All Entries in the "Therapy" Category
New Growth
Right now in life I feel a lot like this tree. When we went to visit Tareak’s family in Australia we saw some of the devastation the fires caused. Even though it had only been a couple of months since the fires, there was already life growing from the burnt logs and trees.
I was a burnt tree. There wasn’t any visible life left in me. I couldn’t see the point in trying to repair something that seemed beyond hope. In the past month I have felt the stirrings of life inside of me and it has now sprouted to the point it is visible to others. I am able to get out of bed without any internal resistance. I feel like I have more energy. My relationship with Tareak has significantly improved. Overall I just feel BETTER! So what has changed?
While in Australia I noticed something for the first time. In conversations with others, I had very little to say about myself or my experiences. I did have a lot to say about Tareak though. My curiosity was peaked and I began to do some research. I started seeing words and phrases like, “Codependence”, “White Knight Syndrome”, “Obsessive Love”, “Overdependence”. Basically what I was seeing is that I had a low self-worth. This is different from self-esteem. Because I didn’t see much worth in myself, it became easy to put anything and everything before my own wants and NEEDS. I had convinced myself that by completely focusing on the needs and wants of others I could find self worth and they would value me because I had helped them so much. The more I read, the more I realized this is a serious condition. It is a disease. An addiction. “Oh Great!” I thought, “Just another ailment to add to my list”. I’ve read three books on the subject now, and have learned that while it is a serious condition, it is treatable. This is where the stirrings of hope and new life began.
My allergies this year have seemed worse than usual. During all waking hours I am an itchy sniffly mess. My sister suggested acupuncture for allergies and I thought “Why not? Nothing else is working.” I found an acupuncturist that specializes in getting rid of allergies. I went to my appointment with zero expectations. I found that she actually uses a technique called “NAET” which is a mixture of acupuncture, kinesthetics, chiropractics, etc… Had I researched the technique ahead of time I would have never made the appointment because the results sound too good to be true. I have only had 2 appointment and have been treated for my allergy to eggs and lactose. NAET suggests that most ailments are caused by underlying allergies in the body and if those allergies are eliminated the ailment will clear up. It claims to heal depression, anxiety, OCD, and a huge list of other problems. Had I not seen the definite improvements after my two appointments I would be skeptical, but now I have hope. The idea of being allergy free is more than I ever thought possible.
It is almost summer. We have had a warm and sunny spring. The sun is healing. The sun makes me happy to get out of bed. I have also been taking Vitamin D supplements for a month and have noticed a change in my mood. I don’t know if it is just the weather, or if the Vitamin D is helping, but I have no complaints either way.
Between learning about co-dependence, how to treat my allergies and the healing effects of the sun and Vitamin D, I am feeling good. I still have several books to read on my conditions, but I think I am off to a good start. Hopefully you won’t even recognize me in a few months. Instead of a burnt stump I will be a huge green tree oozing with new life.
Short Blogging Break
I have a pile of almost a dozen books I need to read. I had a rather large breakthrough in figuring out how to treat my depression. In order to fix myself I first need to have a DESIRE to fix myself and believe that I am worth fixing. While this might sound obvious to you, it was not obvious to me- and that is the problem. I have always preferred “fixing” others and ignoring my own issues and so they have been buried for too long. I’m hoping that when I get through all the books I will have a deeper understanding of myself and also a stronger sense of self worth. Until I believe that I am worth “fixing” and am motivated to help MYSELF, instead of someone else, there is no point in addressing my depression. Wish me luck!
Depression in Teenagers
I believe that as a teenager I suffered from depression, but I was never formally diagnosed or screened. Most people look at teenagers as moody and unstable emotionally, so detecting something like depression can be tricky. Since I wasn’t suicidal like some depressed teenagers it became even harder to diagnose. A recent article states that “about half of all mental illnesses arise by age 14.” I often wonder if I could have been diagnosed younger how that would effect my current depression. “As with many illnesses, the earlier that treatment can begin, the more effective it is and the greater the likelihood that recurrence can be prevented.”
