I love stargazing. That’s the primary reason why I go on camping adventures – to be able to gaze up at the sky at various altitudes without solid walls and a roof covering my view. The experience is humbling, in my opinion, because it allows me to remember how vast the universe is and that I’m merely one of its gazillion inhabitants.
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Whenever I’m looking at the stars, I can’t help but think of the millions of individuals suffering from mental disorders and how it may benefit them too. Will it lessen their misery? Can it help strengthen their hold on reality? So, I tend to wonder, “Can an online psychiatrist recommend this activity to their patients?”
Before answering that, let’s check out the advantages of stargazing first.
Surveys show that about half of American marriages end with divorce. Although there are programs such as marriage and couples counseling, researchers are yearning to find a better way to keep couples together and their marriages intact.
A new study reveals that watching films that demonstrate the difficulties and ordeals in marriage and then discussing it can be as effective as couples counseling in reducing divorce rates and keeping the marriage alive.
When I was a kid, my mom told me that I should do whatever it would take to get what I wanted. “If you had to steal it, I would cover up for you. If you had to beat it out of someone, I would even help you,” she said.
I can only imagine how mind-boggled you may be right now upon reading that statement. The social worker who took me out of the trailer park where my mom and I lived was shocked when I told her about it. She uttered that no child should be exposed to such damning ideology because the kid might genuinely do as their parents said.
As you might have expected, my mother lived the thug life. That was the last time I saw her because she was charged with murder and possession of illegal drugs. The court sentenced her to 50 years in prison, which meant that she would most likely die there.
Did I miss my mother? Perhaps some, but I was already in foster care, where life was already 11 times better than what my mother gave me at the trailer park. I was lucky to go to a foster family that genuinely cared for children like me.
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The mom was so different from my mother – from her appearance to the way she spoke. She made me feel cherished in a way that my mother never could since she was always too busy snorting drugs or hanging out with the wrong kind of people.
I was the happiest kid when my foster family decided to file for my adoption after six months of having me. Alas, the social worker explained that it could be a long process because my mother was still alive, even if she was in jail. In response, I asked them to bring me to my mother to beg for her to let me be an official part of my new family.
I thought that mom would refuse or pick up a fight when we arrived. However, when she saw how I looked – saw how healthier I became when we parted ways – she decided to give me up before I could even ask.
What I Learned From That
My life story was not as unconventional as I imagined. Many kids went through similar or worse situations than I did before they got into foster care and were adopted by a loving family. As a part of the process, though, the government required me to get therapy to deal with all the changes in my life at present and make peace with my past.
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During one of these sessions, I talked about my mother’s tips to me about getting what I wanted.
“Do you agree with her?” the therapist asked.
“I did when I was much younger,” I said honestly. “That was the norm in the trailer park where we lived. But once I met my new family, I understood that there were certain boundaries that you should never cross, no matter how much you want something.”
“Can you shed some light on those boundaries?”
Never Steal
My mother taught me that stealing was okay, especially if you were doing it to the rich people or anyone who deserved to have something taken away from them. As I grew up, though, I wondered who we were to decide who deserved punishment or not. I was not a god, and neither was my mother.
Never Take Advantage Of Anyone
My mother happened to be a con woman before she became a drug abuser and murderer. She would pose as someone else and trick people into giving her money, jewelry, etc. Once she got bored with the job, she would leave them, but not before emptying their wallets first.
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I learned about such stories as my mother told me about them proudly. She called as parts of her glorious old days, and I used to be in awe of her because of them. Luckily, I eventually understood how twisted that was on so many levels.
Never Be The Cause Of Someone’s Hurt
Since my mother clearly had no qualms about disobeying the laws, she ended up hurting someone until it worsened to death. When I asked her why she did it, she said she got upset, turning the guy black and blue. “I did not expect him to die, but he did, so tough luck,” my mother uttered nonchalantly.
Final Thoughts
As you might have guessed, my mother followed her heart one too many times. That’s actually inadvisable because it most likely meant that primitive impulses governed you. It might have been okay eons ago, but it’s unacceptable now.
Whoever is reading this blog, please learn from my mother’s mistakes. I know I did, and it helped me become a better individual.
My entire world turned bleak when my psychiatrist diagnosed me with psychosis.
I had these delusions and hallucinations for a few months, so I decided to ask for a mental health diagnosis. I already knew it could be psychosis, but I did not want to accept it until the doctor confirmed it. After all, being psychotic does not sound good.
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You see, I had watched a lot of horror movies in my entire life to know that many of the crazy killers had psychosis. If they decided to end someone’s life, they would do it at all costs. They would make many elaborate plans to ensure that they would get their way in the end. Well, I did not want to be associated with those people, whether they were make-believe or not.
