Self Help Daily

Inspirational and Self Help Blog with a Save the World Complex...

You are here: Home / Archives for depression

depression

Review: Rise From Darkness – Paths Out of Depression Toward Happiness

by 3 Comments

Rise from Darkness: Paths Out of Depression Toward Happiness
Rise from Darkness
There are illnesses and particularly cruel “demons” that other people battle which just leave me speechless. Battles that take uncommon strength to endure, overcome, and rise from. Alcoholism, cancer, and depression are three such demons.

Most of us take our particular paths in life for granted.  We meander along, sometimes complaining if we’re short a little money, hungry, or (egad!) inconvenienced.

Yet, how fast would we run back to our own path if we were to get a sample of the seemingly steep and grinding path others face?! A path lined with demons which want nothing more than to make forward progress treacherous. I’ve talked to many titans who have battled these demons and, almost without fail, they say that the toughest part is when you think you’ve seen the last battle, inevitably another appears.

Basically, they find themselves walking down a path that’s finally clear of demons and, just as they exhale, another jumps out.

Titans.

“In the USA, 17% of the population suffers from depression during the course of their lives, and it appears a though this may be an increasing problem… at the same time, more and more youths are becoming depressed…” – Rise from Darkness, Page 15

Personally, I believe Depression may be the most maddening of the three. With Cancer and Alcoholism, at least you know what you’re up against. People who suffer from depression often aren’t even sure what they’re battling. They feel as though they’re battling themselves, which must be an especially dark kind of hell.

BUT, the story doesn’t end there in the darkness – heck, it’s not even the middle of the story, let alone the end! The individual suffering from depression does however, have to want to escape the darkness. As author Kristian Hall says, “The very first step is to decide to start pulling yourself out of the pit. There is no one else who can do this for you; you must do it yourself.”

{Book Review Continued Below…}

Rise from Darkness: Paths Out of Depression Toward Happiness
Rise from Darkness: Paths Out of Depression Toward Happiness (Back Cover)

About the Author:

Kristian Hall went through eleven years of deep depression as a teenager and student. He overcame his depression by practicing techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy and positive psychology. His personal development did not stop there – he’s now living the life of his dreams. He lives in the deep forest around Oslo, together with his family and a very strange Maine Coon cat.

Let’s Get Back to the Path

Returning to the analogy of a dark path for a minute, I have to tell on myself. One especially hot summer day I was on a series of hiking trails here in Kentucky. I had gotten so busy (as is my style) admiring trees and birds that I looked around at one point and realized, “I have zero idea where I am and I have zero idea how I got here.”  Staying put certainly wasn’t an option, so I immediately set about finding my way out of the dark forest and back to the comfort of my vehicle.

It wouldn’t have made any sense to have sat right down where I was and bemoaned my plight and I’d have looked like a perfect, sweaty fool if I’d stood there looking around for someone to blame OR to come save me.

You get the analogy. When we find ourselves in a place we do not want to be, it’s our call to get ourselves the heck out of there.

Rise from Darkness is an IDEAL guide book for anyone on the path of darkness (depression).  People such as myself (who have never battled depression) cannot possibly offer guidance or advice. With only the best intentions, we may try, but… to be honest… what do we know?!?!

The only person who can truly navigate an individual through the dark forest of depression is one who has made the journey himself/herself.

When I was lost in the forest, someone who had never been in the forest could have tried to help me out but I don’t have to tell you how much more effective my journey would have been if someone who had also been lost before and had found their way out had galloped up on a white horse. Or brown. Or black… Or red… Lost hikers can’t be choosy.

If THEY have been there, THEY know what you’re going through. If THEY have made it out, THEY can show you how to get out.

Kristian Hall battled his depression for years and he wants, very much, to help you find your way out in far less time. I have read this wonderful, fast-reading, and downright fascinating book and want to see it make it to as many hands as possible.

