about your worries while practicing relaxation techniques to keep your body as calm as possible.</p> <p><b>2. Make it worse.</b></p> <p>"When you try too hard to control your anxieties, you only heighten them. Instead exaggerate them and see what happens."</p> <p>This is a good one. When I suggest it to my patients I call it the 'Bring it on' technique or 'Fake it 'til you make it'. By inviting what scares you, you learn on your time that you can survive your fears instead of waiting to be bushwhacked by them.</p> <p>Sports psychologists use this all the time. When I was terrified my horse would shy and dump me on the ground, my coach told me to stop trying to keep my mare from bolting. Instead she told me expect her to shy, to look forward to it. That attitude helped me relax and so did the horse.</p> <p><b>3. Don't fight the craziness.</b></p> <p>"You may...have thoughts that lead you to think you'll do something terrible...or that you're going insane... Remember - our minds are creative...every now and then 'crazy' thoughts jump out. Everyone has them."</p> <p>In the weeks after my first child was born, when I was exhausted, sleep deprived and in the grips of baby blues, I had thoughts of throwing my screaming baby out the window. Those thoughts terrified me. Tearfully, I confessed my horrible thoughts to my mother who shrugged and said, "We all think something like that at some time. You didn't act on it, did you?" She assured me I wasn't crazy. I could relax.</p> <p>My patients are sometimes surprised when I suggest they allow themselves to imagine doing something outrageous like throwing a banana cream pie at their nasty boss's puss. Unleashing our creative minds may be just what we need to de-stress.</p> <p><b>4. Recognize false alarms.</b></p> <p>"Many thoughts and sensations that we interpret as cues for concern-even panic-are just background noise. Think of each of them [rapid heart beat, tensing of muscles] as a fire engine going to another place."</p> <a href="http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/disabling-anxiety-10-more-tips.html">Read this post &raquo;</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/uhzLy2RCf2gOBIlXbCwq60XHATk/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/uhzLy2RCf2gOBIlXbCwq60XHATk/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/uhzLy2RCf2gOBIlXbCwq60XHATk/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/uhzLy2RCf2gOBIlXbCwq60XHATk/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/beyondblue1/~4/W3cGrWQyx08" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/beyondblue1/~3/W3cGrWQyx08/disabling-anxiety-10-more-tips.html http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/disabling-anxiety-10-more-tips.html Anxiety Mental Health anxiety depression Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:00:04 -0500 http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/disabling-anxiety-10-more-tips.html <p>Recently I've had to review and really work on my steps to relieve anxiety. I thought you might like a refresher, as well.</p> <p><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/e4gxSQjOWDQ&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/e4gxSQjOWDQ&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object></p> <p><a href="http://youtube.com/watch?v=e4gxSQjOWDQ">To view my YouTube video, "Beyond Blue: 7 Ways to Relieve Anxiety," click here.</a></p> <p><i>*&nbsp;<a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=beyondblue1">Click here to <b>subscribe to Beyond Blue</b></a> and <a href="http://twitter.com/thereseborchard">click here to follow Therese on <b>Twitter</b></a> and <a href="http://community.beliefnet.com/beyond_blue">click here to join <b>Group Beyond Blue</b></a>, a depression support group. Now stop clicking.</i></p> <a href="http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/video-7-ways-to-relieve-anxiet.html">Read this post &raquo;</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nxVq1t9lkWvdFMQrX2sTaWW3eAs/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nxVq1t9lkWvdFMQrX2sTaWW3eAs/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nxVq1t9lkWvdFMQrX2sTaWW3eAs/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nxVq1t9lkWvdFMQrX2sTaWW3eAs/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/beyondblue1/~4/0z5SdZnYiak" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/beyondblue1/~3/0z5SdZnYiak/video-7-ways-to-relieve-anxiet.html http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/video-7-ways-to-relieve-anxiet.html Anxiety anxiety Beyond Blue coping counseling depression depression blog managing stress safe place Therese Borchard video blog Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:00:00 -0500 http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/video-7-ways-to-relieve-anxiet.html <span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"><img alt="psychiatry-couch.gif" src="http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/imgs/psychiatry-couch.gif" width="361" height="412" class="mt-image-left" style="float: left; margin: 0 20px 20px 0;" /></span> I pay my therapist $120 every other week. I should, theoretically, feel like I can tell her anything.<div>&nbsp; <p>But I don't. </p> <p>Because I want her to like me. It's part of being a stage-four people-pleaser. </p> <p>I didn't realize the extent to which I was holding back until, the other day, when I mentioned to my therapist something that I had told Dr. Smith--the psychiatrist that I see every four to six weeks--about positive thinking just not cutting it when you plummet to such a low depression.</p> <p>My therapist asked me to back up and tell her more about that. Because either I hadn't said anything about that to her in the last month or so or else she had missed it.</p> <p>I stewed on that for a few days: <i>Did I omit my frustration with self-help books and cognitive-behavioral techniques or maybe not express how depressed I have really been?</i> And I realized that I divulge more to my psychiatrist about the status of my depression and anxiety than I do with my therapist. </p> <p>Why?&nbsp;</p><p>When I'm sitting on my doctor's couch, I believe the most significant culprit to my bad mood is my illness. I'm somewhat like a diabetic going in to get her insulin levels checked.</p> <p>However, when I perch myself across from my therapist, I feel more accountable for my moods ... that I if I am unable to implement cognitive-behavioral adjustments, and thereby some find relief, that I am somehow to blame. Moreover, if I'm pulled back into addictive and destructive thoughts and behavior, I have gotten there by choice.</p></div> <a href="http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/talk-therapy-are-you-totally-h.html">Read this post &raquo;</a> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lw5CLosUyj2-qDK37ISt_RixizU/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lw5CLosUyj2-qDK37ISt_RixizU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lw5CLosUyj2-qDK37ISt_RixizU/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/lw5CLosUyj2-qDK37ISt_RixizU/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/beyondblue1/~4/5gI_qAswoJo" height="1" width="1"/> http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/beyondblue1/~3/5gI_qAswoJo/talk-therapy-are-you-totally-h.html http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/talk-therapy-are-you-totally-h.html Mental Health counseling talk therapy therapists therapy Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:00:35 -0500 http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondblue/2009/11/talk-therapy-are-you-totally-h.html