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Straightforward Publishing - Josephine Spire

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73 pages

English

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Depression affects over 150 million people worldwide. It can affect anyone regardless of their age, gender, race or status. However, depression is like any other illness, it has to be dealt with and not ignored. In addition, stress affects our minds, bodies and relationships. Some people are better at dealing with their stress whereas other people find it a struggle to navigate through it. Throughout this book the reader will learn various mind-techniques and coping skills that can be practised as part of a self-help strategy to overcome depression and stress.

Informations

Publié par	Straightforward Publishing
Date de parution	25 mars 2017
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781847167323
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0300€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

UNDERSTANDING AND MANAGING DEPRESSION AND STRESS
JOSEPHINE SPIRE
Emerald Guides
First Edition Josephine Spire 2017
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electronic or mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright holders.
ISBN: 978-1-84716-685-2 eISBN: 978-1-84716-732-3 Kindle ISBN:978-1-84716-731-6
Printed by 4edge www.4edge.co.uk
Cover design by Bookworks Islington
Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained within this book is correct at the time of going to press, the author and publisher can take no responsibility for the errors or omissions contained within.
Acknowledgements
I would like to convey my thanks to Jane, Jessica, Joseph, Dr John, Dr Jimmy, Dr Julius, Jofrey, Jerome for their tremendous and consistent support. A special gratitude also goes to Roger Sproston and the team at Emerald and all the people who greatly assisted me with my research throughout the course of writing this book. A big thank you to you all.
Introduction
Depression is a traumatic and cruel illness to suffer from, it can affect anyone regardless of their age, gender, race or status. The list of famous and successful men and women who have suffered from depression is drawn out.
Depression is a common illness which affects 150 million people worldwide. The majority of people when depressed describe their feelings as despondent, almost like being under a constant dark cloud encompassed by a lot of sadness, irritability, frustration, negativity and hopelessness among other symptoms, causing immense distress to the sufferer and their loved ones.
Depression is like any other illness, it has to be dealt with and not ignored, the sooner the better. You should understand that depression has no link to being weak or failing, it is an illness. Severe depression can be serious and life threatening and should be reported and treated immediately. If you are having suicidal thoughts, call your doctor and get help as soon as possible..
The good news is that many people who seek help for depression recover from it and turn their lives around positively. Relatively, stress affects our minds, bodies and relations. Most of us encounter stressful experiences in our lives but the difference is that we cope differently. Some people are better at dealing with their stress whereas other people find it a struggle to navigate through it. When we are under stress we go into fight or flight mode depending on how bad the situation is, this is the body s way of dealing with stress. Stress can be good or bad.
Good stress is that one that fires you on to achieve your goals, reach targets or improve your performance levels, bad stress is the stress that threatens your well-being mentally and physically to the point that you find daily life relatively difficult to go through. These days it is impossible to go through a day without hearing someone say that they are stressed. Living stressful lives has almost become a norm to many. This is why people are seeking ways to slow down, find peace, calm and clarity through all madness surrounding them. And this is where mind techniques come in to the rescue in form of self-therapy. By using mind techniques you will build up defensive walls that will help you to relieve your depression and stress so that you are more better equipped to cope with whatever problems you have.
What you think influences your mood and behaviour. The cause of depression or stress is not the events or circumstances in themselves but rather your interpretation of, and your thoughts about these events. My main reason for writing this book is to give you a better understanding of how depression and stress affect your mind and body and to show you effective ways to deal with symptoms of both conditions. Throughout this book you will learn various mind techniques and coping skills that you can practice as part of your self-help to overcome depression and stress. With this book as your guide, you have more power than anyone else to help yourself turn things around, focus on your mental well-being and getting better. Remember, what lies in your power not to do also lies in your power to do.
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Contents
C hapter 1. Depression Generally
C hapter 2. Types of Depression
C hapter 3. Causes of Depression
C hapter 4. Symptoms of Depression
C hapter 5. Coping with Depression
