Mental health resource

Whats wrong with Evidence Based depression treatments? Author: Graeme Cowan

With all our medical advances, why is it that the incidence of depression and anxiety is skyrocketing. The World Health Organisation says that depression is the most disabling disease in the Western World today, yet all mental healthcare specialists seem to talk about is evidence based treatments such as counselling and anti depressants. Whilst these strategies have been shown to be helpful for some people, if this was really cutting edge advice, why arent we seeing the incidence of depression declining or at the very least plateauing. This in no way seeks to imply that medication and psychological counselling dont have their place in treating depression, just that we are not exploring all the variables

Having interviewed thousands of people who have battled with depression, I am convinced that there are some serious issues with the evidence based approach to treating depression. These can be summarised as follows:

1. The evidence is where the money is

Unfortunately clinical trials are very expensive to run so private funding will only be directed towards those areas where investors can see a return on investment. In the world of depression treatments, this means that the vast majority of funds are directed towards medication and psychological counselling interventions. This means that important lifestyle strategies such as exercise, emotional support,nutrition, relaxation, and fulfilling work are relatively ignored. Ironically these less discussed strategies can be much less costly to implement.

1. When youre holding a hammer everything looks like a nail

The vast majority of depression treatment studies are undertaken by doctors or psychologists. Whilst there is nothing wrong with this per se, most of these studies are evaluating areas where they have expertise (which makes sense). This means that the comparisons are often looking in isolation at one drug verses another (or a placebo) or one psychological intervention verses another. Quite often meaningful advancements in areas can come from someone outside the established paradigms. I love the story of the little boy who came across rescue workers who had been struggling for 3 hours with sophisticated hydraulic equipment trying to dislodge a truck which had been tightly wedged under an overhead bridge. After being encouraged to leave the site he quietly said Why dont you let down the tyres?.

1. We are not just DNA

As human beings our bodies and minds are intricately linked. Depression treatments that focus purely on a biological illness are seriously limited. Much of the despair that exists in the western world today can be linked to loneliness, family breakdowns, excessive and unfulfilling work, and financial crises. Saying that depression is caused by low levels of serotonin is like saying teen pregnancies are caused by a sperm fertilising an egg yes, but. Depression treatments that fail to reconnect us with our passions and purpose are ultimately going to be short lived solutions.

What are the right depression treatments?

To find out what works best in managing or overcoming depression, we must ask the people who are living with depression what works best for them. In 2007 I asked just that, and their answers were (in order) exercise, support of family and friends, psychological counselling, fulfilling work, relaxation/meditation, nutrition and medication.

Coincidentally, the Black Dog Institute (BDI) one of the pre-eminent mood disorder units in the world – also undertook a study directly asking those with depression what helped them most. Although there were some differences in the studies, lifestyle strategies were also shown to be extremely important. One of the authors of the published study, Professor Gordon Parker, who has been practicing psychiatry for over 30 years, has now started advising General Practitioners and their patients to exercise regularly to aid recovery.

If Professor Parker, who has published over 600 clinical papers and book chapters regarding mood disorders, can learn something from these results, perhaps we all can.

With all our medical advances, why is it that the incidence of depression and anxiety is skyrocketing. The World Health Organisation says that depression is the most disabling disease in the Western World today, yet all mental healthcare specialists seem to talk about is evidence based treatments such as counselling and anti depressants. Whilst these strategies have been shown to be helpful for some people, if this was really cutting edge advice, why arent we seeing the incidence of depression declining or at the very least plateauing. This in no way seeks to imply that medication and psychological counselling dont have their place in treating depression, just that we are not exploring all the variables

Having interviewed thousands of people who have battled with depression, I am convinced that there are some serious issues with the evidence based approach to treating depression. These can be summarised as follows:

1. The evidence is where the money is

Unfortunately clinical trials are very expensive to run so private funding will only be directed towards those areas where investors can see a return on investment. In the world of depression treatments, this means that the vast majority of funds are directed towards medication and psychological counselling interventions. This means that important lifestyle strategies such as exercise, emotional support,nutrition, relaxation, and fulfilling work are relatively ignored. Ironically these less discussed strategies can be much less costly to implement.

