Depression Can Be Contagious By Shereen Dindar

Source: Yahoo News

The idea that your mood is affected by those you spend time with is probably not news to you.

But what if we told you that something as serious as depression -- a possible chemical imbalance in one's brain that can immobilize some -- can be triggered by being around others who exhibit depressive behaviours.

A recent study by psychological scientists Gerald Haeffel and Jennifer Hames from the University of Notre Dame suggests that university students who live together can pass on their depression, through a mental process known as "cognitive vulnerability."

"Our study demonstrates that cognitive vulnerability has the potential to wax and wane over time depending on the social context," the researchers write in their paper.
Cognitive Vulnerability

Cognitive vulnerability -- a term used to describe a particular world view where people assume stressful life events are out of their control and occur because of their own deficiency -- is a significant risk factor for depression, the researchers say.

Experiencing cognitive vulnerability makes individuals more likely to experience a depressive episode in the future, even if they have never had a depressive episode before.

The researchers hypothesized that cognitive vulnerability might be "contagious" during major life transitions, when our social environments are in flux.

To test their idea, they followed 103 randomly assigned roommate pairs, all of whom were in their first year of university.

"Freshmen are an ideal sample for testing the hypotheses because they are experiencing a major life transition that involves a significant change to their social environment, are at the peak age for developing depression and can be randomly assigned to a roommate," the researchers write.

The participants completed an online questionnaire that measured cognitive vulnerability and depressive symptoms at the one-, three- and six-month mark. They also recorded any stressful life events at the three- and six-month mark.

The results reveal that those who had a roommate with high levels of cognitive vulnerability were likely to "catch" their roommate’s cognitive style and also develop higher levels of cognitive vulnerability. The effects were evident at both the three-month and six-month mark.

"Our findings suggest that it may be possible to use an individual’s social environment as part of the intervention process [to treat depression]," the researchers write.

The power of prayer: Believing in God can help treat depression

By Rachel Reilly Source: Daily Mail


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2314781/Believing-God-help-treat-depression.html

Belief in God may improve treatment for those suffering with depression, says a new study.

Faith in a higher being has been found to significantly improve treatment for people suffering with a psychiatric illness, according to research carried out by McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts.

Researchers followed 159 patients over the course of a year at the Behavioral Health Partial Hospital program at McLean to investigate the relationship between a patient's level of belief in God, expectations for treatment and actual treatment outcomes.

Each participant was asked to gauge their belief in God as well as their expectations for treatment outcome on a five-point scale.

Levels of depression, wellbeing, and self-harm were assessed at the beginning and end of their treatment program.

Researchers found that patients with 'no' or only 'slight' belief in God were twice as likely not to respond to treatment than patients with higher levels of belief.

And more than 30 per cent of patients claiming no specific religious affiliation still saw the same benefits in treatment if their belief in God was rated as moderately or very high.

The study, published in the Journal of Affective Disorders, said: 'Our work suggests that people with a moderate to high level of belief in a higher power do significantly better in short-term psychiatric treatment than those without, regardless of their religious affiliation.

Belief was associated with not only improved psychological wellbeing, but a decrease in depression and intention to self-harm, explained David Rosmarin, McLean Hospital clinician and instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical.

He added: 'I hope that this work will lead to larger studies and increased funding in order to help as many people as possible.'

Previous studies have highlighted the power of prayer on a person's health.

Research at San Francisco General Hospital monitored the effects of prayer on 393 cardiac patients.

Patients were asked if they wanted to take part in the trial but were not told whether they would be the subject of prayers.

Half were prayed for by a group of strangers who only had the patients' names.

Those who were prayed for had fewer complications, fewer cases of pneumonia and needed less drug treatment.

They also improved more quickly and were able to leave hospital earlier.

A separate study, at Columbia University in New York, asked people in Australia, the U.S. and Canada to pray for named people undergoing IVF treatment in Korea.
Of the group in Korea, half had prayers said about them by the foreign strangers.

Among this half, the success rate for implantation of the embryo in the womb went up from 8 per cent to 16 per cent.

Cases of successful conception - where the foetus started developing - went up from 25 to 50 per cent.

Depression: Meditate, Medicate or Both?

By Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D.

