Wednesday, January 5, 2011

How to Overcome Depression and Put Your Life Back on Track!


by Dr. Vesna Grubacevic


• Do you find yourself feeling down, lonely, depressed, crying at the drop of a hat or feeling overwhelmingly hurt by what others say and do?

• Are your emotions controlling your life, affecting your relationships, your performance at work and holding you back?

• Are you lacking the energy and the motivation to do the things you want to do, including simple everyday activities?

• Would you like to put some joy, energy, motivation, enthusiasm and excitement back in your life?

Emotions are our way of knowing that something feels comfortable or uncomfortable for us. Therefore, paying attention to our emotions is very important. All emotions are good because they provide us with feedback as to whether something sits well with us or not. There are two types of emotions: balanced emotions and unresolved emotions.

Balanced versus unresolved emotions

Our emotions are balanced when we feel an appropriate level of emotion in a particular situation. For example, if we are watching a sad movie, it is appropriate to feel sad. Any time we feel an emotion that is out of proportion to the situation that we are in, it is a sign that it may be unresolved. For example, road rage is an example of unresolved past anger and crying for no reason may be a sign of unresolved past sadness.

It is important to address the unresolved emotions. For as long as we ignore the unresolved emotions that we feel we may turn to food, smoking, alcohol, other substances or have other undesired behaviours as a way of dealing with our emotions and coping with life. When we do this, we are covering up our emotions and encouraging the unwanted behaviours.

Holding on to unresolved emotions can also prevent us from doing what we desire in life. For instance, unresolved hurt can prevent people from getting into another relationship even when they really want one. Unresolved fear can prevent people from taking action and have them feeling stuck and unfulfilled. Because unresolved emotions are trapped energy, we can feel tired or lethargic as a result and lack the energy to do things in life, even simple every day activities.

Medical professionals and researchers agree that emotions such as grief, loneliness, disappointment and depression weaken the body’s immune system. In contrast, emotions such as joy, relaxation and satisfaction strengthen the body’s immune system. Therefore, holding onto depression and other unresolved emotions can have a detrimental affect on our health.

Overcoming Depression

When we go through significant experiences in life eg. relationship break up, financial problems, a business failure, retrenchment, loss of a loved one, accidents, injuries, illnesses, etc, some people cope with these events well, while others find it difficult to cope and can become depressed by these circumstances. They may lose motivation, focus and energy and may get caught up in the emotions and lack of self esteem around these events. Because depression is a combination of unresolved emotions, by resolving these emotions you can also resolve depression. In addition, there may also be other issues that need to be addressed (eg. self esteem, body image issues, limiting beliefs, etc.) in order for depression to be fully resolved.

Getting back on track!

Our behaviours are driven by our memories, values, beliefs, emotions, language, etc. Because these are stored at the unconscious level, any changes we wish to make in our behaviours, beliefs, emotions, etc need to happen with the cooperation of the unconscious (some call it the subconscious mind). By working with the client’s unconscious, addressing unresolved emotions (such as depression) is faster and longer lasting than working on a conscious level (via purely analytical and conversational techniques).

NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) and Hypnotherapy techniques work safely and quickly on an unconscious level. These techniques enable us to easily and quickly assist the client in finding the cause of any unresolved emotion or limiting belief, then to assist the client to comfortably release these without the client needing to experience the emotion again or relive the trauma or the past over again.

Both NLP and Hypnotherapy are well respected disciplines. NLP has been used successfully since the 1970s, while the use of hypnotherapy dates back to before 1500 AD and today it is being used by medical doctors, dentists, surgeons, therapists, other health practitioners and sports athletes. Many individuals are using hypnosis and also learning self hypnosis techniques to assist them to change unwanted long term habits and behaviours at the unconscious level.

Imagine easily, comfortably and safely letting go of these emotions, overcoming depression and putting the joy, energy, motivation and excitement back in your life.

