Tip 51 Just As A Crazy Experiment: Say Out Loud Help As Prayer It Is Short And Does Not Hurt
It is that we are in the sober Netherlands, so I had to announce this as a crazy experiment, but I dont really think the following proposal is that strange at all.
If you say to me, Im down, then Im not at all afraid of doing this little experiment with you: Lets pray.
You dont have to be religious for it. Science is catching up more and more when it comes to evidence of spiritual powers. Conversations about God are cool again. That is, if you do it in a non-dogmatic way.
Dont worry about tomorrow. About what you will eat, drink and wear. God will take care of you. Doesnt he also take care of the birds and the flowers? They grow tremendously. What are you worried about? Nature doesnt worry about tomorrow either.
Dealing With The Winter Blues
For some people, the reduced daylight hours of winter lead to a form of depression known as seasonal affective disorder . SAD can make you feel like a completely different person to who you are in the summer: hopeless, sad, tense, or stressed, with no interest in friends or activities you normally love. No matter how hopeless you feel, though, there are plenty of things you can do to keep your mood stable throughout the year.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Symptoms
While the term chronic fatigue is fairly descriptive of this crippling illness, it doesnt tell the entire story. Chronic fatigue often starts suddenly, with flu-like symptoms. But unlike the flu, it can last a lifetime.
In addition to the profound fatigue experienced, other serious symptoms often accompany CFS, such as:
- joint pain that moves from one spot to another
- digestive disorders like irritable bowel syndrome .
Sufferers of chronic fatigue syndrome also experience significant alterations in levels of irritability, mood swings, panic attacks, anxiety and depression. According to a study published in Family Practice, 36 percent of individuals with CFS were clinically depressed and 22 percent had seriously considered suicide in the past year.
Simply, the emotional and mental side effects of CFS cannot be overlooked, and treatment must include the mind, body and spirit.
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Home Remedies And Lifestyle Changes
Making some lifestyle changes may help reduce your symptoms.
Limiting or eliminating your caffeine intake can help you sleep better and ease your insomnia. You should limit or avoid nicotine and alcohol too.
Try to avoid napping during the day if its hurting your ability to sleep at night.
Create a sleep routine. Go to bed at the same time every night and aim to wake up around the same time every day.
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Do The Opposite Of What The Depression Voice Suggests
The automatic, unhelpful voice in your head may talk you out of self-help. However, if you can learn to recognize it, you can learn to work through it.
If you believe an event wont be fun or worth your time, say to yourself, You might be right, but itll be better than just sitting here another night. You may soon see the automatic thought isnt always helpful.
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Why Depression And Fatigue Are Connected
There are reasons why nearly everyone who lives with depression is fatigued most of the time. When you understand the causes, you can address them and deal with your exhaustion. Four primary causes of depression fatigue are
- Sleep difficulties
Depression interferes with sleep. Both depression and sleep are brain-based, and neural activity that is off-kilter disrupts normal sleep activity as well as contributes to depression. Hypersomnia and insomnia both contribute to depressions fatigue.
Another, lesser-known, sleep problem in depression is sleep inertia. Sleep inertia is a state of grogginess between being asleep and awake. For most people, it lasts mere minutes and isnt bothersome. For those with depression, though, sleep inertia can last for hours. This means that many people with depression must try to function when their brain isnt fully awake.
Lifestyle components like diet and stress levels also contribute to both depression and fatigue. The traditionally Western-style diets with red meat, processed and refined foods, and sugars have been implicated in depression . Stress, too, contributes to mood and exhaustion problems. Stress directly impacts brain chemistry, including neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, both of which are associated with mood and energy. Stressful life events also take their toll on mental health and fatigue.
Possible Mechanisms Of Fatigue
Fatigue is a complex concept involving both somatic information and the cognition that the intellectual or physical activity requires a higher share of the individual’s energy or that the individual is less productive than usual. Probably a multiplicity of pathways and substances are related to this complex feeling, especially serotonin, dopamine, the HPA axis, and inflammatory cascades involving substances like cytokines.
Information from basic sciences and sports medicine indicates that increased serotonin in certain areas of the brain, like the lateral hypothalamus, plays a role in the genesis of central fatigue. Serotonin agonists increase fatigue, and general serotonin antagonists reduce fatigue in animal models. It has been hypothesized that serotonin may induce fatigue through inhibition of the dopaminergic system and/or through the HPA axis.18,19
Dopamine has long been associated with fatigue, and the most potent stimulant agents currently available are dopaminergic. Central dopamine seems to be related to fatigue in an inverse way to serotonin. Dopamine metabolism is enhanced during exercise in the hypothalamus and other areas of the brain, and exercise endurance is impaired after destruction of dopaminergic neurons in animal models. Clinically, fatigue, a prominent symptom in Parkinson’s disease, improves with both L-dopa and bilateral deep brain stimulation.20,21
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Signs Of Depression At Work
Here are some signs that you may be working while depressed:
- Missing work:It could be you start calling in sick or make excuses for needing a personal day.