My psychiatrist tried to console me by saying that psychosis was – or at least its significant symptoms – treatable. She said, “Many clients who came to my office were so out of touch with reality that their families almost wanted to give up on them and send them to a mental health facility. However, I would never recommend that unless they posed as a danger to everyone, including themselves. In most cases, therapy was possible and helpful for psychotic individuals, so I would also recommend that to you.”
In that same week, I met my therapist. She was technically a cognitive-behavioral therapist who explained that this treatment would allow me to talk about everything – from my daily life to my hallucinations to my delusions. There was apparently no wrong answer; I just had to be as open as possible.
Of course, I did as I was asked because I had never dreamed of living in a mental health facility. I had many life goals to fulfill, and my psychosis should not get in that way.
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After almost a year in therapy, I was glad to be done with it finally. I knew that it did not cure my psychosis as the symptoms lurked somewhere in my mind. Despite that, therapy helped me keep them from poisoning my thoughts and giving me hallucinations again.
Making Lemonades Out Of My Crazy Lemon
I tried to apply for a job after my therapy sessions. The HR staff would always be sweet when they would see me for the first time. But once they flipped through my psychological evaluation documents and saw my diagnosis, they would immediately tell me to wait for their call. We all know what that means.
I called my therapist for guidance when I felt lost. She said, “No one can change others’ perceptions. All you can do is figure out how to use your experience for the better.”
And so I did. I tapped into my psychotic side a bit to be laser-focused on creating a startup business. I also found a few people with the same condition as I did, and they excelled in their fields by allowing themselves to be crazy sometimes.
Below are some of the benefits of putting my psychosis to good use:
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You Have A Plan For Everything
I used to feel scared of becoming as detailed as the killers in those horror movies I mentioned above. But when I embraced that, I realized how awesome it could be for a non-lethal application.
I got to make a plan for everything. I thought of every possible ending for my company and developed multiple contingency plans. Was it too much? Perhaps, but it was never wrong to prepare for anything.
You Only Keep Deserving People Around
Ever since I got diagnosed with psychosis, I already knew that I was less empathic than others. I used to be ashamed to admit it, but I stopped pretending to care when I became a boss.
I was not mean or disrespectful to people; I just refused to hire applicants who did not have the skills and characteristics needed for the job(s). For some reason, I knew that they would be a waste of money and effort.
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You Always Win
The business world could be an arena for ruthless and endless competition. Everyone could be out to destroy you at every corner, and you had to be vigilant all the time.
In my case, I used my killer instinct to assess my problems and beat every company that tried to challenge me. I did not care if I met the owner at a seminar – I would merely go in for the kill.
Final Thoughts
When I look back on my life now, I still cannot fathom how I have managed to make something out of myself. Imagine, getting diagnosed with psychosis was akin to a death sentence for many people. But it honestly helped turn my life around for the better.
I would never wish for anyone to deal with the same mental disorder, but if you currently are, please know that your world would not have to be bleak forever if you don’t let the problem get the best of you.
We always think that being emotional is a sign of weakness. We believe that others would jump right off when we show even a little of that soft side and take advantage of us. That is why we tend to hide our true feelings. We have this mentality that we think we need to show the world that we are strong despite being emotionally damaged. But there is entirely nothing wrong with that, though. In some fortunate instances, that strategy works fine, especially for those who want to focus on immediate emotional healing. However, the usual result of that forceful recovery process is going back to severe emotional turmoil.
Since most of us are driven by empathy and compassion, we always think about ourselves more delicately. That is why we want to project the idea of being “okay” as something stable. We want to feel better, so we continuously attempt to convince ourselves that we need to get better. That is good, actually. The more we want to regain ourselves, the more we become aware of what we should and should not do. But sometimes, the effort we put into stabilizing our emotional state is way too much that we condemn feeling the unwanted feelings.
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The In Denial Stage That Gets Us Really Bad
Usually, when we feel a little bit emotional about something, we often shrug it off. We are used to ignoring whatever it is that we do not understand. We somehow do not want to exaggerate ourour unpleasant feelings chose to forget about them. But the problem with that is it sticks with us. Deep inside, it gets rotten. And the more we lie to ourselves, the more it gives us this underlying pain.
When we are emotionally not okay, we often tell everyone the opposite. When someone asks, “How are you?” it is merely easy to respond, “I’m okay,” though we are not. But why is that? Of course, our intention is not to lie to others, but we find security while lying about our feelings somehow. Perhaps that is due to the belief that everything shall pass and that we should not make a big deal over a strange emotional issue. We think that soon enough, things will get back to the way it was. Besides, we believe that there is no point in burdening others with irrelevant things.
But the sad part about the habit of telling people that we are okay is the impossibility of these concerned individuals to lend a hand. The more we try and convince them that we are okay, the more they get used to seeing us in a strong and willful condition. And once they get that idea that we are capable and do not genuinely need any help, these people end up ignoring us. They will not bother to ask us anymore if we are okay. And that is what makes us sad, empty, and alone.