Experts are now pushing for early screening for depression in teenagers. If you understand depression and the effects it can have, you are able to learn skills and techniques at an early age in order to help you lead a more healthy positive life. A professor at the University of Chicago Medical Center led a study using an interactive web-based tool called “Project CATCH-IT“. He explains that screening can help and that the project “showed promise at helping reduce symptoms of depression in at-risk adolescents by teaching such skills as altering pessimistic thinking, avoiding procrastination, and making a point of doing enjoyable things. Because they’re inexperienced, adolescents can find it tricky to sift what’s normal from what’s not. Maybe they’ve had a spat with a boyfriend or girlfriend; maybe their mom yelled at them; maybe they’ve had a series of disappointments in school, and suddenly they’re feeling bad and they’re not sure if the problems are to blame or if something more is affecting them.”
I think it is great that doctors want to make screening for depression a regular part of a check-up, but the article points out there could be some dangers. “The new recommendation comes with a serious caveat: that adolescents should be screened only “when systems are in place to ensure accurate diagnosis, psychotherapy, and follow-up,” the panel said. Otherwise, says Calonge, “you just identify the problem and you haven’t done anything [else]. Plus, we don’t want people just pulling out the prescription pad, because there’s a concern that [medication] may do more harm than good; we’re just worried about that.” Calonge’s group found “convincing evidence” that a commonly prescribed class of antidepressants—selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors [SSRIs]—can raise the risk of suicidal thoughts or actions in adolescents, which is why the task force urged that those drugs, though often effective, should be considered only when young patients can be closely supervised.”
While the dangers are real, I think the potential benefits outweigh the risks. “Oscar Bukstein, a child and adolescent psychiatrist and an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine says, “If you look at the natural history of depression, you find that there’s a marked increase in the onset of depression in adolescence, post-puberty,” he says, “and that many, if not most people who have recurrent depression will often point to adolescence as a point of onset.”" Much good can come from the screening and I hope that for the sake of all the depressed teenagers out there, they can be accurately screened and treated so they don’t have to suffer from recurrent depression as I have.
Vitamin D Therapy
About a month ago my dad called and told me about a website called the Vitamin D Council. You may have heard about the recent studies that show most American’s have an extreme Vitamin D deficiency. In an article from March 25th it states: “Low vitamin D levels among adults are fast becoming a growing epidemic and could spell trouble for the future health of the nation, according to a new study. Researchers found that not only has the number of Americans with low vitamin D levels increased, but average vitamin D levels among adults have also decreased from 1994 to 2004. Vitamin D is produced by the skin in response to sunlight and is also found in vitamin D fortified foods, such as milk.”
I always knew that I felt better when I had a regular dose of sun, but I never knew why. It is because my body has been craving Vitamin D most of my life. On the Vitamin D Council website there is a section that addresses the possibility that Vitamin D could help with depression. It does state though, “nothing could be a crueler message than to tell those suffering from major depression that physiological amounts of vitamin D will cure it.“ There are no conclusive studies that have been done with depression, but there are many indicators that Vitamin D can indeed help.
“Evidence suggests that vitamin D may help mood but that evidence is not conclusive. (Remember, the way our medical literature system works, scientists often do not publish negative studies). The two positive studies above used vitamin D to treat seasonal affective disorder, not major depression. We were unable to find any studies in the literature in which patients with depression were treated with enough natural sunlight, artificial sunlight or plain old cholecalciferol to raise their levels to 35 ng/mL or higher. We all know how we feel after a week at the beach, but is that bright light, vitamin D, or something else?”
Since reading the studies highlighted on the Vitamin D Council website I have been going tanning regularly for the past few weeks. I have been going only once or twice a week for just 10 minutes, but the days that I go I see an improvement in my mood and am usually more productive those days. I may start taking Vitamin D supplements as well, but research suggests that more Vitamin D is absorbed by being in the actual sun than though the use of supplements. For now I’ll risk getting skin cancer and just enjoy the fake sun.