NOTE ...And I offer a whole list of personally created "Therapies" to help you.

Roller Coaster of Life

Roller Coaster of Life
Life's Ups and Downs
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Friday, December 28, 2007

The Ups and Downs of December


My friend L. and I both struggle with the ups and downs of depression. We help each other through our bad days and have somewhat shared and compared our struggles through this past month. Why December seems to be our worst month, is different for each of us. Past memories and experiences play a part....along with the rush, stress, and sometimes overwhelming preparations of the Christmas season.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

How are YOU doing?


Well, not too many days left until Christmas. How are YOU holding up? Have you been able to keep busy enough to get your mind off of your sadness? Have you had opportunities to go out and do something for someone else?

I also hope that you live in an area where you can soak up some of Mr. Sun....or at least sit under some full-spectrum lights.

I would like to hear from you as to how you are handling this time in your life.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Music Therapy


We all have our favorite types of music. Stress, anxiety and depression are greatly soothed by the quiet, relaxing, and more calmer music.

If I can do something, anything, that will take my mind away from the sad, melancholy thoughts, and have it wash over me like a healing balm....music is just such a therapy.

This time of year we have such beautiful Christmas music with its powerful uplifting words and melody. Do we REALLY listen and ponder the words? Do we let the words of the song permeate our soul with hope and peace?

I have a good friend just recently tell me to try not to give in to the depression...to fight it off. Yes, I know sometimes it is more easily said, than done. But her statement is true, so true. So, play some of your favorite Christmas music or other type of relaxing music, lay on the couch with a soft pillow and warm blanket, close and rest your eyes for a bit, relax the muscles of your body, and just float along with the music. Such therapy!

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Blessed Mr. Sun


Thank goodness the sun is back out after our several days of rain storms. Lack of sunlight sure does a number on my depression. I am realizing this more and more as I age. I sure have taken the sun for granted all my life. I have never fully understood or appreciated the great and many health benefits the sun so freely offers, by the hand of God.
I must try harder to go outdoors each day and sit and soak up the healing rays of Mr. Sun, and also to remember to deep breathe so that I give my body cells more oxygen.

Saturday, December 1, 2007

My Depression...and does anyone care, anyway


I am grateful for our much needed moisture...it has been constantly raining and cloudy for a couple of days...but for a person that has seasonal depression (SAD),lack of sunshine makes a very great difference in how they are feeling. Maybe today because it is such a down day for me, that I have these feelings. After all, when you are depressed, you are only feeling sorry for yourself....right?

But where are some of my so-called friends? I need a true friend….someone who cares about ME. Is it that when others are around people that have depression, that it is not a fun place to be…they would rather be with FUN people?

Where is the TRUE charity? Does it only lie with helping those who have just had surgeries, or are dying from cancer, or have just had a baby? Depression is an illness, too. And for me….just simply finding something that will take my mind off of the sad thoughts for awhile, IS GREAT THERAPY.

Aren’t we, who suffer from depression, just as much in need of help, compassion, and contact from others, as those listed above?

I feel that it would be extremely therapeutic just to receive a phone call often, from a friend, wondering how I am doing. Better yet, it would be great for someone to say to me… “how about getting out and going to the store with me”, or “how about going to a movie”, or “let’s go out for lunch”. NOW THOSE ARE THE TRUE FRIENDS. And God bless them!

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

More thoughts on sleep


Because of my growing concern about my bad sleep habits (by choice), I woke up the other morning with these thoughts on my mind…. “Sleep is like re-charging a battery. A full charge gives the battery full performance. A half-charge gives it half-performance. By way of sleep, when we don’t recharge our body system to the full recommendation of 8 hours and at a normal time, then we function and perform, in all ways, at a much lesser rate and quality”.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

What a beautiful day!


Here in St. George, Utah, we have the most gorgeous fall and winter weather. At 3:30 this afternoon the temperature was 72 degrees! The air was fresh and clean smelling with a slight hint of a breeze. The sun was a welcomed warmth against my skin. It was the kind of afternoon where you delighted in sitting out in the midst of this pleasure, and deep breathing of its magic. Oh what great therapy for the stressed and depressed soul!

Friday, November 16, 2007

Hanging out in la-la land....aka the internet!

In actuality my depression is always a part of me...but in the fall and winter season it manifests itself more and even within this season I have my good and bad days. So I do various things to help that, as stated in these previous blog posts.

I have discovered that it helps me to go to la-la land for awhile when I am very down. I try to talk myself out of my sad feelings but sometimes I just need to go somewhere with my mind for awhile. For me, getting away or diverting my thoughts to something else usually helps a great deal.

