Overcoming Porn Addiction - Understanding Root Causes

Overcoming porn addiction is nearly always a lot more than just deleting your porn files and throwing away your magazines. This usually just leads you to stop for a short time until something happens and you start using it again convinced it could never be as bad as before. This leads to a relapse and a sense of shame and guilt as you feel you have failed.

Pornography itself is not the root cause of this addiction you see, it is simply a manifestation of an emotional, psychological issue that has been plaguing you perhaps unseen in your life. Solving these root causes can be the way out of addiction to a happier and healthier life!

However, sometimes it is very difficult to solve these long standing problems immediately. The good news is that at least understanding them is incredibly beneficial to you overcoming porn addiction. This takes a certain level of insight and introspection on your part. It also takes a huge amount of brutal honesty that might be difficult to articulate even to yourself.

So what are the root causes of pornography addiction? These will be very personal and unique to you in all of its nuance and detail. There are however a few common themes such as:

• Depression - Ranging from just feeling low and sad to full blown clinical depression where you find it hard to get out of bed


• Low Self Esteem - Feelings of low self worth to self loathing can be attributed to getting started on pornography


• Sexual Abuse - Some sex and porn addicts have a history of being sexually abused. This can manifest in addiction and poor understanding of good sexual relationships.


• Poor Sexual Relationship - A marriage without much passion and excitement can lead some men and women to porn to satisfy themselves - but that can become an addiction and make the real life situation a lot worse.


• Boredom and Lack of Direction - A very common cause of addiction is not have a goal and dire in life. Boredom sets in and this fantasy of porn can become a habit, then an obsession, then an addiction.

This is by no means an exhaustive list but these themes are often recurring in porn addicts. Often solving your porn problem goes a long way to solving these psychological problems as well making this a joined problem - you cannot have one without the other!

One exercise that might be helpful is to sit alone without any distractions and think of the triggers that lead you to porn. The situations or events that make you crave pornography. These triggers are often a manifestation of this deeper problem. Being able to identify them and plan for them will help you practically and emotionally. You can find these triggers by thinking about the times when you desperately needed porn and consider what situation or event happened just prior to this. These will be unique to yourself and will be a direct link to those root causes.

Meditation For Alleviating Anxiety and Depression

Medical disclaimer. Always consult your doctor if you have been diagnosed with anxiety or depression. Do not decide on your own to stop taking medication, and to stop visiting your doctor for checkups.

Do you struggle with anxiety and depression? Do you wish you could control the negative thoughts which enter your mind?

If so, then you may want to consider beginning the practice of meditation.

Meditation has been shown in clinical studies to be effective in aiding the process of healing many of the symptoms of anxiety and depression.

For example, scientists at the University Hospital Basel in Switzerland randomly selected one group to try mindfulness meditation and yoga to treat their depression symptoms, and another group for traditional drug therapy. They found that those who practiced mindfulness meditation improved in all areas measured by the test which included fatigue, anxiety, and depression, in some cases up to 30% (compared with the group which was treated with drug therapy).

A side benefit of the study: it was shown that those who completed the study felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment because they had been able to actively participate in the alleviation of their symptoms. Traditional therapy leaves the cure in the hands of doctors, or the drug, however, mindfulness meditation teaches the person that they can cure themselves This empowers the patient, and it is incredibly cost effective.

How does mindfulness meditation work to alleviate depression and anxiety? By training the participant to not identify with their anxiety and depression, but to instead see it as objectively separate from who they are as a person. It appears to be more effective than medication because medicine simply masks the symptoms, while mindfulness gets to the heart of the problem and confronts it, offering a way to overcome the symptoms permanently.

If meditation alone can improve the debilitating effects of anxiety and depression, think what promise it holds for helping all of us deal with the chronic negative thoughts which invade our mind, steal our joy, and keep us from living a happy and abundant life. After all, we all have some anxiety and depression, and we all have that little voice inside our heads which tells us we are not good enough. Meditation holds the key to controlling those thought patterns, and understanding that they are objectively separate from who we really are as a person.

You are more than you think you are. There is no limit to what you can achieve. However, this remains only potential if it is not actualized in your life.

Meditation, twice a day, can offer you the opportunity to live a full and happy life. Look into a good meditation program, and begin changing the way you see the world around you.

