I had a friend called happiness
And used to have such fun
But happiness fought anxiety
That’s when I came undone
My happiness was torn to shreds
Anxiety won the war
So now I try to live with it
But don’t want it anymore
I've tried to tell it, “Go Away”
But it just falls on deaf ears
It travels with me where I go
And lives on all my fears
I've looked around for happiness
But it’s dark, I cannot see
Anxiety has got its grip
It will not set me free
So I'll keep searching in the dark
Until I find a way
That I can light up this darkened world
And happiness can say
“Yes I was wounded but did not die
I simply needed rest
And when I get my strength again
I’ll win cause I’m the best”
So all my friends at ADAVIC
Although there is a fight
Anxiety will lose one day
Because I'll find the light
Thursday, April 7, 2011
ADAVIC past and present SPONSORS!!!
Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs Department of Victorian Communities
Lord Mayor’s Charitable FoundationWednesday, April 6, 2011
Can the herbal medicine KAVA reduce your stress and anxiety?
Are you suffering from high levels of stress or anxiety? Are you experiencing Generalised Anxiety Disorder or feel frequently anxious with regard to many areas of your life?
We are seeking participants for a study investigating the effects of the natural medicine KAVA, which may be effective in reducing feelings of stress and anxiety in people.
To participate in the Kava Anxiety-Lowering Medication (KALM) Project you must be:
Aged 18-65 years
Experiencing chronic moderate or high levels of anxiety
Not currently taking medications such as antidepressants or benzodiazepines (e.g. valium)
Not having regular high alcohol/substance use
Have fluent written and spoken English
Willing to come in for six testing sessions at the Swinburne University Hawthorn campus,
over a two-month period.
You will be reimbursed $100 at the end of the trial.
This study is being conducted by The Brain & Psychological Sciences Research Centre (BPsyC) at Swinburne University of Technology.
To find out more please contact: Tasha Wahid Research Co-ordinator (KALM PROJECT)
Phone: (03) 9214 4924
Mobile: 0413502068
Email zwahid@groupwise.swin.edu.au
We are seeking participants for a study investigating the effects of the natural medicine KAVA, which may be effective in reducing feelings of stress and anxiety in people.
To participate in the Kava Anxiety-Lowering Medication (KALM) Project you must be:
Aged 18-65 years
Experiencing chronic moderate or high levels of anxiety
Not currently taking medications such as antidepressants or benzodiazepines (e.g. valium)
Not having regular high alcohol/substance use
Have fluent written and spoken English
Willing to come in for six testing sessions at the Swinburne University Hawthorn campus,
over a two-month period.
You will be reimbursed $100 at the end of the trial.
This study is being conducted by The Brain & Psychological Sciences Research Centre (BPsyC) at Swinburne University of Technology.
To find out more please contact: Tasha Wahid Research Co-ordinator (KALM PROJECT)
Phone: (03) 9214 4924
Mobile: 0413502068
Email zwahid@groupwise.swin.edu.au
Meetup - Social Events
At ADAVIC we like to encourage people to get 'out and about' and interact with others. We have a social group site (Meetup) for our members, volunteers and friends, where people can organise to get together in person, have fun and make friends with others in a caring and supportive social environment. On the ADAVIC Meetup site there's a calendar of upcoming events and you can make suggestions for future activities. Here is the link for our meetup social events group http://www.meetup.com/ADAVIC-Social-Events/
STRIVING FOR SELF ACCEPTANCE
Self esteem refers to an individual’s overall assessment and appraisal of their own worth and in many ways lies at the core of their personality. Sadly there is a common misconception that an individual’s worth as a person corresponds to evaluations of their abilities, personal attributes and achievements. Self esteem that is based on this misconception constitutes a major threat to an individual’s sense of worth and psychological well-being. For instance, an individual whose actions are judged as wrong, incompetent, or disapproved by others, can wind up feeling “less worthy” as a person.
