Depression

Prenatal and Postpartum Depression

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Prenatal Depression

Are you, or someone you know suffering from prenatal and postpartum depression? If so, you are not alone. Statistics from Postpartum Support International shows that about 15% of women experience prenatal and postpartum depression. And prenatal and postpartum depression, also known as perinatal depression is the most common complication of childbirth.

In this post, we will look at what causes maternal depression, the symptoms, and what can be done to help any woman suffering from it.

Postpartum Depression and Anxiety

For most women, pregnancy and childbirth are some of the most exciting and happiest times in life. However, for others, it wrecks their moods, plays with hormones, and elevates anxiety.

In the past, people believed that pregnancy was a firewall from emotional disorders, but as statistics show, that is not true.

There has been plenty of attention paid to prenatal and postpartum depression in recent times, and more people are now speaking about it.

Postpartum Depression Causes

What causes this depression? Well, there are several reasons. But one major reason is hormones.

Hormones

When pregnant, a woman’s body undergoes plenty of changes – including hormonal changes. During pregnancy, the woman’s’ body secretes estrogen and progesterone in higher amounts. But after childbirth, especially the first day after delivery, the production of these hormones is reduced. Having been on a high for the better part of nine months, coming down from such a high can be a big blow to the woman’s mental health.

The hormonal change can plunge her into depression – similar to how menstrual hormonal changes can affect moods.

Another factor that causes postpartum depression is a drop in thyroid hormones. These hormones primarily help to regulate energy levels in the pregnant woman. A decrease in the production of these hormones can mean less energy, resulting in depressed moods, sleep deprivation, reduced mental alertness, and weight gain.

Mental Factors

Aside from these hormonal changes, a new mother can also face psychological stress. She might feel overwhelmed with the responsibility of caring for a child, the need to be an “awesome” mother, the loss of freedom, and other things.

When combined, these factors increase the risk of suffering from maternal depression.

How Long Can Postpartum and Prenatal Depression Last?

The duration of postpartum depression and anxiety is influenced by other forces, not solely dependent on the efforts of the person going through pregnancy with depression.

Knowing the risk factors for perinatal depression can help you plan for care if you need it. Some of the things that might put a pregnant woman at higher risk are:

  • Family or personal history of depression
  • Financial or marital stress
  • Complications with the pregnancy
  • Recent life changes
  • Birthing twins or more children
  • Thyroid imbalance

Postpartum Depression Symptoms

Normal pregnancy blues and perinatal depression have some traits in common. For example, insomnia, mood swings, and weight gain are observed in both cases. Thus, you might not be suffering from perinatal depression but simply from pregnancy blues.

What symptoms can help to identify perinatal depression? Some of them are:

  • Frequent crying
  • Severe insomnia
  • Constant low energy
  • Appetite changes
  • Sadness
  • Constant anxiety
  • Lack of connection to the baby.

If you have a history of depression, it can be even worse during or after the pregnancy.

Pregnancy with Depression

There are different types of depression that a woman feels during and after this period. These are:

  • Baby Blues
  • Prenatal and Postpartum Depression
  • Postpartum Psychosis

How is postpartum depression different from “Baby Blues”?

“Baby blues” is prevalent among pregnant women. A study shows that up to 85% of women experience this at some stage during or after pregnancy.

This experience is caused by the drop-off in the production of estrogen and progesterone 48 hours after childbirth.

For around two weeks after childbirth, a mother might suffer from the following symptoms:

  • Irritation and frustration
  • Exhaustion
  • Hypersomnia
  • Insomnia
  • Rapid mood swings
  • Anxiety

Fortunately, for most women, ‘baby blues’ is temporary, lasting between a few days or two weeks after delivery. Pregnancy Blues is a groundbreaking book that provides detailed information on pregnancy-related depression.

“Baby Blues” – what can you do?

There are ways to handle ‘baby blues.’ Some of the ways that work are:

  • Getting enough rest – you can do this by resting whenever the bay is asleep. Take naps during the day.
  • Reduce pressure – realize that you cannot do everything yourself and accept help. This will help you stop feeling overwhelmed.
  • Spend time with other people including your spouse, family, and friends
  • Exercise as much as you can.

Perinatal Depression – Symptoms & Treatment

According to researchers, the same hormones responsible for ‘baby blue’ is what causes perinatal depression. About 20% of mothers suffer from perinatal depression.

Prenatal and postpartum depression is similar to ‘baby blues.’ You suffer the same symptoms. However, the main difference is that while ‘baby blues’ last for a few days to two weeks, perinatal depression lasts for longer than two weeks.

The symptoms can range from mild to severe. Some of these are:

  • Hypersomnia or Insomnia
  • Emotional numbness
  • Loss of interest in activities you previously enjoyed
  • Severe mood changes
  • Caring too much or too little for the baby
  • Withdrawal from people
  • Failure to care for ones’ self
  • Trouble concentrating
  • Feelings of hopelessness or worthlessness

Treatment

The good news is that perinatal depression can be treated successfully. Over 80% of sufferers overcome depression and go back to feeling better. Here are some of the successful treatments.

Medication

Anti-depressants are commonly prescribed for women suffering from maternal depression. Before you use any medication, ensure that you consult with your doctor. They would recommend a safe drug that would make you feel better without harming your baby.