Do Antidepressants Make Some People Drink More?

A number of studies conducted in the 1980s and the early 1990s showed that SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) such as Prozac led to short term reductions in alcohol consumption in both humans and rats. This led to a lot of enthusiasm and intensive research on the effects of SSRIs on alcohol consumption because some researchers hoped that SSRIs might hold the key to the cure for alcoholism.
 
However, the research proved that the effects of SSRIs on alcohol consumption are far less simple than they initially appeared. The short term reductions in drinking in human alcoholics lasted no longer than a week and then the subjects were once again drinking just as much as they ever had. Moreover, the research showed that SSRIs may actually worsen drinking in Early Onset Alcohol Abusers and in women.
 
There is one group, however, which seems definitely to benefit from SSRIs. Patients who have both Alcohol Dependence and severe Major Depressive Disorder show significant improvement both in depression and alcohol consumption when treated with SSRIs. In this article we will take a look at the research which has been done on SSRIs and alcohol consumption in these populations.
 
In 1995 and 1996 Dr Henry Kranzler MD and his colleagues did a study which suggests that the SSRI Prozac may actually worsen the drinking behavior of Early Onset Alcohol Abusers while having no effect at all on Late Onset Alcohol Abusers. Early Onset Alcohol Abusers are defined as those who begin heavy drinking in early life and who have worse alcohol related consequences. Late Onset Alcohol Abusers are defined as those who begin heavy drinking later in life and have fewer alcohol related problems.
 
The Kranzler group studied the effects of Prozac on 95 non-depressed patients who were being treated with talk therapy for Alcohol Dependence. Half of these subjects received Prozac and the other half got a placebo. When Kranzler and his colleagues analyzed the group as a whole they found that there was no significant difference in improvement between the placebo group and the group receiving Prozac.

However, they then divided the patients up into two categories: Late Onset Alcohol Abusers and Early Onset Alcohol Abusers. When they reanalyzed the data using these two categories they obtained a very surprising result which was quite contrary to what they expected. They found that Early Onset Alcohol Abusers receiving the Prozac did significantly WORSE than the group receiving the placebo. There was no significant difference between the Late Onset Alcohol Abusers who received Prozac and those who received the placebo.
 
The Kranzler study strongly suggests that Prozac may actually worsen the drinking of Early Onset Alcohol Abusers who are not receiving any sort of talk therapy for their Alcohol Dependence. All that remains is for someone to do the crucial experiment needed to verify this highly likely conclusion.
 
In 1995 Dr Claudio Naranjo MD and his colleagues did a study of the effect of the SSRI Celexa on 62 non-depressed problem drinkers who were being taught moderate drinking strategies. 56% of the subjects in the study were male and 44% were female. Half of the subjects in the study got Celexa and the other half got a placebo. The Naranjo group found that women receiving the Celexa did significantly WORSE than women receiving the placebo in moderating their drinking. The men did the same whether they received Celexa or the placebo. This suggests that Celexa may actually INCREASE the drinking of female problem drinkers who are not receiving moderation training or some other form for talk therapy. All that is needed to confirm this is an experiment with drinkers who are receiving Celexa but no talk therapy.
 
The patients in the studies we have discussed so far did not suffer from severe Major Depressive Disorder. In 1997 Dr Jack Cornelius MD and his colleagues studied the effect of the SSRI Prozac on 51 patients with both severe Major Depressive Disorder and severe Alcohol Dependence. The subjects were 51% male and 49% female. All patients received talk therapy for their Alcohol Dependence. In addition to the talk therapy, 25 patients received Prozac and 26 received a placebo. In this study the patients who received the Prozac showed significantly greater improvements in both depression and in drinking outcomes than did those receiving the placebo. Taken together with the other studies this leads to the conclusion that SSRIs can lead to a reduction in drinking in people with severe Major Depressive Disorder but not in other groups.
 
In 2007 Dr Kathryn Graham PhD and her colleagues published the results of a massive telephone survey of 14,063 individuals in Canada which asked people about their use of alcohol and antidepressants. This survey showed that depressed men who took antidepressants drank less alcohol on the average than did depressed men who did not take antidepressants. However, depressed women who took antidepressants drank at least as much as did depressed women who did not take antidepressants, if not more.

