The Depression Forums - A Depression & Mental Health Social Community Support Group:

Goodbye Summer 2010

  Inspiration is the feeling of meaningful vitality, engagement, connection and hope. It comes from many places, but it is always felt within. When I use the term inspiration "deficit" I am referring to the feeling that inspiration is lost or lacking in one or more areas of a person's life.
When we have an inspiration deficit, it typically starts out small and easy to ignore - the feeling that "something is missing," or "I don't feel like myself," or "this job/relationship really isn't me."

Stress gets under our skin

Everyone experiences social stress, whether it is nervousness over a job interview, difficulty meeting people at parties, or angst over giving a speech. In a new report, UCLA researchers have discovered that how your brain responds to social stressors can influence the body's immune system in ways that may negatively affect health. Lead author George Slavich, a postdoctoral fellow at the UCLA Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology, and senior author Shelley Taylor, a UCLA professor of psychology, show that individuals who exhibit greater neural sensitivity to social rejection also exhibit greater increases in inflammatory activity to social stress.

Mental Health: Keeping Your Emotional Health

 


Posted: August 16, 2010

The majority of my clients resist mindfulness meditation at first, although the time commitment is small and the payoff is enormous. One insisted that it wasn't necessary and that she didn't have enough time in her day to devote to a regular practice. Then she went through the loss of a parent, and had such trouble coping that she couldn't even drag herself out of bed. After missing work 10 days straight, she called me for my advice. I told her to mindfully meditate while in bed. Terrified and bewildered, my client did and, in a few days, found that she could face going to work again. After that, whenever she was in an overwhelming state of grief or so distracted that she couldn't focus, she would close her door, tell her assistant to hold all her calls and do a five minute meditation. Slowly, her grief lessened.

Secrets of 'Magic' Antidepressant Revealed

 Yale researchers have discovered how a novel anti-depressant can take effect in hours, rather than the weeks or months usually required for most drugs currently on the market. The findings, described in the August 20 issue of the journal Science, should speed development of a safe and easy-to-administer form of the anti-depressant ketamine, which has already proven remarkably effective in treating severely depressed patients.

His family’s journey from depression and attempted suicide

After driving aimlessly in the dawn, he pulled his car over to the side of the road, walked to the back of the car, crouched and put his mouth to the exhaust pipe of his car. That’s when he knew he’d reached a crisis point.