Nevertheless, many women are rightly concerned about taking drugs while breastfeeding and have opted for alternative treatments.

Talk Therapy and other therapies

Talk therapy has been a highly successful treatment. Aside from talk therapy, alternative therapies like massages and acupuncture have helped some women overcome their depression.

The tips recommended for curing ‘baby blues’ are also useful in overcoming perinatal depression.

Postpartum Psychosis – Symptoms & Treatment

Postpartum psychosis occurs rarely, but it is severe and requires immediate treatment. The symptoms include:

  • Extreme confusion
  • Inability to sleep even when fatigued
  • Suspicion of others
  • Hallucinations
  • Self-harm
  • Refusing food
  • Extreme anxiety

If a new mother suffers any of these symptoms, it is essential to get professional help as soon as possible.

Conclusion

Motherhood can be challenging, and any new mother can be depressed. It doesn’t make you a ‘terrible’ mother. Instead, getting help can help you care for your baby better. We hope that this article has provided adequate insight into prenatal and postpartum depression and its treatment.

Melancholic Depression

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Melancholic Depression

Melancholic depression is a sub-type of major depressive disorder (MDD) with melancholic features. Major depressive disorder is a serious mental health condition that features persistent and strong feelings of sadness and hopelessness with melancholia being one of the indicators.

From the perspective of emotion, melancholy is dissimilar to grief and depression. It has distinguishing features of vague sadness and an unexplainable feeling of sorrow for which you are not able to determine the cause. Changing state of affairs in life allows melancholy to tiptoe in perniciously and catch you by surprise whereby you experience instants of extreme cheerlessness or strong yearning for no one or nothing in particular. You may struggle to feel any happiness, even though there are good things happening in your life.

From another standpoint, going through a melancholic phase can benefit you in some ways as it heightens mindfulness enabling your awareness of the present. It may also allow you to become more insightful and empathetic towards others. However, prolonged melancholy can have a considerable negative impact on your mental as well as physical health. Extreme sorrow can cloud your judgement and suppress logical reasoning.

What Causes Melancholia?

Melancholia is often referred to as “endogenous depression,” which means “depression that comes from within”. The condition is hereditary as in most instances, people with melancholia have a family record of mood disorders or suicides. And unlike other depression subtypes, melancholic depression is rarely associated with social and psychological factors.

Is Melancholy the same as Depression?

Melancholia is quite distinct from non-melancholic depression. When comparing to an individual with a different type of depression, the person with melancholia in general:

  • Builds up symptoms at a later age
  • Experiences more intense symptoms, like instead of a dull mood they are unable to sense any happiness
  • Is more likely to have suicidal thoughts and anxiety

Melancholic depression can also occur in conjunction with other specifiers. For instance, melancholia is more dominant when weather temperature is low and there is no sunlight or exist with depression with psychotic features.

Features of Melancholic Depression

With melancholic features, a patient must display four of the eight symptoms mentioned below.

The two symptoms stated below are linked to each other. The patient may experience a loss of pleasure in the common activities that they once were fond of. Similarly, the patient may not have any reaction to a normally enjoyable event, it may elevate their mood a little but will quickly return to their previous negative perspective. Also to new events, the patient with melancholic depression holds the same perspective on life and has minimal or no reaction.

  • Loss of pleasure in all or almost all activities
  • No reaction to a normally enjoyable event

Three or more of the following is experienced during the most severe period of the present episode:

  • Severely depressed mood – patients experience a severely depressed mood over time. The distinguishing features of this include unexplained sadness, despair, and a sense of loneliness. And every day, this perspective towards life remains the same which is quite distinctive to their previous attitude.
  • Waking up early and unable to return to sleep, which is more than 2 hours before usual waking time.
  • Sense of depression is regularly worse in the morning – bodily, the patient will show signs of weight Loss. Their overwhelming feelings of melancholy make them uninterested in life as well as in eating. 
  • Change in energy level – patients will normally experience one of the two changes in energy levels, either they will have a significant decrease in the level of activity, slower response time, slower movements or have faster movements, high agitation, and increased activity levels.
  • Excessive or inappropriate guilt – patients with melancholic depression may also experience feelings of guilt. The distinguishing feature is the intensity of the guilt as the guilt expressed will not match the event that occurred.

Treatment of Melancholic Depression

Normally, a physician will recommend antidepressants and depending on the assessment, the physician may suggest a long-term or shot-term treatment.

Together with medication, it may be suggested to see a psychologist who can treat with cognitive behaviour therapy.  This will allow the patient to discuss their difficulties and progress with new behaviour and goals. Talking can help adjust to a stressful event, replace the negative thoughts with positive ones, raise self-esteem and regain control in life.

However, if melancholic depression is severe and a challenging case, the patient may require electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). This form of therapy includes sending electrical impulses to the brain by connecting electrodes to the head.

With proper treatment and support from family and friends throughout the entire treatment, a patient with melancholic depression can make full recovery. However, after being treated it is essential to maintain a healthy lifestyle and social interaction to prevent relapses.

Non-Medical Treatments for Melancholic Depression

Below are few tips to divert you from extreme sadness and uplift your mood so that your mind and body can gradually go back to your usual self.

