Signs That Youre Self
Its not always easy to identify when youre self-medicating. After all, drinking alcohol is a socially acceptable part of many cultures, prescription medications can be found in most bathroom cabinets, and even recreational drugs such as marijuana are now legal or easy to obtain in a lot of places.
To understand if youre self-medicating, its necessary to examine your motives for drinking or taking drugsas well as the impact its having on your life. For example, are you popping a pain pill because your back is hurting or because youve had a stressful day at work and you want to change how you feel? Are you having a drink to be sociable with friends or complement a mealor are you trying to improve your mood or feel less anxious?
Signs that you may be self-medicating include:
Tip : Eat A Healthy Depression
What you eat has a direct impact on the way you feel. Reduce your intake of foods that can adversely affect your brain and mood, such as caffeine, alcohol, trans fats, and foods with high levels of chemical preservatives or hormones .
Dont skip meals. Going too long between meals can make you feel irritable and tired, so aim to eat something at least every three to four hours.
Minimize sugar and refined carbs. You may crave sugary snacks, baked goods, or comfort foods such as pasta or French fries, but these feel-good foods quickly lead to a crash in mood and energy. Aim to cut out as much of these foods as possible.
Boost your B vitamins. Deficiencies in B vitamins such as folic acid and B-12 can trigger depression. To get more, take a B-complex vitamin supplement or eat more citrus fruit, leafy greens, beans, chicken, and eggs.
Boost your mood with foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids.Omega-3 fatty acids play an essential role in stabilizing mood. The best sources are fatty fish such as salmon, herring, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, tuna, and some cold-water fish oil supplements.
Information Extracted From Cochrane Reviews On Self
We extracted descriptive data from included reviews into an Excel spreadsheet. Information included the country of the corresponding author, sources of external funding, date of the latest review update, the condition , the approach , the population, the type of self-care intervention, the main comparisons, whether any meta-analyses were done, and the review conclusions. We independently categorized the interventions as effective , promising or unclear based on the conclusions. We then compared decisions and agreed a final category for each intervention. We also assessed the readability of the plain language summary of each review with the Flesch Reading Ease test, which generates a readability score based upon the word and sentence length . Higher scores on the Flesch Reading Ease test indicate text that is easier to read. Scores of 60 or above indicate plain English that is readable by the average adult, scores of 30 to 60 indicate text that is readable by advanced or college students, and scores below 30 indicate that text is readable by college/university graduates .
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Do Not Use Alprazolam For Generalised Anxiety
Both patients and doctors appreciate the rapid relief that benzodiazepines provide from psychiatric symptoms. For most patients, however, the initial medication for anxiety should be an SSRI. Patients who continue to experience anxiety despite a maximum-tolerable dose of SSRI may benefit from augmentation with a benzodiazepine. Of the benzodiazepines, alprazolam is particularly problematic due to its very short half-life and rapid onset of action, which makes its use highly reinforcing. Moreover, alprazolam can induce recurrent bouts of rebound anxiety that may intensify the anxiety experience, thus heightening the risk for increased frequency of use and potential dependence. If it is determined that a benzodiazepine would be beneficial, long-acting agents such as clonazepam are strongly preferred., Alprazolam is best reserved for patients who experience intense anxiety or panic attacks in infrequent, predictable situations, such as exposure to specific phobias . Benzodiazepines should generally be avoided in patients with a history of alcohol or drug abuse.
Three Ways To Beat Stress
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Develop A Healthy Sleep Routine
Sleep has a huge effect on our physical and emotional health. Its likely that your previous sleep routine has gotten out of whack, which may affect everything from being able to go to school or work, to having the energy to see your friends. Get some tips to help you get into a sleeping routine.
We know it can be tough to take on any of these tips when youre feeling really bad. When it comes to self-help, strategies for feeling better are very individual different things work for different people. Not everyone will want to start doing yoga, for example, so keep trying different ideas if the first thing you try doesnt help.
Remember: it takes time to get better. Doing something for five minutes every day might feel useless at the time, but you could find that a few weeks later, your mood has improved a bit. Baby steps. Youve taken the first step in coming here, now keep it up.
Signs And Symptoms Of Anxiety
There are several types of anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, , social anxiety disorder, and specific phobias.
For people with anxiety disorders, the anxiety is often persistent and can get worse over time. The symptoms may interfere with their daily life.
Some of the most common signs and symptoms of anxiety include:
- Excessive fear and worry
If you experience these symptoms for six months or longer, you may have an anxiety disorder.
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Who Is At Risk For Depression
Depression can affect anyone, no matter their age, gender or circumstances. About 16 million Americans experience depression each year.
Women may experience depression more often than men. And your genetics or other health conditions can increase the likelihood that youll have at least one depressive episode in your lifetime.
Who Is At Risk For Depression And Anxiety
Everyone is at risk of experiencing depression or anxiety at some point in their lives, but studies show that women and adults under the age of 35 are more likely to experience anxiety than other groups. The proportion of adults who experienced any symptoms of depression was highest among those ages 18 to 29.
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Negative Thoughts And Depression
Worrying or thinking negatively is common in people with depression. This affects your ability to focus on getting better and makes you more vulnerable to unhealthy emotions.
Tips to help you control worry and reduce negative thinking include:
- Write down what you are worried about. Go through each concern and think about how realistic your negative thoughts are. Explore alternative thoughts and explanations.