1. When youre holding a hammer everything looks like a nail

The vast majority of depression treatment studies are undertaken by doctors or psychologists. Whilst there is nothing wrong with this per se, most of these studies are evaluating areas where they have expertise (which makes sense). This means that the comparisons are often looking in isolation at one drug verses another (or a placebo) or one psychological intervention verses another. Quite often meaningful advancements in areas can come from someone outside the established paradigms. I love the story of the little boy who came across rescue workers who had been struggling for 3 hours with sophisticated hydraulic equipment trying to dislodge a truck which had been tightly wedged under an overhead bridge. After being encouraged to leave the site he quietly said Why dont you let down the tyres?.

1. We are not just DNA

As human beings our bodies and minds are intricately linked. Depression treatments that focus purely on a biological illness are seriously limited. Much of the despair that exists in the western world today can be linked to loneliness, family breakdowns, excessive and unfulfilling work, and financial crises. Saying that depression is caused by low levels of serotonin is like saying teen pregnancies are caused by a sperm fertilising an egg yes, but. Depression treatments that fail to reconnect us with our passions and purpose are ultimately going to be short lived solutions.

What are the right depression treatments?

To find out what works best in managing or overcoming depression, we must ask the people who are living with depression what works best for them. In 2007 I asked just that, and their answers were (in order) exercise, support of family and friends, psychological counselling, fulfilling work, relaxation/meditation, nutrition and medication.

Coincidentally, the Black Dog Institute (BDI) one of the pre-eminent mood disorder units in the world – also undertook a study directly asking those with depression what helped them most. Although there were some differences in the studies, lifestyle strategies were also shown to be extremely important. One of the authors of the published study, Professor Gordon Parker, who has been practicing psychiatry for over 30 years, has now started advising General Practitioners and their patients to exercise regularly to aid recovery.

If Professor Parker, who has published over 600 clinical papers and book chapters regarding mood disorders, can learn something from these results, perhaps we all can.

Obsessive Personality Compulsive Disorder – The Most Important Things About OCD Author: Derek Soto

Obsessive personality compulsive disorder is something that you should not be ashamed of. There are tons of people who suffer from it. The main point about what I want to show you today is just how silly it really is when you think about it. These things would be laughable if only there were not so much fear behind them. I learned that from one of my clients. She knows that obsessive personality compulsive disorder is laughable and that it is just a fear of fear itself.

A vital step when it comes to obsessive personality compulsive disorder is the fact that it is something that comes in waves. It changes and morphs and if you’ve had it for any amount of time, you’ll find that some of the things that you used to ocd about don’t bother you as much anymore. You see, our brains get bored of things after a while. This is just something that happens. We can actually use that principle to our advantage. How we can do that is to over expose ourselves to the thing that fears us. This is called flooding and even though I don’t recommend it for most people. It is still effective for some individuals.

Now when you take a closer look at your obsessive personality compulsive disorder, you’ll find that this world would have to be a pretty messed up place for your fears to actually be real! Think about that for a second. What kind of world would this be like if your obsessive personality compulsive disorder was actually true! This can help you to calm down and to realize that it cannot be true because the world would not be able to function if your fears are true. Another thing that you can think about is, if this is true, than why does nobody else you know fear the things that scare you the most?

When I examine obsessive personality compulsive disorder, I can clearly see how it’s affecting the lives of the sufferers families. They care so much and they want to help any way that they can, but you have to realize that you have to make a choice to stop your OCD for your family. You have to do it for yourself. Give yourself any reason that you need to! The stronger the “why” you have, the more motivated you will be to actually follow through with the OCD program of your choice and get rid of your OCD for good!

The greatest fact about obsessive personality compulsive disorder is the fact that it is not a disorder or a disease. Even though it is part of it’s name, it’s really a habit and what you need to do to stop it is to first believe that you can. Then you want to have a strong enough reason why you want to get rid of it. If you don’t have a good reason, or the reason is not clear, then you’ll never shake it, I promise you. So make sure that you don’t shy away from your fear, but stand up to it and take action today!

