How to Deal With Depression | How to Beat Depression

Dogs, just like humans have their off days; they can mope around, spend more time sleeping than they usually do, go off their food or avoid human contact all together. Usually, they revert to being their usual selves, with their blue mood going just as quickly as it appeared, however, if their low moods persists, it is something to be aware of and take seriously.

Dogs experience a deep and varied emotional life, and we as dog owners often witness the expanse of these emotions throughout our dogs lives. Because dogs share a similar neurological make up to humans, they to are capable of experiencing a series of complicated emotions, such as depression.

The symptoms of canine depression are similar to the symptoms experienced by humans. Typically the dog will show some of the following common symptoms:

Lethargy

Loss of appetite

Weight loss, due to refusing to take food

Loss of interests in play activity

Withdrawal from people

Clinging to owner

Restlessness

Again, as with humans, dogs can experience depressive symptoms for a whole host of reasons, however, depression is usually a reaction to a stressful event, or a imbalance in the dogs neuro chemical make up, usually referred to as clinical depression.

In the case of an imbalance in the dogs neuro chemistry, medication can be prescribed to help alleviate the symptoms of depression in the dog, by restoring the chemical balance.

Reactive depression can be due to a number of reasons that could include any of the following:

The loss of a human friend or the dogs owner

The loss of a canine friend

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Illness

Trauma

Bad treatment

Weather changes

Environmental changes, for example, change of house or location

Loss of attention due to a new addition to the family, such as a baby

Separation from it’s owner for long periods during the day

Boredom due to being left alone

Lack of exercise and mental stimulation

Depression is a challenge to diagnose, especially to the untrained, therefore, if you have a dog who is exhibiting the symptoms outlined above, it would be sensible to take your dog to the vet, in order that a correct diagnosis of your dogs condition can then be made, as a physical illness or condition could be the root cause of the symptoms, and not depression.

If the diagnosis confirms your dog has depression, then there are a number of ways it can be treated, depending on it’s origin. If your pets depression is due to a chemical imbalance, then your vet may recommend a course of medication, such as Prozac.

If your dog is experiencing depression due to a stressful event, then a programme of rehabilitation will help him overcome his strong feelings, and a return to his normal state of being. Begin by identifying the root cause of your dogs depression, then work from this point. If your dog is depressed due to the loss of a canine friend, you may want to consider getting a new friend for him. If you have a dog who has eperienced bad treatment from a previous owner, and has developed depression as a result, then it’s time for you to help your dog renew his faith in human kind.

Spend time with your dog playing his favourite games, or alternatively, take regular walks to your local park, or some other of your dogs favourite out door places. Giving your dog a chance to stimulate his senses, especially his favourite sense-his sense of smell, will give him respite from his depressive feelings.

Try not to leave your pet alone during the early stages of his recovery. If you have a friend or neighbour who is willing to spend time with your dog, for a while during the day, then take advantage of the kind offer, alternatively you could contact a pet sitting service.

If you are not totally happy with giving your pet medications prescribed by the vet, such as Prozac, then you may want to try more natural remedies. You may want to try using some or all of the following, to help restore your pets emotional balance, naturally:

Bach flower remedies

Flower essence’s have proven to be of benefit to humans experiencing all manner of negative emotions. Flower essences are also as safe and beneficial in helping depressive symptoms in dogs.

Herbal remedies

St. Johns Wort is one herbal remedy proven to help depression in humans, that is also safe and effective treating depressive symptoms in dogs.

Aromatherapy

The use of essential oils is another safe and totally natural way to help your pet. Oils can be dispersed around the room with the use of a burner or diffuser. Your dog can then be left to inhale the oils calming and restorative properties.

Alternatively, you can use massage along with your essential oils. Touch alone will have the effect of promoting your dogs natural ‘feel good’ chemicals. However, when massage is combined with essential oils, the healing process will accelerate.