The World Health Organization estimates that by 2020, depression will be the second largest issue in ill health worldwide. Clinical depression is defined as a persistent depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure for at least two weeks along with a number of other physical and psychological symptoms. These could include poor sleep, loss of appetite, a sense of hopelessness and others. Studies have now found that the more often a person experiences depression, the more likely they will be to experience it again (70-80% chance of relapse for people who have suffered two or more episodes).
But depression doesn’t usually occur alone and is often mixed with other issues such as anxiety and panic. So what do we do, medicate, meditate, both?
The Psychiatric field has found medications that increase the flow of certain neurotransmitters in the brain that can help relieve these feelings of depression. However, because of the relapse rate, the American Psychiatric Administration had to come up with three phases of treatment with medications, acute, continuation, and maintenance. Acute medication treatment was aimed at relieving symptoms during a depressive episode. Continuation treatment was for prescribing medication for 6 months after the episode had passed and maintenance was to prescribe for up to 3 years.
So what’s the problem here? What happens after 3 years? What about the people whom medication doesn’t agree with or unable to take?
Medication was not meant to be a permanent solution to mental health issues because they don’t target the supposed causes of the episode itself, but more to help relieve symptoms for a period of time so people who are suffering could cultivate the stability and skills to support themselves moving forward. Medication can be a wonderful support; however, it’s important to also cultivate the skills to work with the potential relapse of depression moving forward.
There is a more effective long term strategy.
Whether you take medication or not, you can learn a new way of relating to distress; rather than avoiding it, you can learn to approach it and live in the midst of it. We can learn to be grateful during the good times and graceful during the more difficult times. This ability to cultivate the skill of surfing the difficult emotions that arise has profound consequences for what follows.
When we spend our time hating and cursing the distress it’s as if we are sending negative energy into a blob of negative energy. The negativity we’re sending is food for that blob and it only grows. We don’t realize that the way we are relating to our depression, adds to it. It’s difficult to grasp this concept if we’re in the depression and that is why this approach is best when the episode is lifting or has lifted. Here is where medication can be supportive.
What we practice and repeat in life becomes automatic, that’s just the way our brains work.
What would be different if we practiced and repeated doing the exact opposite from what our brains want to do when difficulties arise? Here’s a picture I’ve shown before from The Now Effect that is an example of a simple yet effective practice:

“If all you did was put your hand on your heart and wish yourself well it would be a moment well spent.” ~ The Now Effect

The poet Hafiz said,

“Don’t turn away. Keep your gaze on the bandaged place, that’s where the light enters.”

Mindfulness is a practical approach in learning how to keep your gaze on the bandaged place, because ‘the how’ really matters. We want to dress the vulnerability with a kind, warm, supportive and curious attention, but this is not something most of us have learned how to do, but it is a skill that all of us are able to learn.
Working with mindfulness and meditation in this way is only one approach toward depression that is showing encouraging results  in studies for preventing depressive relapse. However, there may be other ways that are supportive to you.
As always, please share your thoughts and stories below as your interaction here provides a living wisdom for us all to benefit from.
Depressed woman photo available from Shutterstock

Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D. is author of The Now Effect, co-author of A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook, Foreword by Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of Mindfulness Meditations for the Anxious Traveler: Quick Exercises to Calm Your Mind, the Mindful Solutions audio series, and the Mindfulness at Work™ program currently being adopted in multiple multinational corporations. Join The Now Effect Community for free Daily Now Moments, Weekly Updates and tips and free access to a Live Monthly Online Event with Elisha Goldstein, PhD. He is a clinical psychologist in private practice in West Los Angeles.

12-Steps to Creating Motivation When Depressed

12-Steps to Creating Motivation When Depressed
By Nathan Feiles, LMSW

Creating motivation when feeling depressed can be one of the most difficult things a person can do. An episode of depression can be physically and emotionally draining. The simplest of tasks seem to take maximum effort, and sometimes even beyond maximum. Some may feel lethargic. It may be tough make meals, or clean up at home, or take showers, or even get out of bed.

Navigating motivation when depressed can be tough because the instinct is to wait for the energy to return. People who are depressed often fall into the trap of trying to wait it out — that if you give in to the urge to stay in bed for a few days, that you’ll be re-energized and recharged, believing you’ll have exorcised the depression demons by just “going with it”.

