8/25/09

Depression and Serotonin

Please before watching these videos, please keep in mind that everyone’s personal situation is a UNIQUE scenario. Everyone has a UNIQUE medical background and UNIQUE living situation. This doesn’t mean that we don’t share some common scenarios, but I believe it’s important to not give a one-size-fits- all T-shirt to ‘Depression’.

It is my personal belief that low serotonin levels are behind depression, but I also believe there are other reasons why it can be low and other ways to raise it and that people DO need to be properly informed before making a decision about taking medications.

With my background, I had more people respond to exercise, Omega 3s, drinking more water and proper diet and sleep…not to mention counseling both therapists and spiritual guides. This does NOT mean some people don’t require medication. I just think people need to be informed and most certainly not misinformed or led astray. I have personally been on them. I have myself been through depression leading to suicidal tendencies.

By the way, exercise is not the devil. Lol It’s not going to hurt you even if you are on medication. I don’t like that there seems to have to be a choice between meds and exercise. I am ‘mildly’ annoyed by the interviewer although I do understand someone has to play devil’s advocate to represent the general public’s questions.




I do hope that if you are on medication for depression, that you felt like you were;

* properly informed on all options for your mental well-being* not just looked at in a Doctor’s office and given a diagnosis like ‘chemical imbalance’ and written a prescription on the first visit.

If you are considering medication for Depression, I hope that you are;
* currently getting some kind of exercise
* seeing a counselor or other professional
* taking an Omega 3 supplement
* getting the proper amount of sleep
* seeking nutritional advice

Something that doesn’t get talked enough about with Depression too is the need to reach out.

Friends are the most underrated part of getting through it. Simply reaching out to someone who will be a good listener is SO helpful. You see, we aren’t alone in it, otherwise there wouldn’t be billions of dollars pouring into the medical industry, but we FEEL alone.

For example in this community, I have heard dozens of stories of people reaching out to someone else on here and it has made a huge difference in their life. This is why I tell everyone that I have THE coolest friends EVER! For some reason, we are finding each other here. That just ROCKS!

;)

Much love on ya!
Karen :)

“A true friend never gets in your way unless you happen to be going down.” ~ Arnold H. Glasow

8/21/09

The Lies Women Love to Hear

I borrowed the title, I didn’t make it up. I read this as part of a featured blog on msn. I can’t even begin to express my annoyances! …alphabetically or chronologically?
Nah, I’m not losing sleep over it, I’ll just insert a thought (or three) after each one of hers.

1. I always want a guy to tell me I look skinny.Now, yes, I know I sound like a real anti-feminist, saying this. But it pleases me to no end when people — male and female — say things like, "My god, you're tiny!" Or, "Wow, what are you these days, a size two?" I know societal pressures have done some bad things to my body image (and to our collective body image); I won't deny that. But I do love to feel petite.
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I don’t think that has anything to do with feminism. Why don’t you love being you? Why is feeling petite the thing to make a person feel good? I don’t think there is awareness here of what societal pressures have done or it wouldn’t be added on in this manner. It’s not what I would consider ‘funny’. We seem to be excusing everything as a cute little joke. It reminds me of when people make racist jokes and then say something like, "…back when racism used to be ok."

2. I always want to hear I look shockingly young.New Friend just made things worse after the "athletic body" debacle by trying to guess my age — and he got it right on the nose. Fishing for a compliment, I said, "Ah, too bad, I actually look as old as I am, huh?" He replied, "You're incredibly well-preserved for someone your age." Oh, dear. Well-preserved?! I felt like a canned sardine. Couldn't he — just to be nice — have told me I looked like I'd just gotten back from shopping for my prom dress? Couldn't he have told me my skin looked as soft and smooth as a baby's bottom? Couldn't he, at the very least, have said, "Wow, you must be getting Botox, because you look terrific!"?
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I understand how many will compliment someone on looking young. But how is it at all helpful? Doesn’t it mean that when you don’t look young anymore, you will reflect on all the young compliments and become depressed? Ok everyone that is over 30, go curl up under a rock because your life is over. I would have lasted approx. 3 seconds talking with that person and moved onto someone who could discuss literature. Fishing for compliments usually brings up Carp. (That’s a garbage-y fish; I didn’t misspell Crap, although it works too) She just kept offering a shovel for him to throw more dirt on! I don’t think it’s good to open the door to a burglar this way. Your spirit will be robbed!

3. I also don't mind it when guys say, "Now you — you I'd sleep with!"Luckily, New Friend turned things around a few minutes later. He was describing some woman in his office who drove him nuts because she thought she was the cat's meow; she'd dissed one of New Friend's male coworkers who'd asked her out. "And this woman, she's empirically attractive, I guess," New Friend said. "But she totally lacks charisma! I'd never sleep with her — and I can't imagine too many men who would." Then, gratuitously, he turned to me, and almost out of the corner of his mouth, he said, "But you? You I'd sleep with in a second. You've got the je ne c'est quoi."Now, sure, it's a little embarrassing, a little crude, when a guy says something like this. But I like to think it's also his awkward, dorky way of flirting. Of trying to say, as directly as he can without downright asking for it, that he thinks you're hot. Call me crazy, but I find it kind of endearing.
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So, let me understand. You didn’t reply back with, "You totally lack intelligence. I’m done talking to you. I can’t imagine too many people who would talk with you." Ok, so I wouldn’t be that crude, but any person that would try to give me a prize like ‘sleeping with them’ would last less than 3 seconds. It’s not embarrassing, it’s dumb. It’s not a little crude, it’s out-of-line. If that is his dorky way of flirting, he’s probably that dorky in every other area of his life that counts too and you should consider yourself warned.

I don’t find any of these endearing, I find them shallow and spirit-depleting. To me, there is nothing better than when a person wants to get to know your brain. Or how about, better yet, get to know THEIR brain! It’s no wonder relationships are so empty, they were based on nothing to begin with!

But you know, I love when people like that guy show his true colors right away in a social environment. I can dismiss them good and early and still have time to meet the good ones! :)

ROCK ON!
Karen :)
"We must not allow other people’s limited perceptions to define us." ~ Virginia Satir