What is Escapism?

Daily stresses can drag anyone down, making escapism and getting away from it all an important part of getting through life. Escapism can be a healthy form of shaking off the effects of daily stress and retreating to an imaginary world, whether prompted by toys and figurines or board games and role-playing games. There are some unhealthy forms of escapism, too, that must be mentioned. Escapism that is based on individual creativity, however, can be very important in terms of personality development and mental capacity.

Psychology

A lot of people use escapism to retreat from depression or other mental anxieties. When people are generally sad or depressed, focusing on happier times or brighter things is a form of escapism that offers a healthy alternative to a rather bleak reality. This form of escapism can be healthy when it allows the person to realign themselves and approach reality with a more positive outlook. It can be harmful, however, when it causes the person to neglect reality and retreat from dealing with the depression or mental anxiety in a tangible and practical way.

Examples of Escapism

Escapism has long been an industry in and of itself in society. Television, movies, sports, music, books, role-playing games, the internet, computer games, recreational drugs, and other items have long been associated with helping people get away from the rigors of everyday life. Other so-called normal activities of human life can also lead to escapism. One example of this would be people that overeat to help numb the pain of their depression.

The Importance of Escapism

While there are many opponents of escapism and those that say it is important to the human experience to live in reality and face the consequences, there are also many proponents of escapism. Fantasy writers, for example, often propose their fantastic universes as a way to promote creative thinking and problem solving. It is largely accepted that escapism can help people more ably interact within reality and cope with some of the stresses of modern life.

For years, people have been turning to radio programs or science fiction programs to envision another world and grasp at what life might be like within another experience. This thought has often led to the discovery of many items of interest within our own universe and our world, which has in turn led to an enhanced reality of our scientific world. Escapism can open doors and can surpass natural sciences in many ways.

Daydreaming and Children

Daydreaming is important, especially in children. As escapism provides a release from reality and a greater desire for creative thought, daydreaming encourages the same in children. Most people daydream while being wide awake, picturing objects and situations that are as far from their current situation as possible. A child taking a test in high school, for example, may daydream about being somewhere else entirely. This type of daydreaming should be encouraged within children as it influences creative impulses and helps with the forming of various mental capacities.

Children who daydream, for example those that dream of their dollhouses coming alive or their stuffed animals having a tea party, are less likely to be depressed and often develop greater skills to deal with the changing patterns of day-to-day life.

Depression and The Water You Drink

Our body is made up of over 70% water and the brain contains even more water than that. Knowing these numbers makes it very easy for us to see the importance of having enough water in our diet in order to maintain those numbers. Even a slight deficit is going to cause a lot of different problems for us because of those numbers dipping slightly. If we allow the numbers to dip too much, it can cause major problems for us that can even include death. That is the one reason why many people try to get enough water on a daily basis.

Unfortunately, almost all of us are lacking in water in some way or another. As a matter of fact, chronic dehydration is a problem that we have been dealing with most of our lives, even from childhood. The body has an amazing way of being resilient, even when we abuse it in this way. After a certain amount of time, however, a lot of problems can occur which can include physical problems and even depression. As a matter of fact, chronic dehydration seems to be behind the imbalance that causes depression in many cases.

A way to prove to yourself the importance of water and the effect that it has on our mental faculties is to do this simple test. If you're working and you feel as though you are foggy headed, simply grab a glass of water and drink it down. You will often find that this makes a quick difference in your mental abilities. The same can also be true if you are dealing with severe depression.

The way to overcome severe dehydration, especially if you have been dealing with for years is to go beyond simply drinking enough water. Yes, it is important for you to drink enough water, which comprises of about half of your body weight in ounces of water every day. On top of that, however, you need to take a pinch of sea salt every time you drink a glass of water. This will help you to retain the water long enough for it to rehydrate your body.

Don't overlook the benefits of hydrating your body as being too simplistic. If you do so and continue to hydrate yourself for the long term, you will begin to notice differences in the way that you feel, along with seeing your depression lift to a certain extent.

Panic Attacks, Depression Harm Your Mind And Body

A study examined the medical histories of nearly 40,000 people who were diagnosed as suffering from panic disorder.

It found that those who suffer from panic disorder are at almost double the risk for coronary heart disease, and those who suffer from depression as well are at nearly three times the risk.