Unfortunately, it’s not usually as simple as this. If everybody tried to wait out their depressive episodes, some people would be in bed for 20 years, realizing somewhere along the way that depression actually tends to breed depression if it’s not actively confronted. That’s right, catering to our depressive urges actually reinforces them.

Obviously, actively doing anything doesn’t sound so desirable when feeling depressed, let alone confronting our depressive urges head-on. While it’s important to give depressive symptoms their attention and get to understand and learn about what’s underlying the depressive episode, the concept of “mind over matter” can help create motivation when depressed. I have seen evidence with many people that creating a change in mindset with small, manageable, behavioral steps can change a whole experience of depression. For some it’s brought their symptoms entirely into remission. This doesn’t replace taking the steps to learn more about what’s causing the episodes, but these steps can help us move on with our lives while we continue to work on the underlying issues.

Let’s look at some steps that can help break an episode or a cycle of depression.

1) Opposite Action – In Dialectical-Behavioral Therapy (an offshoot of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy), Opposite Action is the idea of forcing yourself to do something that you know is good for you, in order to prevent the reinforcement of a bad habit. For example, if you want to stay on the couch and watch tv all day, when realizing this only gives in to depression, opposite action would say to get up and go out, knowing it would be a healthier behavior. It’s very much a “just to the opposite of your unhealthy urge” technique. In CBT, the principle is that your behaviors can create positive changes in your emotions.

2) Set an Alarm – This isn’t only for getting out of bed. The alarm can be for anything that marks a symptom of depression. You might set an alarm to wake yourself up at a certain time to make sure you get out of bed in the morning; or you might set an alarm to signal a meal time if you’re missing meals, or signal time to do laundry, or run a particular set of errands, and so on. The alarm serves as a cue to draw your attention to a target area where you want to become more active in change.

3) Make Your Bed – Getting out of bed can be very tough with depression. The first step to take is to sit up on the bed, put your feet on the floor, and visualize leaving all of your troubles and thoughts behind you in the bed. Then, get up and nicely make your bed, leaving the troubles behind for the day. Making the bed is essential in this process, as it signals to your brain that there isn’t an option to get back in the bed for the day. As you make your bed, it can also be helpful to imagine the troubles you’re left behind dissipating as the covers are pulled up.

4) Wash Up – The more routine-setting steps you’re able to add on after you make your bed, the better. Try washing your face and brushing your teeth to help wake you up. With these kind of steps you’re training your brain to understand that you’re getting ready for “something,” rather than simply a day laying around.

5) Get Dressed – This is a crucial step in separating from the bed to the day. Sitting around in pajamas on the couch is still possible, even if you escape the bedroom. Getting dressed decreases the urge to lounge, because again you’re reinforcing in your brain that you’re getting ready for something.

6) Go Outside – This can be one of the toughest steps for people who struggle with depression — actually leaving the house. One of the problems with this step is that people are easily held back by not having a place to go. “Okay, I can go outside…..but then what?” So for this step, the idea is to not have a place to go. The goal is going outside, not the particular place you go once you’re outside. Go outside, close the door behind you, and do whatever comes to mind — a walk around the block, down the street, pacing in front of your house, getting in your car and driving on an errand, and so on. It can be anything or nothing at all, but the goal is to spend at least ten minutes outside before going back in.

7) Choose One Exercise – Getting your body moving is a good way to start feeling better. Choose an exercise that works for you: walking, running, swimming, jump-roping, etc. Whatever you choose to do, make it a point to do it every day when you go outside. And if it’s an indoor exercise (like a treadmill), do it before you go outside.

8) Make a List of Activities – Brainstorm activities that you’d enjoy doing. Include things to do at home and out with people. Try to generate a list of things that includes others and that gives you some time to yourself. The activities can be a mix of productive (e.g. work-related) activities, and hobbies, and self-care.

9) Schedule Activities – Schedule the activities throughout the week. Try to plan out either one or two weeks ahead of time and actually write the activities into your calendar with specific days and times. Spread them out as much as possible and make sure to stick to the schedule.

10) Daily Necessity Schedule – This schedule is if you’re having trouble getting motivated to do your daily activities — such as eating, cooking, showering, or other household chores. For this, you’re creating a daily home schedule. Choose the specific times you’re going to do each activity every day. It can be as specific as you feel you need: time to get dressed, brush your teeth, start cooking, eating, showering, turning off the tv before bed, and so on. This is to help you get your daily necessities actually functioning on a daily basis.

