Managing Depression with Mindfulness For Dummies (eBook)

Robert Gebka (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2016
John Wiley & Sons (Verlag)
978-1-119-02956-4 (ISBN)

Infos

Rise above depression and build a positive future using mindfulness
If you suffer from depression, you know that it's not something you can simply snap yourself out of. Depression is a potentially debilitating condition that must be treated and managed with care, but not knowing where to turn for help can make an already difficult time feel even more harrowing. Thankfully, Managing Depression with Mindfulness For Dummies offers authoritative and sensitive guidance on using evidence based and NHS approved Mindfulness Based Interventions similar to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to help empower you to rise above depression and discover a renewed sense of emotional wellbeing and happiness. The book offers cutting edge self-management mindfulness techniques which will help you make sense of your condition and teach you how to relate differently to negative thought patterns which so often contribute to low mood and depression.

The World Health Organization predicts that more people will be affected by depression than any other health problem by the year 2030. While the statistics are staggering, they offer a small glimmer of hope: you aren't alone. As we continue to learn more about how depression works and how it can be treated, the practice of mindfulness proves to be an effective tool for alleviating stress, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, and insomnia. With the tips and guidance offered inside, you'll learn how to apply the practice of mindfulness
to ease your symptoms of depression and get your life back.

• Heal and recover from depression mindfully

• Understand the relationship between thinking, feeling, mood, and depression

• Reduce your depression with effective mindfulness practices

• Implement positive changes and prevent relapse

Whether you are struggling with low mood or simply wish to learn mindfulness as a way of enriching your life, Managing Depression with Mindfulness For Dummies serves as a beacon of light and hope on your journey to rediscovering your sense of wellbeing, joy and happiness.

Autor

Robert Gebka, a former Zen Buddhist monk, is a mindfulness trainer and executive director of the Dorset Mindfulness Centre. He works in mental health for Dorset HealthCare NHS Foundation Trust and teaches Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) courses to the general public as well as business organisations. Robert is also a member of the National Counselling Society as well as the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science.

Inhalt

Introduction 1

Part I: Understanding Depression and Befriending Your Life 7

Chapter 1: Your Journey to Wellbeing 9

Chapter 2: Understanding the Anatomy of Depression 19

Part II: A Journey into Healing with Mindfulness 33

Chapter 3: You Really Can Heal and Recover! 35

Chapter 4: Understanding Mindfulness 51

Chapter 5: Exploring Our Mental and Emotional Landscape 65

Chapter 6: Understanding the Rhythms and Qualities of the Mind 79

Chapter 7: Reconnecting with the Heart of Self-Compassion 95

Part III: Living Mindfully and Connecting with Happiness 109

Chapter 8: Five-Minute Mindfulness Practices 111

Chapter 9: Discovering the Blessing within Depression 129

Chapter 10: Living Mindfully Every Day 143

Chapter 11: Taking the Next Step 153

Part IV: The Part of Tens 167

Chapter 12: Ten Tips for Preventing Relapse and Staying Well 169

Chapter 13: Ten Tips for Getting the Most Out of Mindfulness 177

Index 187

Textauszug

Chapter 1

Your Journey to Wellbeing

In This Chapter

Getting to know your big black dog of depression

Knowing that you’re not alone in your depression

Seeing the link between depression and anxiety

Understanding that recovery from depression has ups and downs

Finding inner peace through the practice of mindfulness

If you are reading this book, then it is very likely that either you or someone you know is affected by depression. I know from personal experience having lived with the condition myself that it can be very tough and that often it’s difficult to get out of bed, to say nothing about reading a whole book. In my own experience, I have been where there was no hope and no guiding light at the end of the tunnel with very dark thoughts about my future constantly on my mind barking like hungry dogs that haven’t been fed for days. You might or might not relate to this. I am writing this book both as someone who has first-hand experience living with depression as well as someone who has counseled many people affected with this condition both in private practice as well as within an inpatient psychiatric hospital setting. More importantly, I am writing this book as someone who recovered from the condition.

Above all, I am writing this book as a happy person, a truly happy person. I am not bragging about my happiness, not at all, but I like talking about wellbeing and happiness as this is the other side of the deep and wide river, the other shore, so to speak. This is where you too want to get to, don’t you? The other side of the river where there is more light, more hope, more freedom to live your life as you want and desire. Recovery from chronic unhappiness has many stages and it’s an up-and-down process, but I know that it is possible. This book offers a practical guide which will empower you to navigate the often confusing landscape of your own mind and give you plenty of tools for working with it in a way that can help you enhance your sense of mental and emotional wellbeing and happiness. I hope you will enjoy this journey with me.

Befriending the Black Dog of Depression

Having depression is in many ways like having a black dog. No offence to black dogs as they are lovely animals. However, you can use this as a metaphor for how difficult life can be when you are depressed.

This black dog of depression isn’t just any black dog. It’s a big and scary dog (shown in Figure 1-1), and having this dog around is a pain.

© John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Figure 1-1: Depression as a huge black dog.

This black dog of depression looks extremely sad. Whenever he shows up he can make you feel completely empty of any happiness. He makes you feel slow, tired and not wanting to do anything except sleep. He can make you feel old, useless and hopeless.

Everyone else seems to be enjoying life, but you are only limited to seeing the world through the black dog’s dark sunglasses. Life looks dark and bleak. Things that you used to enjoy don’t give you any pleasure anymore. This black dog of depression robs you of your concentration, and you seem to not only forget things but you don’t remember what it feels like to be happy either.