- Try not to focus on the things you cannot change.
- Focus on the present. Accept your thoughts without actively engaging with them.
- Write down your problems and brainstorm solutions. Jot down the pros and cons with each option and choose the one that seems the best. Review whether it worked to overcome the problem.
- Avoid making major decisions about your life at this time.
How To Cope With Anxiety And Depression
Anxiety and depression often go hand in hand. Heres what you need to know if they strike simultaneously.
Do you sometimes worry so much that it interferes with your everyday activities? Or feel so blue that it completely clouds your outlook? Do you often experience these or similar feelings together? Youre not the only one.
According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America , anxiety disorders which include generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and social anxiety disorder are the most common mental health problem among U.S. adults, affecting 18.1 percent of the population each year. And mood disorders which include major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and seasonal affective disorder are the leading cause of disability.
Moreover, the incidence of developing depression in addition to an anxiety disorder or vice versa is high. Many people with major depression also suffer from severe and persistent anxiety, notes Sally R. Connolly, LCSW, in Louisville, Kentucky. And some experts estimate that 60 percent of people with anxiety will also have symptoms of depression, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness .
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Get A Handle On Your Household Chores
Depression can make it difficult to complete household chores, such as doing the dishes or paying bills.
But a pile of paperwork, the stack of dirty dishes, and floor covered in dirty clothes will only magnify your feelings of worthlessness.
Take control of your daily chores. Start small and work on one project at a time. Getting up and moving can help you start to feel better in itself. But, seeing your progress in the home can be key to helping you feel better.
Coping With Depression Tip : Reach Out And Stay Connected
Getting support plays an essential role in overcoming depression. On your own, it can be difficult to maintain a healthy perspective and sustain the effort required to beat depression. At the same time, the very nature of depression makes it difficult to reach out for help. When youre depressed, the tendency is to withdraw and isolate so that connecting to even close family members and friends can be tough.
You may feel too exhausted to talk, ashamed at your situation, or guilty for neglecting certain relationships. But this is just the depression talking. Staying connected to other people and taking part in social activities will make a world of difference in your mood and outlook. Reaching out is not a sign of weakness and it wont mean youre a burden to others. Your loved ones care about you and want to help. And if you dont feel that you have anyone to turn to, its never too late to build new friendships and improve your support network.
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Psychological Treatments For Depression
Psychological treatments have been found to be an effective way to treat depression. They can help you change your thinking patterns and improve your coping skills so you’re better equipped to deal with life’s stresses and conflicts.
As well as supporting your recovery, psychological therapies can help you stay well by identifying and changing unhelpful thoughts and behaviour.
There are several different types of psychological treatments including:
- cognitive behaviour therapy
- behaviour therapy
- mindfulness-based cognitive therapy .
CBT is one of the most commonly used psychological therapies. It helps people with depression to monitor and change negative patterns of thinking and improve their coping skills so they are better equipped to deal with lifes stresses and conflicts.
Recommended Books And Workbooks
- Self-Therapy Workbook: An Exercise Book For The IFS Process Weiss own workbook that outlines the IFS process in a step-by-step manner. Useful for therapists and individuals alike, it gives written exercises and sample answers, too.
- Illustrated Workbook for Self-Therapy for Your Inner Critic: Transforming Self-Criticism into Self-Confidence by Bonnie Weiss an illustrated, comprehensive and easy-to-use set of IFS-based exercises for self-therapy. Simple and straightforward yet powerfully presented, its suitable for teens as well as adults.
- Self-Therapy For Your Inner Critic by Earley and Weiss, both. More in-depth information on the Inner Critic, the different types, and how we can harness our Inner Champion to counteract attacks from the former.
- Self-Therapy: A Step-By-Step Guide to Creating Wholeness and Healing Your Inner Child Using IFS, A New, Cutting-Edge Psychotherapy by Jay Earley. Complex-seeming IFS concepts made simple and clear, as well as help sheets that you can use in your own self-therapy.
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What Lifestyle Changes Are Recommended For Anxiety And Depression
More info on this topic
Lifestyle changes are simple but powerful tools in treating depression and anxiety, and they are an essential component of an integrated approach to treatment. In some cases, lifestyle changes alone can help depression or relieve anxiety, so it makes sense to start with them right away. But if you are suffering from moderate to severe depression or anxiety, also seek professional help right away. And if you dont see relief from symptoms of mild depression in a few months, likewise seek professional help.
Lifestyle changes that can help include the following.
Get A Handle On Stress
Stress can drive up levels of a brain chemical called cortisol, which has been found to be higher in folks with depression. There are lots of strategies for coping with stress, such as time management, meditation, and biofeedback training.
Some stress-relieving activities that you might want to incorporate into your daily life include:
- Deep breathing: A few minutes to slow your breathing and focus your attention on your body in the moment can help you get a better handle on your worries.
- Exercise: Regular physical activity is a great way to blow off steam.
- Progressive muscle relaxation: This process involves intentionally tightening muscles throughout the body, holding that tension for several counts, and then releasing that tension until the muscles are completely relaxed. With regular practice, you may be able to learn how to intentionally relax your body fairly quickly whenever you are feeling tense.
Learning to manage your stress takes time and practice. Talk to your doctor or therapist about other strategies you might try to minimize the stress and your response to it.
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