Click here to get my OCD e-book for free: “Obsessive Personality Compulsive Disorder”

Derek J. Soto is an expert in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder who had it himself and beat it and now teachs others how to do the same.

Phobia Of Driving – Treatment For Your Driving Anxiety Author: Drivinganxietyhelp

Driving phobia can occur when an individual undergo a traumatic event such as road accidents, near misses or even something mild (like feeling uncomfortable with high-speed freeways). Because humans have the tendency to associate familiar feelings to a particular situation, these traumatic events can slowly build into driving phobia. For example, you may feel uncomfortable about merging into highways and thus, every highway episodes will trigger memories of your initial uneasiness. Over time, this can deteriorate into fear of transiting into highways.

Anyone who suffers from driving phobia or any other form of driving related anxiety can easily relate to the emotional suffering and limitation brought by their phobia/anxiety. For example, you may avoid driving on high-speed freeways, hills or even bridges because they terrify you. You can also experience scary, uncontrollable thoughts that completely overwhelm you. Physical symptoms can also manifest as severe panic/anxiety attack while driving: rapid heartbeat, hyperventilation (over-breathing), feeling faint and nausea, tunnel vision, etc.

Let untreated, you may stop driving altogether and be totally dependent on family members and friends to fetch you around.

The treatments for driving phobia/anxiety must come in the form of behavioral and mental conditioning. Drugs and medication have limited application in driving phobia/anxiety as they can only suppress your physical symptoms – they can never help you overcome your phobia/anxiety.

Behavioral and mental conditioning works by slowly subjecting yourself to your phobias or situation that triggers your anxiety. During the process, you would need to experience the fear without running away and thus, becoming less sensitive to the situation. This idea is simple and it does not necessitate the help of professional (although you may choose to do so if you are really uncomfortable about it). Nevertheless, professional help or not, certain level of courage and determination is required as you would need to confront your fears and overcome them.

Self help for Panic Attack and Anxiety Author: Wendy Krick

If you suffer from anxiety like many people, you may be feeling helpless. You may have felt like you were going crazy or that you were loosing control of your emotions. And it can feel helpless when you are experiencing the cold sweats and dizziness. It is not fun when your chest feels as though your heart is going to pound through your chest. There is no place to escape or hide when you are having a panic attack.

No wonder you may feel helpless. But you can treat yourself. Many anxiety sufferers are learning how to get self help for panic attack.

You don’t need to go on medication like you may have been told. Thre are many natural remedies that can help you deal with the panic attack or maybe even prevent one from starting.

Here are some of the natural remedies that have helped others..

First of all when your are having a panic attack, try laying on the floor on your back and place a book on your stomach. As you breath in be sure to watch the book lift up. This ensures that your are breathing correctly, into your stomach. I suggest doing this for about 10 minutes.

Another thing that works is meditation. Many people meditate daily. If you have never meditated you should learn. What it does is it helps you to stop all the chatter in your brain and it helps to still the mind.

Believe it or not, panic and anxiety starts in the mind with thoughts. A sure fire way to cause a panic attack is to be in a state of stress or worry. Meditation helps you to not worry, since you are only focusing on the present moment, rather that worrying about future events that you have no control over or dwelling on past issues that can’t be changed. So learn how to meditate. You will be glad you did.

How to Cure Anxiety Attacks Naturally Without Drugs Author: Alex

Anxiety or panic attacks normally happen among young but adults are affected by anxiety disorders as well. At least eight percent of all the population suffer from anxiety or panic attacks at least once in their life. It would help, therefore to be familiar with ways on how to cure anxiety. In some cases, this illness can be hereditary but it’s a not a rule of thumb. Some other factors could trigger panic attacks like stress, drugs, tobacco or alcohol. Chemical disparity, vitamin deficiency and psychological imbalances can also contribute to anxiety and panic attacks. Also, the lack of magnesium and other minerals such as calcium and zinc could lead to severe anxiety. (Sometimes, this could even lead to chronic anxiety).