Doing normal daily tasks seems impossible as you are dragging this heavy dog behind you. You know that you have this black dog always with you even though others might not see it. The thing is you are really afraid that others might find out. It is likely that you might feel a deep sense of shame, and so you try to hide it from others, afraid that others will judge you if they ever found out.

This can make you feel like you are false, like you are a fraud in some way. Having the black dog probably ruins your appetite, and you either don’t feel like eating at all or you overeat to try and shut him up. It’s possible that he wakes you up at night and barks all the negative thoughts viciously into your fragile mind, making you stay up at night.

Above all, the harder you try get rid of the black dog of depression the bigger he becomes. You try to run away, but he follows you. You try to self-medicate, but that doesn’t always help either.

Below are the some of the ways the big black dog can make you feel. In other words, these are some of the symptoms of depression:

• Moving or speaking more slowly than usual
• Change in appetite or weight (usually decreased, but sometimes increased)
• Lack of energy and extreme tiredness
• Lack of interest in sex
• Feeling hopeless and helpless
• Continuous low mood or sadness
• Feeling guilt-ridden
• Difficulties in concentrating and making decisions
• Using excessive alcohol or drugs to help you cope
• Isolating yourself and staying at home for days on end
• Taking part in fewer social activities
• Losing a sense of connection with the people around you

Go to Chapter 2 for the complete list of symptoms and possible causes of depression.

Things can get better, and you can recover from depression. The fact that you are reading this book means that your journey to healing has already began. Mindfulness can help you not only make sense of this black dog of depression, but also give you ways to get your life back by helping you to manage your thoughts and emotions more effectively.

You Are Not Alone – One in Four Have Depression

When you’re depressed you may feel like you are the only one who has the problem and that everyone else is happy and normal. This kind of feeling, although very normal, can cause you to feel extremely isolated and causes you to suffer in silence. The truth is that many people who look happy are in fact also depressed and chronically unhappy. There are more of us than you might think.

Looking at it this way can sometimes help you feel a little bit better about your situation, knowing that you are not alone in with your problem.

The World Health Organization predicts that more people will be affected by depression than any other health problem by the year 2030. It is no surprise then that about one in four people suffers from some kind of mental health difficulty such as depression.

You might find it interesting that many famous people have suffered from depression as well. This just shows that depression is more common than you might think. Below are a few names of famous people who suffered from depression at one point in their lives. You might recognise some of them:

• Stephen John Fry, English actor, presenter, and activist
• Charles Dickens, British writer
• Eric Clapton, English musician
• Eminem, American rapper
• Bob Dylan, American singer-songwriter, poet and artist
• Ruby Wax, American comedienne
• Robbie Williams, British pop singer
• Sir Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister
• J.K. Rowling, British writer

You might think that you are less of a person or in some way bad because you are depressed. This is not true! Depression is an ‘equal opportunity condition’ and affects all classes of people. Anyone can develop depression. Practising mindfulness regularly can not only prevent depression, but it can also help to treat it. So there is hope you can recover and, with time, regain your sense of wellbeing and happiness.

The biggest challenge with depression is to reach out for support. Research shows that people who ask for help recover much faster than those who don’t. It can be hard to reach out, but you can do so safely by speaking to your doctor, a trusted friend or a counselor.

Anxiety and Depression – Always on the Same Bus

According to the UK Mental Health Foundation, around half of those people who experience depression will also experience anxiety. This means that to some extent depression and anxiety go together. They are like two best friends always on the same bus.

Anxiety and depression are not the same, but they often occur together. People with depression often experience anxiety, and people with anxiety often become depressed.

For many people having the two conditions can be a temporary situation. For example, you can experience

• A temporary bout of depression after a severely stressful or anxiety-provoking event
• Temporary anxiety following an episode of depression

However, some people suffer with both of these difficulties at the same time for most of the time.

The link between anxiety and depression is so strong that most antidepressants are used to treat both anxiety and depression at the same time. This is partly because research suggests that the same neurotransmitters may also play a role in causing both anxiety and depression.

Practicing mindfulness helps with both calming the mind as well as helping you to balance your mood. Research shows that mindfulness practices can significantly reduce anxiety and depression. Not only that but Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is significantly more effective than antidepressants alone in preventing relapse from depression.

Healing Is Possible – But It Takes Time

With the right support recovery from depression is possible. It is useful to remember that any healing through depression takes time and is often met with an up-and-down process of lows, highs, stable periods, lows again, then more stable...

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 1.2.2016
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Gesundheit / Leben / Psychologie ► Krankheiten / Heilverfahren
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Gesundheit / Leben / Psychologie ► Lebenshilfe / Lebensführung
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Psychologie ► Klinische Psychologie
• Themenwelt: Medizin / Pharmazie ► Gesundheitsfachberufe
• Schlagworte: CBT • Cognitive Behavioural Therapy • Depression • depression and mindfulness • how depression works • identifying and correcting negative thought patterns • manage your depression • managing depression • managing depression with mindfulness • Managing Depression with Mindfulness For Dummies • mindfulness practices • Negative thought patterns • overcome depression • overcoming depression • Ratgeber • recover from depression mindfully • reduce your depression • Robert Gebka • Self-Help • the practice of mindfulness • using cognitive behavioural therapy
• ISBN-10: 1-119-02956-2 / 1119029562
• ISBN-13: 978-1-119-02956-4 / 9781119029564