Prevention

How to Stay on the Non-Depressed Wagon

July 26, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

Image by Leo Reynolds via Flickr

When an alcoholic slips and begins to drink again they call it falling off the wagon. In a similar vein to this, a person can also fall off the wagon with regard to being depressed. Depression isn’t alcoholism, but some of their symptoms are similar in nature. Both tend to inspire feelings of desolation and result in being unable to do much with one’s life.

When you feel depressed, it can get to the point where even getting up in the morning doesn’t even seem worth it to you. You could have all the abilities in the world, but they all feel useless. No matter what you try to do it always seems to feel like you’re failing at it. The most important thing about depression is that it isn’t as hopeless as it may feel. There is a lot you can do to overcome it and put it in its place while you live an enjoyable, productive life.

Naturally, you need to do something to get over your depression. But it has to start right now. Plan out something you really want to do, and force yourself to do it. It doesn’t matter what it is, so long as it’s legal and not inherently self-destructive. Just make a plan for yourself and then get to work on it. So long as you have a plan and make steady progress on it, you can overcome your feelings of helplessness and stay on the wagon. It’s a lifelong process, just like staying off the drink.

Filed Under: Guidance, Health Care, Prevention Tagged With: Alcoholism, Depression, Wagon

Stopping Depression in the First Place

July 24, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

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Depression is one of the worst illnesses on the face of the planet. Unfortunately, to a lot of people it just seems like regular sadness. When you’re depressed, less sensitive people will tell you to stop being “emo,” not because they don’t care about you but because they really don’t understand the situation. Depression is a sickness, just like the flu.

Unfortunately, too much of our medical establishment is geared toward stopping existing problems instead of preventing them from coming up. For all the drugs medical practitioners will push on a person, so little will actually be accomplished by it. Far too often a person will continue feeling depressed, often with the addition of extra symptoms and more problems than they had before. We need to prevent depression in the first place.

Preventing depression can take many forms, but the ultimate expression of it is to cut it off at the pass by being proactive and genuine with yourself. Allow yourself to feel what you’re feeling, and understand why you’re feeling them. From there, it’s primarily a matter of focusing on your goals and keeping them in mind. This way you’ll feel like you always have a great reason to get up in the morning. When you feel the rush of having a real reason to live and accomplish something every day, you won’t feel depressed any more. This kind of self-actualization is the best way to keep depression from ruling your life — rule it for yourself.

Filed Under: Guidance, Health Care, Prevention Tagged With: Depression, Mental health, Mood

Is Medication a Good Thing?

July 24, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

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Our world has allowed the obsession with medication to get a little out of hand. While some people require medicines to function properly, far too often doctors simply prescribe something because they can think of no better way to handle any given problem. Some problems can’t be solved with just a pill or a poultice.

The over-emphasis on drugs can easily lead a person to question whether they are ever a good idea in the first place. When medicines are the main way problems get solved, it’s enough to make it seem like our entire medical ideology might be based on flawed assumptions. In cases such as the treatment of depression, for instance, the general method is simply to throw various treatments against the proverbial wall and see which ones stick. Could you imagine if any industry besides medicine attempted to fix problems in this manner?

Ultimately medicine is going to have to ease up on the use of medication and focus more on long-lasting treatments that do not simply involve ingesting a constant stream of pharmaceuticals. While this may reduce profits in the short term, the long-term benefit to our society will be great. After all, solving problems in the real world implies a lot more than just throwing pills down someone’s throat and hoping for the best. In the vast majority of cases, simply drugging up an individual in an attempt to treat them is a foolish way to go about trying to help them.

Filed Under: Health Care, Prevention Tagged With: Health, Medicine, Pharmaceutical drug

How To Prevent Depression

May 5, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

Depression is becoming more and more common now days. If you do not have depression, there is always the chance that you will, so you will want to know how to prevent this from happening. A great way to keep your spirits up is to keep the lights on or go outside when the sun is out. Light is a great mood enhancer and keeps your body’s internal clock functioning in a normal way.

Exercise is one of the best ways to prevent depression and keep you in a positive mood. When you exercise, your body releases chemicals into your brain that help you feel refreshed and positive. Keeping yourself healthy, eating right, exercising, and getting enough sleep are the main things you need to do to prevent depression and other illnesses. Get a hobby and stay busy. Having friends and getting out of the house will keep your mind off the things that upset you.

There are many different types of depression. Some people may get depression that only lasts a few days while others get depression that lasts a lifetime. No matter what kind of depression you have, there is always a way to prevent it. Learn how to control stress. Stress and anxiety can lead to depression. If you feel you may be going into a depression, do not wait until it is unbearable. Seek help right away or change the things in your life that are causing your depression. Staying healthy and getting involved with activities you enjoy are the main things you should focus on.

Filed Under: Prevention Tagged With: Depression, Health, Mental health, Mood disorder

What is manic depression?

