“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass … it’s about learning to dance in the rain,” wrote Vivian Greene. Dancing in the rain is the modus operandi of folks living with chronic pain. They spend a lifetime figuring out how to dance gracefully–with little effort visible to the observer—and to resist the urge […]
Maybe you haven’t gotten out the voodoo dolls and performed rituals, but chances are good that you’re secretly delighted that your nemesis got fired from her dream job, that your high school prom queen got a bad case of shingles, and that the overachiever triathlon in your family has now been humbled by broken leg. […]
Psychologists have touted for decades that exercise can go a long way in treating depression. Dr. James A. Blumenthal, a professor of medical psychology at Duke University, led a recent study in which he and his team discovered that, among the 202 depressed people randomly assigned to various treatments, three sessions of vigorous aerobic exercise […]
“To be nobody-but-yourself—in a world which is doing its best, night and day to make you everybody else,” wrote American poet E. E. Cummings, “means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.” According to a recent survey by the charity Action for Happiness, in collaboration with Do […]
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is the most controversial treatment in modern psychiatry. Many people envision “shock therapy” a violent procedure such as the one portrayed in the movie, “One Flew Over the Cukoo’s Nest.” Today, however, the treatment is safe and painless, although not totally without risk given the possibility of memory loss. Among the people […]
All over the world, research has shown that Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) can halve the risk of future clinical depression in people who have already been depressed several times—its effects seem comparable to antidepressant medications. But how? In 2007, renowned psychologists John Teasdale, Mark Williams, and Zindel Segan penned the bestseller “The Mindful Way Through […]
Although depression affects approximately 6 million men in the U.S., many of them don’t get the care they need because their symptoms differ from the classic depression symptoms of women’s. Furthermore, men feel shame admitting certain symptoms because depression, in general, is regarded as a women’s illness. What does depression look like in men? Here […]
Several studies today show that music therapy– an evidence-based approach to therapy drawing on the healing power of creative lyrics and song composition–can be a useful treatment for depression. In one study published in the “British Journal of Psychiatry,” 79 depressed adults were assigned to receive standard care only (psychotherapy and medication) or standard care […]
Mahatma Gandhi once said that “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Consider the findings of the 2010 Do Good Live Well Survey (www.VolunteerMatch.org) of 4,500 American adults. Forty-one percent of Americans volunteered an average of 100 hours a year. Sixty-eight percent of those who volunteered reported […]
A Buddhist proverb says that when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. After five years of trying to learn and practice mindfulness—moment to moment awareness, or paying attention to the present moment—on my own and ending up … well … different than the bald guys in the ochre and saffron robes, I decided […]
Most people understand the ripple effect of all mood disorders. Depression, in particular, lurks into all corners of a home, into every aspect of a relationship. I am often asked what a person should do for a depressed love one. Here are four quick tips. 1. Educate Yourself Education is always the starting point because […]
I’ve always known, from my own experience with depression, that there is a strong connection between volunteer work and mental health. Now a University of Missouri researcher has found that prosocial behavior–volunteering and helping others–is related to the same gene that predisposes people to anxiety disorders. So helping them cope with their anxiety may increase […]
Positive psychologists have claimed in the last twenty years that we are born with a happiness set point. Therefore our happiness will ebb and flow as we experience joy and sadness, however we will inevitably shift back to the level with which we are born. Now a new study by a University of British Columbia […]
One of the main tributaries feeding into the river of depression is loneliness. It can both trigger depression and can prevent us from recovery. But loneliness doesn’t just affect mood disorders. It has a hold on heart disease, immunity function, nervous system disorders and many other illnesses. It is not an exaggeration to say that […]
Some 38 million American adults self-treat with supplements for a variety of conditions. Although some supplements are made of natural elements and are very effective, they can be potentially more hazardous, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) holds them to a far lower standard than prescription drugs. Everyday Health’s Chris Iliades highlighted a […]