I honestly believe this book is just the thing people battling depression need.  What’s more, I believe it could be equally useful to those battling anxiety – a pretty dark forest in its own right.

{Book Review Concluded Below…}

Rise from Darkness: Paths Out of Depression Toward Happiness
Rise from Darkness
 

If you are battling depression, this book review is (and I don’t say this lightly) a lifeline.  Someone who cares about you (that would be me) is pointing you to an author (Kristian Hall) who will guide you to the happiness and light you deserve. Please click through and learn more about Rise from Darkness. It is available on Amazon for less than the cost of a trip to McDonald’s.

The book is divided into 5 “Parts” –

  1. How to Be Happy
  2. Get Better Right Now
  3. Depression’s Companions
  4. Long-Term Self-Improvement
  5. Meditation and Self-Hypnosis

As you can see, this book isn’t about having a brighter, happier tomorrow, it’s about RISING and having a brighter, happier life.

I want to conclude the book review with one of my favorite passages from Rise from Darkness. It’ll give you a feel for the author’s great writing style and the clarity of his message.  This is from one of the Part 2 (“Get Better Right Now”) of the book:

Live Here and Now

“Live here and now” is a cliche’, you might say. I am not afraid of using cliche’s. Cliche’s are life wisdom that has been passed down through the generations, mantras that are repeated so often that sometimes they lose their power. We often take cliche’s for granted and do not always reflect on their meaning.

“Live here and now” is maybe the most valuable cliche’ of all. But this can be difficult for many of us to do in practice. We are so used to rolling along the highway of life that we rarely really live in the now.

Put down this book and lean back. Listen to the sounds around you. Try to feel how your body actually feels. Feel where in your body you have tension, and which parts of the body are relaxed. Notice your breathing, how quickly you breathe, how evenly you can breathe in and out. Breathe slowly and deeply. Look at the space around you; notice the color nuances and textures on the walls, the details in all the objects present.  Are there people around you. Observe them without doing anything yourself. Are there smells in the room? Try to describe them. Take a few minutes using all of your senses to register the details of your surroundings and inside you.

Did you notice that plaguing thoughts, plans, and worries disappeared for a moment?  That for a moment they ceased to exist. That was quite pleasant, was it not?  – Rise from Darkness by Kristian Hall

See Rise from Darkness on Amazon.

Hiking Trail

The Link Between Creativity and Depression

by 16 Comments

Below is a guest post by a very talented, award-winning author and teacher. I’d like to thank Diana Raab very much for including Self Help Daily on her blog book tour. We’re very honored to have her and thrilled to share her wisdom with you.

by Diana M. Raab, MFA, RN
http://www.dianaraab.com

Remember sadness is always temporary. This, too, shall pass. – Chuck T. Falcon

It has been said that creative persons, such as authors, artists, actors, musicians, performers and poets are more often plagued with the demon of depression. One of the reasons is that creative types tend to feel powerful emotions which could aid in their creative endeavors. If we examine the lives of accomplished artists, such as Vincent Van Gogh, Charles Darwin, Virginia Wolf, William Styron, Anne Sexton, Emily Dickinson and Sylvia Plath, we will observe that they all battled with depression at some point in their lives. If you’ve ever been depressed then you understand the sense of helplessness and numbness which accompanies this illness. Sometimes a sense of helplessness drives creative individuals to the drawing or writing pad, but other times, it can be immobilizing.

Approximately seven percent of the general population is affected by depression or bipolar disorder, and studies have shown that this number tends to be higher amongst creative types. Bipolar disorder is characterized by episodes of mania and major depression. Typically, someone who is manic depressive tends to swing from excessive highs (mania) to profound hopelessness (depression). In between these episodes, they typically they have periods of normal mood. Some people can also have mixed symptoms of both mania and depression at the same time, while others may have more moderate symptoms of mania.

