Depression Support Chat Topics

People mention having taken CBT therapy or doing the work books, but what does it offer to us a possible way to help us ease ourselves out of depression? This week in Depression chat we will start looking at CBT using this extended article In-Depth: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy | Psych Central

If there is sufficient interest we will take CBT up again in coming weeks.

See you there no matter what your dx is on Thursday at 9PM EDT.
(check the difference between your time and EDT by googling "EDT Time" and compare it to yours then you know the difference. )

People with depression probably know there are so many types of therapy as the article points out some therapists use a variety of techniques and styles.

The purpose of the article is to offer an introduction to types of therapy you may have encountered or will encounter in a therapy situation. So if you want to read more of the article see here
Types of Therapies

And feel free to join the discussion or just be there to listen at the Depression Support Chat Thursday night at 9PM EDT. We are on daylight savings time so google EDT time and compare to your current time and that will tell you the number of hours to add or subtract.

I have been practicing yoga and fending off my own depression. I came across this article that suggested how yoga is similar to therapy. Plus it suggests other types of activities that could help people cope with depression.
How Yoga is Similar to Existing Mental Health Therapies | Psych Central

So even if you are not interested in yoga, you can still benefit how other activities can help pull us out of depression. All are welcome to the Depression Support Chat on Thursday at 9PM EDT. There will also be time for people to share their challenges they face. The room usually is open by 8:50 so feel free to drop in early and share the kind of things life is sending your way.

This week in depression chat we are going to use 2 short articles as a jumping off point. One talks about boredom and how that can be a negative influence on our mental health.
Boredom Can Be Dangerous for Mental Illness | World of Psychology

The other by the same author talks about how to find our creative flow.
How to Find Your Flow | World of Psychology

Both of these can definitely connect to depression as well as other dx's. Please feel free to join us on Thursday at 9PM EDT for the Depression Support Chat.

Well this week I got therapists to spill their secrets how to overcome depression. This should be good!

Okay well I just read this article, but I like it. Should be good
Therapists Spill: 14 Ways to Get Through Tough Times | Psych Central

So appreciate you attending the Depression Support Chat on Thursday at 9PM EDT. Hope to see you there.

The line between grief and depression is very unclear. Even professionals can confuse these two.

This week in Depression Support Chat we will dig deeper to find out how they are similar and different, and how they affect the other. Here is the article to base this discussion on.
The Two Worlds of Grief and Depression | World of Psychology

Hope to see you Thursday at 9PM EDT in Chat room, Depression Support Chat.

Remember if you just signed up as a new member and have less than 5 approved chats, you need 5 approved forum posts to enter chat rooms.

Candc, in tonight's chat or even in tomorrow's for anxiety or next week depression could we discuss how we function in society, what we do to hide our mental health issues, or how we cope with having a mental health disability whilst trying to go about a normal life in public?

Thanks,
Seesaw

Hi seesaw. Great idea. Going to put this on one of the chats next week since already have plans for both chats this week.

Thank you so much for the suggestion.

CANDC

Here is an idea for Depression Chat that seesaw suggested on how to function with mental illness. This article talks about helping a loved one with serious mental illness but it also speaks to how we can cope with serious challenges ourselves.
15 Ways To Support a Loved One with Serious Mental Illness | Psych Central

Please feel free to join us for a discussion and sharing of how to function when we struggle with depression. Depression Support Chat is 9PM EDT on Thursday night. Hope to see you there.

Someone asked about chronic pain and depression. This article is quite in depth so we will use it as a jumping off point to discuss how some suggested options might work for us and how pain affects our own state of depression.
Anxiety and Depression in a Psychiatrically Informed Pain Medicine Practice | Psych Central Professional

Hope you all can join us for Depression Chat Thursday at 9PM EDT. If not try anxiety Chat on Friday at 8PM EDT. New members remember you need 5 posts or replies to other's posts to go into chat room so make those posts or replies now. Takes a couple hours for them to get approved.

Hope to see you in chat!

This week in Depression Support Chat we are jumping off from an article that discusses depression in depth. In-Depth: Living with Depression | Psych Central

We probably won't get to all of the article this week but it is a great in depth overview that makes for a good read.

Come on out to Depression Support Chat Thursday 9PM EDT and you can listen and or share. Hope to see you there.

