So You or Someone You Love Has Depression?
Families often feel helpless in the face of depression, especially if the depressed family member refuses to communicate meaningfully. The family might react by in turn withdrawing from the sufferer, almost frightened to be perceived as "interfering". Alternatively they might exhort the sufferer to "just pull up those socks" or "look on the bright side".
None of these things are in the least bit useful.
Depression is not actually a private matter, it's a family matter and a community matter. This is because it can be a matter of life or death, and in these cases treatment issues well and truly reign supreme over privacy issues. And because depression impacts so damagingly and painfully on all members of the family, the family have a perfect right to demand that the sufferer seek out and co-operate with treatment. While you might be well advised to "go soft" on the sufferer in terms of the amount of stress he/she is subject to, going soft on whether or not they get necessary treatment is not an option.
By becoming more aware of crucial lifestyle factors involved in depression, families can be very effective at helping to turn depression around very rapidly indeed, or even preventing depression arising in the first place.
One common enough cause of depression is dehydration. It's true that in the past we might have overestimated people's need for fluid intake, but we still find clients presenting with depression from that cause alone. If dehydration is the cause, you'll see an almost miraculous resolution of depression immediately the person begins eating and drinking normally again.
Likewise a lack of adequate physical activity can create a deeply depressed state, complete with the full range of depression symptoms, like sleeping difficulty, digestive upsets or constipation/diarrhoea, dry skin, hair loss, extreme fatigue, etc. Simply by introducing a brisk 30-minute walk each day, in the company of at least one other person, you may gain a rapid improvement!
In fact there are some 17 lifestyle "mistakes", each one of which is capable of producing depression. Unfortunately these mistakes have become so common that in some families and communities they are the new norm! In protecting yourself and your family from depression, it pays to look over the check list and get life back on healthy track again!
Because depression rates are escalating so quickly, we need to do something rather urgently, and for that reason the book "17 Solutions" outlining the lifestyle mistakes and describing the answers, is freebie for anyone who wants to resolve depression in their family.
But there's more to depression than lifestyle factors, as crucial as they are! Typically the depressed person will have developed an habitual, depressed thinking style and these thoughts and feelings serve to hold the depression in place. The family can be at least a little helpful here by remaining caring, but firm. By all means hear the depressed person out, but not the same stories over and over again. Be compassionate, but do your best to be a role model of someone who is fully engaged with life, and living healthfully and happily.
In addition professional therapy is a must and this should involve the new BMSA (brief, multi-sensory activation) techniques which have proven to be so beneficial in helping people to change thinking patterns quickly.
BMSA can be used in therapy, and as a self-help method, and most people will find a combination of professional therapy, with self-help in between sessions, to be very effective. The treatment manual "Relieving Depression - Quickly, Easily and Safely" describes common treatments, including BMSA.
A professional counsellor will ask a host of questions relating to family and life history in order to throw a light on other factors that can play a part in the development of depression. But therapy is more than just talking about these things - it's about working together to solve issues more easily, more creatively, and more effectively, in order to live a more satisfying life.
What happens in therapy is certainly private and the legislation regarding privacy is well-known. Not so well known are the requirements of the therapist in cases where suicidality is an issue. The therapist must ask questions about suicidality, must document answers, must have written permission from the client to speak with certain family members and/or other health professionals, and such permission must specifically describe what kind of information the therapist may or may not impart to which people.
The therapist will certainly want to help the sufferer to return to a happy and fulfilling life, but in the meantime must take all possible action to ensure he/she survives.
Do be aware that if you or a family member has been prescribed antidepressants that this medication must not be stopped abruptly. The withdrawal effects have the potential to be quite catastrophic, so make sure that staged withdrawal is completed under medical supervision
The main point of this article has been that by attending to lifestyle issues and also to depressed, habitual thinking styles, depression can be resolved very quickly, and also permanently, provided you avoid disproven therapies such as "talk" therapies, or CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy) styles. Purchase a comprehensive manual on depression treatment, work with a good therapist, and also look out for excellent information and support on the net.
Article Source: http://www.search-raven.com
About the Author
The free manual "17 Solutions" is of crucial importance to families with a depressed family member. Also the free manual "Stop Wishing and Start GETTING" proves how rapidly unwanted thoughts and feelings can be eliminated with BMSA.
This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License, which means you may freely reprint it, in its entirety, provided you include the author's resource box along with LIVE links (without "nofollow" tags).
by: ChristineSutherland
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