In his book, Van Gogh Blues, Eric Maisel proclaims that virtually one hundred percent of creative people suffer from episodes of depression. He verifies this by saying that every creative person came out of the womb ready to interrogate life and determine for herself what life would mean, could mean, and should mean. He believes that depression in creative individuals is thought of as a crisis caused by chronic, persistent uneasiness, irritation, anger, and sadness about the facts of existence and life’s apparent lack of meaning. In fact, those who try to understand the reason for their own existence will most likely be more prone to depression. This theory refutes the belief that depression has genetic roots, and this would be a good subject for another article.

Kay Redfield Jamison, a foremost expert on bipolar disorder and someone who has also suffered from the disease since childhood, believes that most artistic geniuses are manic depressive. Jamison is also author of Touched With Fire and professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her book makes a powerful link between depression and creativity.

When a writer is depressed, he or she may turn to writing to ease the pain. The writing process can help the creative person make sense of their lives and helps to validate what they are feeling. Writing brings us face-to-face with reality. The act of moving the pen across the page or the fingers on the keyboard can be meditative and calming. Expressing your feelings helps to give meaning to your life, something which is helpful for us all to do!

About DIANA M. RAAB

Diana Raab is an award-winning writer and teacher specializing in personal writing and memoir. She is a guest blogger on numerous websites. She teaches at the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program and at various conferences around the country.

Her most recent memoir/self-help book is called, Healing With Words: A Writer’s Cancer Journey and has already received stellar reviews and she’s set up for many interviews.

Her memoir, Regina’s Closet: Finding My Grandmother’s Secret Journal (Beaufort Books, 2007)) won the 2008 National Indie Excellence Award for Memoir and the 2009 Mom’s Choice Award for Adult Nonfiction.

She’s editor of the anthology, Writers and Their Notebooks (University of South Carolina Press, January 2010).

She has three poetry collections: My Muse Undresses Me (2007), Dear Anaïs: My Life in Poems for You (2008), winner of The Reader Views Award and Allbooks Reviews Editor’s Choice and The Guilt Gene (2009).

She’s the recipient of the Benjamin Franklin Book award for best health and wellness book for her book, Getting Pregnant and Staying Pregnant: Overcoming Infertility and High Risk Pregnancy. It has been translated into French and Spanish. In 2009 the book was updated and released in its 20th anniversary edition, under the title, Your High Risk Pregnancy: A Practical and Supportive Guide in collaboration with Dr. Errol Norwitz of Yale School of Medicine.

For more information, please visit her website: http://www.dianaraab.com. and blog, http://www.dianaraab.com/blog.

Depression’s MoJo on the Body and Mind

by 2 Comments

Depression not only affects a person’s mind and quality of life, it takes a huge toll on their body and health as well.  It can be at least as disabling as chronic diseases like high blood pressure, arthritis, diabetes, back problems, asthma, celiac disease, etc. Why? Because depression IS a disease – and a serious one, at that.

What compounds the problems for an individual suffering from depression is the fact that most people don’t truly understand what depression is and most just don’t get that it is an illness.  Ignorantly, they tend to think, “Just snap out of it.”  They don’t realize that this is akin to telling an asthmatic, “Just breathe” or someone in a coma, “Wake up, already.”

Depression is serious and it has to be treated as such.

How can depression affect one’s physical health?  Several ways, unfortunately.  First of all, if someone has a chronic disease, depression makes it far worse to cope and recover.  Depressed patients tend to have less fight in them, they have to go to the doctor more often, they stay in the hospital longer, and they simply lack the positive mindset needed for healing.

Second of all, depression can actually weaken one’s immunity.  Even mild mood swings take their toll on an immune system.  Studies show that on days when a person’s feeling really down, the levels of antibodies in saliva drop.  It’s these antibodies, of course, that defend us against viruses.  Fewer antibodies to fight off disease means more sicknesses, more illnesses, and compromised over-all health.

