Sadness Remedies - Ten Tips to Turn Around the Blues

Over the past few weeks, I have spoken to many friends and acquaintances who have been having bouts of classic sadness. I won't call it depression, although I am sure some of them might be inclined to use that label. I've always been wary in using that word with my clients since it can easily be misunderstood. Most of the time what they're suffering from is sub-clinical depression, commonly known as extreme sadness.

To be diagnosed with clinical depression, a person must experience a specific number of symptoms every day for at least a two-week period. Some of these symptoms may be: loss of usual interest or pleasure in activities; reduced appetite and weight loss (other than from healthy dieting); increased appetite and weight gain; changes in sleeping pattern; feelings of inappropriate guilt, hopelessness, worthlessness, or pessimism; inability to concentrate, remember things, or make decisions; constant fatigue or loss of energy; restlessness or decreased activity noticed by others; thoughts of death or suicide or attempts at suicide; and persistent physical symptoms that do not respond to treatment, such as headaches, digestive disorders, and chronic pain.

Most people do not fit into this pattern, and are in fact suffering only from a serious case of the blues. It may last anywhere from days to weeks. I don't want to minimize how difficult this is. Once people get into a funk, they often cannot notice anything positive going on around them. They are experiencing the world through defective filters. The Law of Attraction states that you will get more of whatever you put your energy, focus, and attention on. So people in this state will be drawn into a negative vortex that is difficult to escape from without some form of intervention or interruption of pattern.

Whether alone, or with the assistance of a friend, any combination of the following approaches will contribute to breaking that pattern. They work.

1. Notice disguised opportunities.

Lee Iacocca once said, "We are all faced with a series of great opportunities - brilliantly disguised as insoluble problems." When I trained in customer service skills, I used to tell front line staff that customer complaints were not to be feared, but rather to be welcomed with open arms. They were being handed a wonderful gift. Here was their opportunity to shine. Here was their opportunity to show the customer just how much we did care for their needs. Most customers are neutral, but a disgruntled one, once turned around, is usually an activist for the company.

2. Get ye to the countryside!

A research study measured subjects' cognitive deficits and psychological states after walking in a city environment compared to a group who walked in an arboretum. Those who had walked in the city scored considerably less on a test of working memory and attention, and were also in a worse mood than the other group.

3. Accentuate the positive.

I love Jim Carey movies. I recently watched, "Yes Man." Here was a man living an uneventful life until he began responding positively to every request. Of course this got him into some unexpected and very funny situations; however there is a great lesson here. For every event, look for and embrace its positive features.

4. Stay connected.

Maintain and foster your network of friends and family, even if it is a bit of a chore. Isolating yourself just deepens the hole you're in.

5. Stay active.

This is probably one of the simplest methods available. Walk, dance, swim, or do some gardening. Trick your brain into thinking that everything is just fine.

6. Nurture your body.

Eat well, drink well. At some time or other we all turn to comfort food - self-medicating to make us feel better with too much of things like pasta, pop, alcohol - but, though it feels fine in the short term, it's destructive over time. Keep in mind that dehydration is a prime cause of fuzzy thinking and convoluted decision making. For good hydration, choose water over pop and alcohol, and, for abrupt and dynamic change, switch much of your diet to fresh fruit and vegetables, their fiber helping regulate your system's pace of absorption.

7. Get some sunlight.

During the short days of winter, either get outside for twenty minutes a day, or buy a full-spectrum light bulb. Exposure to this light on a daily basis will encourage your body to promote the generation of the mood-raising vitamin D.

8. Nurture your mind.

Lots of research has shown that what we read, listen to, or watch will affect our consciousness. Our conscious thoughts influence our emotions, behaviors, and even our health. None of us can afford the luxury of a negative thought. Saturate your mind with positive thoughts. Avoid the news and listen to relaxing music. Spend as much time out of doors as you can. Develop a habit of laughing and smiling often. If you want to take it to another level, consider taking a personal development course or hiring a life coach.

9. Live in the present.

Dwelling on the past or worrying about the future generates and sustains anxiety. Focusing on the present creates a sense of grounding and wellbeing.

10. Be grateful.

Instead of comparing yourself to others, or grieving over what you once had, be grateful for what you do have, whether it's health, family, skills, abilities, friends, or a place to live. Many people keep a daily gratitude journal. This keeps their good fortune at top of mind.

The last thing I want you to be aware of is that life is full of cycles. Sometimes we may find ourselves in a natural low, and it takes only a few negative events to make our life appear very gloomy indeed. Be assertive. Give some of these approaches a trial run. I am sure you will notice a difference within days.