Ivan Ojounru has been training dogs in the UK since the late 1908′s. He now lives in France where he continues to train dogs and write about dog related behaviour care and trainig topics. He is passionate about giving dog owners the skills, knowledge and confidence to enable them to train their own dogs successfully. For further information visit http://www.dogtrainingcareadvice.blogspot.com
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Do you find yourself suffering from depression? Usually depression results from some sort of trauma that has not been fully addressed. There are only two emotions that can help you overcome it. One is sadness and the other is anger. Sadness and Anger heal; depression does not.   Sadness can be a very effective vehicle for healing. The only problem with sadness is that it is such a short leap from there to depression. Depression can keep a person stuck in the same place for years without any progress. Unfortunately, many people find the difference between sadness and depression obscure at best, and they often vacillate between the two. I encourage you to be very careful of depression because this is a thought disorder and it has an addictive quality. Depression actually prevents a person from getting better and can be a defense against real feelings.   True sadness is when you reflect on the negative event, cry, and grieve over what happened. Afterward you feel a little bit better. Each time you feel sadness, you are one step closer to being well. Real sadness heals. Depression, on the other hand, is when you get into a downward spiral of negative thinking. It is wallowing in feelings of hopelessness. Depression only hurts and destroys. After an episode of depression you do not feel any better. It does not cleanse you. In fact you are likely to feel worse because of decisions you made while you were depressed.   It usually starts by dwelling on the event, but soon goes beyond sadness about what happened and begins to color your attitude in a broader sense. Depression is characterized by negative self-talk including guilt-laden and hopeless messages. For example you may tell yourself X happened because ?I?m so stupid? or keep repeating inside your head, ?It?s all my fault.? Whether it is or not, that is not going to heal you.

You may even start assigning significance to the event beyond the appropriate scope. For example telling yourself ?I will never be happy again? or ?I don?t deserve to be happy? because of the failure of a particular relationship or effort to reach a goal. Or maybe your self-talk takes a less personal tone such as ??The world sucks!? ?People are cruel!? ?You can?t trust anyone!? ?Life is meaningless? or ?I want to die!??   An example of healthier self-talk would be: ?Oh! this hurts so badly! I really messed up. I hate it when I mess up.? Then try to do some ?Anger Work.? Beneath depression lies anger, so if you can get in touch with that feeling, you will more likely heal. Positive self-talk can sound like this: ?I am going to make really sure this doesn?t happen again because I don?t like the way this feels.? If your pain is caused by something out of your control, then you can tell yourself, ?This too shall pass, and I will survive somehow, and someday things will look better again.? In the mean time do Anger Work to keep from falling into depression.   Let me give a couple of examples to illustrate the difference between sadness and depression.

An example of healing sadness: When I was younger, I purchased a beautiful Himalayan kitten from a man who was advertising them in the local newspaper. Because the owner did not have any registration papers, he was inexpensive and I was thankful. I named my kitten Tibet and we quickly fell in love. The first night when he came home he had so many fleas that I had to give him three baths in order to kill them. Tibet was so traumatized that he spent the whole night sleeping on my neck to feel safe. I had a major exam coming up the next day and could not sleep a wink!   We became great buddies and spent immeasurable amounts of time together studying. Tibet would always sit on my book or papers as I worked. For two years he was a member of my family. He and I even had a special song: we would dance to it ever time we heard it on the radio.   Then one day I came home and Tibet was walking very strangely. It was clear that he was not feeling well. I rushed him to the vet, but he died that evening from feline leukemia. He had contracted the disease before he ever came home with me. I was both very sad and very angry. I thought about Tibet often during the day, and whenever our song came on the radio, I cried during the entire song. Slowly, I began to heal. Because of my intense love for Tibet, two years passed before I was finished grieving and could think of him without crying. I never forgot Tibet, but I did heal.  

An example of depression: A patient of mine named Kim had lost her six month old baby, Kyle, to S.I.D.S. It had been four years since Kyle died and Kim could not get over the loss because she blamed herself. She kept telling herself that if she had only checked on Kyle instead of talking on the phone with her friend, he wouldn?t have died. Kim thought that the rest of her life would be filled with nothing but misery because of Kyle’s death.   Her feelings of guilt drove her to depression and she saw no means of healing. Instead of being sad and grieving over the death of Kyle, she blamed herself over and over for his death. She had developed the habit of calling herself ?murderer? and ?killer? every time she made even a small mistake, like forgetting to water the plants. This anger turned inward left her depressed. She was punishing herself with abusive self-talk, and was beginning to entertain thoughts of suicide. She was caught in a vicious cycle of depression that was driving her further and further away from life and from her husband. That is when her husband intervened and brought Kim to my office. When Kim came to me, I helped her realize that her self-hatred was only fueling her depression and in no way healing her from her loss. Together we decided that her self-hatred and verbal abuse, which she was often not even aware of because the self-talk had become so automatic, needed to stop. She agreed to feel angry at God for taking her baby and stop blaming herself. She did Anger Work over her loss. She also visited Kyle?s grave and talked to him about how much she missed him. This, of course, brought tears of sadness, which helped Kim feel better, unlike her depression, which had only made her feel worse. Slowly Kim healed from the loss of Kyle and was able to forgive herself and God for his death. Now Kim and her husband have two more children and she is happy. She still thinks of Kyle from time to time, as I encouraged her to do after she finished therapy, but her depression is gone and her sadness only lasts while she is thinking of Kyle.  