So it’s not surprising that depressed people get sick more often than those who are not.  They tend to even have more colds than those who are not depressed.  Simply put, depression is a disease that leaves you susceptible to a wide range of other diseases.

As if that’s not enough, people who are depressed have more sleep problems than other people do. In fact, sleep disorders are quite common with depression.  Instead of asking “What areas of one’s life does depression touch?” it’d be easier to ask, “What areas of one’s life does depression NOT touch?”

A few other eye opening statistics:

  1. A study found that the thinning of bones known as osteoporosis is greater in depressed people.
  2. Rates of stroke are twice as high amongst depressed individuals.
  3. Depressed patients with coronary disease are more likely to have heart attacks, undergo bypass surgery, and suffer further heart-related complications.
  4. Amongst heart attack survivors, depression increased the risk of dying within six months by three to four times.

Fortunately, depression is easy to treat.  Unfortunately it’s just as easy to ignore.

What are the symptoms of depression?

  • Feeling persistently sad, blue or down in the dumps.  When there are seemingly always tears behind your eyes waiting to drop.
  • Losing interest in things you once enjoyed.
  • Feeling anxious, fearful, worried, irritable, tearful, or hopeless.
  • Feeling overly guilty, worthless, or helpless.
  • Difficulty concentrating, making decisions, remembering details, or even completing a thought.
  • Sleeping too little or too much.
  • Frequent aches and pains.
  • Appetite changes.
  • Stomach discomfort.
  • Thoughts of harming yourself.

If more than one of these symptoms hits home, you may be depressed.  If life has been particularly challenging, you may not be depressed as much as you are simply having one of those weeks.

Or months! Been there, done that, never want to go back.

We all have bad periods of time in our life. Sometimes it’s difficult to distinguish between a bad mood or depression. The trick, according to the experts, lies in the extent to which we experience the above feeling and the length of time they hover over our lives.

For example, a cat I dearly love and have had for over 17 years is going down faster than I ever imagined.  I’ve been, understandably, sad because of it – but I’m still able to function.  At least as well as I ever have.  I know what’s causing me to feel less than 100% happy.  I’m losing one of my best friends!  I just looked over and this beautiful best friend has her head in my glass lapping up my iced tea.

Attagirl, gobble those antitoxins.

Those who are depressed often can’t pin down their sadness – they feel that life has just ceased to be worthwhile, let alone fun – which leads to more frustration, followed by more sadness, etc.  It’s such a horrible cycle that it’s little wonder it affects their entire body.

If you feel like it would be easy for you to slip into a depressing frame of mind, start fighting against it now with all you have.  If you’re already there – please don’t assume that this is how life is or that this is “normal.”  Never settle for anything in life – you deserve SO much more.

Contact your family doctor if you feel that you may be suffering from depression.  He or she will be able to tell you if you are, in fact, clinically depressed or if you simply are having trouble coping with certain issues in life.  If this is the case, the answer may be as simple as talking things through with a therapist.

More often than not, someone on the outside can act as a lighthouse for you.  They’ll shine light on what you’re currently unable to see… then they’ll help guide you to the shore.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to get another glass of iced tea and spend time with a much-loved member of the family – doing whatever she wants to do. If she wants to watch birds outside the window, we’ll do that, if she wants to slap around one of her favorite toys, we’ll do that.

EDIT: My beautiful cat, Prissy, actually went on to live three more years! Proof that tea may be healthier than we ever imagined.  This much-loved cat was notorious in our family for always finding unattended glasses of iced tea and helping herself. Basically, if you turned your back on your glass of tea, you knew not to drink it when you got back to it – someone with whiskers had been there lapping it up.  I’ll always miss her, but I just feel so blessed that we had her precious face in our lives for so many (many, many, many!) years.

Prissy always loved to lick the inside lid of my Green Tea Frappuccinos. She’d get so serious about the whole matter!

PrissyPrissy, around 18 or 19 (she lived to see her 20th Birthday!)