Colour Therapy

Different colours draw a physiological response from us. Choose colours that you are delighted with as colours can be deeply intimate and induce fond memories. You can revamp your wardrobe with happy and fun coloured clothes, paint your living space with brighter hues or get throws pillows and rugs in cheerful colours. Colours like orange, yellow and red can lift your mood and boost self-esteem, whereas blues and greens can be tranquilizing.

Journaling your Thoughts

Benefits of journaling are when you review it, that’s where you see your response in those instants and you can reflect and analyze your feelings. It can also be seen as a really good way to blow off some stream without actually getting involved in a distasteful encounter. Also important to know that journaling is very different from diary entries and to-do lists as journaling are noting down your thoughts, feelings, and reflection of a meeting or an event.

Take Vitamins and Minerals

Vitamins can assist your body to tackle the symptoms of melancholy, stress, and depression namely B-complex vitamins like B1, B2, B3, B5, B6 B12 and Vitamins C and D. These supply the body with the energy to fight stress, fatigue and assist in the creation of the happy hormones (serotonin and dopamine). Vitamin C is also essential for individuals with lower serotonin as insufficient serotonin is related to depressive mood disorders. Deficiency of minerals like calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, potassium, and manganese can also induce depression

Avoid Negative Thought Process

Having specific thoughts that are self-focused and narrow can result in melancholy. These unsound thinking patterns can become habitual and grasp your mind and result in despair and sadness. These thoughts might include comparing yourself to others, not counting your blessings, and catastrophizing where you always think and expect the worst to happen.

How can you help a loved one with melancholia?

It can be tough to see your loved one go through melancholic depression. Below are some ways you can help support them:

  • Help them get started in the morning as melancholia symptoms are the worst when a person wakes up. Assisting them with their early morning tasks will give them the strength to get through the day
  • Try to ensure they eat regularly. Even though they do not feel hungry, their body still requires food.
  • Avoid judgmental expressions like “snap out of it”. You have to be understanding of the fact that people with melancholia need time and professional treatment to get better.
  • Do not take their mood personally as people with melancholia struggle to feel happy and it doesn’t reflect how they feel about you.
  • Know when to get help. In a situation where you are certain that your loved one is about to cause self-harm you can call 911 or the suicide prevention lifeline.

Overall, melancholic depression can greatly impact a person’s relationships, occupation and health. In most severe cases, it may provoke an individual to attempt suicide. Unlike other types of depression, melancholia causes long periods of suicidal thoughts. If you or a loved one is suffering from melancholic depression, know that there is hope. Assistance from a licensed therapist with medical and non-medical treatments together with love and support from family and friends can help you recover from melancholic depression.

Book Summary: Pregnancy Blues – What Every Woman Needs to Know About Depression During Pregnancy

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Pregnancy_Blues - Dealing with Prenatal Depression

Pregnancy Blues: What Every Woman Needs to Know About Depression During Pregnancy by Shaila Kulkarni Misri is a ground-breaking book that has seminal work exclusively focusing on prenatal depression. Pregnancy blues unravels this agonizing yet treatable illness by providing insight into the key social and biological factors that combine to create a hostile environment for depression and anxiety to thrive, as well as proposing the numerous effective treatments that exist.

Each year in the United States, well over 400,000 babies are born to depressed mothers, making prenatal depression the most under-diagnosed pregnancy complication in the country. The numbers are astonishing as the author also highlights that up to 70 percent of pregnant women go through a certain level of depressive symptoms, out of which 12 percent meet the symptoms of major depression.

Given the current global situation, this book may prove to be helpful to many to-be mothers as the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) may have added to the existing feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression. In addition to focusing on elements that pregnant women can control, they also have access to this useful resource to aid in alleviating uncertainly and stress.

Though pregnancy is considered blissful, there are numerous women out there whose excitement is often overwhelmed by feelings of fear, confusion, and sadness. Prenatal depression is seldom discussed and most often misunderstood as opposed to postpartum depression, which is well portrayed and accepted by the medical community.

This book aims to change that perception by focusing entirely on depression during pregnancy and making it a credible reference for women by including invaluable case studies and medical information.

The author, Dr. Shaila Kulkarni Misri, a prominent reproductive psychiatrist with 25 years of medical practice and research has been successful in offering hope, assistance, reformative actions, and laying the myths to rest on the subject through this book.

The fact that will particularly resonate with many is that all pregnant women are vulnerable during the course of their pregnancy. To which the author explicitly states: “If a woman (…) feels burdened rather than uplifted by her pregnancy, she should be particularly aware that while her physical health may be fine, there is something very wrong emotionally and she needs to seek help.”

Di. Misri also focuses on the cultural nuances of birth and pregnancy, she challenges the basic traditions and beliefs relating to pregnancy and motherhood by exploring the misinterpretations that have led to under-diagnosis and insufficient treatment of prenatal depression.

In the opening chapter, it is validating how the author talks about the numerous ways in which societal expectations and pressures, inner stress, and women’s distinct biology all work together to affect mental health during pregnancy.

“I believe it’s time to take off those rose-colored glasses and look at a picture of pregnancy that may not be as pretty as the one that’s been painted by the media but which is, for too many women, sadly more realistic.

Until we are willing to do that, we are unwittingly sentencing these women to continue hiding in plain sight, unable or unwilling to admit, perhaps even to themselves, that their experience of pregnancy is not what they’ve been taught to expect, and that what appears to be so joyful for others is for them a time of sadness, fear, and confusion.