Not everything works for me. When I am sad and melancholy, I have a hard time getting interested in books, organizing my surroundings, doing household tasks, working on projects, and the such.

I have a new found ability, or talent if you want to call it that. I love to write. That helps me. I love to watch movies. I love to get on the internet. We are all different and so we all have to find what helps and works for us.

Hanging out in la-la-land...aka the internet, is not all that bad. Some more healthy people will think it a big waste of time and that it will bring evil spirits. But the internet is chock full of helpful, interesting, fun, educational, and healthy information. It is a great learning place...and I am thinking only of the good, clean uplifting stuff. Educationally...the internet is unending in it’s resources. Whatever you want to know and learn about can be found in this form of la-la land...a temporary vacation spot for the sad, melancholy mind.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

The locality and climate of where we live makes a difference, too

I live in St. George, Utah, USA. It is a very large city compared to the small country western town where I lived before. Not that I like large cities, I really don't. BUT....I do love the climate here! And for me that is the huge plus side of living here.

I can't handle very cold, snowy winters. It makes my depression much, much worse. Living here in St. George provides the ideal winters for me. I would say the normal high temperature during winter hovers around 50-60 degrees. The average normal winter lows at night gets around 25-30 degrees. Our summers DO get a little hotter than most places (110-115 degrees average).

I have a new blog friend who lives in Malaysia, and he has never been to the United States. He asked me if I would post some photos of where I live so that he could see some of the country.

Well, since previous to this I had already had thoughts of beginning another blog devoted just to the sights of beautiful St. George (and other areas of Utah), I have decided to do just that.

So, visit my new scenic blog.... "The Mountain and Desert Beauty of St. George, Utah, USA." See the link to the left of the roller coaster at the top of the homepage.

Busyness Elimination Therapy (or letting things go)

Pure and simple....it is just eliminating, or letting things go from our time schedule. When I start having too many demands on my time and find myself dreading leaving the house all the time to be somewhere that I have a responsibility to be....that is when my body starts short circuiting. Little by little different symptoms begin to appear, showing an effect it is having on my body and nervous system. Some of these symptoms are high stress, feeling overwhelmed, depression, irritability, crying, and dullness of mind. A friend of mine told me that she was concerned because she was having trouble with her memory. When she told me all that she was involved in, I thought no wonder she is having trouble. Her brain and her body was in overload.

There is nothing wrong with eliminating some things from our schedule....we are NOT failures by doing so, and we SHOULD NOT feel guilty for having to do this. It is for our own health and well-being. We are no good to ourselves and to others if we allow our self to get mentally, physically and emotionally ill.

Friday, November 9, 2007

Writing Therapy


Writing can be a very good outlet for the "downs". It does not matter if you have writing skills or not....just get a spiral notebook and pick up a pencil and start writing about your feelings!

Are you angry, frustrated or annoyed with something...or someone? Do you feel you are a victim in someway or another? Are you overwhelmingly sad? Do you have fears, anxiety, very low self-image? Write about it. Write about your feelings and thoughts. Get it all out of you, and onto the paper. Put a date on it and keep it.

Keeping all your writings can help you down the road by going back and re-reading them. It can help you to see the progress you have made. Of course you can throw your writings away....but this is THERAPY....and it can help you a lot by keeping them.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Can't Sleep?



When I am depressed I sometimes do and sometimes don’t have trouble falling asleep....once I get to bed, that is. There are some people I know that DO constantly have somewhat chronic trouble sleeping. And it sometimes is because of the depression medications they are on. On top of all those medications, now they have to take another one to help them to sleep.

Then maybe we can’t sleep because we are wound tighter than a drum from all the heavy stress we are under. And when we lay there trying to fall off to sleep our mind will just not calm down long enough…it keeps thinking and thinking about this, that, and the other.

We need to find a way to relax the body enough (along with the mind) to enable us to drift off. I have tried many different herbal products to relax my nerves and they have all helped somewhat. But this one product beats them all. I don’t know if I will get in trouble or not for mentioning the brand. But the name of the product is “Knock-out” by Schiff. I bought it at a health food store. It has Valerian, B vitamins and L-Theanine to help calm and relax the body so it can drift off to sleep….then it has Melatonin (made by the brain) to maintain normal sleep patterns. Once we can get our sleep patterns back to normal, we can stop taking Knock-out. Then if we should fall into the same non-sleep problems again….we just start taking the Knock-out again. A friend of mine was truly amazed at how well the tablets worked for her the first night she took them!