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The Emotional Vulnerability That Needs To Be Seen
When we are in a deep hole of emotional despair, we know that it is only a span of time before we eventually break down and shatter into pieces. We are aware that we need help and that we are crying so hard deep inside because others cannot see what we are going through. We know there is something wrong, and most of the time, we understand what is wrong. It is just that we are often afraid of uncertainties. We are not prepared for the consequences of our actions or behaviors. We are scared of others’ judgment towards our emotional inability.
But if we carefully think about it, expressing our thoughts and feelings often creates the same result. Meaning, regardless of hiding and lying about our sorrows, letting it out still gives us the same expectations. People either ignore us or give us attention. So in this matter, it provides us a definite answer to know which one we prefer – that is to express our feelings no matter what.
Since we usually emphasize leaning into the emotional discomfort, we often experience, it moves us away from finally accepting the imperfections of things. And that holds us in the idea that we should stay and get better no matter what. But apparently, being not okay is still okay. It conveys the concept that what we feel is what we should feel because it is real. We emotionally struggle not because we are weak but because we learn to accept ourselves with non-judgment, self-compassion, and self-love.
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Insight
Being emotionally capable does not mean we should be strong enough to control our emotions. Instead, it means we should understand how our emotions, in a way, affect us and others. Of course, it is not easy to stay emotionally unavailable all the time. But if we honor our emotional experience, our recovery will be all worth it.
Our generation today is crazy about the internet. Somehow at some point, everything that people do needs to be posted on the web. That brings us to Vlogging or the art of creating content that is in video format. It is a place where people talk about a particular subject, discuss various opinions, show some clips about their lives, review a product and report a current event. It is a popular way of getting in touch with different people and gaining a huge social media connection. But the best part of vlogging is the number of cash vloggers earned in just a 5 to 30-minute video.
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The purpose of a vlog is to share thoughts, ideas, and experiences with an audience. Many vloggers are comminuted to influence people, especially the younger generations, to become more aware of themselves, the world they live in, and their purpose in life. But somehow, there are those influences or vloggers that are more focused on earning than creating valuable or useful content. There is nothing wrong with that, though, as long as people enjoy and love what they do. However, the damage is unnoticeable as some vlogs impact a wide audience’s mental, emotional, and behavioral aspects.
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Positive Influence
A lot of people say that vlogging promotes positive influence as most people find some content informative. Vlogging can show a different side of the news as it does not rely on the mainstream media. There is a lot of information about almost everything, and people can easily get a direct answer to their questions. Vlogging sometimes holds direct access to the current situations, especially when done live.
Vlogging also helps people to do things conveniently. The best part of it is that they won’t have to waste some time trying to do something that somehow won’t work because vloggers can already show the results. Vlogging is also a source of useful instructions as most influencers share more easy-to-follow procedures such as baking, cooking, gardening, video gaming, drawing, dancing, singing, etc.
Aside from that, vlogging can be a great source of positivity due to the endless entertainment. It somehow takes away people’s anxiety and stress. That is because vlogging provides content that is often funny, engaging, and worthy to watch. Vloggers often share jokes, comedic clips, and pranks. These types of content all make sense when the audience wants some time to entertain themselves and take off their minds on something.
Another great thing about vlogging is its influence on people’s mental health. It somehow creates this community where they encourage people to share and express their feelings and emotions. Vlogging has its way of convincing people not to deal with their life issues alone. In some fortunate instances, vlogging takes care of people’s doubts and insecurities about themselves. There are helpful tips that vloggers provide that individuals can use freely. There are some vlogs that are inspirational and often promote a positive outlook in life.
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Negative Impact
Like everything else in the world, there are always two sides to the story. While vlogging seems to hold the power of influencing people with many things, it can also cause a negative impact. That is because some vloggers pay more attention to monetization, where they do not put any effort into sharing valuable information in their content. Usually, these vlogs are full of lies, and they focus more on fame or publicity. The videos rely on fake news and wrong information.
As vlogging gets praised for its video clip life hacks, there is always something about it that does not fit in. Vlogging instructional procedures always do not go well, especially when it is about how people deal with their everyday tasks. Of course, the main goal is to help an individual do things conveniently. But most of the time, vlog contents hide the truth. Some vloggers show that they claim are easy to do, but it is quite full of complicated processes in reality.
As many people can agree, the priority purpose of vlogging is to entertain. That makes it so inviting because some vlogs are way too engaging and funny to promote joy and happiness to their audience. However, there are those entertaining vlogs that encourage negative impacts such as bullying. Usually, content creators often leave insensitive remarks towards people’s physical appearance, disabilities, intellectual capacity, and status. Some content also promotes abuse as some pranks often lead to physical damage.