What Therapy Is Best For Depression And Stress

Depression and stress are used in everyday language to such an extent that it could be forgiven for not seeing them as a serious mental health condition. Terms like 'oh, he's just a bit stressed out' or ' I'm depressed because my football team lost on the weekend' do not reflect true mental health problems. They are temporary and event driven. This article will outline what clinical depression is and the best therapy to deal with it.

Clinical depression (sometimes known as major depression, major depressive disorder or simply depression) is a feeling of sadness, being down or lack of optimism that is not brought about by an external stimulus or event. Clinical means observed, so it becomes clinical when it is not self-diagnosed but is diagnosed by the observation of a qualified medical practitioner. Clinical depression will last longer than 2 weeks and will require some form of clinical or pharmacological treatment or both.

The most effective treatment for clinically diagnosed depression is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). CBT concerns talking through the patients problems. This could take the form of sessions with a qualified counsellor or in a group situation that is facilitated by a qualified person. The objective of these sessions is to change how the person thinks (Cognitive) and how they behave (Behavioural). The problems discussed are always current or imminent problems. The therapy is to help change the behaviour related to these problems than dealing with any problems in the past, like a poor upbringing or abused childhood for example.

The underlying tenet behind this therapy is that external events do not create our emotional states. It is the thoughts that we have towards these events that shape our emotional lives. For example, a person that is clinically depressed might have a completely irrational thought that everybody hates them. This might be reinforced because a person walking past them ignores them. Cognitive Behavioural therapy would look at why the person feels that everybody hates them. The therapy would work at changing this thought by highlighting it's irrationality. By changing the thought the actions of the person would be different and they would realise that the person ignores everybody that they walk past.

CBT has proved to be very effective in combating depression. It helps the patient to understand that they create their emotional state rather than other things or people. The therapy gives them a method to use should depression re-occur. It is often used in conjunction with some form of anti-depressant medication. One potential problem with CBT is that is relies on the patient cooperating with the therapy and working as hard as the counsellor to resolve problems. This might not be possible if the patient does not believe they are depressed or that they are responsible for the depression.

Paint by Emotion: Edvard Munch's Struggle With Bipolar Disorder

He was a man surrounded by death, and grief - the blackest sort of emotions and deepest kinds of sadness. When he died in the winter of 1944, he left over 20,000 pieces of his work to the city of Oslo, the place where he was born. Best known for his hauntingly beautiful painting, "The Scream", Edvard Munch was a man who likely had many things to scream about in his own life, not the least of which was his suspected bipolar disorder.

Once called "manic depression" (a term that is now seen as outdated), this brutal psychological condition manifests itself primarily through intense mood changes, severe depression, and swings in energy levels. These changes can disappear as quickly as they come, giving rise to the term "bipolar", literally opposite poles on the emotional spectrum. An exact cause for why bipolarism occurs is thus far unknown, and even less was understood about it during Munch's life. A person suffering from this condition often goes through cycles or periods where they experience abnormally large swings and changes in their moods, energy levels and depression. Some in the medical field feel that traumatic events and excess stress, especially during a patient's youth can greatly increase the risk of developing bipolar disorder, either at the time of the trauma or in the years following it.

In the first few years of his life after he was born in 1863, Munch watched as both his parents, a sister and a brother all died. As the years went on other siblings and close relatives would pass away, and another sister was diagnosed as being mentally ill. With so much death and sickness circulating through his young mind, it is almost too easy to see how and why this Norwegian artist would go on to create pieces of art that dealt less with somewhat cheery impressionism of the time, and more with capturing the essence of emotions and moods. Fraught by anguish and perhaps a sense of loneliness, Edvard decided to enrol in art school in 1881. With his life in tow Munch began going between Paris and Norway (and later Germany), studying the great artists and art movements of the era.

While not entirely macabre for the most part, in general Munch's work was far from the flower gardens and ballet dancers that top impressionist artists were painting by the cartful at the time. Instead, Munch wanted to convey more than just a scene; he wanted his paintings to be riddled with emotion, energy, deeper meaning and complexity. Yet even with that in mind his style of art would change several times (a theme that is also noted in other artists such as Picasso) as he dabbled in impressionism, synthetism, and other genres that were popular then. Borrowing techniques here and inventing others there, Edvard would go on to be a pillar in the creation of the German Expressionism movement. In Expressionism, Munch found a way to look beyond the perfectionism of realists and impressionists and starkly put forth emotion on canvas, wood or whichever of the many mediums he chose to work with. Just as Edvard Munch's work would take on a more optimistic aura in his later years, this gifted artist's moods and emotions changed sharply throughout his life, giving rise to the suspicion that he was afflicted with bipolar disorder.