Everyone experiences panic attacks at different intensities, some tend to be longer while some would last for only five minutes. Some of the symptoms often associated with anxiety or panic attacks include heart beat races, frightening, shivering, headache, chest pain, stomach pain and difficulty in breathing. In worst cases, patients could think of death. Thus, one should know how to cure anxiety, even without synthetic medications. Convectional medications have proved to be only a short time relief and not a permanent cure. Patients that have managed to cure themselves completely have reported that they have used natural cures.

The first thing to do is identify what causes you anxiety attacks. Sit comfortably in your sofa and recall the instances you had an attack. Then, think of the common things that happened before the attack as this could be the one triggering you anxiety or panic attacks. It can be anything from an unpleasant situation, smell, a bad memory that came into your mind and even a song. Just stay calm while recalling. Meditation can also help you feel more relaxed and it also helps you forget about all the fears and worries that you are experiencing every day.

There are only a string of the existent natural remedies that you can use. Learning how to cure anxiety is easy, and it’s recommended that you try some of the natural cures instead of taking medications for long periods of time that will never cure anxiety completely.

Many online programs are available to aid sufferers cure anxiety and panic attacks following simple methods that work and they can even be practiced at home.

If you’re deadly serious about learning how to stop a panic attack, go and read our complete list of anxiety self-help guides that thousands of people have used with tremendous success.

Visit this page ==> http://www.ReliefAnxiety.info

Control your panic Author: Al Simpson

Panic Attacks

Stress and anxiety can be found in just about any person. Although there is some people that will have stress and anxiety so much that they are not able to do anything at all. There are some symptoms for daily panic attack such as trembling, dizziness, breathing problems, and stomach pain. Many people visit the emergency room because they feel as though they are having a heart attack. Indeed these are very scary symptoms but they however are not life threatening at all.

To aid in gaining control of your panic attacks you should try to recognise what the triggers of your panic attacks. If you happen to do this then it will give you time to deal with them.

Relaxation methods can help you stay focused and can calm you too. Breathing techniques, yoga, and meditation can help you remain relaxed. When you have a panic attack you react out of proportion and out of reality. If breathing methods are practised you could remain calm and in focus, helping you stop a panic attack before it starts.

All intake of caffeine needs to be avoided this includes soda, tea, coffee, and diet pills. Panic attacks are triggered from the central nervous system and caffeine stimulates it.

You should exercise on a regular basis. Exercise will release endorphins into your blood stream. Endorphins are hormones that help with a natural euphoric feeling, it may also be referred to as a “runners high.” Consistent exercise will help you stay focused, and also relaxed.

These methods can help you regain control of panic attacks and help you in living a normal life.

Dealing with panic attacks – what you can do to overcome them Author: Dave Barnett

Most people will suffer from anxiety everyday, usually without even realizing it. Whenever you start a new job, or go on a date or just going out for a night out with some friends, there is always a small degree of anxiety. For some however anxiety controls their lives and limits their full potential and happiness. If this is you, then you may want to know how to deal with anxiety attacks effectively.

Firstly, lets define a few terms. In general anxiety can be defined of as a sense of worry and fear which manifests itself as physical and emotional components. An anxiety attack is a sudden, mounting physiological sense of fear, apprehension and worry. In fact panic attacks are difficult to explain especially if you have not experienced one yourself, however you can identify an attack through some of the following symptoms.

Trembling
Sweating
A sense of overwhelming fear
A sense that you may be going insane or that you are dying
Chest pains or stomach pains
Confusion
Irritability

Or any number of unpleasant feelings. The fact is panic attack sufferers experience their attacks in unique ways, as no two individuals are ever alike, no panic attack sufferer is exactly alike.

The most common type of anxiety is a general anxiety disorder. This kind of disorder affects about 3% of the population and many people will not even realize they have it. People who suffer from this are worried about everything. They constantly focus on things that could go wrong. They often live with a knot in their stomach and become unhappy, despondent and worn out with life. Some physical symptoms include irritability, a lack of concentration, sleep disorders and fatigue. If this sounds like you, you need to seek help as soon as possible.