I repeat that I recommend Anger Work over sadness, for the bulk of your healing work. Certain situations like Kim?s lend themselves more to sadness than others. In these circumstances, part of the healing process is letting the tears flow. However, if the sadness starts to become overwhelming, it is time to get angry again. Anger work empowers you to stay out of depression.

Dr. Robert Puff is a Newport Beach psychologist and international business consultant who has given over a thousand media interviews. At his web-site, all of Dr. Puff’s writings are free, as e-books and unabridged audio recordings. If you would like to read or listen to his free numerous selections of how to handle fear, manage anger, reduce stress, go to =>
http://www.doctorpuff.com/

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Everybody has those days where depression hits them and it seems like there is nothing they can do about it.

Losing a loved one Going through a breakup A loss of a job Being rejected by someone Seeing oneself as a failure Seeing oneself as incompetent Memories of physical abuse Often having constant feelings of anxiety Not feeling loved Sheltering away from other people Being screwed over by someone Dealing with someone who treats you unfairly Not getting something you have wanted for a long time

I am not a doctor and I am not Dr. Phil. I’m just a plain writer who wishes to help and perhaps I can give some insight on overcoming depression since I used to go through it a lot when I was younger. To be honest, giving up and escaping life was on my mind many times during my life. If anything, I would go through weeks, if not months not wanting to go out, not wanting to see people, avoiding my family, and spending most of my time in bed sulking about my problems.

One thing I learned from depression was that relying or expecting others to help you is the wrong way to go about it. This is called getting sympathy and you should try your best to avoid this route even if it makes you feel better for a brief moment, because you’ll end up wanting more sympathy as a way of to cope depression, when in fact it’s only doing the opposite. It will worsen depression and put you in a vicious up-and-down cycle where your happiness no longer comes from yourself, but from other people.

And the worst part is that you can’t control the lives of other people; they can’t be in a helpful mood all the time. What happens if they happen to be in a bad mood or they feel that you are too troublesome? Then your only source of getting out of depression is gone. But there is one thing that you can control one hundred percent and that is yourself. Yourself is all you need.

What I mean by this is if you want support, you could always join a support group, but never expect sympathy from others. It’s okay to share experiences, to empathize with others, or to help others out. In fact, I wrote a post somewhere about how you may find happiness from helping others out. One must remember that depression is about the self and not anybody else, and it might be able to take worry of their mind by worrying about helping other people.

This is one way to find relief from depression and a sense of doing something to help and make others happy, despite being in a helpless and unhappy state. If one can achieve doing this, it is something that is definitely worth applauding for because it is not an easy task, but the benefits are that is subconsciously raises one’s confidence, self-esteem, and guides them towards positively again.

As said before, handling depression starts from yourself. Another thing that I do that always helps me is not taking anti-depressant pills or telling a friend that I’m depressed, but to go somewhere quiet where I’m by myself, at peace, and write down every single thing that’s bothering me in private notebook or journal.

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Since I can’t always tell other people about personal problems that are too deep or things that they might not understand, I can at least tell my inner self these things. The only person that understands yourself best is you. It’s not your mom, it’s not your dad, it’s not your best friend; it’s you. And when you’re depressed there is a sense of uncertainty; things seem vague and obscure.

By taking sufficient amount of time (maybe even a couple hours) to write down all the problems you have and every pain that you feel, you will feel a sense of clarity again. You will come to a point where you know where you are at. When you know where you are at, when you know what it is that is bother you, and every single thing that is making you depressed, then you will be able to finally be able to look at your notebook and say that this is a problem that needs to be solved. You are no longer the problem itself because by doing this activity, you are finally confronting the truth.

I can’t deal with losing someone that I have loved. I can’t deal with going through a painful breakup. I afraid this loss will mean I can’t find another job. I can’t the feeling of being rejected by someone. I don’t want to be a failure in life. I wish I could be competent like others. I hated that people who physically abused me. I feel like anxiety is taking over my life. I want to be loved. I’m scared of the world. I hate the person that keeps screwing me over. I hate the people who treat me unfairly. I feel like I will never have what I want.

Once you’ve gotten here, give yourself a pat on the back, because you’ve finally taken a step forward at what you’ve been wanting to say for a long time, whatever it happens to be, to come out. You have clarity now, and now the next step you need to do is accept the problem. If you can’t accept the problem, it will cause you depression for the rest of your life.

Depression, in its most basic sense, is having something that you do not want to have or wanting something that you do not have. It is an incongruency with each other that causes a negative feeling, and that feeling happens to be a feeling of sadness. The faster you can accept this problem, the easier you’ll be able to negate this incongruency, and move on to solving the problem; or alternatively, if you learn how to accept the problem for what it is, the problem will solve itself.