Panic disorder is a syndrome characterized by repeated episodes of intense fear. These episodes are accompanied by physical symptoms, which can include chest pain, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, dizziness, and abdominal distress. Roughly 2.4 million Americans experience panic attacks each year.

The way in which coronary heart disease is triggered by panic attacks is unknown. However, some stress responses to depression already have been shown to increase the risk of coronary heart disease.

Science Blog September 22, 2005

Dr. Mercola's Comment:

This should comes as nosurprise considering what a major role negative emotions play in your body's healing process. The connection betweenyour mind and yourbody is strong and well-documented by a literalmountain of scientific research; healing your mind is a crucial step in keeping your body healthy.

Unfortunately, most doctors, when faced with a patient who suffers from panic disorder or depression, will reflexively resort to prescribing potentially toxic medications as a form of treatment, even though they don't provide any meaningful benefit. This is laregely related to the incredibly effective "brain washing" influence that the drug companies have over their educational intervention.

How can Imake such a bold statement?

Easy, I was one of the brain washed doctors. I went into medical school fully believing in the power of your body to heal naturally and I came out a drug prescribing doctor. I think I must have but several thousand patients on antidepressants in the first few years of my practice alone. Seemed like every other patient was walking out the door with a script for Prozac or Wellbutrin.

But fortunately I finally woke up one day and began to understand that there were far more effective options that actually addressed the underlying cause of the disease.

One of my absolute favoritestreatments that can make all the difference to your health and help you deal with panic attacks or depression is the Emotional Freedom Technique, the energy psychology tool I use daily in my practice. It is particularly effective for panic attacks.

Another wonderful tool you can use is meditation. Some people use it to promote spiritual growth or find inner peace, while others use it as a relaxation and stress-reduction tool.

Panic and anxiety disorders can be debilitating and severely affect your ability to perform everyday tasks. They can also, in addition,put you at risk for a variety of physical health problems. Resolve your emotional stresses, and both your mind and your body will experience the benefits.

Another excellent meditation tool is the Insight CD, which Inow recommend to allto many of mypatients. The Insight CD is a complete tool dedicated to helping you reduce stress, explore expanded states of consciousness, and achieve deeper levels of self-awareness.

The 8 Steps to Be Unhappy, Miserable, and Depressed!

So... people ask me all the time what they can do to be unhappy, more miserable, or depressed. There are so many people in this world that need the answers to these important questions. I decided that I would dedicate my time and vast knowledge of this topic so that you too can create, extremely fast, deep unhappiness in your life. It is important that you read over these principals as they can, will, and do have a huge affect on the outcome of your life. In fact these 8 principals probably have a bigger outcome on your life than ANYTHING ELSE EVER WILL. This is life-changing! Are you ready to find out how to always be upset? Well read on below and lets get unhappy together!

These are the top 8 steps to make you unhappy. As you read this identify with ones that you want to do more of so that you can really accelerate your decline into sorrow and grief.

1. Be extra judgmental

Judging other people is such a fast track to unhappiness. When you really want to be upset then just go find someone to judge. Even better is to judge them, and then tell everyone about how awful they are. When we judge other people it pulls us down to where they are in their lives. It also gives you this awesome negative feeling in your gut. Your first step toward the ultimate sadness is to start judging, and judge as harshly as possible so you can decline like a rocket crashing right into the ground.

2. Complain about every thing! (literally everything, even little things that really don't matter)

I love to complain. If I ever feel happy I know I have not been complaining enough. When we complain it gets our blood boiling. We focus strongly on the negative things around us. It helps if you complain about the people that you are being judgmental about. Then you can kill 2 happiness birds with one stone. Complaining is awesome Gripe and complain all day long for an extra unhappy week. Do this especially when you meet one of those annoying people that is always happy. If you do this you can bring them down with you, then you both can complain about everything together, its awesome!

3. Look for what's wrong, and tell everyone why its wrong.

This is such a perfect goal to have when working on your negative attitude. What could be a better way then finding fault in everything. Think about those bad drivers, the rough roads, the economy, your family, the food for lunch, politics, rude people, and every thing else that you ever see, touch, or even hear about. YOU CAN FIND SOMETHING WRONG WITH EVERYTHING! So do it. Why be happy when you can be finding fault in everything you see. It is especially helpful to try and have a worse day than all of your friends. Then at the end of the day you can say "that's nothing, look what happened to me today.....," or "If it makes you feel better my day was so much worse than yours because of......."This game can be continued on for hours until someone finally wins at the worst day possible, and by then we are all totally depressed. Great game!