Another type of anxiety is social anxiety, and many people suffer from this also. The social anxiety sufferer is afraid of being judged negatively, either perceived or real and will go out of their way to avoid social situations. This can lead to an unhappy and unfulfilling life.

Anxiety disorders are a precursor to anxiety attacks. There are many treatments available that deal specifically with the attacks themselves but if you really want to rid yourself of unpleasant feelings you will need to focus on the underlying issues in your life.

The common treatments for anxiety attacks fall into 3 broad categories. The first is cognitive behavioural therapy, which teaches the sufferer how to change their thoughts by analyzing their thinking and teaching them to combat any negative thoughts.

The second is exposure therapy. This type of therapy exposes the sufferer to anxiety producing stimulus in small increments, thus allowing them to grow more tolerant to whatever it may be causing them distress.

The third is medication, this is usually used in conjunction with one of the other two types of treatment and will help deal with the symptoms caused by anxiety attacks on a neurological level. There are many different types and the most common you will find are serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRI’s) and Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOI’s)

So here are a few tips on how to deal with anxiety attacks effectively, and some of the different types of anxiety disorders people suffer from. Learn how to stop an anxiety attack using natural techniques that have been proven to be effective in as little as two weeks. Alternatively if you are looking for a permanent solution to anxiety attacks head on over too http://panicawayonline.info and learn the exact techniques I used to get rid of panic attacks for good.

Mind-Movies Review – Want to Know How to Make Your Own Mind Movie? Author: Alexander Moses

Another article by Mind-Movies-Reviews.com
We share the latest updates on Mind Movies and how to apply the Law of Attraction and Manifest ANYTHING that you desire in your life!

The Mind Movies launch for 2009 is nearly upon us! Mind movies reviews is excited to be watching the growth of this exciting product and project!
Theres been a lot of interest and support fromthe biggest names in the self help industylike Bob Proctor, Joe Vitale, John Sealey, Lynda Dyer and others.

There’s been a lot of positive feedback and comments made on the blog with some awesome questions being asked about how to apply the Law of Attraction and how to apply it in your own life and in a practical sense. The interviews that Mind-Movies-Reviews have seen with excited and happy existing users, from around the globe It illustrates how the law of attraction can be applied
What this proves to us is that the law of attraction (and particularly with mind movies) can be used by anyone – not just “the gurus”.

Subsequently, many people have been asking the question, “How do I make my own mind movie?”

To be very honest, you can create your own today by finding the pictures, the images and writing statements that declare exactly what it is in life that you desire.

Mind-Movies-Reviews Recommendation

However, where the Mind Movie Creation kit comes into it’s own is in the fact that mind movies team have done a fantastic job creating a process to write a scriptthat leads you step by step through a series of questions to establish what’s is the most important facet of each key area of your life.

Then what happens, is you have to condense these statements to allow you to become on just exactly how to state that result in the present tense.
By this I mean, if your goal is to be financially independent then you would not say to yourself “I have a lot of money” – rather, “I earn $1million per year”.
The clearer you are on what it is you desire, the easier it becomes for you to manifest that desire.
When you are at odds, or you have, what I call unresolved internal conflicts within your life, this is where the law of attraction cannot be applied effectively.
This is where the mind movie creation kit is very helpful.

Not only do you get access to to powerful proven templates that make it easy to layout your movie design, but also gives you the tools to be very clear on how to go about generating the statements or affirmations if you like, that will naturally resonate the strongest with you.

So, whilst you can attempt to do this yourself, I highly recommend the mind movie creation kit to help you achieve your goals and create the life of your dreams.

Find out more about how to create your own mind movie here :- http://mind-movies-reviews.com/go

Common Symptoms of Adolescent Depression Author: Sandra Kilsmer

Some Of The Common Symptoms Of Adolescent depression

There are certain telltale signs and symptoms that point in the direction of an adolescent having adolescent depression and these include changes in appetite, changes in sleep, loss of interest in favorite activities, irritableness as well as irrational response to frustration and finally, statements of despair.