How to accept? First, you have to have faith in time. There is a famous French proverb that says, “Time will heal times wounds.” The worst thing you can do is cutting all chords and giving up on life. In the grand scheme of things, being able to live and just experience what life has to offer, however crazy or bad or just something so horrible that it’s beyond words, is worth living for.

Once you take the time required first to understand what is causing your depression and accepted it, then you’ll find it easier to do the final action, which is to take action. If you’re contemplating anything close to taking your life away, then the wisest thing to do is to talk to a doctor, talk to a psychiatrist, call a hotline, or join a support group.

Millions of people go through depression every year, and it can get pretty severe sometimes. If you think the worst depression there is that is worth taking your life away, there’s a good chance that out of the millions of people who get depression have a similar or worst experience than you.

Don’t try to compare who has the worst depression; that is just unhealthy. Think about the people who care about you before doing anything such as taking your life away. If anything, perhaps your depression can be cured by the natural, simple things that we take granted for in life. These things are not only healthy for the body, but keep the mind occupied. Below is an idea list of activities that you can do:

Read an inspiring book Watch a movie that makes you laugh Jog around the park Riding a bike around the city Talk to a friend (preferably not about depression) Talk to a family member (ditto) Cook an enjoyable meal Describing, in massive detail, and object you see Painting something you think is beautiful Meditating, yoga, or tai-chi Taking a dance class Listening to upbeat music Learning to play an instrument Canoeing on a river Hiking on a nearby mountain (I find this really peaceful and relieving) Planning out a new, desirable goal Combining all these things together and doing them Finding out a to-do list that makes you happy

These are just some of the things that I came up with, but I’m sure if you managed to do all these things, you’ll come out new, enlightented and refreshed. Remember, depression isn’t something that is incurable even at its worst forms; it just takes time to cope with it. I hope this post helps you handle depression in a better way since I seriously think that it’s worth it to try and to give yourself another chance to live life at its fullest. So re-read this post again if you didn’t grasp the full meaning of it, but if you did, I commend you to taking the effort to so, as you are on your way to becoming a more experienced, stronger, and happier person.

Tristan Lee is a writer who enjoys helping others with self-improvement and personal success. Read more of his self-improvement posts at his blog, http://www.tristanleesblog.com/.
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For those who face depression, every day of their lives may seem like a struggle. A struggle to get up, a struggle to face the day and the people involved and it can be a struggle to make the most of the day. It just seems simpler to crawl back into bed and forget about it all. But, the world needs us, we need the world too. So, we get up and deal with the depression. But, there may be a way or a place in which the depression you feel is similar to the depression that others feel and are dealing with as well.

The first thing to know about depression is that it is not just in your head. Depression is, in fact, a whole body disease that affects multiple systems.

In addition to feeling sad, hopeless, or helpless, a person may suffer from extreme fatigue, decreased motor (muscle) coordination, changes in appetite and weight, and a loss of interest in activities that are usually pleasurable–just to name a few of the more common symptoms.

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Depression Medication

When a person is suffering from chronic depression, most possibly, he or she may need to be prescribed depression medication as soon as possible. If you have any of the classical systems of depression, persisting for more than a month, you may need to visit your physician without fail. You can assist your physician diagnose and help you, by providing as much details as possible about your problems of depression. But remember that if your problem is severe enough to demand extra help, you will need to take a family member or friend along on your first visit, to see that you are helped in a proper way.

Based on the intensity of the disease condition, depression medication is classified in two main categories: Acute medication and Continuation medication. These depression medications are used to treat any one of the three types of depression symptoms, like severe depression, moderate depression and mild depression. For each type of those symptoms, there is a defined treatment or medication, which works better with a clinical efficiency.

Depression and Its Treatments

One in five Americans suffer from depression in their lifetime. It affects more than 17 million Americans each year. According to a statistic from the National Institute of Health, the estimated cost of depression to the U.S. is between 33 and 44 billion dollars a year. Depression is linked to the more than 30,000 suicides a year. (Ainsworth 3-5) The depression being discussed is not merely a day of feeling blue but a clinical diagnosis, also known as Major Depressive Disorder, or MDD (Clinical Practice Guidelines).

Read About Depression Treatment and also read about Importance of Serotonin and Antidepressent Medication
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You may hear people telling you that there are natural depression cures available which are just as effective as or more effective than anti-depressant drugs. You might wonder if that’s really the case, or if drugs are required to fight depression. Let’s take a look at how depression works, and whether or not medication is needed to treat it, or it natural cures might work.