Low self esteem is typically considered unhealthy and is linked to depression and anxiety. Interestingly, attempts to increase self esteem may also have some drawbacks. Psychological literature suggests that individuals with extremely high self esteem are vulnerable because they are often characterised by excessive focus on evaluations, including social comparisons with other people. The research also indicates that individuals with extremely high self esteem may be more prone to acts of violence, be less open to unfavourable feedback, and more emotionally vulnerable to criticism. One explanation for this paradox is that any level of self-esteem, low or high, is characterised by conditional self-acceptance and reflects a dysfunctional habit of globally evaluating one’s worth, which is where the individual focuses on their (low) self-esteem as a whole and ignores more specific areas in which they have strong abilities and thus stronger self-esteem. According to this view, self-rating is seen as dysfunctional and irrational, as there exists is no objective basis for determining the worth of a human being. In addition to being illogical, self-ratings can predispose individuals to feel depressed when their current self-rating is low, or anxious when the rating is high. This is because the concept of self-evaluation is such that a fall in self-esteem can result in response to criticisms, rejections or inabilities, and an increase causes the individual to perceive a pressure to maintain their current (perceived) high ability.
As human beings we are not perfect, and prone to making mistakes. As we strive to achieve our goals in life, we are all continually faced with the struggles that are inevitably thrown our way. Therefore, a healthier and more logical approach is to abandon the quest for self-esteem and self-ratings and instead work towards self-acceptance. Unconditional self-acceptance is a condition in which individuals’ fully and unconditionally appreciate, support and accept who they are as a person at this very moment, including the things they do like and don’t like about themselves.
To accept oneself is to be immune to the demands we place on ourselves for the approval of others. Self-acceptance gives individuals greater freedom to take the best course of action, rather than what will gain approval. The beauty of self-acceptance is that all of those things that you believe will make you happier will come to you once you let go of the need to have them in your life in order to live it to the fullest.
Self-acceptance fosters personal adjustment and wellbeing, and has been linked to increased happiness and life satisfaction. So how does one strive towards self-acceptance? Self-acceptance takes honesty and courage. Remember that you don’t have to like something to accept it. A great place to start is to feel good about yourself simply because:
You exist
You are alive
You are unique
You are human and prone to mistakes, just like everyone else
By Catherine Caballero, Psychologist (March 2011)
Low self esteem is typically considered unhealthy and is linked to depression and anxiety. Interestingly, attempts to increase self esteem may also have some drawbacks. Psychological literature suggests that individuals with extremely high self esteem are vulnerable because they are often characterised by excessive focus on evaluations, including social comparisons with other people. The research also indicates that individuals with extremely high self esteem may be more prone to acts of violence, be less open to unfavourable feedback, and more emotionally vulnerable to criticism. One explanation for this paradox is that any level of self-esteem, low or high, is characterised by conditional self-acceptance and reflects a dysfunctional habit of globally evaluating one’s worth, which is where the individual focuses on their (low) self-esteem as a whole and ignores more specific areas in which they have strong abilities and thus stronger self-esteem. According to this view, self-rating is seen as dysfunctional and irrational, as there exists is no objective basis for determining the worth of a human being. In addition to being illogical, self-ratings can predispose individuals to feel depressed when their current self-rating is low, or anxious when the rating is high. This is because the concept of self-evaluation is such that a fall in self-esteem can result in response to criticisms, rejections or inabilities, and an increase causes the individual to perceive a pressure to maintain their current (perceived) high ability.
As human beings we are not perfect, and prone to making mistakes. As we strive to achieve our goals in life, we are all continually faced with the struggles that are inevitably thrown our way. Therefore, a healthier and more logical approach is to abandon the quest for self-esteem and self-ratings and instead work towards self-acceptance. Unconditional self-acceptance is a condition in which individuals’ fully and unconditionally appreciate, support and accept who they are as a person at this very moment, including the things they do like and don’t like about themselves.
To accept oneself is to be immune to the demands we place on ourselves for the approval of others. Self-acceptance gives individuals greater freedom to take the best course of action, rather than what will gain approval. The beauty of self-acceptance is that all of those things that you believe will make you happier will come to you once you let go of the need to have them in your life in order to live it to the fullest.