Like the Naranjo study, this study also suggests that antidepressants affect the drinking behavior of men differently than they do the drinking behavior of women. Since this study did not specifically ask respondents if they were taking an SSRI or another type of antidepressant such as a tricyclic we must be somewhat cautious in what we can conclude from it. It is possible that if the data were limited to SSRIs that the researchers might have seen an increase in the alcohol consumption of women taking the medication. It remains for further research to confirm whether this is actually the case.
 
The studies to date seem to suggest that SSRIs only lead to reduced alcohol consumption in men who have severe Major Depressive Disorder. SSRIs do not seem to affect the alcohol consumption of most other people either one way or the other. However, the studies also suggest that it is possible that SSRIs might tend to increase alcohol consumption in some individuals--particularly in women and in Early Onset Alcohol Abusers.

Therefore, we would like to suggest that people become pro-active health care consumers. If you drink alcohol and take antidepressant and the antidepressants seem to be causing you to increase your drinking or to drink in a dangerous fashion, then you should talk to your doctor. You may need to switch to a different kind of antidepressant or stop taking antidepressants altogether. Or you may find that quitting drinking is your wisest course.
 
REFERENCES:
Cornelius JR, Salloum IM, Ehler JG, Jarrett PJ, Cornelius MD, Perel JM, Thase ME, Black A. (1997). Fluoxetine in depressed alcoholics: a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Archives of General Psychiatry, 54, 700-5.
Graham, K, Massak, A. (2007). Alcohol consumption and the use of antidepressants. CMAJ. 176(5), 633-7.
Kranzler HR, Burleson JA, Korner P, Del Boca FK, Bohn MJ, Brown J, Liebowitz
N. (1995). Placebo-controlled trial of fluoxetine as an adjunct to relapse prevention in
alcoholics. American Journal of Psychiatry, 152, 391-397.
Kranzler HR, Burleson JA, Brown J, Babor TF. (1996). Fluoxetine treatment seems to reduce the beneficial effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy in type B alcoholics. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 20, 1534-41.
Naranjo CA, Bremner KE, Lanctot KL. (1995). Effects of Citalopram and a brief psycho-social intervention on alcohol intake, dependence and problems. Addiction, 90, 87-99.

ADHD Teenagers and Depression

I want to tell you about two teenagers, they were confidant in different areas of their lives. One can sand in front of a group with confidant embracing the excitement and have fun with what he is doing. The other is shy, nervous would rather be in the group of spectators and not in the spot light.

Depression was not a part of who they where, then puberty hit and signs of depression seem to manifest overnight. Trouble with grades, disconnecting with friends and not paying attention to teachers or parents are a warning that something is wrong. What does ADHD have to do with depression? These conditions may go hand in hand if your child has ADHD depending on the diagnoses. It is devastating to your child and they don't understand it either.

Teens are sometimes labeled lazy, especially when they show high intelligence, confidence in sports and excitement about taking leadership roles. This describes the first child. As a teen you switch class everyday and when it came to school work there was no balance and the grade suffered. The parents could see that the teen was not lazy. Confidence in all areas of life were affected and the focused was not there in maintaining grades or anything else.

Setting goals and supporting teens in areas that they struggling is frustrating. As they work on the grades that had slipped bringing them up, the grades that where great fell below average. Tutors, parents, and the teen felt the frustration. Searching for answers is not easy and teens just don't know why they are struggling. Depression, frustration and ADHD were a part of the school year. An Educational Therapist explained how ADHD can have a variety of unexplained symptoms and behaviors. Meeting with the teens and evaluating them he thought they should seek the help of a psychiatrist to get a diagnosis and possibly medication. When a child looks at you and says something is not right and I want you to help me. You will do anything.

Diagnosed with ADHD and depression the next question was, is the ADHD causing the depression or is the depression causing the ADHD? Only one way to find out five months of therapy did not help in this teens life or school work, so the next step was to try medication.The medication for ADHD is like turning on a switch. The teens went from failing to the honor roll in one marking period. The first teen maintained his grades, learned to drive, passed written test and yet still did not show excitement in doing so well.

Depression took over; the teen was doing well but could not find joy in anything. Started medication for depression and is in therapy. This teen has depression and ADHD.