Changes In Appetite

Changes in appetite are a sure sign of adolescent depression and are one of the key symptoms that an adolescent is becoming, or is already depressed. The change may be noticed in the form of eating too much, or eating too little, or even not eating at all for prolonged periods of time. It should not be mistaken for an eating disorder though sometimes such symptoms could develop into further pathological behaviors, especially if the patient starts to feel better following a change in diet.

Much like changes in diet, changes in sleep are also symptomatic of adolescent depression though the behavior varies from individual to individual. However, a drastic change in sleep behavior that does not have any rational reason behind such behavioral change is what one should be looking for.

There may also be a reduction in interest in activities that were previously favorites of the patient, and this is another common adolescent depression symptom that is noticeable in children. It is not the same as when a child outgrows his or her likes for a particular activity because he or she is not of an age for which such activity is appropriate. If a child loves a sport and during the middle of the season suddenly decides to abstain from taking part in that sport, then that is reason to be concerned and it could well be an adolescent depression condition.

Another big pointer to adolescent depression is when the teenager or child gets angry often, or happens to overreact to his or her own frustration. This may be more than adolescent defiance as there may be underlying depression, which manifests it in the form of anger of an irrational type. The depressed adolescent may take to banging the head against the wall, verbally hurling abuse and getting into fights at school.

If the adolescent also takes to making statements of despair, you can be sure that this is another symptom of adolescent depression, which can be especially disturbing to those close to the adolescent. You should try and communicate with such a depressed adolescent, and get him or her to discuss the writings, sayings as well as drawings, as it may help get the child or adolescent to get out of whatever is causing the depressed person to do and say such things.

Natural Anxiety Cures – Simple Yet Effective Advice to Help You Regain Your Life Author: Alex

If you worry constantly, you could eventually develop an anxiety disorder, which could be a huge problem. Anxiety can soon overtake your life and end up isolating yourself without having any type of social contacts. This is the main reason to start looking for ways to cure anxiety and panic attacks and some of the most effective ways are the natural anxiety cures that you should consider. Anxiety disorders will only worsen if they’re left untreated for long periods of time.

One main reasons for anxieties is a busy schedule that could make someone too anxious and stressed out. If you often go to sleep worrying about your financial problems or uncompleted tasks that you have to have to get done then you might be suffering from anxiety. Since you always worry, there is a tendency to be self-destructive and anxiety is most likely to affect you. Some of the most common symptoms in anxiety are: fatigue, nausea, dizziness, trembling, racing heart beats, sweating, stomach and chest pain, headaches, vomiting and the list continues. If you experience any of these symptoms you should immediately address to a specialist. Apart from taking drugs or doing expensive therapies there are some natural anxiety cures that can help you become less tensioned and avoid panic attacks.

Meditation is another great way to overcome anxiety. This would help you prioritize what are the most important things to accomplish, and would help you organize your tasks making life less stressful. Consider the following factors as guidance:

• Get enough sleep and rest.
• Pamper yourself from time to time even if it is as simple as having a spa treatment every payday.
• Get emotional support from friends and relatives.
• Try to eliminate all the useless worries and fears out of your mind.
• Have a proper diet. Avoid drinking too much caffeine and if you happen to be a smoker try to reduce the number of cigarettes that you smoke or hopefully give up on tobacco.

If you follow the above mentioned tips, you do not have to take drugs if you are suffering from an anxiety disorder. We all know how hard it is to handle anxiety or panic attacks, which make our life miserable, however consider a natural cure for anxiety and avoid taking medications for long periods of time.

Many online programs are available to aid sufferers cure anxiety and panic attacks following simple methods that work and they can even be practiced at home.

If you’re deadly serious about learning how to stop a panic attack, go and read our complete list of anxiety self-help guides that thousands of people have used with tremendous success.

Visit this page ==> http://www.ReliefAnxiety.info