Qt
Dr. Vesna Grubacevic is the founder of Qt, a certified NLP Trainer, who holds a PhD in Clinical Hypnotherapy, is a Master NLP Practitioner and Master Hypnotherapist, holds a BEc and has over 28 years’ business experience. Dr. Vesna is the creator of breakthrough behavioural change techniques, is a sought after speaker, and has a proven track record of assisting clients to achieve exceptional personal and professional success! She offers transformational one on one consultations, seminars and certification trainings in NLP and Hypnotherapy. For more information on overcoming depression and for your FREE gifts, visit www.qttransformation.com today or call Dr. Vesna on
(03) 9653-9288.

© Qt, 2000 – 2010. All Rights Reserved.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Abolish Anxiety!!!


WEB PSYCHOLOGIST - HEALTH TIPS

By Sally-Anne McCormack
Dip T (Psych Maj); Postgrad Dip Psych (Ed); B Ed; M Psych (Ed & Dev)
Psychologist M.A.P.S.


Abolish Anxiety

If you are receiving this newsletter, then you have undoubtedly had some issues with anxiety yourself or someone you love. Anxiety does not just disturb us mentally it has physical side effects as well. For example, when I begin to feel anxious, I notice that I scrunch my fingers and toes. I am starting to get arthritis in these extremities and it therefore LITERALLY can be painfully obvious when this is happening! For some people, there are other symptoms which may include things like having a dry mouth, shaky voice, profuse sweating, jelly legs, racing heart, flushed face, butterflies in the stomach, and various others.

These signs are a great way of having anxiety brought to our attention. Sometimes we may feel anxious but not even realise it. For example, there have been times where I have thought that I am going along well, but suddenly notice that my heart rate is increasing and my fingers hurt. At this point I ask myself the question – “What is going on in my head right now?”. I might be thinking that the person I am meeting might be disappointed with me. If they know me, they might think that I have “let myself go”. If we have never met, they may be expecting someone smarter / taller / thinner / darker / older (or whatever else I believe they may value), then I might feel like a failure. So my next question to myself is – “What is the likelihood of this being true?” to get a more realistic view of the situation.

Once I work out what I am thinking (which may take me a while, because often it is not obvious, and I have to guess at my thoughts!), then I can change them to something more helpful to me. For example, if I am giving a talk, and I think that someone is nodding off because my presentation is really boring, is that helping me to do better? What are the other possibilities? They may simply be really tired, they may have been dragged there by an enthusiastic partner, or they really MAY be bored with my talk. Does that mean EVERYONE finds it boring? Or is it simply that I cannot please everyone, so I can continue to try hard to educate the other 99% of people who are listening. Focusing on the one “failure” is unhelpful to my work, so I try to reduce my anxiety levels by thinking of another reason that is just as valid.

So, here are some health tips to help YOU abolish anxiety:

Tip One. Deep Breathing. Take in a slow, deep breath, hold it briefly, then slowly let it go. I generally tell clients to breathe in to the count of 5, hold, then count backwards from 5 at the same pace. Repeat this 5 times. It is even more helpful if you can actively try to relax every muscle in your body as you breathe out!

Tip Two. Helpful Thinking. Instead of ruminating about all the things that can or have gone wrong, consciously focus your attention on the things that are going right. For example, if you spill the milk for the second time today, remind yourself of how many other things you have been near but have NOT knocked over today. Or that you didn’t break the cup. One of these thoughts will make you feel frustrated or depressed, the others will make you feel more positive about yourself. It is your choice!

Tip Three. Set Aside a Specific “Worry Time”. It is not going to help me to worry about how little preparation I have done for the exam I am going to complete next week. I cannot change that right now as I am about to start work, but I can certainly set aside half an hour after I finish work to problem-solve (or at least acknowledge my predicament). Worrying about it at work does not “fix” it, but could potentially cause me some problems with my boss if my mind is not on the task all day.