Last week someone was asking about parenting and depression. This article talks about tips to help parents who are also trying to cope with mental illness
Tips for Parenting with a Mental Illness | Psych Central
See what tips are available to parents or understand the challenges your parents may have been going through when you were a child. Depression Support Chat is at 9PM EDT on Thursday night. Hope to see you there.

This week we have an article linking childhood misbehaving to parental depression.
Depressed Parents and the Effects on Their Children | Psych Central

This article has implications for our parents and their affect on us, and our affect on our children and or friends.

Hope to see you at the Depression Support Chat Thursday at 9PM EDT. (for new members need to get 5 approved posts in order to enter chat room.

CANDC

Someone in depression chat asked for a chat about soothing. So here is an article that describes the needs for soothing and the methods. Self-Soothing: Calming the Amygdala and Reducing the Effects of Trauma
http://blogs.psychcentral.com/emotio...-the-amgydala/

Depression Chat will use this article as a jumping off point of Thursday at 9PM EDT. hope to see you there.

Candc, i ran across this article and re-posted it in the PTSD section, but i think it might apply, or help explain, some of what you are bringing up. and besides, it's cute ... hope you don't mind me leaving it here....

"Thank YOU, WhatDayIsItAgain, for finding and posting this~!
i just had to share it with people who are struggling to make sense of what is happening in their lives. i know it helped me to recognize the pattern and process that gets me into trouble. hope it helps some of you, too~!

"" Lets keep it simple~ Well it is the brain so I am not sure how simple I can make this but let me try to explain~

When something traumatic happens to us, enough that we believe we might be in danger, or worse, die, our limbic system (middle part of the brain) goes nuts. Lets think about parts of the brain like army sergeants.

The first army Sergeant’s name is Amy and the second army sergeants name is Hippo. Amy is short for amygdala and hippo is short for hippocampus

Sergeant Number One : Amy ( Amygdala).

Amy (Amygdala)’s job is to direct the emotional response system in your brain. She directs the brains emotional reactions. She keeps track of all pleasant and unpleasant event that happen to us. She records our feelings about these events. She is also in charge of determining what is and is not a threat She keeps track of all body sensations like touch, sound, sight, and smell. She determines whether this information is desirable or a threat. If she determines that any sensory information is dangerous she decides which response is necessary to save your life. According to Amy she has three options, to fight for your life, to flight for your life (run like hell) or freeze ( stay still or act like your dead with the hope that the threat will get tired or confused and go away). Amy doesn’t care about thoughts or rationality. She doesn’t have time. If she does not make a decision in a millisecond you could die. She sends her orders to your nervous system and to your muscles and hormones. Sergeant Amy sometimes gets confusing messages from Sergeant Hippo and they compete with each other for leadership. In other words they get into a scrap.

Sergeant Number Two: Hippo (Hippocampus).

Sergeant Hippo has one job and that is to record facts for your memory. Sergeant Hippo’s job is to direct the facts of the incident. She deals with facts and not emotions. She is responsible for directing your brain to record time frame. She records the beginning, middle and end of the event. She directs this information to the cortex part of your brain. The cortex will then take this information and make a decision about what action to take as well as make sense of what is going on. Sergeant Hippo does not care about feelings or sensations. Sometimes Sergeant Hippo gets overwhelmed by stress hormones which over ride her commands and causes confusion. Sergeant Hippo tries to gain control but sometimes loses control which causes her to start fighting with Sergeant Amy.

The Fight

During the traumatic incident sometimes Sergeant Amy and Sergeant Hippo get into it. They fight for leadership. Stress hormones rise which cause Sergeant Amy to get really angry and punch Sergeant Hippo out. While Amy is trying to keep the fight flight freeze responses of your body in full gear, Sergeant Hippo loses the fight. Sergeant Hippo usually gets punched out and passes out while Sergeant Amy remains in charge. Now that Sergeant Hippo is no longer doing her job, the accurate time frame of events is no longer being recorded in your brain. Without a time frame, beginning, middle and end, your brain can sometimes think the trauma did not end. Sergeant Amy and Sergeant Hippo need to work together because as long as Sergeant Hippo is down for the count, what ends up happening is every time the body gets a signal that there is a threat, such as rapid heart beat, dry mouth, butterflies in stomach, or excitement, Sergeant Amy thinks that your body is experiencing a threat which causes her to send out the command to fight flight or freeze again. The problem is that sometimes you are safe when she sends out the commands. I don’t have to tell you how embarrassing this is when your friends look at you and say, Why are you overreacting ? Are you ok? Take a chill pill! Hello is there anyone home? Why do you keep spacing out? Why did you get into a fight with that guy? On top of all of this is the reality of Sergeant Hippo unable to record the facts and time frame of what actually happened. This usually looks like fuzzy memories, flashbacks ,or nightmares, It’s actually Sergeant Hippo ( Hippo-campus) trying really hard to get things back in order once she comes to from that sucker punch but unfortunately its too late and Sergeant Amy still has control.