Self-acceptance fosters personal adjustment and wellbeing, and has been linked to increased happiness and life satisfaction. So how does one strive towards self-acceptance? Self-acceptance takes honesty and courage. Remember that you don’t have to like something to accept it. A great place to start is to feel good about yourself simply because:
You exist
You are alive
You are unique
You are human and prone to mistakes, just like everyone else
By Catherine Caballero, Psychologist (March 2011)
Self Esteem
Self esteem is important for our happiness and well being. Our self esteem is often built upon other people’s opinions of us. But why do we care what others think? Humans are social animals and most of the time we thrive on the company of others. We also value their opinions of us. If other people have a positive opinion of us, they will keep us around, but if they have a negative opinion of us, they may reject us. One of the things that we fear most is rejection. When someone in our intimate circle, social group or occupational group puts us down or segregates us, it can make us think that we are less valuable and as a result lower our self esteem. Some people are resistant to this type of criticism or have mechanisms for coping with it. For example, they may simply choose to ignore the person who is treating them badly and make new friends. Others are deeply affected by rejection and may not have the resources to cope. Low self esteem often results in a lack of self worth and self care; therefore there may be little or no motivation to change the circumstances that facilitated the low self esteem.
We can all suffer from low self esteem from time to time, but feeling bad about oneself all the time is not good for mental health. People who have ongoing low self esteem often see themselves in a distorted way and they usually focus on things that they believe are negative about them. They believe, often without much evidence, that others see them in a negative way and can also behave in ways that can reinforce low self esteem. An example of this is engaging in a relationship with someone that treats them in a negative way. This reinforces their attitude about themselves because the other person is reinforcing the idea that they do not deserve to be treated well. Sometimes entering into a relationship or staying with someone who consistently treats you badly is a warning sign that you may have low self esteem.
To improve your self esteem you could try to change the way you think about yourself. Self talk is that little voice inside our heads that tells us how we think and feel about every situation. Some examples are: “They don’t like me because I am not…,” “I never get anything right”, “they are probably thinking…” Ones interpretation about the events in their life will impact how they feel about themselves and others. The website Reach Out has some good advice for depleting negative self talk. They refer to “The ABC of self talk”:
“A” is for activating a situation or thinking about what happened during the situation. If something negative happened during a situation try not to analyze it, just be neutral about what happened, as you cannot tell what others may have been thinking about you.
“B” is for belief about what has caused you to feel a certain way. After a negative situation you may feel upset or angry. Rather than associating that bad feeling with yourself or the situation, acknowledge the bad feeling is independent of the situation and yourself and that you can change it.
“C” is for consequences, or the behaviour that results from your negative beliefs. You may blame yourself for the event and criticize yourself or make yourself feel guilty. Accept that this criticism is based on irrational beliefs you have about yourself. One of the most essential things is not to place too much importance on what other people think of you.
No one is perfect!
References:
www.reachout.com
Dr S. Edelman and L. Remond. (2005). Taking Charge! A Guide for Teenagers: Practical Ways to Overcome Stress, Hassles and Upsetting Emotions. Foundation for life Sciences.
By Jasmine – ADAVIC volunteer
(Jasmine finished her volunteer commitments with ADAVIC in late January and we all wish her well with her future studies)
Suzy Miller and Mark Lee got hitched!!!!
Congratulations to Suzy Miller and Mark Lee on their marriage which took place on Saturday the 12th February 2011 at Preshil College where they met as teenagers. The lovely couple honeymooned in Hawaii, Las Vegas and New York All the best from everyone at ADAVIC...
TRUE LOVE
~ By Author Unknown ~
True love is a sacred flame
That burns eternally,
And none can dim its special glow
Or change its destiny.
True love speaks in tender tones
And hears with gentle ear,
True love gives with open heart
And true love conquers fear.
True love makes no harsh demands
It neither rules nor binds,
And true love holds with gentle hands
The hearts that it entwines.
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