11) See Family and Friends – This one is more about the people than the activity. Being around other people is often helpful for mood improvement. Schedule specific dates and times with friends and family, outside of the house. The more you can remove yourself from the environment of depression (usually the home and bedroom), the better chance of overcoming it.

12) Psychotherapy – It’s important to keep in mind that the desire to stay inside and and lay around isn’t what causes depression — it is a symptom of depression. Psychotherapy remains a necessary step throughout the process of dealing with depression in order to prevent further episodes, reduce severity, and hopefully be rid of depression altogether. Even if we can resolve some of the motivational issues through pushing ourselves to take behavioral steps, the internal issues that are causing the depression still need to be addressed. Otherwise, when our motivation drops, the depression may return if we don’t have a handle on the underlying issues.

What’s most important to keep in mind is that you’re not going to feel like doing anything discussed above. If you’re going to wait to “feel like it”, then it may not happen. Using opposite action will be the necessary first step to conquering depression — knowing in your mind that it will be good for you to take the steps to move forward, and just doing it. By also engaging in psychotherapy, you’re still able to give appropriate attention to what’s happening inside of you, including if medication therapy may (or may not) also be helpful. You do have the power to increase your motivation and to break out of depression. It may take some effort, but the opportunity is there for you to reclaim your life.


Last reviewed: 28 Jan 2013

APA Reference
Anonymous. (2013). 12-Steps to Creating Motivation When Depressed. Psych Central. Retrieved on January 30, 2013, from http://blogs.psychcentral.com/relationships-balance/2013/01/28/12-steps-to-creating-motivation-when-depressed/

A Powerful Method for Healing Depression By Dr. Margaret Paul

Kendra had been depressed on and off for the last three years before consulting with me. "I've tried various medications and they help somewhat, but I still feel depressed. I've tried psychotherapy and it also helps a little but not enough for me to feel happiness or peace inside. I hate feeling this way and I just don't know what to do."

The first thing that I did to start Kendra on her Inner Bonding journey was to help her create a personal source of spiritual guidance. I asked her to make up a being who was very loving, wise and powerful - a man, woman or animal to whom she could turn, in her imagination, for help and guidance. Kendra made up an older Indian medicine woman whom she called Elder One.

Next I asked Kendra where in her body she felt the feeling of depression. "In my heart and stomach. My heart and stomach often feel so heavy and sad."

"Kendra, imagine that your feeling self, the part that is presently depressed, is a child within. How old is this child?" She told me she thought the child was around six.

"Now, imagine that you are sitting in a beautiful place in nature with Elder One. Imagine that Elder One is surrounding you with love so that you feel safe. Now imagine that little six-year old depressed Kendra is also with you. Ask her how she feels about you as her inner parent, her inner mom and dad. Ask her how you are treating her that is causing her to feel depressed. Ask her out loud."

"Okay. Little Kendra, how do you feel about me as a parent? How am I treating you that is causing you to feel so depressed?"

"Now go inside and imagine that you are little Kendra and that you are talking to you as the adult, the inner parent. What do you as little Kendra want to say to adult Kendra? How does adult Kendra treat you? What is adult Kendra doing that causes you to feel so bad?"

Little Kendra: "I barely exist for you. You really don't care about how I feel. You never stand up for me with other people. You decide on things without ever asking me how I feel about it - like having dinner with Kathy tonight. I don't want to have dinner with Kathy. All she does is talk about herself and I just end up feeling drained. But you don't care about how I feel. You don't want to say no or tell Kathy the truth because she might feel hurt or angry - but what about me? You never speak up for me with Harold (her husband) either. I just feel like I don't exist in this marriage, just like with Mom. You treat me just like Mom treated me - like what I want and feel doesn't matter. Other people are always more important to you than me. And you constantly tell me that I'm not doing things right and I have to be perfect. And then you eat junk to not feel me. Of course I'm depressed! How else would you expect me to feel?"

Kendra started to cry at this point, and little Kendra continued. "I'm so mad at you! When are you going to care about me!"

"So," I said, "You are a caretaker with your husband and friends. You take care of them but neglect yourself. You allow them to control you without standing up for yourself. Can you see how this would lead to depression?"