Outside of the United States, vitamin treatment, herbs, and other treatments are regularly used as methods to treat mild to moderate depression cures. They’re not know to work on the most severe cases, unfortunately, but they do seem to be effective for people who only suffer from less severe episodes. These treatments are not approved for serious use in the US, however. Still, many psychologists and other mental health professionals encourage their use by patients who don’t feel that medication is appropriate for them.

There are a lot of benefits to depression drugs, but they also come with a lot of side effects, after all. They can cause weight gain and loss, affect sleep schedules, cause changes in libido, and even affect moods in ways they’re not meant to. Every drug works differently for every person, and the process of finding one that works well can be long and arduous. Some drugs, meant to improve the mood, can even make it worse. Add to that the cost of regular use of anti-depressant medication, and it’s no wonder that many people are looking to other methods first. While medication is a legitimate depression cure, for many of us, it’s the last resort.

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Remember that if you’re experimenting with vitamin treatments or herbal cures, you should know the expected results and side effects, and understand how each substance is meant to work on your body. These depression cures may also have side effects, though they’re generally not as severe as those of anti-depressant drugs. For instance, St. John’s Wort, a common herbal treatment for mild depression, is also associated with sensitivity to the sun. Don’t get caught up in hype and promises from companies that just want to sell supplements, and make sure that you choose treatments that are of the highest quality. After all, herbal treatments can vary.

A balanced diet or vitamin and nutrient supplementation can help, too. For instance, amino acids have been used to treat some types of depression, and are showing promise in ongoing studies. For some people, a higher vitamin B ratio can help improve the mood. Regular exercise, a good diet, and a consistent sleep schedule have also been shown to be effective depression cures, since they can help balance chemicals in the brain which are responsible for happiness or unhappiness.

While there’s no magic bullet, there are depression cures out there that don’t involve medication. If you’re suffering from this disorder, you should take the time to check them out – it’s important to get treatment, because depression doesn’t just go away!

Remember : You are not alone. The first utmost important thing to do is to find everything you need to know on depression and how to cure it. Don’t wait a second longer as you need to find out more about the Depression Free Method on Fast and Permanent Depression Cures which can be found at www.depressionfreemethod.com now!
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A surprising number of people suffer from mood disorders, including major depressive disorder, but a lot of people don’t seek help. They either don’t realize that they’re depressed, think that others will look down on them if they admit their depression, or they simply can’t manage to get help because of the symptoms they’re suffering. After all, many of the symptoms associated with major depressive disorder make it hard to get through the day, much less manage to get through the mental health system. Sometimes, depression sufferers are also misdiagnosed as having physical illnesses, rather than emotional and mental issues.

There are a number of causes for depression, which can be caused by stressful situations, major traumatic events, chemical imbalances in the brain, or other problems. It may be related to genetic makeup, since people who are depressed also tend to have family members who are depressed, even if these people are not in contact. No matter what its cause, depression causes significant emotional pain and is a disruption to many people’s lives. It affects their friends and family, makes them less productive at work and more likely to call in sick or even lose their jobs, and it can cause many other problems, as well.

To be listed as someone suffering from major depressive disorder, at least five symptoms from the following list have to have been present during a two week period. They must represent a change from earlier functioning. People with fewer symptoms or those who haven’t had a change may still be depressed or suffering from a mood disorder, but that disorder will be classed differently. Possible symptoms include a depressed mood, lack of pleasure and interested in activities formerly enjoyed, a significant change in appetite or weight, greatly increased or decreased sleep, excess guilt or feelings of low worth, trouble concentrating and thinking, and recurrent thoughts about death.

Almost anyone can suffer from depression, and most people who are diagnosed with this problem are treated successfully. Major depressive disorder may come from just one trauma, or from a series of disappointments, problems, or stresses. Some people only go through one major depressive episode in their lives. Others will deal with many episodes. This illness is not selective and affects people of all ages, races, and other descriptors. About three percent of people in the US and Europe are depressed at any one time, rising to seven percent over the course of a year. Between ten and fifteen percent of us will suffer from a major depressive episode at some time in our lives.

Treating major depression can be done in a number of different ways, of which medication is only one, though many people aren’t aware of other options. Psychotherapy, behavioral and cognitive therapy, herbal treatments, and many other methods can also be used to improve symptoms and make the sufferer’s life easier. If you believe you’re dealing with major depressive disorder, it’s important to take control and seek help. There are lots of options, and something is likely to be of help to you.

