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Showing posts with label mental health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mental health. Show all posts
Sunday, September 4, 2011
I thought it would be helpful to share these 12 things happy people do differently posted by Marc at Marc and Angel Hack Life. It is good to keep in mind the things we can do to help stave off depression and a negative outlook.
1. Express Gratitude -- Lots of people have recently discovered this. The Psalms are full of praise to God, especially at the end of those that express in vivid terms how the pray-er is despondent and devoid of hope. At the end, he praises God nevertheless. Always find something to be grateful for.
2. Cultivate Optimism -- I think this is closely related to number 1. The biggest font of optimism that I have found is Romans 8:28, "All things work together for good for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose. " Hang tightly onto that verse and keep it close to your heart.
3. Avoid over-thinking and social comparison -- How hard this is for me!! I grew up smack in the middle of a family quite found of both over-thinking and social comparison. The solution for this is holy simplicity. Our dear spiritual fathers St. Benedict and St. Francis were very in touch with the value of humility and simplicity--so much so that Francis literally gave everything he owned away--even the clothes on his back.
When tempted to over-think we need to rest in God and trust that He has things under control.
The Serenity Prayer is apt here as well:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I canand the wisdom to know the difference.
So many religions have as a central tenant, the idea of letting go. This goes a long way to inner peace.
4. Practice random acts of kindness -- This is another idea that is taking off like gangbusters, but can never be done enough. How easy it is these days to keep in our own heads and not even notice there are others about much less reach out to serve them.
Our faith tells us differently. If we are not thinking of others, we are not practicing our faith.
5. Nurture social relationships -- This is another difficult one for me. I think, also, that this is tied with the one previous. Reach out to serve others and you will nurture social relationships.
6. Develop coping strategies -- Many support groups recommend having a trusted friend you can call at any time. With the advent of new technology, it is possible to communicate instantly and silently with a trusted friend in the midst of many an emergency. Remember also, that you can always call on God. Journaling is another coping strategy as is saying the rosary.
7. Learn to forgive -- another central tenant of our faith, learning to forgive is hard. If we are aware of our own failings, forgiving others will come easier.
8. Increase "flow" experiences -- Marc defines "flow" as when you are one with a task. I think we can each identify a task that does that for us--playing an instrument or singing, reading, gardening, walking or playing a sport. Getting out of our own heads is important.
9. Savor life's joys -- This is very important and also a challenge. Life's joys, like life's sorrows, do not last. The joys need to savored in the moment. Living in the moment is another important aspect of many of the world's religions.
10. Commit to your goals -- Sometimes it is difficult to commit to our goals because we are afraid to fail. Do it anyway. Make God your partner and you will not fail, even when it seems as though you have.
11. Practice spirituality -- It has been shown that those who practice a religion are happier. I know I could not long survive without my faith. A faith that gives you Someone to love and to share your sorrows with, along with a purpose in life and an explanation for its sorrows, is one that will make you more well-balanced and happier.
12. Take care of your body -- Another challenge for so many reasons. My advice here would be to take this to prayer if you are having difficulty, either believing you deserve it, or in paying for it in this challenging economy.
Labels: mental health
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Therese Borchard writes a thought-provoking article on her blog, Beyond Blue entitled Are Puritans Behind the War on Antidepressants? Borchard suffers from depression and has written three books on the subject. She is also the associate editor at Psych Central where she also blogs.
Her premise here is that our country's Puritan heritage has caused us to look askance at psych meds, believing that we should "tough it out." Underneath this belief, she says, is the idea that the depressed person is at fault and must endure God's punishment. This attitude, of course, can be part of and fuel the depression itself--not the best way to kick it.
Christ spoke against the blame-the-victim mentality when he told the disciples regarding the man born blind that it was neither his sin nor his parents' that caused the man's blindness. Nevertheless, this dangerous misconception continues in many religious circles even today.
Borchard points out that most of the anti-medication claims are either "groundless or simplistic". I'll add that this tendency lends itself beautifully to most media articles on the subject. People read (and write) in attention-grabbing headlines and fail to point out the scientific nuances in these studies that should color treatment decisions.
This article is an essential read for anyone who is touched by depression--their own or someone else's.
Labels: mental health, mental illness
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
I realized recently that there are many important things I've learned from various sources that God has put into my life. Conveniently, there are ten of them--a nice round number.
Find someone you like? There is probably something about yourself that you and that person share. You can learn a lot about yourself by finding out what you and that other person have in common.
1. Shift judgements to curiosities ~Rescue Institute
I found The Rescue Institute recently on Twitter. They tweet all kinds of motivational type sayings and this is the one that hit me the most.
I love the idea of being curious about life. I think it keeps us feeling alive and in touch with all that the Creator has put here with us.
I love the idea of being curious about life. I think it keeps us feeling alive and in touch with all that the Creator has put here with us.
Judging closes us off. It closes off communication and prevents real change.
Curiosity opens us up to share God's Love.
Curiosity opens us up to share God's Love.
2. There is a physiological/psychological basis for many things that we assume people do out of pure ignorance or stubbornness.
I learned this recently in a behaviorism class I'm in at work. Even such mundane things as what we like (or don't like) to eat is partially based on an in-born trait. Taste aversions are common in human beings and are there to help us avoid things that are poisonous. It is easier to "learn" to dislike a taste than it is to learn many other things.
Various types of behavioral conditioning are acting on us even when we are not aware of it. This may result in us disliking some pretty odd things for some pretty illogical reasons.
For example, if you feel ill from spoiled food, you may not learn to dislike that food in the future. Your brain may have learned to associate the nauseated feeling, not with the food, but with the song that was playing on the radio at the time you felt ill! You may still be able to eat that food in the future, but forever dislike that song.
Makes no sense? It does to your brain!
For example, if you feel ill from spoiled food, you may not learn to dislike that food in the future. Your brain may have learned to associate the nauseated feeling, not with the food, but with the song that was playing on the radio at the time you felt ill! You may still be able to eat that food in the future, but forever dislike that song.
Makes no sense? It does to your brain!
3. People are doing things because of THEM, not us.
This is true. It is often hard to believe, but it is essential that we err on the side of believing this truth.
4. We are attracted to like individuals.
Find someone you like? There is probably something about yourself that you and that person share. You can learn a lot about yourself by finding out what you and that other person have in common.
5. We are happier when we live according to our values.
Sounds fairly obvious, but this is also important to remember. If you are unhappy, think about where in your life you are being asked to go against your value system.
6. It is worth finding our values.
Living in alignment with our values/beliefs/preferences is worth doing. It is worth searching high and low to find out what these are.
7. Our values can be discerned by finding out what makes us happy.
Does something consistently put a smile on your face? If so, it is probably something you value. Values don't have to be the "big" things like "peace on earth".
8. There can be many ups and downs in life that fall within the range of normality.
Emotions fall on a spectrum. Think of a number line. Zero is pretty much comatose and 10 would be jumping off the Empire State Building because I believe I can fly. The territory in the middle is well within the range of normal. Life has ups and it has downs. That is ok.
[Perhaps 2 and 9 are not normal either, but you get the idea.]
9. We may need to go outside of our immediate circle to interact with people who share some of our values.
Just because we love someone doesn't mean they are 100% like us. That's ok. Variety is the spice of life.
Look outside your immediate circle to find more people who share your values.
10. Conversely, we can increase the gratitude we have for our own immediate circle by remembering numbers 1-3.
Be curious about others, don't judge them, and assume that they are acting out of something within themselves.
Labels: Gratitude, Lessons, mental health
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