- Trouble concentrating:Just cant keep your mind focused on work? If it feels like youre in a fog all the time or in a hopeless state of mind, this can be an indication that youre trying to work while depressed.
- Missed deadlines and goals:Inability to get work done or complete tasks, avoidance of phone calls and meetings, failing to achieve personal or career goalsthese can be signs of depression at work.
- Feelings of depression only when youre at work:It could be that your workplace is the cause of depression. If youre largely overcome with depression while at work, but not as much elsewhere, it could be that feelings of depression are driven by your job. Serious workplace issues like harassment, discrimination, abuse, and bullying can eventually lead to feelings of depression, if left unaddressed.
- Fatigue and lack of energy:Tired all the time? Feel like you have no energy to do your job? Persistent fatigue can be a sign of depression.
What Are My Options
Since depression is at the core of your depression fatigue, its important to look into ways that you might want to treat your mental health above anything else.
There are many options, and each type of treatment can offer a different approach in helping you to deal with the challenges that come as a result of your feelings of depression.
Here are two main treatment options to consider:
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Foreword: Depression Is Real And Serious
Its painful to talk about this topic and its hard for me to give the best tips in this article, but its very real and painful. It exists and is in the DSM-5 , so it is a recognized diagnosis. I am also aware of this.
I am aware that you cannot say to a blind person, Look! Its easy! Just watch, just like me! And that you cannot say to a deaf person: Hear! For example, you cannot just say to someone with depression: Dont do it!
So lets say I dont want to be too light about it. The first advice from me is to see your doctor if you have not already done so. Secondly, here you will find tips on how to get started yourself.
Tip 41 Dont Be Serious And Laugh Often
Some people are very happy purely because they have a continuous smile on their face. However, this is not normal. It is different. But they are the happiest and most attractive of all. So laugh all day for no reason. Make it a challenge until it has become normal for you.
Dont be serious. We were not created to be serious, but to shine!
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How Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Is Treated
There is no standard treatment for chronic fatigue syndrome, clinically known as myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome . However, there are many options for managing symptoms and improving quality of life, including lifestyle changes, stress management, therapy, and medications. With the help of your healthcare provider and other caregivers, these can be tailored to your specific symptoms.
Verywell / Brianna Gilmartin
Failure To Identify The Cause
If youve gone through the barrage of testing and were unable to determine any direct causal factors, it doesnt mean that your chronic fatigue cannot be dealt with or improved. Those that are unable to identify the direct cause may need to do some self-experimentation to find out what actually helps raise energy levels and ultimately what methods you can use to overcome the condition. You dont need to accept the reality of functioning in sloth-mode for your entire life.
Guessing the cause: Even though you may have ruled out many medical conditions that could be causing the problem, it is important to still attempt to figure out what factors may be contributing to your chronic fatigue. In other words, think back to the time when the condition developed what changed in your life that may have depleted your energy.
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Tip 32 Find Out How Byron Katie Overcame Her Depression
Your thoughts are sometimes very compelling. Everything has to happen or not happen according to your thoughts. He should have appreciated me more. Whose business is that? Can you decide that for him? Who are you, God? Its hard to manage an entire universe, no wonder youre depressed!
Do you think other people should be different than they really are? This thinking brings deep unhappiness and even depression.
A mother about her son: Kevin uses alcohol. If she flips this, it becomes, Im using Kevin. Byron Katie: Yes. I use Kevin to stay depressed.
Stress is always caused by a specific thought. That thought is often a distortion of reality. Investigate that with If you then also start to believe in that thought , then that is suffering.
Dont believe your thoughts : they are just thoughts, not the truth. We may love our mind , but trusting the mind is a mistake.
Do you believe your thoughts? Thats kidding yourself: keeping yourself out of reality.
Tip 50 Havent Had A Breakthrough Yet Do This If You Are Stuck In Depression
Have you not had a breakthrough yet? The reason is always: you still stay in your head. From the questions you ask to the life you lead .
Let everything you do no longer come from your head / mind, but from your body and heart . Then your breakthrough is guaranteed. If necessary, let yourself be coached in this.
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Treatment Plans For Me/cfs
Theres no single way of managing ME/CFS that works for everyone, but there are a number of treatment options.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence says you should be offered a treatment plan tailored to your symptoms.
Your doctor should discuss all of the options with you, and explain the benefits and risks of any treatment.
They should work with you to develop a treatment plan that suits you and takes into account your circumstances and preferences.
You may need advice about making lifestyle changes, specialist treatments, or a combination of both.