Remember: You are not alone. The first utmost important thing to do is to find everything you need to know on depression and how to cure it. Don’t wait a second longer as you need to know more about the Depression Free Method on How To Cure Major Depression Disorder Fast and Permanently which can be found at www.depressionfreemethod.com now!
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Many types of depression are likely to run in families. That tells us that we can inherit a basic vulnerability to this illness – especially in cases of bipolar disorder, but also in cases of major depressive disorder, disthymia, and similar problems. Of course, not everyone with relatives who are depressed will become depressed. Environmental conditions, socialization, and personality are also all related to whether or not a depressive disorder develops.

Usually an episode of depression is initiated by an outside event. People who suffer serious losses or financial problems, illness, or even a move or change in job could end up having to deal with a depressive episode. Sometimes it isn’t one big event, however. Sometimes people with depressive disorder are in situations where stress builds up, causing gradual decline, or they become depressed due to the weather or their body chemistry. We understand a lot about depressive disorders, but there’s a lot more that we don’t know.

Four basic neuro chemicals are currently believed to have a big effect on our brains and on our happiness. These are serotonin, dopamine, acetycholine and norepinephrine. We know that various levels of these chemicals can affect how we think and feel. However, we don’t really know how they work in detail. Regulation with medications works well for some people, but poorly for others, and can have unusual side effects. This is why many people choose to use other methods of dealing with their depression before they try drugs.

There are a number of behavioral things you can do to help deal with depressive disorder and bring your emotions and thoughts back into balance (as well as your brain chemistry). These can be as simple as keeping a healthy sleep schedule and eating properly, or more complex. Counseling may help, as can identifying the specific situations in which you become depressed and learning to avoid them. While major life events can’t be avoided entirely, there are ways to make them less likely to induce a depressive episode.

If you’re someone who thinks they might be suffering from depression, or you’re at a high risk for it due to your family history, it’s a good idea to learn more about your options for preventing problems and helping to solve them if they’ve already occurred. Depression is a long, uphill battle, and it’s not an easy one. However, it’s possible to fight it, even if it runs in your family. Anyone for whom depressive disorder is a risk should take the time to learn more about it, because depression can be beaten.

Remember : You are not alone. The first utmost important thing to do is to find everything you need to know on depression and how to cure it. Don’t wait a second longer as you need to find out more about the Depression Free Method on How To Cure Depression Disorder Fast and Permanently which can be found at www.depressionfreemethod.com now!
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There are 3 secret reasons found in depressed women that are the causes for depression in so many women. Studies in the twenties century have shown that more women than men are affected by depression. The current ratio is 2 to 1. You may ask yourself why is this? First of all, depression developed into the number one mental health issue of our modern times irrespective of gender. Compared to eighty years ago, there is a much earlier onset of depression. We get depressed at a much younger age than our forefathers.

Causes for depression: Reasons why women may be more depressed

Women are more willing to seek help, and go to therapy, so they show up more in the statistics. Women talk more willingly about their problems. Women have worse jobs than men and are paid less. Women have more depression because of biological differences. Women are more depressed because of genetic differences. Women feel more depressed because of sex-role pressure.

After careful scrutiny, none of these reasons hold true, and cannot be used to explain why women are so much more affected by depression than men.

Three plausible explanations of the causes for depression in women

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1. The first is learned helplessness. Our society gives women enough opportunities to experience helplessness over their whole lives. It starts with being ignored in the birth family, and rather trained for passivity and dependence. Her future role is seen as wife and mother. When she ventures out into the world of work, her achievements are given less credit. In meeting she gets more bored nods, and when in a position of power, she is seen out of place. Learned helplessness permeates everything what is essentially female, and leads irrevocably into women being depressed.

2. The second is rumination. While men act, women think. She broods, and relives the event over and over again. Men rather tend to do something such as getting drunk, bashing somebody up, or getting otherwise distracted without being bothered to think through what went wrong. As depression is also a disorder of thought patterns, rumination feeds right into it.

3. The third is the pursuit of thinness. 95 per cent fail to keep the extra pounds from coming back. As a result of this failure and frequent reminders that “you are too fat” will depress you. When you succeed to stay thin, you may be prone to anorexia. Starving constantly, you may suffer one of the major side effects of starvation that is depression. Cultures that don’t persue the ideal of thinness, don’t have more women depressed than men.

Learned helplessness, rumination, and the ideal of thinness can be put forward as causes for depression in Western women. These can all be changed, though. We need to change society, and media’s obsession with the thinness ideal. We need to change the way we bring up girls, so they can escape the indoctrination into helplessness, and in therapy we need to address rumination to help women to use more constructive ways to overcome issues.