January 20, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment

Manic depression is often referred to as bipolar disorder. This disease is a long-term disease and can have debilitating effects if gone untreated. However, manic depression or bipolar disorder can be treated with long term care. Treatment can offer recovery but not necessarily a cure.

Bipolar disorder is most often seen in adults. Some children may develop the disorder, or exhibit signs of bipolar. Most often signs and symptoms typically begin to appear in young adulthood. Additionally, this disease can be difficult to diagnose.

Diagnosis will typically occur after being seen by a mental health professional. The diagnosis can be difficult without a documented pattern to follow. Furthermore, sometimes the symptoms of bipolar disorder can seem like isolated symptoms. Some patients also exhibit symptoms of coexisting illnesses making it even more difficult to diagnose.

So what is bipolar disorder really? It is a disorder or illness which causes significant and dramatic shifts in mood. Often called mood episodes, these changes are significantly out of the range of normal behavior. Often these episodes fit into three categories of mood states. The categories include mania an overly or excessively happy or excited state, depression an excessively sad or hopeless state, and a mixed state which includes symptoms of both mania and depression.

Bipolar disorder is actually a brain illness. Additionally, not just moods are affected but also activity levels, energy levels, behaviors and the ability to perform daily functions in addition to the changes in mood. Mood episodes can range in length considerably from several small mood changes in one day over several weeks to longer episodes that last a majority of each day for long periods of time.

Even though bipolar disorder can be difficult to diagnose and challenging to manage, individuals can and do lead health and productive lives. If someone feels they might be exhibiting signs of bipolar disorder they should seek out guidance from a mental health professional.

Filed Under: Prevention Tagged With: Bipolar disorder

Depression: Treatment options available for you

November 15, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

The first step in treating depression is determining if you have the disease. All it takes is one visit to the doctor to get a good diagnosis. Then treatment can begin. It may take a month or more before the medication starts to work for you, but do not give up it will work.

Depression may be caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. The medication then balances the chemicals and stabilizes the patient’s mood. There are several medications that you doctor can choose from, it is just a matter of finding the right one for his patient.

A huge part of having depression is taking the medication on a daily basis. Depending on how bad your depression is it will dictate if you need something more than medication. For more sever forms of this disease it may warrant getting counseling. This is just a professional to share your feelings with and they listen and give you suggestions on how to cope better with depression.

You must know that there is no “cure” for depression but it can be controlled and treated. Millions of people live with it every day and can live a quite normal lifestyle. No one can eliminate this from their life totally, it is so much about thinking differently than most people. Thinking positively about everything, this means trying to see the good where before you saw negative things only.

Some people use nutrition to help the body after a diagnosis of depression. Using vitamin supplements and doing physical things like exercising or walking can help ease the symptoms of depression that sometimes can occur. Doing something to get that heart pumping is always good for your body and it can even help in the case of depression. Many doctor’s recommend that patients get out and get exercise after being told that they have depression.

Filed Under: Prevention Tagged With: Major depressive disorder, Pharmaceutical drug

The Failing Body: lapalomatreatment.com

November 6, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

You have always been the envy of all, the proof of wise choices and determined exercise. Each decision is meant to protect your body. Each moment is to ensure your own perfection. You strive to be aware of all health concerns and cautions. You dedicate your time to good sense. And so you assume yourself to be immune to the worries of substances. The occasional taste is not enough to harm you, after all. You’ve secured your defenses. No drug will be enough to break them.

You are – unfortunately – wrong.

There is no flesh strong enough, no thought determined enough, to battle the worries of substance abuse. Individuals who believe themselves to be above the consequences will soon suffer addiction. Drugs have immediate effects on the body; and no amount of calorie cutting or gym visits will tame these. You are not special.

Any type of illegal substance can cause devastating damage and this must be understood:

One: brain. As a drug is injected, it fills the bloodstream and is maneuvered throughout the body; including the brain. When this occurs, ventricle walls can be coated in the substance (impeding blood flow) and chemical balances can shift.

Two: heart. Disease is made easy when drugs are taken. The heart will suffer increased blood pressure, closed arteries and even arrhythmias. Heart attack is therefore frequent, even in those who are otherwise healthy.

Three: lungs. When a substance is inhaled, it’s sent directly into the lungs. Powder slowly begins to fill them, shortening breaths. Asthma is common and oxygen tanks may eventually be required, due to the difficulty in obtaining air.

Your body is a tribute to careful choices. Don’t mistake this, however, to infallibility. All drugs are dangerous. And, should you suffer from an addiction, you must seek help from lapalomatreatment.com and similar centers.

You are not immune. You are instead in need of treatment.

Filed Under: Prevention Tagged With: Controlled substance, Drug, Substance abuse

Both Sides of Addiction

October 12, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

: Image via Wikipedia

Addictions to drugs and alcohol are both physical and emotional. There is a very large emotional and mental component attached to a drug or alcohol addiction, and this needs to be considered when it comes to drug and alcohol rehab. An alcohol rehab facility cannot simply address the physical aspects of the addiction; instead it needs to address both the physical and the emotional or psychological aspects of addiction. Addiction can have a powerful effect on your psychological health, and this is something that you will need to overcome in order to move on with your life.