These women need to know that it doesn’t have to be that way, that there is help, and that they cannot and should not be embarrassed or afraid to get the help they need.”

Noteworthy Learnings from the Book

  • Exactly how you can identify the signs and symptoms of depression-and recognise when to seek help
  • Information on the role of female hormones, explaining why women are more vulnerable to depression as opposed to men
  • How depression disguises itself in your physical complaints, such as back, stomach, or chest pain
  • The implicit connection between infertility and depression
  • The antidepressant debate, outlining the facts of specific drugs, their safety and when medication is the correct choice
  • The risks and benefits of breastfeeding and medication

In addition to above, the author also offers beneficial self-tests and resources, particulars on the alternative treatment options ranging from therapy to acupuncture and far more.

Why you should read this book?

Pregnancy Blues has a remarkable balance of clinical information in simple language, together with a multicultural perspective on birth and pregnancy. Dr Misri’s extensive experience in clinical practice and examining over 3,000 women a year in her pregnancy depression clinic adds credibility to this book.

During pregnancy, just like your body, your mind should be in a healthy state as well and this book helps to achieve just that. What can be appreciated most is how strikingly the author has given a voice to all women out there suffering from prenatal depression and assuring them comfort in their difficult time.

Prenatal depression is often masked in silence, shame, and denial, by having access to factual resources, such as this book, we can help ourselves as well as several women around us who may be silently suffering too. This book is filled with stories of women who took a step forward and transformed a potentially damaging experience into a manageable one that eventually brought them the joy of bonding with a healthy and happy baby.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

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Causes-of-OCD

OCD Definition

This article will explore in-depth the OCD definition, various types of OCD, its causes, symptoms, and examples of OCD, what OCD behavior is, OCD test available, and the treatment of the disorder.

Before moving forward, let us get familiar with the acronym OCD as many of us may not be. The abbreviation OCD is short for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

The following content will be worth the read as it provides simple explanations and pointers to gain further insight into the anxiety disorder. OCD has become part of the modern English jargon as it gets used by non-OCD sufferers in talks where they would be referring to someone who is too tidy, overly organized, or very particular about certain things. This misunderstanding of what OCD is stigmatizes those who actually suffer from the disorder. It is completely normal to be a neat freak, to double-check something, to enjoy organizing your closet, have an occasional violent thought, worry that you will get contaminated with germs, but the difference is that for OCD sufferers this will be overwhelming and greatly interfere with their everyday life.

To begin with, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder it is a type of anxiety disorder in which individuals experience persistent and recurrent thoughts, impulses, or images that are involuntary (obsessions) and action repetitive and ritualistic behaviors that are extreme, unnecessary and distressing (compulsions).

Three Main Elements of OCD

Explained in detail are the 2 main elements; obsessions and compulsive behaviour:

Obsessions

Obsessions refer to recurring, uncontrollable, and unwanted thoughts, sensations, ideas, or feelings. Practically, everyone has unwanted thoughts at some point and it could be things like “have I forgotten to turn off the stove or the iron?” or an unwanted violent image. But the difference is if the thought is persistent and dominates your thoughts to the extent that it interrupts other normal thoughts and take up a lot of your time. It is important to identify if it is an obsession or just a normal thought.

Compulsive behaviour

Compulsions are behaviors that an individual feels the urge to keep repeating over and over again. Compulsions typically start as a technique of trying to prevent or lessen anxiety caused by the obsessive thought. Common forms of compulsive behavior in individuals with OCD include:

  • Checking – such as checking if the doors are locked or that the iron is off
  • Counting
  • Cleaning and hand washing
  • Repeating words in their head
  • Hoarding
  • Ordering and arranging
  • Asking for reassurance
  • Avoiding circumstances or places which might trigger those obsessive thoughts

It is possible to only have obsessive thoughts or only compulsions, but most individuals with OCD experience both.

The OCD Cycle

Unfortunately, these obsessive thoughts can be quite distracting and disturbing. In most instances the compulsive behavior momentarily relieves the obsessions and anxiety, for example, if you are terrified of germs then you may get into the habit of cleaning vigorously all the time. However, as this only provides short-term relief, the obsessive thoughts and anxiety typically return much stronger causing the cycle to begin again. Not being able to carry out the obsessive rituals can initiate anxiety and anguish.

The OCD Cycle

Causes of OCD

Even though there has been a considerable amount of research done, experts have not been able to identify a definite cause as to why an individual may develop Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

However, there are numerous theories for the possible causes of OCD, including genetics, hormonal changes, environmental factors, biological factors, personality traits, pregnancy, or specific events that can trigger the disorder in an individual. It is highly likely that these factors work together to trigger the development of OCD. Three of the risk factors are further explained below:

What Causes OCD

Whilst the cause is presently still being debated, what is not in disagreement is the point that OCD is indeed a long-lasting disorder, but equally a treatable medical condition.

It’s also imperative that we don’t become fixated on what causes our OCD at the expense of overcoming it.  Recognizing the cause won’t essentially help us overcome it, so our emphasis must continue to be on tackling the problem we have right now.

Symptoms of OCD

Below are a few OCD symptoms to lookout out for if you suspect you or someone you know may have OCD.