Another thing that helps me is to play some "sleep music" and leave it playing all night long. You can find special sleep music CD's that promote sleep by using Delta Waves to create prolonged states of tranquility. Delta Waves emulate brain waves in deep sleep, and can assist those who have trouble falling asleep. This kind of music is "different" but very, very effective.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Sleep

Since I have started my four websites, it seems like I am always sitting at my computer. If I have a day full of other activities and appointments, then I am on my computer in the evenings and it extends to way into the early morning hours. I cannot seem to discipline myself to get off the computer. I will look at the clock and tell myself to turn it off…then I think, “fifteen more minutes”. Yea, right….next time I look at the clock it is three hours later!!! Sometimes it is 4 or 5 o’clock in the morning when I am dragging myself to bed.

I feel that I have really messed up my sleep rhythm by not going to bed at a decent time so that I can wake up reasonably early in the mornings.

Sleep is so vital to repairing and revitalizing the body. There is much to say about the saying, “early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise”.

Now, if a person is struggling with stress and depression…..poor sleep habits are one of the worse things they could do to themselves. They, above all, need the “early to bed and early to rise…."


So if you want more upsy and less downsy.... get better and longer sleep, okay?

Thursday, November 1, 2007

A Plug for Chiropractors and Acupuncturists

I don’t know what I would do without my wonderful Chiropractor and my gem of an Acupuncturist. I truly feel that I was guided when I chose these two particular individuals to use their very gifted craft to help my body to do it’s own healing.

My Chiropractor .....
Before August of 2005, I never understood the TRUE purpose of chiropractors or the importance of regular maintenance spinal adjustments. I just thought you go to them ONLY when you hurt your back real bad. But was I wrong! I really had an eye opener and an education, as my chiropractor has taken the time to explain to me the workings of the body as it relates to the spine and the multitude of nerves coming from all along the spine and going to all parts of the body. I never realized how important it was to do what we can to ensure and improve the nerve function of our body.

Through our every day activities, we are always moving, bending, turning, stepping wrong, falling, tripping, etc. We never know when this can cause vertebrae and discs to become misaligned and in time irritates the nerves.

If something is out of alignment anywhere along the spine, it can cause stress and irritation to those nerves that are in that area, which in turn messes up the communication of the nervous system with the brain. A free flow of nerve energy from the brain controls the pituitary, pineal, para-thyroid, thyroid, thymus, adrenal, pancreas and sex glands. Each of these glands is dependent upon the others. Just one out-of-order gland disrupts all the rest. The result is physical, mental and emotional problems.

A chiropractor locates the trouble spot, uses gentle adjustments to the back to realign an out of place vertebrae and get it back into its natural position. This then will relieve the pressure and irritation. With the proper nerve supply, the energy flows freely again and any miseries are eliminated by nature’s own healing power.

In regards to DEPRESSION.....because chiropractic adjustments increase energy flow throughout the body, we receive better hormone production. The body can then release it own pain killers, like endorphins…and it gives a little boot to the glands that produce dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine (the neurotransmitters in our brain). Lack of these causes depression.

My Acupuncturist.....
What a skilled and highly knowledgeable gal she is. Little did I realize about August of 2006, that I was going to receive another education, but in the area of acupuncture. I first started going to her to see if she could help me with my chronic leg problems. I have varicose veins real bad and of course that is caused by lack of circulation.

What a totally fascinating field acupuncture is. It is amazing. It is a centuries old Chinese method of bringing balance to the body so that you can achieve and maintain a state of health. Our body is in an ever-changing state of health and illness. It moves from one state to another throughout the day and night. Hormones rise and fall, melatonin waxes and wanes, insulin and blood pressure levels go up and down. When elements in the body are in balance, health is the result. When they are out of balance, dis-ease occurs.

Depending upon your symptoms, the acupuncturist will insert practically pain free, very thin and round tipped needles into one or more of the 361 acu-points located along one or more of the 14 meridians on the body. Each of these needles sends out an electro-chemical message to the brain, that asks your body to respond in a particular way. Acupuncture is a direct means of asking your body to heal itself.

Energy flow through the 14 meridians can become excessive, disturbed, reduced, or even stopped. Poor circulation, illness, and stress are among the many factors that can cause blockage or disruption of this energy flow. When energy flow is interrupted, disease in the form of pain, depression, illness or reduced organ function is the result. Balancing the energy and clearing blockage by way of the acu-points and meridians brings about health and well being, using the body’s own mechanisms to do so.