4) Hang out with other unhappy people, even if they are good friends or family

Yeah, other unhappy people are a great way to bring yourself town into depression. It is so good for you to spend time around people that have any of these 8 qualities. If they are always negative then you should copy every word they say. I recommend that you get 5 hours of personal time with someone that is unhappy. This can really drain that sick happiness right out of your body. The faster you can get rid of happiness the better off you will be, so make sure you really latch onto people that hate life!

5) Tell yourself how stupid you are when you mess up

This is a really good one. Talk to yourself and call yourself names. Let yourself know how stupid you are. Don't forget to talk bad about yourself verbally as well as non verbally. Really voice the negative judgments that you make of yourself. If you need some suggestions you could say things like "I'm such a stupid idiot." "I hate myself." or even something like "I'm a lazy useless slob." I usually tell women to make sure they tell themselves how fat and ugly they are so that they can really get unhappy quickly.

6) Be critical!

Oh boy, I sure do love this one. Some people say "Location, Location, Location," but I say "Criticize, Criticize, Criticize." You should criticize everything you see. Everything! And if anyone else is around at all, then you should really let t hem hear what you think. Not only about the world, but about that person as well. Why should they be spared if they are not perfect. Criticize them as well. They will hate you for it, and that will make you even more unhappy.

7) Always assume the worst will happen

Always believe that nothing will work out. You will get in a car wreck today. You will fail your test. You will get fired. Everyone will hate you. Everyone is watching you hoping you screw up. Everyone wants you to fail. Never forget to assume the worst possible outcome. You will probably die when you leave the house today, and if you don't die you will probably go bankrupt or loose a family member! Assuming the worst and telling everyone about it will assist you in your unhappiness quest.

8 ) Eliminate forgive and forgiveness from your vocabulary

Hold grudges. Hate. Despise. Never forgive. Forgiveness is your enemy.

If there is anything that will bring more happiness into your life its forgiveness. When you forgive someone you instantly feel free and happy. This is the last thing an unhappiness seeker is looking for. We want to hate them forever. So never forgive. Bottle that up, oh and tell everyone about what they did to screw you over. The more people you tell about what someone did to you, the more unhappy you can be. they will also tell you about the people that screw them over. Then you both can be miserable! This will really accelerate your decline into the pit of unhappy despair.

Please share your stories about how this post helped you to be really rottenly unhappy. Also if you have other ways to help people hate their life then post them as well.

Today is just like every other day, its time to create your pain. I hope you are super depressed right now and did not enjoy this blog. In Sadness and misery - Justin Criner

Hint!~~~~~~For the few of you that are interested in being happy, the first step is to do the opposite of all of these.~~~~~~Hint

Some Famous People With Schizophrenia

When we find out that a person suffers from schizophrenia, we get afraid for the person and ourselves. We know that schizophrenia is a mental disorder, but many of us are not sure what this disorder is all about. People, who suffer from schizophrenia, experience hallucinations and delusions, and do not have organized speech or thoughts. Along with the mental disorder, many schizophrenics also suffer from anxiety problems and depression. They are also known to be suicidal and because of this the life span of schizophrenics is not very long.

While schizophrenia can cause a lot of problems in a person's life, there have been famous personalities who have managed to somehow overcome the disorder and still carve a niche for themselves in their chosen occupation.

John Nash was a mathematician who was responsible for the differential game theory. While he was studying in college, he shows symptoms of being a schizophrenic. It was only later that a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia was made. However, he did not let this come in his way. He went on pursuing his interests in math and was awarded the Noble Prize in math in 1994. He is also the proud recipient of Leroy P. Steel Prize and the John von Neumann Theory Prize. A movie entitled Beautiful Mind was made on his life. The movie clearly highlights his intelligence and his continuous struggle with the disorder.

Imagine being a surgeon and Oxford English Dictionary contributor, and yet having schizophrenia? The person in question was William Chester Minor. He was in the Union army and took part in the American Civil War. However, after the war ended, he was known to frequent prostitutes. Thereafter, his condition deteriorated and as result he was committed to a mental asylum. In an incident of paranoid delusion, he ended up shooting a man because he believed the man was trying to break into his room. However, Minor was found not guilty on account of insanity. Minor's condition kept going from bad to worse and ultimately he passed away in 1920.