Symptoms of OCD

Typical obsessive thoughts include:

  • Fear of being infected by germs or spreading it to others
  • Fear of harming yourself or others by mistake. For example, fear you may set the house on fire by leaving an appliance on
  • Fear of self-harming or to others intentionally. For example, fear you may attack someone
  • Intrusive sexually explicit thoughts and images
  • Excessive apprehensions about illness, morality or religious issues
  • Excessive apprehension with orderliness, symmetry, and exactness. For example, you may feel the need to keep making sure all the labels on the tins in your cupboard face the same way.
  • Superstitions; extreme attention to something considered lucky or unlucky

Typical compulsive behaviours include:

  • Spending an extended amount of time on cleaning and washing
  • Extreme double-checking, such as appliances, locks, and switches
  • Continually checking in on loved ones to make sure they’re safe
  • Counting, tapping, repeating certain words
  • Ordering or arranging things for no specific reason
  • Accumulating “junk” such as old magazines or empty food containers

Types of OCD

Types of OCD

OCD Test

During the self-assessment phase, there are numerous different types of OCD tests and online quizzes available to help determine if there is a need for you to pursue the diagnosis and treatment of OCD with a mental health professional. The OCD test used can be shared with your physician to further your diagnosis and treatment. Mentioned below are some beneficial OCD test available:

Treatment for OCD

There are some effective treatments for OCD that can help decrease the impact it has on your life.

Treatment for OCD and Anxiety

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and Medication

Initial treatments are considered to be Cognitive Behaviour Therapy and/or medications. Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is a type of CBT that has shown to effectively treat OCD. This enables you to face your obsessive thoughts and fears without putting them through compulsions.

Both licensed mental health and a medical professional will work together to develop a treatment plan involving visits to the therapist’s office a few times a week for ERP and prescribing the right medication which can alter the chemical imbalance in your brain.

Anxiety Management Techniques

Anxiety management techniques can assist an individual to effectively manage their own symptoms. These techniques can include inducing the relaxation response in the body through meditation, breathing exercises, and mindfulness. The regular practice of these techniques together with the cognitive behavior therapy treatment is the most effective.

Support Groups and Education

OCD support group allows OCD sufferers to meet in an environment that they feel comfortable and safe in and offer and obtain support. These groups help provide the perfect opportunity to learn more about the disorder and advance the social network.

Self-help tips for people living with OCD

In addition to therapy, listed below are some suggestions on how you can help yourself:

Conclusion

To conclude, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder can have a profound effect on an individual’s life and often they are embarrassed about their symptoms and try to hide them. Therefore the disorder needs to be identified by yourself by a friend or family member before you or everyone else becomes deeply involved in the rituals causing distress and disruption. Gaining knowledge from the pointers provided above on the OCD definition, various types of OCD, its causes, symptoms, and examples of OCD, OCD test available, and OCD treatment can be highly beneficial to identify the disorder and tackle it.

Book Summary: A Guide to Rational Living

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A Guide to Rational Living - Dealing with Anxiety!

A Guide to Rational Living, by Albert Ellis & Robert A. Harper, is a praiseworthy self-development guide with practical and proven techniques to change your self-destructive emotions and behaviors. The book vividly demonstrates what you do to unnecessarily distress yourself and how you can overcome this to become an emotionally stronger person. 

With the on-going global coronavirus pandemic, this book proves to be particularly valuable as most individuals face unprecedented challenges in their lives; having to deal with emotional disturbance, extreme feelings of uncertainty, anxiousness, and recurring depressive thoughts.

The author, Albert Ellis (1913 – 2007) was one of the most prominent psychotherapists as he pioneered Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) which gained an extensive standing in the 1960s and is the basis of this book.

REBT is based on the concept that our thoughts generate our emotions and influence our behaviors. The author, Albert Ellis was certain that people can change their emotions together with their behaviors by debating their irrational thoughts with facts and reasoning. In this book, he highlights the top 10 irrational ideas that cause the greatest number of people to experience unpleasant emotions.

The author clarifies that the objective of implementing rationality is not to be more happy, but rather to make straight one’s thinking so that one is constantly less unhappy.

How to deal with anxiety

Observing your Internal Dialogue

Ellis explains that we humans as language-creating animals tend to articulate our emotions and ideas in words and sentences which effectually become our thoughts and emotions. So fundamentally, we are what we tell ourselves, and for any personal change, it requires us to initially look at our internal conversations. Do our internal dialogues SERVE US or UNDERMINE US?

On the topic of anxiety, Ellis emphasizes being able to challenge our irrational philosophies:

“…track your worries and anxieties back to the specific sentences of which they consist. Invariably, you will find that you are telling yourself:

“Isn’t it terrible that…” “Wouldn’t it be awful if…”

Ellis guides his patients to oppose these irrational philosophies with questions like:

“Why would it be so terrible that…?”

“Would it really be so awful if…?”

He goes on: “Certainly if this or that happened it might well be inconvenient, annoying, or unfortunate. But would it really be catastrophic?”

Consequently, in order to address any form of anxiety, Ellis marks:

“…verbal and active de-propagandization are usually essential. You must first realize that you created the anxiety by your internalized sentences, and you must vigorously and persistently ferret out these sentences and challenge and contradict them. Then you must also push yourself to do the thing you are senselessly afraid of and act against your fear.”