Alcohol addiction and drug addiction are both powerful afflictions that can easily take over your life and give you great difficulties. If you are trying to keep your head on straight and an addiction is preventing you from doing so, then it is time for you to get some real help. Professional help is often the only answer, because a drug or alcohol rehab facility can treat both the physical aspects of the addiction and withdrawal and the emotional aspects of the addiction as well. Treating both aspects of an addiction is the only way to prevent a relapse from occurring in the future.

Neither drug or alcohol addiction will be easy to overcome on your own. This is simply the nature of addiction and the hold that it can have on your body. If you are ready to overcome your addiction, then the best thing that you can do is to reach out for true professional help. The right professionals will be able to steer your addiction recovery in the right direction so that you can move on with your life and stop allowing for addiction to control you and impact your life in such a negative manner. Professional help will help you overcome your addiction once and for all.

Filed Under: Prevention Tagged With: Addictions, Alcoholism, Drug rehabilitation, Health, Mental health, Substance abuse, Substance dependence, United States

Richard Burton: An Acting Legend With an Alcohol Problem

September 27, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

: Cover of Richard Burton’s Hamlet

Some acting careers take hold of the public’s interest early on and never let go. A few rare actors attain legendary status, through a combination of great talent, charisma, physical appeal, and something called “star quality.” Richard Burton was one such talent, who was also an alcoholic. The illness robbed him of his vitality and ended his life too early. Still, there is something in the quality of his acting, and the ups and down of his life and career that have kept his name in the pantheon of great characters from the last century.

Burton grew up in Wales, the 12th of 13 children. He started smoking at age eight, and was drinking regularly by age 12. Like many Welshmen at the time, he grew up with a social life that revolved around regular visits to the local pub.

Burton’s talent was obvious from an early age. His facility with language, his resonant voice and good looks brought him success on the London stage and then in films, beginning in the early 1950’s. He followed his early stage successes in London with higher profile roles on Broadway and then in Hollywood. Through it all, he drank heavily. He played Hamlet on Broadway soon after marrying Elizabeth Taylor, with whom he starred in the notorious 1963 Hollywood production of “Cleopatra.”

Through the ups and downs of his career and his notorious relationship with Taylor, he drank and drank. He boasted of appearing onstage after drinking great quantities of cognac or vodka, all of which took a toll. Was there no alcohol treatment center that would take him? Apparently, he wasn’t willing to try. He stopped drinking for a time, but never made a serious pledge to sobriety.

Richard Burton died in 1984, at age 58. His legendary performances in great films like “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” and “Beckett” can still be seen on DVD.

Filed Under: Prevention Tagged With: Elizabeth Taylor, Hollywood, Richard Burton

Diagnosing Schizophrenia

August 13, 2010 By admin Leave a Comment

: Image via Wikipedia

On any given day, more than 100,000 individuals crowd public hospitals as diagnosed schizophrenics. Each individual carries with them their own particular brand of the disease, making treatment difficult and diverse. Some patients offer almost no noticeable ailments from their disease, while others are rendered ‘psychotic’, and unable to perform even the simplest of tasks in day-to-day life. This range of symptoms leaves one main question for doctors: how do we diagnose?

Although there are nearly endless amounts of symptoms for schizophrenia, doctors have categorized five main umbrella terms to help diagnose. Below are a list of the terms and a short description of what the phrases mean.

1. Unusual Realities- People, in everyday life, construct a reality in which everything is perceived. It is the lens through which we view life, how we operate. Many schizophrenics operate from a reality very different from the normal. Their realities exist without rules and concrete perceptions, and lack important landmarks and comfort zones.

2. Hallucinations- Schizophrenics may see, hear, and feel people or things that aren’t actually present.

3. Delusions- This is perhaps schizophrenia’s most widely-publicized symptom. Schizophrenic’s hold beliefs that aren’t proven or backed by anything real. Schizophrenic’s often have feelings of grandeur, and believe they are being chased or persecuted.

4. Disordered thinking- Mild schizophrenics dip into and out of a normal reality. That is, most of the time they are normal, but fall into periods of unordered thoughts. These schizophrenics have difficulty focusing, and their thoughts are fragmented.

5. Emotional Expression- Some schizophrenics have difficulty expressing proper emotional sentiment. For instance, if told of a tragic event their reaction may fall flat. In contrast, they may over-react to simple occurrences.

Ultimately, even with these five umbrella terms to help diagnose schizophrenia, diagnosis is still tough. Normal people have strange quirks, just as schizophrenics could have long periods of acting normal. As time progresses, doctors are finding better procedures to help diagnose, but the disease still remains largely a mystery.

Filed Under: Prevention Tagged With: Disorders, Mental health, Schizophrenia