Lastly, vlogging is detrimental to mental health because of other people’s imposed perfect standard of life. The audience usually suffers from great emotional dilemma seeing those contents that make them feel sorry for themselves. Some vlog contents solely focus on showing off instead of inspiring others to be happy with what they have.
Usually, every time I feel sad, I automatically assume that what I am going through is part of the wrong decisions I make in life. When I do something out of my will, I always believe that it immediately results in emotional pain and agony. I always thought that I should always feel good about it when doing things because if I don’t, I will end up with misery and full of regrets.
But lately, I realized that my sadness is not at all related to my struggling decision-making process. The emotion I always felt for the past few weeks was something strange that I couldn’t even put in words. The sadness I felt came from nowhere. And even if I am believed to be in a good mood, the emotional torture pops up without warning.
So I tried self-diagnosing my mental health, and I began Googling some signs and symptoms of whatever type of sadness this may be. Honestly, I was a bit hesitant because I know some sources from the internet were unreliable. But I kept searching for results to validate this unwanted emotion that I have been struggling with for the past weeks. That is where I got hooked on depression.
I know depression is a mental health problem that a lot of people tend to deal with. I understand the complication it gives, especially in severe cases. However, I was not that prepared to accept that my perception of the little sadness I am experiencing is correlated to a psychological issue. I know I am okay, and I want to believe that I am going to be fine. Will that denial suffices what I am currently emotionally and mentally going through right now?
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What are the major causes of depression?
There are a lot of known factors that cause depression. There are certain medications, genes conflict, age, and social status. However, in more recent data, some of the most common factors that leap causing depressive symptoms are physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, death or a loss of a loved one, traumatic childhood experience, and stressful major events.
What is the top cause of depression?
Honestly, there’s no particular cause of depression because every individual deal with everyday stress differently. Thus, the mental health condition can occur for various reasons as it involves many different triggers. For some individuals, a stressful life event, changes in the environment, bereavement, medical illness, divorce, job or money worries are the common reasons for their depression.
Why do I go from happy to sad so fast?
Sometimes, a sudden shift in emotion can mean something far more than meets the eye. In unfortunate cases, a sudden mood change is associated with bipolar disorder. With bipolar disorder, your emotions usually swing from extremely happy to extremely sad. But note that the mood changes associated with the mental illness usually occur only a few times a year.
What does it imply to be prone to depression?
Sometimes, you get prone to depression because of your personality. Certain personality traits, including neuroticism, pessimism, perfectionism, low self-esteem, and being self-critical, have been associated with a bigger inclination toward the mental health condition. Sometimes, these traits also get associated with series of anxiety and eating disorders.
Who is at higher risk of depression?
Major depression affects adults between the ages of 45 and 65. But in the recent study, those are in their mid-20s and 30s are now defining the curve. And sometimes, even the very young ones seem to be marking a higher risk for severe depression.
What are the risks of depression?
There are tons of reasons that can trigger depression, and some of them are part of everyday lives. There is conflict or disputes with family or friends that often lead to emotional upsets. There is also sexual, physical, or emotional abuse that can cause traumatic feelings. Sometimes, being neglected and judged can also cause severe emotional pain that leads to isolation and depressive episodes.
What happens in your brain during depression?
The amygdala or the part of the brain associated with emotional responses tends to enlarge due to the influx of cortisol triggered by depression. When it gets larger and more active, it causes changes in activity levels, sleep disturbances, hormonal imbalance, and brain inflammation.
Why do I get angry so easily?
Factors that can make you angry vary to some extent. However, some common anger triggers include personal problems. These can be missing a promotion at work, financial strain, or relationship difficulties. Usually, anger comes from a problem caused by another individual, such as canceling plans, bad traffic, non-agreeable opinions, and even personality differences.
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How do I prevent getting angry so easily?
When you are angry, there are a lot of things that you often miscalculate. So before complicating the situation with your negative words and possible bad behavior, you have to think before you speak. Never say something you’ll later regret. Once you’re calm, express your anger and explain why you feel that way. Don’t hold a grudge so you can identify possible solutions.Use humor to release tension and take a time out if you have to.
Does depression change your personality?
Unfortunately, there are instances that depression can affect your personality. However, self-reported personality traits do not change after a typical occurrence of extreme depression. Future investigations are required to conclude whether such change occurs, resulting in more severe, chronic, or recurrent episodes of depression.
How do you get rid of sadness?
There are some positive ways to deal with sadness. You can start by noticing how you feel and understand why you feel that way. That way, you can accept yourself despite not being okay. You can also try bouncing back from disappointments or failures and let things go when they don’t go your way. Don’t give up! Think positive and work on finding better solutions. Always put yourself in a healthy mood, surround yourself with good people and get support.
How do I not let my emotions control me?
Sometimes, your emotions can be too much, and they can become hard to handle. But don’t worry too much because some pointers can help you get started with emotional recovery. First, you need to look at the impact of your emotions and accept that intense emotions aren’t all bad. It would be significantly better if you could aim for regulation, not repression. Identify what you feel so you can know when to express yourself. Keep a food journal if you have to. Give yourself some space. Always take a deep breath.