The other teen who has been in learning support since kindergarten was struggling more than ever, struggling to stay on task. Hours to do home work that should have only taken forty-five minutes. Happy go lucky even though this teens grades where average but below grade level. This teen would just shut down and not care about school or doing anything else is he struggling with ADHD. A diagnosis of ADHD is confirmed and is now on medication. He does not have depression.

Medication has helped these teens in ways the parents could not. They are now doing well and are happy. The symptoms they had are very different and depending on your child you may see a variety of behaviors that can only be helped and treated by a psychiatrist. When you see that your child is struggling with depression it may relate to ADHD, only a Psychiatrist should diagnose and prescribe medication monitoring them regularly.

No one knows your child like you. Signs that he or she is struggling because they seem lazy and are showing signs of depression is not "just being a teenager". Work with the school, a therapist and if needed find a Psychiatrist that works with children. The teens are thriving and the parents know they are getting the tools that will lead them to adulthood with confidence and a clear understanding in how to manage their mental health.

In quietness and in trusting confidence I find strength. ISAIAH 30:15

Cheer Up! How to Deal With Depression

Whenever a severe problem enters into our lives, we tend to experience a range of moods. These moods range from downright lack of interest in everything to low spirits. The word used to describe this range of moods is Depression. Depression is something that is very difficult to recognize, so much so, it can literally go undetected. While this can go undetected, the good news is that when detected on time, depression can be treated in most people.

There are various methods of treating depression. An early detection is something that can help matters. If not detected early, the depression can only get worse and the longer will be the treatment and even longer will be the time taken for the treatment to control the depression. As said, there are various remedies, ranging from natural medications to others. Natural medications do take time to work. So, along with the medications from your GP, you can try other treatments like Essential Oils, relaxation techniques or talking to close friends.

Recognizing the signs

Guilt Pangs, blaming self for everything, feeling unworthy, unable to handle situations or feeling totally out of control.

Lethargy coupled with a tired feeling.

Low concentration levels, indecisive and poor memory.

Yo-Yo in appetite and weight. There could periods of weight gain followed by immediate weight loss.

Irregular sleeping pattern. Either you do not sleep at all or you sleep like a log.

Agitated over small matters and severe restlessness.

Feeling low with tears in eyes.

Loss of interest in sexual activities.

Different Types of Depression

There are various forms of depression, with no two depressions looking alike, though usually there is an overlap in type of depression:

Reactive depression

Reactive Depression is usually triggered off by a serious physical injury or an accident or it could be even a psychological trauma such as a bereavement or a divorce. The best way to tackle this kind of depression is counseling, support, love of family and friends and some large-hearted emotional support. However, reactive depression could come back and the problems could surface again.

Endogenous depression

This is more severe than reactive depression. It has more to do with the person itself than any other external influence. Moods could range from being good in the morning to worse as the day progresses or have bouts of guilt complex and extreme self doubt.

Manic depression/Bi polar disorder

This is characterized by excessive energy, high mood swings, strange behaviour, extreme happiness to the lows of lethargy and utter helplessness. This usually alternates with periods of stability.

Post-natal depression

This happens because of the sudden drop in the estrogen and progesterone hormones which are usually found in females. The drop happens between the 3rd and the 10th day after the birth of the child. Though this occurs for a short period of time, some women suffer from a longer lasting depression which might require hospitalization. Swift treatment is one way out, but the better one would be a counseling which can help sort out things quickly. It is now estimated that almost 50% of mothers suffer from Post Natal Depression, or Baby Blues.

Masked depression

This happens in people who appear normal but start to suffer from physical problems such as energy loss or appetite or irregular sleeping patterns. This type of depression is reactive and is found in people who have suffered some form of trauma, but are unable to express it.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD Syndrome)

This is a seasonal disorder occurring, for example, in the UK during the Winter season. This type of depression usually strikes people during the months of December to February and affects up to a million people. There are variations in this type of depression too. It is often called Winter Blues. The usual symptoms are sleep problems, a lethargic attitude, craving for food, total loss of sex drive, worry and mood wings.

It is now accepted that SAD Syndrome may be linked to excess production of serotonin which is responsible for mood swings. It could also be due to the increased levels of melatonin. This hormone is produced by the pineal gland and induces sleep.