If your symptoms are severe, your doctor should ask a specialist for advice.
Your treatment plan should be reviewed regularly.
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Take Care Of Yourself
Cortisol is known as the stress hormone, but it doesnt actually make you stressed. It helps your body respond to stress by making more glucose available, giving you a quick burst of energy. Because of this, stress is extremely demanding on the body. You can combat this by making sure to drink plenty of water, eat nourishing foods, and prioritize healthy sleep habits.
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Seeking Professional Help To Resolve Low Energy And Fatigue
Sometimes, persistent fatigue and low energy levels are your bodys way of telling you that something is not quite right inside your mind. If mental health is the culprit for your tiredness, speaking to a professional can be very beneficial, and at Brightside our expert providers are here to help you understand whats going on, and what you can do about it.
With Brightside, youll have unlimited access to expert psychiatric care, and well work with you to evaluate your symptoms and determine if depression or anxiety is a root cause. From there, well find a treatment personalized to you, including precision-prescribing where well match you with the right antidepressant medication based on what symptoms youre experiencing and what your needs are.
The first step towards getting a tailored treatment program is to fill out our free online assessment that helps us better understand your individual needs and concerns. From there, you will be matched with a psychiatric provider and/or therapist, setting you up to receive therapy, medication, or both depending on what youre going through and what treatment plan fits best for you. Either way, with Brightside, you can get the care you need in the comfort of your own home.
Now that the basics have been covered, lets talk about some other ways that you can reduce your fatigue and get your energy levels back on track.
When To Get Professional Help For Depression
If youve taken self-help steps and made positive lifestyle changes and still find your depression getting worse, seek professional help. Needing additional help doesnt mean youre weak. Sometimes the negative thinking in depression can make you feel like youre a lost cause, but depression can be treated and you can feel better!
Dont forget about these self-help tips, though. Even if youre receiving professional help, these tips can be part of your treatment plan, speeding your recovery and preventing depression from returning.
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Fatigue And Depression: When Is Tiredness A Warning Sign
3 Minute Read
Sleep is an important part of overall health, but for many, it does not come easily. Millions of Americans report feeling fatigue a feeling of tiredness or exhaustion.
Many different factors, ranging from poor sleep to health conditions, can cause fatigue. Its also a common symptom of mental health conditions, such as depression.
Being fatigued doesnt mean youre depressed, but fatigue can be a warning sign. Learn more about the link between the conditions.
Create A Wellness Toolbox
A wellness toolbox is a set of tools that you can use to help soothe yourself when you are feeling down. The tools you find most helpful might not work for someone else so its important to carefully consider what things can help you feel your best. Cuddling your pet, listening to your favorite music, taking a warm bath, or reading a good book are just a few tools you might find helpful. Create a list of the activities you might try when youre feeling bad. Choose an activity to try when youre having a particularly rough time.
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Depression Versus Mental Exhaustion
Depression is a mood disorder that is characterized by a persistent low mood. People that are mentally exhausted often feel depressed, and those that are depressed feel mentally drained. Many symptoms, like lack of pleasure, sleep disturbance, and cognitive impairment overlap. However, the terms arent interchangeable. Depression needs to be diagnosed by a mental health professional. It is a serious mental health condition that needs to be treated by qualified providers.
Treatment: Go To Your Doctor For Testing And Treatment
The doctor will first do an anxiety, depression or burnout test and examine you until there is more clarity. He / she looks at your syndromes of fear, sadness and physical exhaustion.
The doctor will also answer your question: How bad is my depression? The GP then determines the most effective mental health care and / or antidepression drugs.
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Try Increasing Your Activities
It can be hard to find the motivation to do pretty much anything when youre depressed. And when your activity level drops, you might feel even less motivated and more tired. This leads to a vicious cycle.
With physical tiredness, you need to rest. But with depression, its the opposite. Sleeping and sitting around often make you feel more tired and also gives you time to sit with depressive thoughts, which can make you feel worse.
One way to break this cycle is to start gently increasing your activities. This is a cognitive behavioral therapy technique known as behavioral activation. The theory is that doing things will help give you the energy to do more things.
Again, start small, and prioritize manageable, reasonable activities that bring some enjoyment, or activities that provide a sense of achievement.
Here are some ideas for gentle activities to try:
- Go for a small walk, and smell the flowers that you pass on the way.
- Watch birds in your local park.
- Make a playlist of upbeat music.
- Move your body in a way that feels good.
- Research a topic that youre interested in.
- Do a jigsaw or a crossword puzzle.
- Make a warm drink.
- Rewatch a favorite movie.
- Have a spontaneous picnic.
For more ideas and for a worksheet to help you monitor your activities and mood changes, you can check out the Behavioural Strategies for Managing Depression worksheet from the Center for Clinical Interventions in Australia.