Never being ‘desperately unhappy’ again

Ellis goes on to highlight the fact that the greatest challenge for individuals today is having control over their emotional lives.

A Guide to Rational Living contains various records of therapy sessions between Ellis and his patients. Following is a considerable example of his advice to one of his clients suffering from depression.  

 “The best you can do, at first, is to observe your depressed state after they have already arisen. And then to see, by theoretical analysis and inference, that you must have brought them on by telling yourself some nonsense.”

“…this will often be difficult. For once your depression sets in, as you noted a while ago, you don’t feel like un-depressing yourself again; you almost want to stay depressed. And unless you combat this feeling, and actively go after your underlying sentences with which you created your depression, you will, of course, stay quite miserable.”

Now, the individual will face a dilemma: remain depressed for the foreseeable future or make an effort to fight the negative feeling by noticing what they did to initiate it.

 “A tough choice,” Ellis states “But if you keep taking the lesser of these two evils. That is –combating your negative feelings, then eventually the time comes when your basic philosophy of life matures. As a result, you will depress yourself much more rarely, to begin with, and have an easier time getting yourself out of your vile mood when you do unconsciously put yourself in one.”

The Ultimate Point

Are human beings RATIONAL or IRRATIONAL beings?

According to the book, we are both. We are intelligent but we still pursue immature, nonsensical, bigoted behavior anyway. The basic to a good life is applying rationality to the utmost irrational aspect of life, the emotions.

There is a mirror of Buddhism in the rational-emotive approach as it recognizes that no matter what happened in your past, it is the present that matters and what you can do NOW to improve it. The author, Ellis learned this himself as a child: that you don’t have to become upset by circumstances unless you allow yourself to be, it is always possible to control your reactions. Even though this form of therapy is tough-minded, it in fact signifies an optimistic view of people.

Why you should read this book

It is an excellent self-help book on psychotherapy without the use of psychology jargon making it fit for laypeople. It essentially delivers emotionally troubled individuals with all the answers they seek especially those suffering from depression.

A Guide to Rational Living can benefit anyone to understand how their emotions are initiated, and most importantly how reasonably happy and fruitful life can be yours just through discipline and more caution in your thinking.

You may be doubtful of the fact that reasoning is the way out of your emotional clutter, but Ellis’s revolutionary ideas that are supported by his forty years of cognitive psychology is the rationale that it works. 

How to Deal With Anxiousness During a Pandemic?

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how-to-deal-with-anxiety

Fear is a reaction to a definite and very real threat, whereas, anxiety is a reaction to ambiguous or bizarre threats and it is absolutely essential to gain insight on how to deal with anxiousness. Anxiety is conspicuous when we believe that an unsafe or disastrous event may take place and we are automatically anticipating it. Every person at some point in time in their life experiences anxiety at their own different degree and intensity.

A pandemic is a specific and rare state of affairs. The outbreak of novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) which was  “characterized as a pandemic” by the director of World Health, (Ghebreyesus, 2020).

“It has deeply disturbed how we live and work, and many of us are feeling comprehensibly stressed, confused, and frightened. This is not just a public health crisis, it is a crisis that will touch every sector, So every sector and every individual must be involved in the fights.” 

(Ghebreyesus, 2020)

Hence, it is normal to feel anxious during a pandemic. Fear and anxiety related to a disease can be overwhelming, which could result in strong emotions in adults and children. However, for some people it is hard to control their fears which is more perpetual and happens to affect their daily lives. 

Anxiety in the course of an infectious disease outbreak includes:

  • Stress and concern regarding their own health and the health of the family
  • Change in sleep pattern and the eating style
  • Struggling to concentrate on important matters
  • Deterioration of prolonged health problems
  • Deterioration of mental health problems
  • Increased consumption of cigarettes, alcohol, or any other type of drug

The heightened anxiety during the hectic, unprecedented time is inevitable but there are ways to improve your attitude in dealing with it that can greatly reduce your overall sense of helplessness.  Instead of feeling the waves of lockdown anxiety, we could learn how to overcome anxiousness during a pandemic.

Ways to Deal With Anxiety During Pandemics

Stay informed about the news and advises from relevant authorities

It is important to know what’s happening in your area and to take the necessary precautions when required. Stay away from the fabricated information going around that makes you more anxious. Use reliable sources such as the World Health Organization, health authorities, reliable local newspaper. Avoid constant monitoring of news and social media feeds which can aggravate your anxious feeling rather than easing it. If you are feeling overwhelmed with news feeds, try cutting down your media consumption to a specific timeframe. Verify your information before passing it to others and spreading unnecessary fright.

Concentrate on things you can control

The uncertainty surrounding this pandemic includes; how everyone acts, what’s happening in the economy, when will the lockdown finish, how long we have to work from home an all the various scenarios that might occur. We start looking for incomprehensible answers for all the scenarios we might come up without actually facing them, hence, feeling flabbergasted, anxious, and drained out.