In some cases we can call this fight for control, post traumatic stress disorder, or complex trauma but at the end of the day the label doesn’t really matter all that much. What matters is whether you are suffering from these distressing symptoms that are interfering with your quality of life.

The good news is that there are treatments ( like EMDR) ((and binaural beats)) that can calm the limbic system down so that you can actually help the hippocampus and amygdala start working together again. Through bilateral stimulation used in EMDR, the amygdala stays calm which permits the hippocampus to RE process the original traumatic event.""

now, doesn't that make a lot of sense ??

https://worthit2bme.com/post-traumat...and-the-brain/

http://forums.psychcentral.com/post-...orwarding.html

and pardon me again, for hoping people can gain access to skills to use to help themselves, but here is a link to a post in the Emotions forum about Coping Skills, for self soothing:
(post 41 is the bulk of the information)

http://forums.psychcentral.com/copin...ml#post4274286

Gus, yes we were just talking about the amygdyla last week in one of the chats. thanks for posting it.

CANDC

This week in Depression Support Chat (Thursday 9PM EDT) we look at self esteem and its role in reinforcing and strengthening depression...or with building self-esteem so we can help ourselves cope with depression. The Relationship Between Depression and Self-Esteem | Psych Central Professional

Hope to see you in chat.

Well I am a little ahead of the curve this week so I am sharing this article in the hopes it might inspire some lively discussion in the Depression Support Chat on Thursday at 9PM EDT. Can Nutrition Help Fight or Ward Off Depression? | Psych Central

Since we are all peer supporters, none of the discussion about food, supplements, etc will constitute medical advice. Please check out any major changes in your diet with your doc, especially if you are already on a medically prescribed diet.

Hope to see you there.

Hey. How are you? I discovered an article on strengthening boundaries that can have an impact on us especially if we suffer from depression. The Long Term Effects of Weak Boundaries | Happily Imperfect

So please feel free to attend the Depression Support Chat on Thursday at 9PM EDT. Hope to see you there to listen and possibly share.

After listening to a TEDx talk on how mindfulness is the quality that marks success in people who succeed, I wondered "Does mindfulness also indicate the people that cope with depression the best?" We may not get a definitive answer but it will be interesting to discuss. Want to read more, see this article. How Does Mindfulness Reduce Depression? An Interview with John Teasdale, Ph.D. | World of Psychology

Hope to see you at the Depression Support Chat on Thursday at 9PM EDT in the Chat room of the same name. New members please make sure you have 5 or more approved posts before you can access the chat room.

This week here is a short list of 7 words or phrases to avoid because they are self defeating. 7 Confidence-Killing Words and Phrases to Ban from Your Vocabulary | World of Psychology

More sharing your own experiences this week or you can just listen if you prefer. Hope to see you in Depression Support Chat 9PM EDT!

Hi there. I want to thank John25 in advance for covering chat for me on Thursday night so I can spend a couple days with my family.

We are having the open mic night so to speak with moderated chat where people share what is going on in their life rather than picking out a topic as the focal point.

In the last year, what new challenges have you experienced in your depression / anxiety?
What positive steps have you seen work for you to make you feel better?
What challenges started or still remain?

Hope you all enjoy this change of pace in Depression Support Chat on Thursday night at 9PM EDT in the chatroom and hope to see you all at the end of July for another chat!

Sorry I didn't know about this forum, chat announcements, subscribed.

Hi people. I am back again from a week off. Hope all is well with you. I found this article on people pleasing and how this can hamper our staying stable. Come on down to Depression Support Chat on Thursday 9PM EDT and share your experiences and wisdom about this article 12 Signs That You?re A People Pleaser | Happily Imperfect

12 Signs That You’re A People Pleaser By Sharon Martin, LCSW

Hope to see you there.