In regards to DEPRESSION… acupuncture treatments open up the receptor sites for dopamine to enter. Dopamine is the “feel good” hormone. I receive treatments very often because of my chronic leg problems, the torn cartilage in my knee and now for my depression and stress. The last two visits, the treatments were for my stress and depression. My goodness what a difference between the before and after feelings! After the treatment I kind of felt like I was in a sort of la-la-land for awhile. Very, very light and carefree feelings. And without medication! I highly recommend acupuncture treatments for what ails you. Anything you can do to put your body in a position where it can heal itself….that is the natural way.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Different Types of Depression and Disorders

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)

Bi-Polar

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

.......and more


There are so many different types of depression and other mind disorders that have been diagnosed and treated. I have family members and friends that have gone to specialists about their depression and have been told that they have a certain type. Most of them are on medications for it.

I have never gone to a doctor about it...I do not take medications, nor do I want to. I have always seemed to find a way to deal with it myself. I have used prayer, concentrated effort, herbal formulas, and my self-discovered relaxation therapies that I share in this blog.

My form of depression appears to be Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Though depression can hit me at any time of the year, it mostly occurs at the beginning of Fall and ends in Spring. During this time of year my exposure to sunlight is diminished, causing my biological clock to run slower. Our biological clock regulates our mood, sleep, and hormones. The biggest cause of SAD is lack of sunlight.

I understand the common signs of this and other forms of depression to be somewhat similar: Sadness, anxiety, irritability, loss of interest in usual activities, withdrawal from social activities, inability to concentrate. Other symptoms might include extreme fatigue and lack of energy, increased need for sleep, craving carbs, and increased appetite and weight gain.

Most people have many windows in their house and so they receive some light from the outdoors. The studio size place where I live does not have windows and so I need a better source of light other than regular ceiling lighting and table lamps.

I have remedied the lack of natural light in several ways. I have purchased several full-spectrum lights. These lights are what they call white light....they mimic closely the light that comes from the sun. Some of these lights are table lamps, and some are floor lamps. I have several of them distributed around my living area, and I use these special lights along with my regular lighting.

Another way which is important in gaining extra natural light is to go outdoors and spend some time out in the sun and fresh air. Take in good deep breaths of fresh air through the nose and let it out slowly through the mouth. This clears the system and brings in fresh oxygen. The longer spent outdoors, the better.

Exercise is also important to help tone down and ease depression and stress. It clears the mind and also brings in more oxygen to the body. Going for a good walk outdoors can kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.

Monday, October 29, 2007

A Mind Retreat...taking your mind somewhere else for awhile so it can relax and heal.

Try to take little mind retreats as often as you need them and for as long (time wise) as you can. This is so good for when you feel overwhelmed with life and even at depressions doorstep. Even more so, when you are rooming in depressions house. Find something you enjoy doing and that will hold your attention without having to think much....even if it is a big time waster. AND DON'T YOU DARE FEEL GUILTY ABOUT IT!

The idea is to bring your mind temporarily to a place where it does not have to tax itself by thinking too much. In this way, your mind gets a chance to truly relax, so it can begin to heal a little. But don't forget to come back into the world again!!! You will then be refreshed and strengthened in mind and body, have a better outlook, and be ready to make any necessary eliminations of things to your time schedule, if that is what needs to be done.

My favorite mind retreat is to watch movies. I am truly a MOVIE LOVER. Sometimes I watch one movie right after another and I have been known to do this for a couple of days at a time. But it REALLY works for me. If I don't do this for myself, then my mind keeps dwelling on the problem and I stress myself out more and more and I go deeper and deeper into despair.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Rest and Heal Your Mind and Soul

When those times come when I have dark, overwhelmingly sad days or seasons...I find comfort, relaxation, and a sort of therapy by doing certain things and activities that will take my mind off of what is bothering me and take it to a different place for a short while....so that I can heal.

Some of those places are.....watching good movies, doing my personal writings, working on my websites, calling or visiting a good friend, siting quietly and meditating on sacred things, going outdoors for a nice leisurely walk, reading the scriptures, deep breathing exercises, sitting out in the yard to get sunlight and fresh air, laying on the couch or bed with my legs elevated and with a cool cloth over my eyes and listening to some soft music, and many more things.

Friday, October 26, 2007

My Plate is Full and Spilling Over


Sometimes I take on too many extra responsibilities, and say "yes" to too many things and people. In the beginning it seems to be ok and I can handle everything. But as time goes on I begin to notice all the little, more important things that need to be done and I don't have time to take care of them because of these "other" responsibilities. That is when the stress builds up. Then the stress leads to feelings of being overwhelmed. Then, for me, all that turns into depression and crying and a messed up nervous system I reach a point where I can't handle that pace anymore. I make myself come to a screeching halt, because I have learned the warning signs. It is now time to step back and take stock of my time schedule....and start cutting down on some of the things I am doing. I ask myself what is it that I'm doing that I feel that I am burned out on. I then eliminate those things. For my own mental, physical, and emotional health.....I have to do it!