What should you eat when sad?
Sometimes, when depressed, you tend to eat a lot to ease the emotional and mental burden. You know that food is sometimes a great stress-reliever as it can help make you feel better. Unfortunately, the foods people turn to have the opposite effect. Junk food makes you feel even worse. To avoid that, you need to consider eating foods high in Omega-3s such as fish, nuts, canola oil, flaxseed oil, and dark-green leafy vegetables.
Why can’t I express my emotions?
Expressing emotions is entirely not that easy. It takes a lot of mental, physical, and emotional strength to process what you want to say. But when that particular issue becomes another problem, then you need to get help. Because what you are going through might be a condition called Alexithymia. It is a state where you find it difficult to identify and express emotions. Fortunately, it is not a psychological disorder. However, it can greatly affect life as Alexithymia may cause problems in social situations and maintain relationships.
How can I express my emotions better?
Expressing your emotions take time and effort. You don’t just push yourself to let your feelings go because it can damage your mental health. Thus, it would help if you can find a way to be alone for some time. That way, you can allow yourself to cry, rave, rant, or curse negative things around. Permit yourself to express your feelings, and do not censor yourself.
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Final Thoughts
I have depression. I now understand that my sadness is not a typical emotion that I can shrug off at any time. And believe me, I know it will last for more than weeks or even months from now. But despite that genuinely unfortunate situation, I know I can still count on my will to get better. I may not recover faster than others, but I will not stop until I can guarantee that I am free from this mental health struggle.
Note: The following article contains spoilers from the WandaVision TV show. Please continue reading at your own discretion.
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I had been a longtime fan of the Marvel franchise; that’s why I was so happy when I found out last year that they were releasing TV shows that were practically spinoffs from the Avengers series. The first that came out on Disney+ was WandaVision. I read before the first episode aired that it was about Wanda Maximoff and Vision’s lives after the Avengers: Endgame movie. From there, many questions came to my mind, such as, “How could there be Vision in that TV show when the character died during the Infinity War?” They were also supposed to be married, so again, “How?” Although some explanations and trailers came out after that, I forced myself not to check out any of them and wait for the actual series to be shown.
When it did, wow, I was confused! The first episode was in black in white – like a 50s sitcom, complete with taped claps and laughs from the audience. Wanda and Vision did seem to be married, but there were already loopholes from the beginning, considering neither could say how everything happened. I was starting to lose interest, but I decided to benefit from the doubt and clicked the next episode.
Well, the longer I watched WandaVision, the more I realized that: 1) Wanda was such a powerful lady that you would be a fool to cross, and 2) Vision did not seem to have a recollection of his time as an Avenger.
Once to the series came to the part where Wanda was coming out of the energy field that she surrounded the village with and told the agents to stay away; I honestly assumed her worst. I thought she might have gone deranged out of grief and would do anything to make herself happy. However, when Wanda realized her mistakes toward the ending, I saw that she was just a misunderstood person. She was grieving, yes, but it was never her intention to harm other people. In truth, when she figured out what she had done, Wanda tried her best to correct her mistakes despite knowing what she would lose because of that.
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On Hindsight
I saw very little tears shed from the characters during the series finale, but I was bawling my eyes out in my bedroom. I did not know what had gotten into me, but I genuinely felt Wanda’s pain. It was clear that she went through depression after her soulmate’s death – and her brother before that. She held on to the family that she created for as long as possible. And when it was all over, and she was walking with her head down across the street, she projected a sense of defeat and hopelessness after experiencing a new kind of loss.
This show made me realize the extent of the depressive symptoms that could manifest in a person.
What are the four types of depression?
Many different types and forms of depression can affect other people. Depression that only affects women and depression that only affects people with traumatic experiences and depression can start as early as childhood. The four main types of depression are major – a most severe form of depression; chronic – longest depression; seasonal – a major depression that happens occasionally; and Manic, also known as bipolar depression, where you experience highs and lows same time. Make sure you consult with a doctor to avoid self-diagnosis and so you can get the help that you need.
What is the #1 cause of depression?
There are no main specific causes of depression that researchers have identified. Different cases with different patients can have different causes. So far, we have a condensed list of reasons for depression, such as death or loss of a loved one, trauma or abuse, family history, and illness. Depression is a unique experience for everyone, which is why we can never really pinpoint a main or number one cause for this mental health issue.
Is depression a chronic mental illness?
Yes, depression can be a chronic mental illness. However, not all types of depression are chronic. Then again, there is one type of depression that is chronic, and it can last for longer periods compared to other types of depression. Of course, it can be treated, and a person can recover from this; however, the recovery can wear off after a certain period, and a relapse inevitable.
What is the most reliable symptom of depression?