Don’t let depression defeat you! Recognizing depression signs and symptoms is the first step to find the help that you need. You can cure depression and heal completely. Go to http://www.squidoo.com/depression-signs-and-symptoms to find out more, or visit http://www.living-depression-free.com.
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Purpose of this article

The overall purposes of this and future articles under development are to enhance women’s psychological strengths to cope with the stresses and pressures in their daily lives. This article in particular is to create awareness especially in women, to understand depression from a multifaceted perspective, with “Self-Attribution, Cognitive Distortions and Depression” being the first perspective examined in this current study. The expectant outcome is the hope that women’s coping knowledge and abilities will be enhanced, through a more scientific (researched based) and empirical understanding and awareness.

Women and Depression

The author would like to begin the discussion of this present topic: “Psychology of Women: Self-Attribution, Cognitive Distortions and Depression”, with two questions. 1) How can depression be described in a brief manner? 2) Is depression a universal and common experience?

To answer the first question, the author refers to Sharf (2000) who considered the mild “signs of depression” as including: “sadness, feelings of worthlessness, guilt, social withdrawal, and loss of sleep, appetite, sexual desire, or interest in activities”. He considered the severe” signs of depression” as displaying “slow speech, difficulty in sitting still, inattention to personal appearance, and pervasive feelings of hopelessness, anxiety, as well as suicidal thoughts and feelings”.

The answer to the second question, the author refers to Evans & Tait (1991) who when answering their own question, as to whether depression was a universal experience, quoted Seligman (1975), who described depression as the ‘common cold of abnormal behavior’. Evans & Tait (1991) believed that, Seligman’s description was to draw attention to the fact that we all experience it occasionally. So, while depression can be experienced either mildly or severely, depression is definitely both universal and common. And it is an especially a common experience among women.

Gender differences in depression

Why is mental illness (depression) more common among women? Weiten & Lloyd (2006) in asserting that women were “twice as likely as men to suffer from depression and anxiety disorders…”, also quoted Rosenfield (1999) to explain the “gender difference in mental illness” (depression). According to Rosenfield (1999), women seem to direct their “negative, hostile, anxious feelings and conflicts” inwards against their self, while, men direct them outwards – either against another person or against the society. In short, under the influence of mental illness like depression, women seem to want hurt themselves, while men seem to want to hurt others. Why is this so? The author would answer this question in a future article entitled: “Psychology of Women: Self-Identity”, as the scope of this article is limited to the examination of “Self-Attribution and Depression”.

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Self-Attribution, Cognitive Distortions, and Depression

The author would emphasis again, that self-attribution is one of the perspectives through which one can understand depression, which is multifaceted in nature.Therefore, women should not attribute everything in their lives to self-attribution, neither is depression all the time due to negative self- attribution. But all negative self-attributions, involves some sort of cognitive distortions. The author would like to next describe the inter-link between cognitive distortions, self-attribution and depression. To begin with, who initially developed the self-attribution theory? And what is the self-attribution theory?

Self Attribution Theory

Fritz Heider (1958), Edward Jones (1965), Keith Davis (1965) and Harold Kelley (1967), who were all social psychologists, were responsible for the initial development of self-attribution theory.  What is self-attribution? Based on the studies of Heider (1958); Jones (1965) Davis (1965) and Kelly (1967), self-attribution can be understood as the cognitive perception of persons in attributing the causes of behavior (theirs or others)   or events to three dimensions of: 1) internal or external; 2) stable or unstable and 3) controllable or uncontrollable.

Internal refers to the location of a cause of behavior or event to oneself, whether it is disposition, trait or personality of a person. External refers to the location of a cause of behavior or event to external (outside the disposition, trait or personality of a person) behaviors, events, luck, or chance. Stable refers to a permanent or an unalterable state of being in a person or condition in a situation. Unstable refers to impermanent or an alterable state of being in a person or condition in a situation. Controllable refers to having power over someone or something, to change or alter the state of being in a person or a condition in a situation. Uncontrollable refers to having no power over someone or something, to change or alter the state of being in a person or a condition in a situation. Based on these three dimensions, there are multiple combinations of cognitive perceptions of self-attribution. The following examples are meant to be fictitious demonstrative scenarios in relation to two combinations of cognitive perceptions of self-attribution.

1. Self- attribution: internal, stable, uncontrollable

Event: Mr. A has an affair with Ms. B.

Mrs. A‘s Response according to first combination of cognitive perceptions of self-attribution.: Mrs. A would blame herself (internal) for her husband’s infidelity. She views (subjective) her physical and sexual deficits in comparison to Ms. B as an unalterable handicap (stable). Thus, based on her physical and sexual deficit causes that could not satisfy Mr. A, Mrs. A would view her husband’s actions as naturally predictable (uncontrollable). What would be the impact on Mrs. A? The answer is obvious, depression (Riso et. al, 2003). How can Mrs. A prevent her depression from being long termed or chronic?  The answer lies in the second scenario.