Kendra was quite stunned by this information. She had believed that her depression was caused by outside events, rather than by how she was treating herself. She thought it was due to a chemical imbalance and to her husband's controlling behavior. Her husband was indeed controlling, but it was her response to him and others that was one of the causes of her depression, rather than her husband's or friends' behavior.

Kendra began to see that until she had the courage to take loving care of herself, she would continue to be depressed. Through practicing Inner Bonding, she learned to open to Elder One for guidance about loving behavior toward herself. As she began to take loving action for herself - for her Inner Child - her depression gradually diminished until she was able to get off the medication. Now, when she feels the depression coming up, she knows that there is some way she is not taking care of herself. She speaks with little Kendra to find out what it is, and with Elder One to discover the loving action. When she has the courage to take the loving action, her depression goes away. Kendra has learned that practicing is a powerful method for healing her depression.

Nothing Has Meaning Without Love and Connection By Dr. Margaret Paul

Gretchen is typical of many of the clients that I work with. In our first session she said:

I've been depressed on and off throughout my life. Medication helped for a while, but now all it does is make me feel more flat and empty. Life seems to have no meaning for me. Nothing looks beautiful. Nothing is compelling to me. I can't think of anything I really want to do. I've tried many forms of therapy but nothing has worked to heal my depression. I don't know why I'm here on this planet. What is it all about?

Most therapies do not deal with the underlying cause of anxiety and depression. Lila, a member of the Inner Bonding® website, shared this about her healing process:

I must’ve gone through dozens of therapists since my first one at 17.  Several were even psychiatrists. And they helped ... but not in an all-the-way-to-the-very-bone way…. I kept working to treat specific problems, but still felt incomplete once they were solved…. it’s because my inner child needed much, much more than that.  She needed unconditional love from me—something traditional therapy somehow couldn’t quite provide….Lately, whenever I think about logical, strategic cognitive behavioral therapy, its techniques and tools, my inner child rebels intensely…..self-love comes first; filling up from within comes first. Regardless of my social status, my financial status, my career status, my marital status, without self-love, I have nothing if I don’t have that…. I know that because of Inner Bonding, I will eventually be able to live a normal life….Meditating with a conscious intent to love myself and Inner Bonding with the same intent is becoming my way of learning to love myself unconditionally—regardless of how other people react to me.  And I can see that in loving myself, I will also automatically become more loving toward others too.

I started my work with Gretchen with an Inner Bonding process:

"Gretchen, please tune into what you are feeling right now."

"Sad. Empty. Depressed. Pretty much like I feel most of the time."

"Please breathe into these feelings, getting fully present with them….Can you find a place within you that wants responsibility for being the cause of these feelings?"

"Are you saying that I might be causing these feelings?"

"Yes, you might be. If you are, are you willing to find out what you might be thinking and how you might be treating yourself that is causing them?"

"Well, yes, I am!"

"Your feelings are an inner guidance system. Imagine that your feelings are a child within, letting you know each moment whether you are taking loving care of her, or abandoning her. Now, breathe into your heart, and open to curiosity about what you might be telling yourself or how you might be treating yourself that is causing your inner little girl to feel sad, empty, and depressed. Then focus inside again and allow the feelings to answer."

Child Gretchen: "All you do is judge me, all the time. You are always telling me that I'm not good enough, that I didn't do something right, and that I'm stupid."

Adult Gretchen: "Oh my God! I do this all the time, just like my mother did!"

"And what did you want from your mother?"

"I wanted her to hold me, to care about my feelings, to be kind and gentle with me."

"Isn't this exactly what your inner child wants from you?"

"Yes! But I never thought that this is something I could give to myself. I thought it had to come from someone else."
 "Gretchen, do you have any kind of spiritual connection?"

"I believe in God, if that's what you mean."

"Can you talk with God and also hear God talking with you?"

"I don’t know. I've just prayed to God, but I never tried talking to God or listening to God."

"Try it now. Ask God 'What is the first thing I need to start to do to begin to take loving care of my little girl?"

"…………..God says to stop judging her - that she is a wonderful little girl and doesn’t deserve to ever be judged by me. God is showing me as a little girl - I was so sweet!"

"How do you feel right now?"

"Good! I feel good! I feel alive!

Gretchen started to diligently practice Inner Bonding and within a short time, was consistently taking loving care of herself. Life took on new meaning, aliveness and passion for her as she learned to love herself and share her love with others.