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Depression scale
• self-disparaging
• dispirited, gloomy, blue
• convinced that life has no meaning or value
• pessimistic about the future
• unable to experience enjoyment or satisfaction
• unable to become interested or involved
• slow, lacking in initiative
Anxiety scale
• apprehensive
• panicky
• trembly
• aware of dryness of the mouth, breathing difficulties,
• pounding of the heart
• sweatiness of the palms
• worried about performance and possible loss of control
Stress scale
• over-aroused, tense
• unable to relax
• touchy, easily upset
• irritable
• easily startled
• nervy, jumpy, fidgety
• intolerant of interruption or delay
According to Ronald Kessler, M.D. of Harvard Medical Center, we’ll all get
sick sometime in our lives. “It’s not surprising that 99.9 percent of the population
has some sort of physical illness at some time in their lives or that the majority of
people meet criteria for a mental illness at some time in their lives.”
“In my view American psychiatry has become drug dependent (that is, devoted
to pill pushing) at all levels--private practitioners, public system psychiatrists,
university faculty and organizationally. What should be the most humanistic
medical specialty has become mechanistic, reductionistic, tunnel-visioned and
dehumanizing. Modern psychiatry has forgotten the Hippocratic principle: Above
all, do no harm.”
The great increase in the use of therapists and counselors stems mainly from
a couple of changes in our society. One is the change in attitudes toward
therapy. The thinking used to be that only "fruitcakes" or "nut cases" needed to
be in therapy. People with normal everyday stresses and anxieties were
expected to "deal with it." If you had problems in the home, you certainly weren't
going to talk to anyone about it. It was important for individuals and families to
put on a good face and not let anyone suspect that everything wasn't just fine.
The other big change today is the greater availability of therapy and
counseling services. Therapy used to be prohibitive for any but the wealthy. With
insurance and low-cost programs provided by businesses (Employee Assistance
Programs), as well as new forms of therapy such as group therapy, counseling
and therapy are much more available to the general public. Yet counseling can
be expensive for many people, costing $100 or more a session.
Are there simple, yet effective, ways of treating problems such as anxiety,
depression, and stress? Are there approaches that don’t rely on drugs or talk
therapy? There are and you may find an approach that works for you.
Now results from a large Norwegian study suggests that depression increases
the risk of death from most other major diseases, including stroke, respiratory
illnesses, cancer, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson's disease. It is also
associated with accidental deaths. This is an important study because the
number of subjects is large and the research protocol is first rate.
Researchers gathered baseline information on physical and mental health for
61,349 Norwegian men and women, average age 48, and then noted the number
of deaths and their causes during an average follow-up of nearly 4.5 years.
Participants who had significant depression (2,866) had a higher risk of dying of
most major causes of death, even after adjusting for age, medical conditions, and
physical complaints at the study's outset.
But are they really the best treatment available for the millions of people
throughout the world who suffer from depression? Based on my own clinical
experience working with depressed men and women over the last 44 years, I
have found there is a better way. It involves simple, safe, and inexpensive life-
style changes.
Dr. Ilardi calls them TLC, or Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes. He describes six
lifestyle elements that are based on the practices that were part of human life
before we became so urbanized, anxious, stressed, and depressed. These
include the following:
1. Exercise
You can buy these at a drugstore or health food store. Look for a brand that will
give you 1000 mg of EPA and 500 mg of DHA per day. This is the amount that
has been shown in studies to be beneficial to people with depression.
You can take these even if you are on antidepressant medication; there are no
known interactions with drugs. The only side effects patients reported are that
they sometimes burp up a fishy taste after taking them. Solutions to this problem
are to freeze the pills and take them right before a meal. If all else fails, there is a
liquid form available that some people prefer.
3. Light Exposure
This element of the protocol is most helpful to people who notice that there is a
seasonal component to their depression. We recommend that people get at least
30 minutes of bright light exposure per day. You can actually go outside in the
sun (take off the sunglasses, but leave on the sunscreen!) or get light exposure
from a special light box that emits the same amount of light (10,000 lux).