2. Self- attribution: external, unstable, controllable

Event: Mr. A has an affair with Ms. B.

Mrs. A‘s Response according to second combination of cognitive perceptions of self-attribution: Mrs. A would blame Ms. B. and her husband (external) for their infidelity. Why accept the blame for a perpetrator of a wrong doing? Why not locate the blame where it is due? She would view (objectively) her physical and sexual deficits to satisfy Mr. A, in comparison to Ms. B as alterable (unstable), untrue or as unjustified. Physical and sexual deficits are very subjective. What is considered beautiful and sexy, in one culture and to one individual, may not be the same with another. There is always an opportunity to enhance one’s beauty and sexuality. Anyway a woman must be reminder that in infidelity, spouses for the purpose of rationalizations may look for deficits even when there is none. Why volunteer to give reasons for the rationalizations of an unfaithful spouse? Thus, she would view her husband’s actions as inexcusable (controllable). Mr. A has control over his decisions and actions in his affair with Ms. B, for if there is none, Ms. B can be possibly accused for rape.  Was Mr. A raped by Ms. B? What would be the impact on Mrs. A? The answer is obvious, there might be an initial depression, but it will not be long term or chronic, especially, if Mrs. A opens herself to marital counseling. Next, the author would like to discuss about the cognitive distortions found in the foregoing first combination of cognitive perceptions of self-attribution.

Qualifications: Th. Dip (MTBI, 1978); Th.B. (MBTS, 1982); MSCP (AU, summa cum laude, 2010)Professional Status:   Counselling PsychologistEmail Contact Info:    thesigannadarajan@gmail.comAuthor’s Blog: http://thesigannadarajan.blogspot.com/Available for: Consultation and Training 
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Often people with any form of an anxiety disorder also suffer with depression or vice versa. Close to 50% of those diagnosed as having depression are also diagnosed as having an anxiety disorder. Yet, on the brighter side these afflictions are both treatable, separately and together. This article discusses the co-occurrence of depression and anxiety and how both can be dealt with.

In order to cure anxiety depression effectively, one must understand that depression and anxiety disorders are dissimilar. But folks with depression often suffer symptoms analogous to those of an anxiety disorder,eg irritation, nervousness, and Problems concentrating and sleeping. But every disorder has its own causes and its own emotional and behaviour symptoms.

Numerous folks who develop depression have a history of an anxiety disorder formerly in life. There is no evidence that one disorder causes the other, but there’s clear evidence that many people have both abnormalities. Several folks may have a disorder that causes almost all of the suffering, and it is logical to address it first.

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As an example, if a person with social anxiety disorder is depressed about the inability to socialise with friends and family, the anxiety disorder may be causing the depression. So by simply treating social anxiety the depression might vanish.

On the other hand, if someone who suffers from a depression is not capable to start treatment for an anxiety disorder, since it needs high incentive and energy, it may be critical to cure the depression previously.

Frequently, however it is difficult to tell if an anxiety disorder causes depression or if a depression causes anxiety. So in order to cure anxiety depression it could be necessary to address both disorders simultaneously.

Yet to cure anxiety depression, you don’t always have to reach to expensive drugs with a lot of side-effects. Let me share this wonderful story with you:
From a non temporal stand-point, Jesus once asked his 12 followers: “Which of you by troubling can add a single strand of hair to your head?” Now, you might be of a non secular background or maybe not, yet think about that quote and you will start to realize why worrying, a symptom of anxiety depression is sort of needless. Reduced to its simplest form, what’s worry? It is just an unhealthy and ruinous psychological habit that – accept it or not people – you weren’t born with but simply purchased out of practice.

The good news is, with noisy actions, as with any habit and purchased perspective, we’re going to be able to be worry free and eliminate it from our lives successfully. In the words of Dr. Smiley Blanton, a very regarded Psychiatrist: Anxiety depression is the great modern plague.

Others go on to identify that worry, a notable sign of any kind of depression, is the most delicate and deleterious of all human sicknesses. Of course avoiding worry as a step to cure anxiety depression and worry will be step one for our own well-being. You become a worrier by practicing it; you may be worry-free by practicing the contrary.
Discover how to cure anxiety depression and become “worry free” at all times. There are some great 100% natural ways to cure anxiety depression without taking any medication. Visit http://cure-anxiety-depression.com to learn all about diagnosing anxiety, diagnosing depression, anxiety treatment and depression treatment. Alternatively, you might want to check the following website about how to cure anxiety depression: http://www.squidoo.com/cureanxietydepression
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