Try shifting your attention to things you can control when you feel being caught up in the distress of thinking about what might happen during this pandemic and ways to overcome anxiousness. One cannot control the harshness of the pandemic but can take steps to reduce the spread and fear of risk surrounding it. There are plenty of things people can do to control the spread, especially to the ones who are at high risk. Things that people can do to control the spread includes:

  • Keeping your hands clean at all times. Wash it with soap and water for 20 seconds or using alcohol-based hand sanitizer especially after visiting the washroom, before eating and touching your face, after coughing or sneezing.
  • Avoid touching your face, especially eyes, nose, and mouth.
  • Limit your non-essential travel and shopping, except going out to buy medicine or food. Stay home when you are not even sick.
  • Practice social distancing – avoid close contact with other people and avoid crowds and gatherings.
  • Plan your self-isolation/self-quarantine – It’s okay to be concerned about what’s happening at the workplace, school, and with other relatives and friends. Plan for what you can and being proactive can relieve some level of fear and anxiety.
  • Follow your health authorities’ recommendations and advice.

Stay connected even during self-isolation or self-quarantine

While it is very important to maintain social distance yourself from other people to condense the spread of the virus, social distancing can be its own source of stress – the worries about families and friends, particularly those who are at higher risk with job security and the upcoming financial problems. Few or no social contacts incubates anxiety and over time it builds up making it hard to contain. Also, cutting down on social interactions causes loneliness which can lead to depression. Hence it’s important to stay connected and reach out to support when needed.

Try doing video chats with your loved ones. Face-to-face chats will uplift your mental health and help in reducing stress and fear of being alone.  

Stay engaged with social media in a meaningful way to feel connected in a greater way to our communities, friends, family, and acquaintances is the best means to beat social anxiety.            

While chatting, don’t let the conversation be only on the pandemic, move out of that discussion, and enjoy each other’s company with your laughs and stories, and talk on other things of life.

It’s the right time to explore the full potential of digital technologies that will assist us to stay connected.

Take care of yourself

Good self-care helps in keeping your immune system healthy. It is important to eat a balanced diet, get enough sleep, engaging in leisure activities that will help keep you physically and psychologically healthy, and stress-free. Here are ways in which you can practice good self-care during this pandemic:

  • Go easy on yourself if you facing more than the usual depression or anxiety. You are not alone.
  • If you are stuck at home for isolation, make a routine for yourself and habit to follow it such as mealtime, work schedules, sleep time, family time, and leisure time. This will help you feel a sense of normalcy.
  • Get yourself plenty of sunshine and fresh air – you will feel good.           
  • Stay active by engaging in regular exercise – cycling, walking or hiking, yoga, or practice online exercise videos. This will, in turn, help manage your mood to release and relieve your stress.
  • Avoid using alcohol or other addictive and harmful substances/drugs to help in dealing with anxiety and depression.

Help each other during a crisis

During this time of crisis, everyone is worried about their fears and concern. A lot of people have lost their jobs or are working on reduced hours during this pandemic and they are worried about their family, financial status and when will this pandemic end. It’s important to remind everyone that we are not alone in this. Helping others will make a greater difference not only to your communities but the world at large and this will also elevate your own mental health and well-being. Panic buying by people has also made others who are not able to afford in fear of price increase or shortage of food supplies – similar to the epic toilet paper fight.

  • Try reaching out to others in need. Especially the elders or less fortunate ones.
  • Donate food/cash to help older people, low-income earners, or those who lost their jobs.
  • Being a positive influence on someone’s life in this anxious time will make you feel better about your situation.
  • Barter for a better living – helping others with what they need in return for what they can do for you will make you feel content and less anxious.

Conclusion

All in all, this pandemic is worst the world has ever faced and everyone is going through their own set of fear and anxiety and each person’s mental health is deeply affected. It is important to follow certain measures on how to deal with anxiousness during a pandemic that will help throughout this time of uncertainty.

Neurofolin – L-Methylfolate for Dietary Management of Depression

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Neurofolin

Neurofolin is an item of nourishment for the special medicinal purposes that provides nutritional support in the management of depression. The main content of Neurofolin is L-Methylfolate which is an active form of folate found to be deficient in individuals experiencing depressive disorders. It nutritionally supports by creating mood-regulating neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine. Neurofolin has shown to be a promising adjunct therapy as it has successfully been used together with depression’s primary treatment, anti-depression medicine

Individuals with depressive disorders can experience a treatment that is partially effective at relieving their depression and some that cause unbearable side effects. It is likely it may be treatment-resistant depression where symptoms have not improved after being treated for depression.  In situations like this, it is best to work closely with your psychiatrist to explore options like supplementing with L-Methylfolate.

How does Neurofolin work?

Neurofolin has been precisely formulated for the nutritional support of depression management and contains 15mg of L-Methylfolate – an active form of folate.

Folate is a B-group vitamin and like all B vitamins, folate plays a vital role in maintaining the well-being of the nervous system and aids in processing fats and carbohydrates.  In addition to other health complications, folate deficiency can be associated with the development of the major depressive disorder (MDD). In fact, studies have successfully linked folate deficiency to depression.

Regular folic acid cannot cross the blood-brain barrier and need to be transformed to L-Methylfolate in the body before entering the brain, Neurofolin, on the other hand, contains the L-Methylfolate which avoids this step and directly crosses the blood-brain carrier. Once in the brain, L-Methylfolate helps to produce a vital cofactor called BH4 which is involved in the creation of key neurotransmitters dopamine, serotonin, and epinephrine that is found to be deficient in individuals with major depressive disorder.