Depression - In Men

Male depression is just as common as female depression, but it doesn't seem so because very few men are speaking out or agreeing that they have depression. So most men with depression go undiagnosed and untreated. And this is very dangerous because people who commit suicide have been depressed and 75% - 80% of all the people who commit suicide in the U.S. are men. This sure makes you wonder if you could have reduced that number if you had just been more observant of the depression symptoms in that friend you know or loved who committed suicide.

If you're a man reading this and you think you may have symptoms of depression, go for diagnosis and start treatment immediately. Untreated depression can have devastating consequences.

Depression is nothing to be ashamed of, it's just another illness like pneumonia or any other illness that you can recover from.

Reasons Why Depression in Men go Undiagnosed

Failure to recognize the symptoms of depression

Downplaying the signs and symptoms

Not open to discussing the exhibited depression symptoms

Resisting treatment due to fear of the stigma of having depression will cause.

The Signs and Symptoms of Depression in Men

Men and women experience depression differently, reasons for this are likely because men use different ways both healthy and unhealthy to cope with their depression. And for women the difference could be due to a combination of factors such as brain chemicals, hormones and life experiences. There are some signs and symptoms common to both male and female depression such as, feeling blue or failure to get pleasure from the activities they once enjoyed, but there are symptoms almost unique to men. They include:

Depression escapist behavior - spending too much time at work or other activity such as sports

Alcohol or substance abuse

Inappropriate anger

Controlling, violent or abusive behavior

Risky behavior, like reckless driving

Infidelity or unhealthy sexual relationships

Male Depression and Suicide

Although there are more women attempting suicide than men, more men are actually successful with it, this could be because they don't talk about committing suicide as women do, they act more quickly on their suicidal thoughts and use more lethal means, such as guns.

If you're male and seriously thinking about committing suicide or you know someone who is, please get help right away. Call 911 or your local emergency number. But if you're simply feeling suicidal, try to get help for yourself by:

Reaching out to a closed friend or loved one and sharing your feelings. If your friend or loved one loves you he or she will be willing to help you without condemning you.

Make appointment with your doctor.

Talk to your doctor about your symptoms he or she will refer you to a mental health provider.

Get the Help you Need

Depression is an illness, a disease, something out of your control. So admitting that you are ill is not a sign of weakness but the first step to get you well and be yourself again. If you have depression symptoms, go see your doctor and get diagnosed now so that you can get started on a treatment. If you let it linger by downplaying your feelings, or blunt it out by drinking too much alcohol or any other escapist behavior, your symptoms will persist and even get worse. And when that happens it will make you and your loved ones miserable and turn every aspect of your life upside down. If you think you have depression, talk to your doctor now, he or she will direct you to a professional mental health provider who can advice you on the illness.

How to Protect Teens From Drug Abuse

Drug abuse has become one of the leading problems in today's teens. This growing problem is present, even in Colorado. In fact, according to statistics, approximately 46,000 Colorado teens have used an illicit drug within the last month. Drug abuse in teens can lead to many other problems that can extend well beyond adolescence. Studies show that teens that engage in drug usage are more likely to commit crimes, engage in casual sex, and commit suicide. They are at a high risk for vehicular accidents, contracting HIV, and drug overdose. These generally result in death. Protecting your teen is the best way to prevent drug abuse.

Family connection

Studies conducted on teens concerning the use of it, show a direct correlation between the level of connection they feel with their family and drug use. Teens who feel more connected to their families are less likely to abuse drugs. Talking to your teen and being ready to listen without judgment is the best way to ensure a healthy connection and line of communication with your teen.

Talk to your teen about their friends, about school, and about their feelings. Teens who suffer from depression are also more likely to abuse drugs. By listening to your teen, you can detect signs of depression early on.

If you suspect abuse

If you suspect that your teen is already abusing drugs, the best approach is early intervention. Early detection and intervention methods are the best way to help your teen. This starts with communication. However, this is not always easy when they are abusing drugs.

It may be necessary to perform a test to find out whether or not your teen is abusing drugs. Although drug tests can be performed at facilities, they can also be purchased and done at home. This can help the teen to feel safer and less vulnerable.

It is important to know what method of drug testing to use. Many drug tests can be easily altered. This is a barrier to detecting drug usage. The most effective forms of drug testing are hair follicle drug testing and fingernail drug testing. These can detect drug use for up to 90 days and cannot be altered.