C hapter 6. Mind Techniques for Depression Relief
C hapter 7. Mindfulness and Depression
C hapter 8. Getting Help for Severe Depression
C hapter 9. Alternative Complementary Therapies
C hapter 10. Life Beyond Depression
C hapter 11. Stress
C hapter 12. Coping with Stress
C hapter 13. How Stress Affects the Body
C hapter 14. Stress and The Mind
C hapter 15. Relaxation Techniques in Stress Relief
C hapter 16. Mindfulness in Stress Relief
C hapter 17. Getting Help For Severe Stress
C hapter 18. The Stress Management Plan
U seful addresses
R esources
I ndex
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Ch. 1
Depression Generally
Emotions
Our emotions, both good and bad, are responsible for causing depression and stress in our lives. Therefore it s not possible to talk about depression and stress without exploring emotions. What are emotions anyway? Emotions are feelings or sensations brought on by other people or life events. Our thoughts and feelings have a massive impact on our emotions. There are many types of emotions which include anger, sadness, grief, worry, frustration, anxiety, guilt, shame, jealousy, resentment, hate, fear, happiness, hope, pride, anticipation, excitement, love, confidence, optimism, arousal. When we feel something we consequently respond to that feeling, the emotions in depression are predominantly negative whereas even though stress can cause some negative emotions, it can sometimes induce positive emotions too like excitement, anticipation and arousal, a good example is person who has been promoted at work, they can feel very stressed out of excitement and anticipation of what lies ahead. As regards a greater number of people who suffer from depression experience intense negative emotions that prevent them from thinking and behaving rationally and seeing the bigger picture. When this happens they only tend to see what is in front of them which leads to an even deeper downward spiral. True in life we all experience loss and other heart breaking events, which is unfortunately part of our existence. For example when you lose someone you love your emotions go into overdrive leaving you with this pain and anger that embeds your entire being and because grief doesn t happen overnight you feel as though you lose your beloved one piece by piece everyday over a long time, its emotionally draining. But the great thing about humanity is that we heal over time and yes it gets better although there s no time flame for this.
Emotions do tend to run high in most kinds of loss be it divorce, separation, loss of health, job, home and other losses that we incur in life. But however tasking it is, accept the pain you are feeling as part of your recovery and if you feel like crying do exactly that as crying can be healing in itself, when you cry you release some of the pent up emotions stored inside you. The worst thing to do is try and suppress your emotions because they will come at some point worst still aggressively or destructively. Do not see yourself as a failure either, its very easy for people to feel as though they ve failed and blame themselves when they are at rock bottom. Sometimes you might need to change the way you are thinking about the situation more positively, by doing so you will begin to feel better almost immediately because your thoughts lead directly to your feelings. Its equally important to learn how to listen, identify and understand your emotions as this will put you in a better position to control them other than them controlling you. And most of all remember life is a journey of discovering and learning, the only failure you will encounter will be when you say I give up you are not alone either, there are millions of people right now feeling and thinking as you are but the difference will be between those who get up and make a decision to give life another shot and those who don t. Be among those who do because life always offers you a second chance which is tomorrow. And for those who are thinking I ve had enough before you give up think of all the reasons why you ve held on all this long.
There is no one fit definition for depression as it is a very complex illness. It is a very common illness which can affect anyone and can vary between sufferers ranging from mild to moderate or severe. The World Health Organisation estimates that approximately 450 million people throughout the world struggle with mental health problems, with depression being one of the major problems.
Statistics show that 1 in 4 people in the United Kingdom will suffer from a mental health problem in a given year, with depression and anxiety being the most common mental illnesses. It is also shown that women are more likely than men to have received treatment for mental illness. Approximately 29% of women will suffer from a mental illness compared to 17% of men and 1 in 4 women will report depression compared to 1 in 10 in men, with suggested reasons being that men are less likely to report depression, preferring to live with it and not seek help.
What does depression feel like?
A majority of sufferers will tell you that it is very hard to deal with depression, which in turn affects both the sufferer, family, friends and work colleagues. Sufferers with mild depression will have a diminished interest in the things that they always found enjoyable, but will nevertheless try to carry on with their lives as normal. This is the most common aspect of depression and the sufferer can get by