You should try to get light exposure at the same time every day. Some people
like to sit by the light box while they eat breakfast and read the paper. Some like
to sit by it while they read or study in the evening. Experiment to see what works
best for you. And don’t miss a day of light exposure if you can help it. This is
something that will only work for you cumulatively if you are consistent!
4. Anti-rumination Strategies
Rumination is the habit that many depressed people get into of dwelling on their
negative thoughts. Rather than coming up with a solution to a problem and acting
on it, people with depression often let their negative thoughts spiral out of control.
It is important to recognize rumination for what it is and put a stop to it
immediately. Rumination only makes peoples’ moods worse. When you find
yourself doing it, do one of these things: call a friend, exercise, write down the
negative thoughts in a journal, or do some other pleasant activity (like walking,
reading, or talking to a friend).
5. Social Support
This is good for men and women, but men often need it the most. You have
probably noticed that as we get more depressed, we are less motivated to seek
out others for socializing. This is the time to reach out to others even if you don’t
feel like it. It may save your life.
Exercising together can be a great way to combine elements. Also being with
others keeps us from sitting alone and worrying and ruminating. There’s a
saying I use with my clients. “Never worry alone.” A lot of the destructiveness of
our negative mind-set when we are depressed is that we go around and around
in our own heads and don’t get the benefits of input from others.
Another thing I tell my clients is to help someone else when they are feeling
down. One of the best pick-me-ups I’ve found is the satisfaction we get when we
do something for another person, even if its just a small thing like a kind word or
a small favor.
6. Sleep Hygiene
Most of us need to get 8 hours of sleep per night and most of us are sleep
deprived. Men generally get less sleep than women and for depressed men, lack
of sleep can be debilitating. One of the biggest risk factors for depression is
sleep deprivation.
It may take awhile to re-establish healthy sleeping habits. We often get used to
sleeping less and come to believe that we don’t really need that much sleep.
Here’s what can help. Go to sleep and wake up at the same time every night.
Prepare yourself for bed by having a “bedtime ritual”. Dim the lights, turn off the
TV and computer, put on your PJs, and do a quiet activity like read. Avoid
caffeine and alcohol for several hours before you plan to go to bed. A soothing
back or foot rub before going to sleep can be a welcome relaxant.
7. Energy Psychology
I have used all the methods listed above to good effect. I’ll add another one that
is becoming increasingly well known. I first heard about energy medicine or
energy psychology a number of years ago from a colleague, Candace Pert,
Ph.D. Pert is presently Research Professor at Georgetown University School of
Medicine.
In her 1997 book, Molecules of Emotion: Why You Feel the Way You Feel, she
said, “Recent technological innovations have allowed us to examine the
molecular basis of the emotions, and to begin to understand how the molecules
of our emotions share intimae connections with, and are indeed inseparable
from, our physiology. It is the emotions, I have come to see, that link mind and
body.”
Now Pert has written an introduction to an exciting new book that builds on her
work and allows all of us to use the techniques of energy psychology for our own
healing. In The Promise of Energy Psychology: Revolutionary Tools for
Dramatic Personal Change by David Feinstein, Donna Eden, and Gary Craig,
Pert says, “the promise of energy psychology offers a synthesis of practices
designed to deliberately shift the molecules of emotion. These practices have
three distinct advantages over psychiatric medications.”
Here’s what the book’s authors, each of them a pioneer in the field of energy
psychology, have to say about this emerging new field:
“Energy is the blueprint, the infrastructure, the invisible foundation for the
health of your body. Your body is composed of energy pathways and energy
centers that are in a dynamic interplay with your cells, organs, moods, and
thoughts.”
I’ve found you can use the simple techniques which they describe to:
Of course you’re not going to hear big multinational corporations touting the
benefits of sleep, friends, healthy thinking rather than “stinkin’ thinking,’”
sunshine, fish oil, exercise, or energy medicine. How can big profits be made
from these simple things. They may not make pharmaceutical companies a lot of
money, but you’d be surprised what good they will do for the average human
being trying to deal with the stresses of modern life.
Please read each statement and circle a number 0, 1, 2 or 3 that indicates how much the statement
applied to you over the past week. There are no right or wrong answers. Do not spend too much time
on any statement.