A few symptoms of depression can be considered reliable in diagnosing depression. The most common is the loss of interest in daily activity, loss of energy, weight and appetite changes, low self-esteem, impulsive behavior, trouble focusing, irregular sleeping patterns, and unexplainable pains that do not have a physical source. You must visit a doctor to see if what you are experiencing is what you think it is.
What happens inside the brain during a depression?
Three brain areas are affected by depression, your prefrontal cortex, your amygdala, and your hippocampus. Your prefrontal cortex is responsible for emotion regulation, decision making, and memories. Your amygdala facilitates emotional responses. The hippocampus is responsible for cortisol production, which can cause many issues once there is too much of it.
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How do I know if I’m bipolar?
The best thing to do is to consult a doctor because going on the internet looking for signs and symptoms might lead to a self-diagnosis that can further harm you. However, the signs you need to look out for are signs of high periods of mania and extremely low periods of depression, or it can also happen when you are extremely happy yet extremely sad. Other symptoms include impulsivity, anger management issues, difficulty in controlling emotions, and more.
Can bipolar people tell they are bipolar?
Bipolar disorder is a common illness that affects 1 in 40 American adults. It is common for adolescents; however, it is only diagnosed once they reach adulthood. It can take years before someone starts showing symptoms of bipolar disorder, so most of the time, people with bipolar disorder do not know that they are bipolar. To them, it seems normal and not much of a change from their daily life.
What triggers bipolar?
Triggers for bipolar disorder can include the following: Family histories of bipolar disorder, high-stress periods, traumatic events, or even death of loved ones, substance abuse, and more. These times and situations can trigger bipolar disorder in a person, and there will be no timeframe for when this will happen, but it can.
What is the best mood stabilizer for bipolar?
Since bipolar disorder happens through both mania and depression, there are different stabilizers for bipolar disorder. For mood stabilizers, Lamotrigine is the most effective; however, it is not adequate for mania. Lamotrigine should start at low doses, and it should be increased slowly over four or more weeks. Of course, you should make sure to consult a doctor for this to know what is most effective for you and your moods.
What is the life expectancy of a person with bipolar disorder?
People with bipolar disorder have an average life reduction between nine and 20 years. It will depend on how much you take care of yourself and how much you follow your treatment plan. Keep in touch with your doctor and stay surrounded by people who understand what you are going through and know how to help you through your episodes.
Are you born with bipolar?
Often, bipolar disorder is inherited from our family members. Genetics plays approximately 80% of bipolar cases, and it is the most likely mental illness to be inherited from your parents. There is a 10% chance that a child can inherit bipolar disorder if one of their parents has bipolar disorder. So if you or your partner has bipolar, make sure to have your children checked once you start to see signs or symptoms of the condition in them.
Is bipolar inherited from the mother or father?
Yes, bipolar disorder can be inherited from our parents. There is a 10 percent chance that you can inherit bipolar disorder if one of your parents is bipolar. According to statistics, approximately 80 percent of bipolar cases have been caused by inheritance from a parent or even a sibling. Make sure to have yourself checked if one of your parents is bipolar or experiencing any disorder symptoms.
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Does Bipolar improve with age?
With the symptoms and signs starting during early adulthood, bipolar disorder or depression has been a lifelong condition. As time has passed, researchers and scientists have discovered that almost half of the patients aged 18 to 25 can start to outgrow their disorder by the time they reach 30. So make sure that you keep yourself healthy both physically and mentally.
What is considered a severe mental illness?
Mental illnesses that cause severe impairment in functioning that can significantly interfere with or limit a person’s life are considered severe mental illnesses. As defined, serious mental illness is a cognitive, behavioral, or emotional condition where you start to become unable to function or think as you used to. An example of this is depression, where you no longer can participate in daily life and in the activities you used to find exciting.
What are the signs of bipolar in a man?
There are no specific signs or symptoms for any gender, but what you can expect to see is being easily distracted, high energy levels, high signs of happiness, extreme low points, feelings of self-importance, talking at a fast pace, easily irritated or frustrated, and more. Of course, it is still essential for you to consult a doctor to ensure that you are going through this condition. This will also help with your treatments and medications.
Final Thoughts
The WandaVision series ended with many cliffhangers, but there were apparently no discussions about a follow-up season yet. I would say that’s good – I would have time to prepare myself for another entertaining yet heartbreaking love story of Wanda and Vision.
Having anxiety can be the worse. There are too many things in your mind that you often cannot get rid of. You tend to feel uncomfortable and scared all the time. You don’t know why you always feel worried and frightened because sometimes there is just no reason for it. There are moments that you even deal with stressors differently, and you tend to become less aware of your thoughts and feelings. In some unfortunate cases, you experience panic attacks. You begin to encounter different physical manifestations that are often taking a toll on your daily function.