Munch is not the only artist who is thought or known to have suffered from this condition; in fact some researchers tend to think that it can bring about deep forms of varied creativity. Famous names from Hans Christian Andersen to Virginia Woolf, Napoleon to Marilyn Monroe are but a few of the stars, icons and history makers who may have battled this psychological condition. Now, just as it was in Munch's lifetime, no failsafe treatment exists for bipolar disorder. With his memories as inspiration, and his moods as his medium, there may have been little else to do but turn to art in order for Munch to use his internal earthquakes of feeling, energy and depression to help him cope with his own bipolar disorder. Indeed Edvard Munch turned melancholy and mania into timeless art, and gave the world an incredible collection of creative, poignant work.

Ayurvedic Cure for Depression

Depression, clinical depression or major depressive disorder is a mental state of chronic despair or sadness. The person suffering from depression retires from active social life and spends time in isolation, further worsening the condition.

What depression is not: clinical depression is not feeling down because of some loss or happenings that happen in day to day life. You may feel depressed for quite a time or for a few days. You will be able to identify the reason for such dejection and will get over it soon.

Clinical depression is feeling depressed with no apparent reason. This is something more serious than feeling depressed over some matter - like a loss of something.

A person with clinical depression just fails to find motivation to do anything at all.

Causes of Clinical Depression

No one can pin point a factor as the reason for depression. Several factors contribute to depression. In the ancient Vedic periods, people had to worry little about depression. The colonized life of man can be one among the prime reasons of depression.

Heredity, physiology, childhood or early life experiences, side effects of certain medicines and psychological factors can contribute to clinical depression. Stressful life, imbalanced diet, alcohol or drug consumption etc can cause depression.

Clinical Depression Treatment

Modern medicine use strong medicines to treat clinical depression. Ayurveda has a milder approach to cure depression.

There is a variety of techniques used in Ayurveda to effectively lift the mental state of a person. Ayurveda methods for treating depression are completely free from side-effects. Recurrence of depression to previous levels is also rare in Ayurvedic depression cure.

The main requirement of Ayurvedic treatment for depression includes meditation, avoiding non-vegetarian food, eating lot of fruits and drinking lot of water; going to bed, taking meals and going to toilet at specific times of the day; going to bed early before 10pm, waking up with sunrise, walking long distances in the morning light, and putting your body in a balanced and active state.

According to Ayurveda an imbalance of the three doshas (vata, pitta and kapha) of tridosha and general ignorance about self contribute to depression. There is less communication between neurons of brain, which leaves the person sluggish.

Rasayana treatment, head massaging (like sirovasti, thalam), meditation are involved in Ayurvedic depression cure treatments.

The treatments are aimed at releasing the extra-influence of Kapha on Vata and Pitta. Kapha tries to balance the imbalance that may occur to vata and pitta by slowing down their movements. This leads to stagnation, darkness and the result will be depression.

Ayurveda massages and medicines like rasayana restore tridosha balance. It gives immediate cooling effect to the head. Slowly the person can get out of depression.

Oxycodone Abuse Warning Signs - Save Your Friends And Loved Ones From An Addiction

At the present moment, there is a tendency of people abusing prescription drugs and it is with no doubt that Oxycodone is the most abused. This is due to the fact that this drug has a very high degree of addiction since it belongs to the opiates group. Most of the people who abuse this drug find themselves drifting in the habit unconsciously because it can also make a person dependent on it very quickly.

The story usually begins with a prescription that has been written because of physical conditions that require pain to be moderated and relieved. This drug usually gives the abuser a euphoric feeling that can be equated to being drunk.

There are many warning signs that give away a really serious Oxycodone abuse case. There are circumstantial clues that can b an indication that you or your loved one is in big trouble. It is common to see signs of depression that are incorporated with instability of emotions. This is usually more common in teens so parents have to be aware of the signs that their children exhibit.

Another sign is when they are more involved in finding new doctors all the time. This is due to the fact that this drug is only obtainable through prescription so they must change doctors in order to maintain a constant supply.

Another notable warning sign is when a loved on completely disassociates with their own feelings or even friends. Mostly, they will have a care free attitude and will care less about things that they previously cared about. It is also possible to find abuser with feelings of confusion since this is an effect of the drug when it is abused.

In addition to this, you will notice a general mood change and abusers will not enjoy activities that they previously enjoyed. Their whole behavior will change for worse and you may find them not performing their duties as before, missing school and even missing work. You will generally get complaints from co-workers or teachers on the abuser's drop in the level of performance.

There are also numerous warning signs that are of a physical nature that you will also be able to detect. One of the biggest signs of abusers of Oxycodone can be found in their eyes. You will generally find that they have small pupils and their eyes in general will be blood shot most of the times. Another sign that you should also look out for is tiredness and sleepiness.