Tip Four. Address Anxiety Immediately. As soon as you become aware of your body’s physical state (ie. the signs listed at the beginning of this article), address your thoughts straight away! Do not let yourself continue with the negative thinking pattern because it may become a habit and increase your anxiety levels over time. Take control as best as you can!

Tip Five. Relax. Give yourself some time to do something that you enjoy, concentrate on something calm and peaceful (perhaps visualise yourself in a relaxing place if you do not have the opportunity to go anywhere), and allow yourself the time to unwind physically and mentally after an event.

Tip Six. Learn to Say “NO”. If we allow ourselves to become overcommitted, then we lose time, energy and focus. Saying “No” does not mean rejecting everything and everyone, it simply means getting to know your own limitations and not allowing others to impose their agenda on you. Saying “No” means just setting boundaries, and most people respect us for this.

Tip Seven . Seek Help From Others. If you find that your anxiety is too difficult for you to manage, then it probably time to enlist friends and family to help you. If you are still having difficulty coping, then make an appointment to speak to your doctor. He or she will determine how best to treat you and put you on the right track.

So now back to my arthritis. I could choose to see this as the worst possible thing that could happen to me. I have always dreaded paper cuts and splinters because I hate pain. However, rather than viewing this as a negative (which could be one way of seeing this degenerative condition), I see it as my early warning system for anxiety (I actually scrunch when I am angry as well, so I feel pain then too). I put all of this into perspective – I am not in pain while I am keeping still, I am extremely fortunate to have lived many years virtually pain free, I have a reliable “early-warning system” for when I am experiencing heightened negative emotions, AND I trust that the medical system will continue researching this common condition and over the years there will be better management and pain-relief as I get older. So you see – all is good J!

Sally-Anne McCormack from WebPsychologist is a Melbourne psychologist, media consultant, author, former teacher and a mother of 4. Her first book -“Stomp Out The ANTs” – for people with anxiety and depression will be launched in March 2010. You can purchase advanced copies through any of her 3 informative websites: www.WebPsychologist.com.au , www.CyberPsych.com.au and www.ParentsOnline.com.au which offer advice, resources and FREE email newsletters.

Sally-Anne is registered as a media spokesperson with the Australian Psychological Society (A.P.S.). She has practices in Blackburn and Burwood East, runs adult and child/teen groups for depression, anxiety and insomnia, sees individual clients. Sally-Anne also offers online counselling (although it is not covered by Medicare).
She can be contacted via email (sally-anne@optusnet.com.au) or by telephone (03) 881 22 373.

ADAVIC Support Groups!!!


ALTONA ANXIETY SUPPORT GROUP
AT THE
LOUIS JOEL ARTS & COMMUNITY
CENTRE
5 Sargood Street, Altona
(Melways Ref: 54 G11)
Weekly meetings on Tuesdays
7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.


BERWICK ANXIETY SUPPORT GROUP
AT THE
BERWICK NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRE
112 High Street, Berwick.
(Melways Ref: Map 111 D8)
Weekly meetings on Tuesdays
7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.

KEW ANXIETY SUPPORT GROUP
AT THE
Kew Senior Citizen’s Centre
533 High Street, Kew
(Melways Ref: Map 45 F5)
Weekly meetings on Mondays
7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.

COBURG ANXIETY SUPPORT GROUP
AT THE
Nicholson Street Community House
32 Nicholson Street, East Coburg.
(Melways Ref: Map 30 A4)
Weekly meetings Monday
7.30pm – 9.30pm

What is a Support Group Meeting?
A support group allows people to express their feelings and provides a forum for discussion in a safe and confidential environment. Groups are guided by facilitators who assist in directing discussions and can offer insight and understanding in regard to issues raised. Support groups offer friendship and encouragement.

For further information contact ADAVIC on 9853-8089
website:
www.adavic.org.au
email address: adavic@adavic.org.au


One of Bev Aisbett's Pictures!!!




Quote of the day - 4-1-2011


"Take risks: if you win, you will be happy; if you lose, you will be wise." - Anon.