Earphones In…
F**k Family!
It’s Christmas 2010. There is too much going on! Kids running about screeching, friends and family milling about spilling drinks and laughing loudly. – It’s so noisy and chaotic…why don’t they all just f**k off?
One hour later…
It’s Christmas 2010. How blessed am I to have family? So many do not have people, or have lost people. God I am so blessed! I’m off to spill drinks and laugh loudly.
Please excuse the above language, which in reality was much worse, but this is raw, bi-polar depression – which never asks for an appointment or a more convenient time to visit.
Merry Christmas!
Pea.
: )
(PS I include this subject, (depression), occasionally as neither remotely a beautiful or simple thing, but because this site started as my simple, pharmaceutical-free antidote to it. I hope that readers may also be encouraged to investigate simple, natural alternatives to their health issues, wherever possible.)
What A Girl Wrote
This is what a girl wrote. I have temporarily lost her link.
Three Buddhist concepts have become very valuable to me namely:
1. Mindfulness, or being aware and awake in the present moment, and
2. Detachment, or doing things without expecting a reward
3. Impermanence, or the idea that everything is always in flux.
- Mindfulness helps me see that right now isn’t bad just because it’s not what I want!
- And detachment reminds me that whining about the gap between have and want is what sends me into a tailspin. Detachment also reminds me that I am not defined by what I have or attain.
- To accept that change is the only constant in life reminds me that a mood or a stressful period will not last forever.
Buddhist texts offer a lot of wisdom about the sources of and fixes for the pain caused when your “whatshould” doesn’t match your “is.” I think this is why several books and articles on depression and happiness recommend practicing mindfulness and the related concepts of impermanence and detachment.
Managing Depression
Simple tips for managing depression
1. Quite simply after many years I finally went for depression treatment. Simple huh?
2. Before going I did some research for myself so I would be aware of my choices and not bullied or coerced into them.
Formal depression treatment falls into 2 main categories:
- a) Pills – mind altering toxins with unclear and inconsistent reports regarding long term side effects.
- b) Behavioural Therapy – mind altering naturally.
3. I also looked into informal treatment including diet and lifestyle changes.
4. I accepted myself. There is no natural law that says your mood has to be up all the time. Curl up like a foetus and wait it out – if possible.
5. I gathered a portfolio of things close to hand that inspired, made me laugh or feel better, (see point 8):
music, art, images, great films and comedians.
6. I make light of it. It’s just another aspect of life.
7. Movement helps. Taking the dog for an energetic walk or dancing like a wild fool to an up tempo CD. It really does work! – But understandably you have to feel up to it to do it in the first place and sometimes, frankly, depression takes away the will and ability to do these things. But it may be helpful for a low mood before full blown depression sets in.
8. I started simplehumble because my doctor would not re-assign my psycho-analyst, preferring me to rattle around with exploratory pills. I didn’t agree. I needed those sessions. The site initially became my analyst to scream my thoughts into.
9. I remember that everything is in a state of flux. – In other words, this feeling will stop soon.
10. I also accept that this feeling will most likely return soon too…so what? I managed it before – I’ll manage it again…simply, naturally, (hopefully).
(PS I include this subject occasionally as neither remotely a beautiful or simple thing, but because this site started as my simple, pharmaceutical-free antidote to it. I hope that readers may also be encouraged to investigate simple, natural alternatives to their health issues, wherever possible.)