This is usually brought about by the strength of the medicine. Since Oxycodone is very strong, it makes the people that abuse it to become very tired and feel sleepy most of the times fro not reason at all.

There are also other signs that you can also look out for which include general weakness of the body, nausea & vomiting, clammy & cold skin, seizures, feelings of dizziness, clumsiness, slowed breathing which can lead to comas & death, sleeping frequently especially at odd times and sweating profusely.

PTSD: Depression and Anxiety in One Package

Like with the similarities between depression and anxiety, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has similar symptoms to both of them. You can say that PTSD is depression and anxiety mixed into one mental illness.

The symptoms of depression like insomnia, emotional detachment, avoidance of all social interaction and lack of interest in usual activities and your own future, trouble with concentration, - they are all present in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

But it's the differences from depression which will determine your diagnosis. They include the constant thoughts of trauma, memories, flashbacks, extreme irritation and emotional instability.

You're highly likely to experience PTSD if you had some sort of near death experience - were involved in a car crash, fire, war, often for women, rape as well.

You are also predisposed to PTSD if you have suffered from depression or anxiety and panic attacks previously, your family had a history of mental illnesses, had poor background, you have suffered or suffer from drug and alcohol abuse. Research also shows that more women than men experience PTSD.

The treatment for PTSD is very similar to both treatments for depression and anxiety:

- The doctors usually prescribe antidepressant medications, mostly SSRI's (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) like Paroxetine.

- For anxiety symptoms you'll get anti-anxiety medications like Mirtazapine or Phenelzine.

- You may also be prescribed some mood stabilizers like Valium (Diazepam), but only for couple of weeks and only if you had a particular bad anxiety problem.

Don't give up if the medications are not working straight away! As I said before, it takes up to two months for them to take effect.

Non-medication help for PTSD involves:

- Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT). Expect to talk about what triggers your memories and flashbacks and work on how to start thinking about them differently.

- Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). Here is a very fascinating and simple method of stopping your memories from affecting you that much, and nobody knows quite how it works. The therapist asks you to think about the trauma and follow with your eyes the movements of his finger while thinking of what upsets you. After few sessions like this you find that you become desensitized with your memories about the traumatic event.

- Any other counselling methodslike depression and anxiety group therapy, self-help group for PTSD.

- Learning relaxation techniques, meditation, etc.

Whatever you do, don't give up. Each person recovers differently depending on their trauma. It can be few months or it can be few years, but remember YOU WILL RECOVER.

Get Rid Of Depression: Qibounding Relieves Melancholic Depression Symptoms

Do you have melancholic depression symptoms? You can get rid of depression by Qibounding. Discover how others have used this soft bounce rebounder to remove the sadness, inertia, nervousness, and low confidence levels that plague you when you're depressed.

Did you know that every month, thousands and thousands of people search for painless ways to commit suicide or the best way to commit suicide? These people are looking for a way out because they can't stand being depressed anymore. You may be one of these people. If you are, don't give up! You can feel good again.

I know this from personal experience. Twenty years ago, I was minutes from committing suicide. I stopped because I couldn't leave my beloved dog behind. After that, I went looking for the best ways to relieve depression. And I found them.

One of them is rebounding. And if you're going to rebound, Qibounding is the way to go.

People who have discovered Qibounding (which is using a mini trampoline called a Qibounder) have described the exercise as a "joyful experience" and a "miracle cure" for being in the midst of the dark cloud of depression. More scientifically, researchers have discovered that the body produces a rather large amount of serotonin during rebounding. This is what creates the chemical changes in your brain that allow you to feel better.

This isn't a placebo. There's scientific evidence to prove the impact of this type of exercise on depression.

Can it really be this easy to lift your mood out of the cellar?

My own experience and that of a friend and others I've talked to says, "Yes!"

I no longer suffer from the severe depression that nearly drove me to suicide. By using a combination of energy healing, meditation, and exercise (walking and rebounding), I've removed the "black dog" of depression from my life. But I do sometimes experience some milder symptoms. A few minutes a day on the rebounder truly does lift my mood.

A friend picked up a rebounder at a garage sale. She bought it for exercise. But it pulled her completely out of a deep depression she'd been in for months. She was amazed.

She's talked to others who have bought rebounders and had the same results. And here's what a Qibounder said on the Bellicon (the maker of this rebounder) site: "I battle periodic depression and found myself at a low point after a build up of life events. I happened upon a blog that talked about the benefits of rebounding to the lymphatic system and for depression. I began my research on rebounders and luckily found QiBounding!....Rebounding has truly changed my life! I cannot believe how happy it makes me."

See? You can get rid of depression and put melancholic depression symptoms behind you. Just start Qibounding!