Fortunately, there are ways you can better manage anxiety. The common one is self-care. As long as you stick to a healthy lifestyle and manage to get through your stressors, you can stay healthy and active. Another thing is medication. You can reduce your anxiety through the help of medication prescribed by your doctor. Yes, there are times that medication alone does not work, but the idea of it reducing your anxiety symptoms is quite impressive. Then there’s therapy. It is the most effective treatment of all since specific methods design to help you with your mental health issue.
And speaking of therapy, it now works well with technology as it can be administered online. Thus, you can get anxiety help with guaranteed convenience. Let us try and understand more about it through these frequently asked questions.
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Why can anxiety be a good thing?
Even though anxiety can cause so much trouble and may seem useless at times, it serves a purpose. These feelings are a part of the natural way of dealing with stress. It represents a built-in warning system known as the fight-or-flight response meant to alert and protect individuals from danger. Anxiety allows people to react faster, especially in emergencies.
Anxiety can be helpful in some ways. But if ever you happen to experience a different level of emotional imbalance, you should consult your therapist right away.
What are the benefits of online therapy?
Online therapy is beneficial because it eliminates the costs associated with travel time only to attend a therapy session. It also decreases absences in meetings due to sickness or other reasonable or unreasonable excuses. Online therapy also allows clients to participate in therapy regularly in a convenient way as possible.
Is online therapy as effective?
Yes. Online cognitive behavioral therapy is an acceptable, effective, and practical way of providing health care to individuals. That is according to a 2018 study published in the Journal of Psychological Disorders. The study initiate that online cognitive behavioral therapy or online CBT was as efficient as a face-to-face treatment for mental health conditions such as major depression, panic disorder, social anxiety disorders, and more.
How do I overcome social media anxiety?
Overcoming social media anxiety is entirely easy, especially if there is no addiction involved in it. You have to limit your exposure to social media intake in a structured way can be helpful. If it not entirely necessary to spend time on social media, then give it a break. Instead, make time for yourself and focus on the things that make you laugh or smile. Spend bonding moment with family. Go for walks outdoors on your breaks when possible. Any healthy distractions that will keep you busy will keep you away from social media anxiety.
What’s a good job for someone with anxiety?
Some of the best jobs for people with a social anxiety disorder include Accountant, Entrepreneur, Firefighter, Landscaper, Artist, Writer, House Painter, Computer Programmer, Pet Care Professional, Graphic Designer, Librarian, and Grounds Maintenance Worker.
Note that these are just recommendations. Depending on the severity of the person’s anxiety, these jobs may or may not work for him in some instances.
Is a little anxiety good?
A reasonable healthy amount of anxiety tends to provide a positive outcome since it provides survival value. Anxiety is considered good stress that keeps people motivated and excited about life. But be mindful, though, because too much excessive worry can immediately cause emotional and mental health conditions.
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Is online counseling Safe?
Though there are tons of benefits online counseling can give, people need to be cautious with the process. An online stipulation may not be suitable for inexperienced practitioners. And unless the online therapy is encrypted, people can benefit from the doubt of the possible danger of leaked private information.
But again, one should trust the process of communication. If online counseling can cut barriers at some point, then online counseling can still be a great option for those individuals who feel less open about their mental health condition.
What are the disadvantages of online counseling?
Disadvantages of online counseling include lack of visual and verbal cues and lack of physical presence. That is because of the less personal communication going on with each session between client and therapist. Another disadvantage is computer concerns that include equipment and internet service failures, and typing speed can limit the conveyance of information in chat-based sessions. Also, there can be an issue with privacy and confidentiality in a shared environment, and people may find it challenging to put complicated thoughts and emotions into written words.
Is self-help worth it?
The main purpose of self-help is not to immediately remove signs and symptoms of mental health conditions but rather to satisfy the mind and body in finding and healing negative emotions. The definitive goal of self-help is to encourage you to build a better life without too many worries and fears.
Self-help can work if you put enough effort into trying your best to become physically, emotionally, and mentally better.
What is the best online therapy site?
Here are a few of the recommended online therapy sites you can consider. Betterhelp, Talkspace, Regain, Teen Counseling, Pride Counseling, Amwell, 7 Cups of Tea, and Doctor on Demand.
If you find these websites unhelpful, you can always venture out on others that offer the same online treatment process.
How do you get therapy if you can’t afford it?
If you think you can’t afford therapy, you can first check with your insurance. You can also try a community mental health center or a training clinic and ask about discounted rates if there are any. In case you do not necessarily need therapy, you can start reading self-help books or attend support groups. Always make sure to Re-evaluate your expenses.
Which is better, Talkspace or BetterHelp?
Talkspace is one of the best choices for individuals who want more privacy and do not want to live in video sessions. It’s more economical and less hassle. BetterHelp, on the other hand, is an ideal option for those interested in talking to someone on live video conversations. Usually, this is administered by a health expert and licensed professionals. The flexibility, convenience, and anonymity of Betterhelp make it an appealing option.