What are the Benefits of Neurofolin?

  • Provides access to faster and an active form of folate
  • Proficient strength as it is available in 15mg doses
  • Provides brain and mood support as L-Methyfolate is significant for the production of neurotransmitters related to sleep, concentration, energy, and mood stability.
  • Well tolerated when added to anti-depressant therapy
  • Adjunctive treatment for depression, making it a positive addition to depression management 

Highlighted below are two examples of how people have benefited from the dietary supplement:

  • By taking L-Methylfolate, Colbey’s mental health showed significant improvement and after five months the symptoms had reduced significantly.
  • Neurofolin is seen as a major development for depression sufferers in Australia.

What are the side effects of taking L-Methylfolate?

L-Methylfolate is generally well tolerated when taken in normal doses, however, it can cause a reaction in some people, particularly when taken in high doses. Some of the common side effects include bloating, sleeping difficulties, and nausea. Other possible reactions to L-Methylfolate, especially when taken in a higher quantity include irritability, abdominal pain, decreased appetite, problem staying focused, and feelings of discomfort. Some of the serious side effects which need to be immediately reported to your health care provider include seizures, confusion, or numbness. Mentioned above are most of the side effects, but not all, your health care provider will be able to confer a comprehensive list with you.

Guidelines for Use

Neurofolin being a water-soluble diet supplement comes as an effervescent powder in 15g sachets. Each sachet can be consumed once daily by completely dissolving in 200ml of normal temperature or chilled water, taking note that it needs to be stirred briskly and consumed straightaway.

Where to Buy:

OUT OF STOCK

Conclusion

To sum up, it is important for individuals with depressive symptoms to be examined by a mental health professional and also advisable to seek professional medical advice before self-administering Neurofolin. There is certainly an affirmative global trend in depression treatment towards augmenting medications with particular nutritional support to increase the number of individuals who benefit.

How to Get Rid of Anxiousness

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how-to-get-rid-of-anxiety

Millions of people around the globe are suffering from an anxiety disorder and tend to look up answers on how to get how to get rid of anxiousness.

Anxiety disorder is the most common type of mental health issue which is highly treatable if done at the right time. There are two types of anxiety i.e. the good anxiety which we should keep as that’s what gets us going every day and the bad anxiety, which we need to get rid of or reduce to a certain point where it is not significant.

It is essential that we take steps to overcome bad anxiety and recapture control of your life. This article provides insight into ways to tackle your anxiety disorder.

how to get rid of anxiousness

Ways to get rid of anxiousness:

1. Stay in your current time zone

Anxiety is a future preoccupied state of mind. What’s going to happen? Try to wind back into your present situation and activity. Ask yourself if you have something to do right now rather than thinking of a detached situation that throws you off track.

2. Look around and breathe

Stop what you are doing, look around, focus on some object, and intrude your line of thoughts. Also, perform deep breathing by breathing in and out heavily. This will re-center your mind and help you concentrate better and provide relief from the feeling of anxiousness.

3. Watch a comic video

Play your favorite cartoon, comedy shows/videos or anything that can make you laugh and stop your current thoughts. Laughing is a best pill for a restless mind and helps you generate fresh thoughts.

4. Meditate

Fill your mind with positive thoughts so that positive energy surrounds you which restricts you from getting anxious. Start the day with 10 minutes of privacy and positivity. With a calm and open mind, chant within yourself the word ‘OM’. This will help relax the mind and fill you up with confident energy from within.

5. Exercise

Exercise is the best anti-anxiety therapy. It helps in clearing the mind, shooting up the hormones of the brain and nervous system that helps you sleep better. The least you can do is take a 15 minutes’ walk down the lane and this will help get rid of the wretchedness.

6. Cut down on sugar and caffeine intake and eat healthy

It’s tempting to reach out for something sweet like cakes and chocolates, but it can do more harm as it can aggravate the anxious feelings. Also, consuming too much caffeine can increase heart palpitation and trigger panic or anxiety attacks. Instead of sugar and caffeine get your hands on a healthy and balanced diet. Tips for eating healthy that will assist in getting rid of anxiousness include:

  • Include protein in your breakfast
  • Include carbs such as whole grains
  • Drinking plenty of water
  • Limiting or entirely cutting on caffeine
  • Limiting or entirely cutting on alcohol
  • Limiting sugary foods and soda drinks
  • Eating balanced meals on time

7. Cut down on negative thoughts about people

In every step of our life, we are bound to find people and their ideologies to which we may not agree with. Nonetheless, we should not allow their thoughts to draw our potential positive energy into negative energy. It is extremely difficult to reason with people whose opinions are different from ours. As such, it becomes critical to focus on oneself and draw thoughts from within which gives us hope and strength to go through the tough times. Focus on our own character development, self-care, self-consciousness, self-soothing, and loving people around us which is of utmost importance and only things to be pondered upon.

Understandably, the situations are around us sometimes take control of our feelings and we tend to drift into anxious thoughts, which may eventually exacerbate our anxiety disorder.

One must better understand their personal circumstances to be able to distinguish between good and bad anxiety, slowly getting rid of anxiousness resulting from bad anxiety.

To put this into perspective, practical tips on how to get rid of anxiousness will only get you results if you consciously implement these tactics daily in your life.