The best and the most effective treatment for SAD is to spend as much as time outdoors as possible. Natural Daylight is the most effective treatment for SAD. So, if you are at home, sit as much as possible next to a window or try and spend as much as time in natural light.

Top Tip: according to Holistic Therapies Spain, another way of combating SAD is to buy light boxes containing fluorescent tubes. They give out the same level of light that is found in a bright Spring morning. Sit in front of these for a period of time and soon you'll be as happy as you would be in warm sunlight.

Vision and Mental Health Linked in Eye Movement Studies

Currently, there are no scientific tests to diagnose some mental illnesses; for instance, there is no bipolar test to determine whether one is suffering from manic depression. However, studies are underway that will hopefully help researchers to create such a test.

New technology has been developed which has allowed researchers to accurately measure vision abnormalities in the mentally ill. One study, funded by a $1.2 million grant, is studying eye movements such patients. Research so far has shown that the way the eyes track in that population group can indicate an adverse medical condition in the brain. The team is working with a sample group diagnosed with conditions including depression, schizophrenia, autism, attention disorders and bipolar disorder.

Eye tracking and eye movement are the main areas of focus in the study. How the eyes react can suggest problems with how the nervous system works in the mentally ill. For example, slow-moving objects are difficult for those with schizophrenia to track with their eyes, and those who suffer from bipolar disorder may be sensitive to various lighting conditions and light wave lengths. Depression hurts, and those suffering from it may have visual abnormalities as well. For instance, the severely depressed can experience tunnel vision.

There are other studies underway that also revolve around the eyes. These studies look at how artificial darkness, optical prisms, and color contacts affect mood.

Eye movement studies may offer a way to better understand the problems in the brain that occur in the mentally ill. Through further research, perhaps a link will be found between eye movement and cognitive abnormalities and a tie to their genetic basis. Hopefully, there will be discoveries in testing, diagnosing, and treating people with mental illnesses based on these studies.

Disenfranchised Grief and Depression

Disenfranchised grief is grief experienced by an individual that is not openly acknowledged, socially validated or publicly observed. The loss experienced is real, but survivors are not accorded the "right to grieve" by anyone around them. An individual may have an intense and multifaceted reaction to a loss, yet those around him are completely ignorant or invalidating about the sadness that person may feel. Society at large simply is not comfortable with grief and for the most part completely ignores many instances of grief.

Some examples of disenfranchised grief are:

1) Loss of a pregnancy due to miscarriage
a. People say stupid things like "you can always have another baby

2) Loss of a pregnancy due to abortion
a. There is no public venue and complete lack of permission to grieve the loss of voluntary pregnancy termination

3) Loss of a child in an adoption process
a. Complete lack of understanding by society at large

4) Death of an ex-husband or ex-wife
a. People say, "Wow! You should be glad they are out of your life now!

5) Break up of a gay couple
a. Complete lack of acknowledgment by society as a whole.

When a person is in a disenfranchised grief circumstance, they are unable to process the emotions involved with that loss. They will do this usually completely alone and with no support system. The grieving process is always best done in community. It is important for others to share the tears and the pain of the loss. Yet in the instances mentioned above, parties involved in these losses are completely abandoned and isolated in their pain.

While there is a great movement of grief support groups in our nation, even those are probably not going to touch on the above mentioned losses, unless someone finds their special niche of group. They are available but sometimes hard to find.

The grieving process can be a long, difficult and painful process. The ideal way to grieve, again, is to have someone walk that valley of pain with you. It is the isolation and the abandonment that heaps even more coals of pain onto one's heart in a disenfranchised grief situation.

Without validation and confirmation from another person, the emotions of sadness get pushed down. Eventually a person with disenfranchised grief will find themselves with a full blown case of depression.

Some common signs of depression are:

1) Lack of interest in things that used to bring joy

2) Difficulty getting out of bed in the morning

3) Sluggish, tired feeling

4) Unable to sleep or restless sleep

5) General feeling of sadness

6) Crying spells

7) Feeling fearful

Disenfranchised grief needs community for healing. If you are suffering from depression caused by disenfranchised grief it is important that you find someone to walk the valley of sadness with you. You can either find a professional who is trained in grief counseling or find the particular support group that would pertain to you. At the very least, it is important for you to find a friend who could listen to your story and who would be a safe place to cry with you.