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Is social media bad for anxiety?
Unfortunately, there is a strong association between heavy social media usage and an increased risk for mental health problems. Some of these are anxiety, depression, loneliness, self-harm, and having suicidal thoughts. In some ways, social media promote negative experiences to an individual already suffering mental and emotional health.
Thus, it is necessary to understand social media’s role in your life before concluding its effectiveness or damage to your overall wellbeing. Always remember that everything that is too much can be dangerous.
Does deleting social media help with anxiety?
Yes. There is no excellent way to cope with anxiety other than just deleting the entire apps that trigger them. Just not using Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook for a month can bring you a happier feeling. It makes you feel more present in life.
Is Social Anxiety a mental illness?
Social anxiety disorder is considered a mental health condition that is most known as social phobia. It is an extreme fear of being watched by others. This fear can affect school, work, and other day-to-day activities. It can also impact relationships in difficult situations as it cannot sometimes keep up with social relationship demands.
Have you ever heard of TV gold? It’s a kind of show that you tend to fight tooth and nail for, especially when someone says that “it’s not that good.”
Well, in my case, that would be the iZombie. I had always been into musical, comedy, and family shows before it aired, and you wouldn’t have typically seen me watching anything paranormal. However, I got hooked on the zombie-filled show as soon as I saw Olivia “Liv” Moore try to deal with the zombie virus that she contracted through a scratch at a boat party.
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If you must know, Liv is the heroin in iZombie. She had a beautiful love life and a promising career before the virus transmission happened, but it all went away when she realized she’s technically undead. Liv hid her new form from her loved ones to the extent that her mother and best friend were already at their wit’s end.
Liv only felt somewhat alive again when she started eating the brain of every dead person that came at the police morgue and helped solve their cases.
Source: pikrepo.org
What Did It All Mean?
Many people in the real world had a comparable situation with Liv Moore. Instead of zombieism, their conditions came in the form of HIV, AIDS, leprosy, etc. But like Liv, they usually tried to hide their illness to everyone in fear of scaring others or getting stigmatized over something that they did not have control over.
Although Liv Moore’s life story was nothing but a make-believe one, it could still be inspiring for many folks suffering from frowned-upon conditions. She might have been depressed initially, but she found a way to make something out of her seemingly terrible fate. When the show ended, Liv became practically a legend who helped prolong terminally ill individuals’ lives.
What Can You Learn From Liv Moore?
A Dead End Might Not Always Be A Dead End
Putting yourself in the shoes of Liv Moore when she found out that she turned into a zombie would let you understand why she thought it was already a dead end. After all, the woman woke up inside a body bag and realized that she barely had a pulse. She also had to isolate herself from family and friends, assuming they might disown her after discovering the truth.
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As mentioned above, though, Liv managed to work around her dilemma and created another path for herself as a crime solver. Yes, she had to eat the deceased victim’s brain first, and that’s gag-worthy for most non-zombies, but Liv had to do what she had to do. That’s the only way for her to glimpse into the dead person’s life before the crime.
Now, there’s no need for you to deal with deaths and murders to think like Liv Moore. Suppose your current dream is donezo, dream of something else. It’s not what you have imagined yourself doing for years, but you can learn to love and enjoy it.
It’s Okay To Reinvent Yourself Sometimes
Whenever Liv Moore ate a new dead individual’s brain, their personality and way of thinking typically mixed with hers. It was very confusing to the humans who ended up realizing her identity, but the self-reinvention somewhat worked in her favor. That’s especially true when she had to kill one of her ex-boyfriends who had gone full zombie mode and tried to eat her human friend’s brain. After that, she kept on eating a veteran’s brain to avoid breaking down or feeling anything.
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While I would never recommend staying in denial forever, it’s okay to reinvent yourself sometimes. Take on a new identity and live as someone else for a day or two, for instance. Keep at it until you feel like facing your worries.
Love And Support Do Not Always Come From Blood Relations
Once you watch all five seasons of iZombie, you would see that many folks cared for Liv Moore. On top of the list was Major, the love of her life. Then, there were Peyton, Ravi, and Clive. She also ended up having orphaned kids, who loved her dearly.
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As for her mother and brother, they did not want to do anything with Liv. They merely talked to her in the end to ask for help in getting out of the city. Then, there was a brief appearance of her absentee father, who turned out to be why people became zombies in the beginning.
Thus, it should be evident that your relatives were not the only ones that you could call “family.”
Final Thoughts
What would you have done if you had been dealt with the same hand as Liv Moore?
Not everyone was as kind or as level-headed as this character. It was easy to embrace zombieism and crack any human skull open, but Liv proved that zombies could be decent. More importantly, even individuals with irreversible conditions could find a happy ending, so there’s no reason for you to mope around all day long.
