10 Ways to Treat Depression Without Antidepressants Sarah Landrum, ContributorWaking Times You’ve probably been told that antidepressants correct the chemical imbalance in your brain. As it turns out, that’s not quite true. In fact, antidepressants might be doing you more harm than good. Even if antidepressants do work, the fact remains that they’re insanely expensive. It’s better to view antidepressants as a last resort, and try some – or all – of these alternative treatments first. 1. When you’re depressed, negative thoughts pour into your mind like water from a broken dam. Nothing – except meditation. “In the group work that I’ve done with sufferers of anxiety or depression, I’ve found (mindfulness meditation) very beneficial because it calms the mind,” says psychologist Katie Sparks. 2. Then again, maybe being an almost-Buddhist isn’t your thing. In that case, try exposing yourself to funny TV shows/movies/books/what-have-yous. 3. Depression is a manipulative and malicious little monster. Don’t listen to it. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 1. 2.
Emotional Intelligence: The Social Skills You Weren't Taught in School Releasing Unexpressed Emotion Randi G. Fine, ContributorWaking Times “Unexpressed emotion will never die. They are buried alive and will come forth later in uglier ways.” ~Sigmund Freud Most of the feelings that interfere with our lives today, our negative emotional responses, have little to do with what is occurring in the present. When these memories are subconsciously triggered, all rationality goes out the window. We may think we know why we are reacting the way we are, though we seldom do. Triggers bring the pain of our past to the surface for a very specific reason. That is not easily accomplished. That lack of understanding is a result of having been conditioned to bury our most uncomfortable feelings – to remain calm and to show our happy face to the world. Our emotions embarrass us. As a result, many of us have been denying our emotional pain for a very long time. The only requirement for existing in the physical world is that we breathe air. Emotion is a natural response to living. About the Author
Basic Emotions Explanations > Emotions > Basic Emotions List of emotions | So what List of emotions What are the basic emotions? As ever, theorists disagree. Here is a deeper list of emotions as described in Shaver et al. (2001), where emotions were categorised into a short tree structure. There are also moves to minimize the number of basic emotions. Learn to recognise emotions at increasing levels of detail. See also Plutchik's Ten Postulates Ekman, P. (1972). Ekman, P., Friesen, W. Frijda, N. Gray, J. Izard, C. Jack, R.E., Garrod, O.G.B and Schyns, P.G. James, W. (1884). McDougall, W. (1926). Oatley, K., & Johnson-Laird, P. Ortony, A., & Turner, T. Panksepp, J. (1982). Parrott, W. (2001), Emotions in Social Psychology, Psychology Press, Philadelphia Plutchik, R. (1980). Shaver, P., Schwartz, J., Kirson, D., & O'Connor, C. (2001).
11 Ways Our Society Treats Us Like Caged Rats: Do Our Addictions Stem from that Trapped Feeling? Charles Eisenstein, The FixWaking Times Instead of a moral failing or physiological malfunction, is addiction an adaptive response to circumstances? You’ve probably heard about those addiction studies with caged lab rats, in which the rats compulsively press the heroin dispensing lever again and again, even to the point of choosing it over food and starving themselves to death. These studies seemed to imply some pretty disheartening things about human nature. The rat addiction studies also seem to validate the main features of the War on Drugs. The implication is that drug addiction is not a moral failing or physiological malfunction, but an adaptive response to circumstances. Are we like rats in cages? Here are some ways to put a human being in a cage: —Remove as much as possible all opportunities for meaningful self-expression and service. —Cut people off from nature and from place. —Move life – especially children’s lives – indoors. The cages suffer no easy escape.
