5 Ways Your Brain Influences Your Emotions – HowStuffWorks
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The Messy Minds of Creative People
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/2014/12/24/the-messy-minds-of-creative-people/
“Creative people are often seen as weird, odd, and eccentric.”
And there is nothing wrong with that! As revealed in my past blog posts listing some of the famous people that suffered from mental illness, it seems there is a consistent pattern of madness following from genius – or maybe the other way around. Either way, highly emotional individuals have a lot to express, so it makes sense that they would be drawn to a life of creative expression. This article talks about many traits of creative individuals and provides insight into the creative process.
SEEKING INSPIRATION
Sigh.
I feel lost.
And yet I am not.
I am right here, in this place.
If I remember to remember my breath.
If I take in that breath, allow it to fill me with awareness.
If I allow my awareness to rest on the energy that flows through me,
The life force that flows through everyone, and everything.
There is nothing else I need in this moment.
Stop pressuring myself.
Stop searching.
It’s here.
Now.
20 Celebrities Who Battled Depression
“People with Mental Illness Enrich Our Lives”
A list of some amazing, world-changing individuals that battled mental illness. Includes Abraham Lincoln, Charles Dickens, as well as Ludwig van Beethoven.
Meditations on Mindfulness
How It Works: The Science of Meditation
There is a lot of talk these days about mindfulness meditation and its role in depression and anxiety. But what is it, really? And does it actually work? Let’s see what people are saying:
Is Mindfulness Good Medicine? (information from: Scientific American Mind; September/October 2014)
Mindfulness meditation can be defined as “maintaining attention on present experiences and adopting an attitude toward them characterized by curiosity, openness, and acceptance” (Scott Bishop; University of Toronto). Mindfulness has shown to be effective in relieving negative thoughts and anxieties instead of obsessing over them. A study in 2010, performed by Stefan Hofmann from Boston University showed that regular mindfulness meditation sessions helped to improve the symptoms of both anxiety disorders and major depressive disorders. However, other studies have shown that mindfulness meditation in people with anxiety is not significantly successful.
Presently, the evidence for mindfulness meditation as a treatment for mental illness shows the most promise toward reducing depression and preventing depression relapse. Studies have shown that mindfulness is particularly productive in individuals who have experienced three or more depressive relapses. It seems that mindfulness meditation has some serious potential, but that further investigation into the topic is needed to fully understand what that potential may be.
Update: Men’s Health pointed out the negative effects that can result from meditation. This is an article discussing contrasting views of meditation as a treatment for mental illness.
mental health meditation
Some information on the topic:
National Alliance on Mental Health:
http://www.nami.org/template.cfm?section=mindfulness&lstid=274
Reasons Why Mindfulness Meditation is Good for Your Mental and Physical Health (Huffington Post):
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/08/mindfulness-meditation-benefits-health_n_3016045.html
Video: How Mindfulness Can Change Your Life; Jon Kabat Zin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJjyrzqkXrE
Mindfulness As A Career Strategy
Meditation Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vgKzXdwtRE
CALM Space: Mindfulness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CDZGXlHYp8&list=PL45B104588828D53F
Some Quotes to Ponder
The Social Solution
Treating depression is a difficult thing. Everyone is different, and finding the right medications that provide relief can be a frustrating and time-consuming process. Along with the difficulty of determining the right medications are the severe side effects that can come with taking the medicines. 4 out of 5 people who respond to medication will relapse at some point. The average depressed individual will relapse about four times throughout the course of his or her life. These statistics reveal the need for strategies to prevent depression relapse and to help those who are depressed remain as stable as possible. This is where the idea of social support therapy comes in. Getting involved in group activities can help prevent relapse and may even offer an alternative treatment strategy if depression can be managed without medication. This article provides some great information and research on the role of social support in treating depression.
Has anyone had significant responses to joining a social group? Are there any thoughts about what kind of groups might be most helpful for those trying to recover or prevent relapse?
What You Need to Know About Treatment-Resistant Depression
It Will Be Sunny One Day
In 2006, a woman named Chrystal Nunn was suffering from severe depression. She felt hopeless and didn’t know who to open up to about her pain. So she turned to Stephen Fry. And he turned out to be an excellent confidant.
I had no idea who to turn to. But I really needed someone to turn to and to ease the pain. So I wrote to Stephen Fry because he is my hero, and he has been through this himself. And low and behold, he replied to my letter, and I will love him eternally for this.
– Crystal Nunn
Letter From Stephen Fry:
Dear Crystal,
I’m so sorry to hear that life is getting you down at the moment. Goodness knows, it can be so tough when nothing seems to fit and little seems to be fulfilling. I’m not sure there’s any specific advice I can give that will help bring life back its savour. Although they mean well, it’s sometimes quite galling to be reminded how much people love you when you don’t love yourself that much.
I’ve found that it’s of some help to think of one’s moods and feelings about the world as being similar to weather:
Here are some obvious things about the weather:
It’s real.
You can’t change it by wishing it away.
If it’s dark and rainy it really is dark and rainy and you can’t alter it.
It might be dark and rainy for two weeks in a row.
BUT
It will be sunny one day.
It isn’t under one’s control as to when the sun comes out, but come out it will.
One day.
It really is the same with one’s moods, I think. The wrong approach is to believe that they are illusions. They are real. Depression, anxiety, listlessness – these are as real as the weather – AND EQUALLY NOT UNDER ONE’S CONTROL. Not one’s fault.
BUT
They will pass: they really will.
In the same way that one has to accept the weather, so one has to accept how one feels about life sometimes. “Today’s a crap day,” is a perfectly realistic approach. It’s all about finding a kind of mental umbrella. “Hey-ho, it’s raining inside: it isn’t my fault and there’s nothing I can do about it, but sit it out. But the sun may well come out tomorrow and when it does, I shall take full advantage.”
I don’t know if any of that is of any use: it may not seem it, and if so, I’m sorry. I just thought I’d drop you a line to wish you well in your search to find a little more pleasure and purpose in life.
Very best wishes
Stephen Fry
I heard about this letter two years ago, and I loved it. It stresses the importance of acknowledging how disabling depression can be and admitting that it is real and it sucks, while also emphasizing that it will be sunny one day. We may not know how long the depression will stay, but we need to believe that it will be sunny one day. It may be years from now, like it was for me, but now my days are sunnier than they have ever been before. They are brightened by the knowledge that I have made it through the roughest of storms and lived to see the light of day. And how beautiful every day is!
Sunny One Day 