Recovery is not a simple thing to accomplish without the drive to succeed. When you are sober, you start to really pay attention the things that are said. Every now and then certain words and phrases tend to stick and make an impact. Some of those thoughts can be used as mantras to keep you going through recovery and resonate with great results. These mantras don’t just apply to sobriety, they apply to life on a daily basis.
When you are suffering with depression, the mind is not as able to see things in a positive light. If you are depressed you know things are not alright, and have constant thoughts that things will work out in the end. Depressed minds get stuck in cyclical patterns of hopeless and helpless thinking, which makes it hard to find the way out and figure out what might happen next. The focus is on the dark, dull and negative images of life.
When you are suffering through depression, you know the sense of darkness and dismal outlook that sits with you each and every day. Being depressed also has a feeling of being restricting. It’s as though you just can’t quite get to things that are positive, introspective, bright and new. Here are a few ways that working to enhance your senses while suffering through depression might help you get through it.
Be Active: Being physical can actually help you get out of a funk. Exercise, sports, bike riding, hiking, etc, these sort of things pump endorphin’s into your brain and help energize you.
Taste: Experiment with different foods. Raise your curiosity level of different spices and food. Take a chance on something you’ve been wanting to try for a while. The excitement of this can help to bring you out of your depressed shell.
Listening: Engross yourself in music. Make time to listen to things that make you feel good and think of happier times. Go to a concert and hear it live. The feeling of being around other fans can help you to have a connection to the music and other people struggling with the same problems as you.
Smell: Take time to smell the roses and all that nature has to offer. Open up your sense of smell with aromas that are soothing.
Sight: Take in art, sunsets, films, and other things that can make you think. These sorts of things can help incite some creativity into another form of therapy for your depression.
For more on using your senses to help with depression visit Psychology Today, HERE.
In America depression is affecting an estimated 15.7 million people and is one of the most common mental health disorders. And a majority of those that are suffering from depression either aren’t getting the right treatment or any at all. There are certain groups are less likely to receive treatment, especially men suffering depression.
Those of whom are getting treatment often times aren’t being matched up the way they should in regards to diagnosis. People who are diagnosed with a mild form of depression are less likely to take antidepressants than those who are suffering from severe depression. The following 12 signs might provide insight on men that are suffering from depression and what to look for.
Fatigue
Too much/ Too little sleep
Stomach and Back aches
Irritability
Difficulty concentrating
Anger/Hostility
Stress
Anxiety
Substance Abuse
Sexual Dysfunction
Indecision
Suicidal Thoughts
For more on these 12 signs of depression in men visit Health.com HERE
Bruce Springsteen has been very open about his dealing with depression since a 2012 interview in The New Yorker magazine. Now “The Boss” is about to get even more candid about his battle with depression in his upcoming autobiography “Born To Run,” which comes out September 23.
In a recent interview with CBS Sunday Morning, Springsteen further elaborated he’s dealt with it through therapy, antidepressants and the support of his wife, Patti Scialfa. But he added that, as often as it’s struck him, he can never predict when it’s going to occur next.
For more on Bruce Springsteen’s battle see the video above.
In a recent study conducted by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, virtual reality was discovered to perform as well as narcotics in reducing pain. The CEO of startup company AppliedVR, Matthew Stoudt, hopes that in the near future, doctors will start prescribing doses of virtual reality rather than doses of pain pills.
AppliedVR has joined forces with Cedars in an effort to effectively combat and manage pain in a whole new way, through the advancements of digital technology. If successful, this powerhouse partnership could forever change the medical playing field as we know it. The breakthrough could revolutionize patient care.
Currently, the startup is still in the process of building an extensive library of virtual-reality content for alleviating pain and anxiety before, during, and after medical procedures. With working alongside of many various hospitals, and with the help of doctors, patients who are using the technology on Samsung’s Gear VR headset are being monitored for effectiveness.
Rachel Metz, MIT Technology Review’s senior editor for mobile, reports that:
“So far, the company has created three different virtual-reality pain applications, as well as one for reducing anxiety, Stoudt says, and it’s using some third-party content, too. Headsets running AppliedVR’s platform are being used in hospitals, doctors’ offices, and clinics for things like drawing blood and administering epidurals, as well as for pain management after operations.”
If you’re trying to stay sober, then you’re likely gathering a number of tools to stay relaxed, focused, and centered on your sobriety. In fact, one primary set of tools all recovering addicts need to learn is how to respond to stress. Frequently, it is stress that prompts a desire to drink or use drugs. It is often emotional, physical, financial, or psychological stress that causes us to turn to substances.
For instance, let’s say you recently experienced a death in your family. The pain of the loss might be too much to bear and you may turn to drinking as a way to escape the emotional pain. In other cases, perhaps you’re fearful about your financial situation and the inability to pay rent, buy food, or provide or your children. This situation can be a source of significant stress. Wanting to escape this psychological pain may be the reason to turn to drinking or drugs. But when you’re in recovery, turning to substances is no longer an option when faced with stress. Instead, you’ve got to have better, healthier ways to respond to stress.
One way to begin to respond to stress better is to get to know the sources of stress. Identify exactly what types of situations make you feel tense. You may also have to pinpoint the thoughts and feelings that create stress. You might have experiences that feel stressful, but you’re not quite sure why. You may need to think about that experience and identify the parts of that situation to help pinpoint the source of your stress.
Here are a list of questions to consider to help you identify your unique sources of stress:
What are you doing?
Where are you?
Who are you with?
What time of the day is it?
What are the circumstances?
How are you feeling emotionally?
What thoughts are you having?
What are you doing to cope with the stress – if anything?
How are you feeling physically?
In addition to identifying a specific situation and its circumstances to identify sources of stress, you may want to look for patterns of stress in your life. For instance, perhaps you get stressed whenever there’s a sudden change in plans. Perhaps the uncertainty of what you thought was going to happen is a source of anxiety. This and other patterns of stress might not be obvious at first. Yet, by focusing closely on the situations in your life, you may find unanticipated patterns.
Our stress patterns aren’t always obvious to us. But by journaling and documenting the details of a stressful moment, you can slowly become more and more aware of what makes you feel uncomfortable and what doesn’t.
Of course, once you know what triggers stress in you, you can then make changes accordingly. In some cases, you may be able to prevent the stress by modifying your behaviors, or even avoiding the situation, if necessary. In other cases, you may not be able to avoid the stress, but you can strengthen your response to stress with tools like deep breathing and other relaxation exercises.