Emotional vs Intellectual Words I have written about persuasive writing in an article where I discuss Ethos, Logos, Pathos. Persuasive writers use words to convince the reader to listen or to act. I found this useful list of words in an interesting article called Common words that suck emotional power out of your content by John Gregory Olson. Use these words if you want to get an emotional, rather than an intellectual, response from your readers. Click on the link to read the full article. by Amanda Patterson © Amanda Patterson
Yoga and Meditation Protect Cancer Survivors at Cellular Level Meditation and yoga are renowned for their ability to help cancer survivors alleviate mental and emotional distress. But now a significant new study has revealed that their benefits go even further into the cellular level: the findings show that yoga, meditation and social support protect the health of breast cancer survivors by helping to maintain telomere length. Telomeres are protective caps of DNA found at the ends of a chromosome. Since they keep the ends of the chromosome from fraying and deteriorating, they are often compared to a plastic tip on a shoelace. For the study, published in the journal Cancer, Alberta researchers discovered that telomere length was strongly preserved in breast cancer survivors who practice meditation and yoga or who participated in social support groups. “It’s important for people dealing with difficult emotions to find a way of processing them in a healthy way. The results are startling.
Emotional Intensity Do you consider yourself an emotional person? If a potential friend candidly described you that way to your face, would you be flattered or disturbed? Compared to most people you know, are you stronger in the intensity and range of your feelings, milder, or somewhere in between? Whereas for centuries astute observers of the human condition have noted that people vary remarkably in this dimension — it's been the theme of many great novels — only recently have psychologists come to understand that this difference is already apparent on our first day of postnatal existence — and continues strikingly unchanged ever after. The vast realm of our feelings is clearly experienced differently by people across cultures. In terms of gender, in the Western world, historically women have been depicted as being more dominated by their feelings than men, for example; they're commonly thought of as making major decisions based on moods rather than hard facts. ____ 1. ____ 2. ____ 3. ____ 4. ____ 5.
New Research Reveals the Real Causes of Depression Dr. MercolaWaking Times Depression is thought to affect about one in 10 Americans.1 In 2010, antidepressants were the second most commonly prescribed type of medication in the US,2 hinting at the severity of the problem. Contrary to popular belief, depression is not likely caused by unbalanced brain chemicals; however there are a number of other biological factors that appear to be highly significant. Chronic inflammation is one. As noted in the featured article:3 “George Slavich, a clinical psychologist at the University of California in Los Angeles, has spent years studying depression, and has come to the conclusion that it has as much to do with the body as the mind. Scientists have also found that your mental health can be adversely impacted by factors such as vitamin D deficiency and/or unbalanced gut flora—both of which, incidentally, play a role in keeping inflammation in check, which is really what the remedy to depression is all about. Inflammation and Depression Dr.
Emotional Intelligence theories This webpage is a new format for mobile/small screens. Please send your feedback if it fails to operate well. Thanks. emotional intelligence theory (EQ - Emotional Quotient) Emotional Intelligence - EQ - is a relatively recent behavioural model, rising to prominence with Daniel Goleman's 1995 Book called 'Emotional Intelligence'. Emotional Intelligence links strongly with concepts of love and spirituality: bringing compassion and humanity to work, and also to 'Multiple Intelligence' theory which illustrates and measures the range of capabilities people possess, and the fact that everybody has a value. The EQ concept argues that IQ, or conventional intelligence, is too narrow; that there are wider areas of Emotional Intelligence that dictate and enable how successful we are. Different approaches and theoretical models have been developed for Emotional Intelligence. emotional intelligence - two aspects Understanding yourself, your goals, intentions, responses, behaviour and all.
Mother Mary and Mary Magdalene via Natalie Glasson: Discussions on Supportive Steps to Dissolve Fear and Illness Mother Mary and Mary Magdalene: Discussions on Supportive Steps to Dissolve Fear and Illness, channeled by Natalie Glasson, October 17, 2014, Mother Mary : It is with the vibration of the 9th Ray of Light that I greet you today, bringing forth the brilliant colors and vibrations of a blue and green light, focused upon soul integration and exploration, as well as the merging of the heavens with the Earth – light with matter. Please allow me to dowse you in the blue and green light, permitting it to seep into your entire being. As the reality of the blue and green light of the 9th Ray surrounds you, let yourself breathe in the healing vibrations, wisdom and transformational shifts that this aspect of the Creator promotes. Soul integration with all aspects of your physical, emotional and mental bodies is essential in all periods of ascension, and yet it is at this stage it is vital. This is not to understand the mystic and sacred abilities individual to you.