When our ancestors were faced with danger, nature programmed them for 2 possibilities - either the problem was surmountable, which meant energising the body to fight the enemy, or the problem was too big, which meant energizing the body to run. Both options would immediate de-prioritise the digestive process, which is why some people can end up throwing out digested or undigested food or water through vomiting or passing urine or stools during stress. Also, now we have different challenges - we don't need to physically run towards or away from our boss or in laws, but the hormones are still released and can affect our health. Here's how.
After the intensity of the fight or flight response, the body 'crashes' in energy and the focus is on getting back to normal. Since as a society we are focused on consistent performance, these phases are shunned and the body is never given time to recover. We then offer the body a new stressor, and over time we get addicted to functioning on that artificial 'high' of the stress hormones.
Persistent stress due to difficulties in health, relationships and jobs will damage the digestive system over a long time and this creates a lot of secondary problems. Here are the signs I've frequently seen among my clients.
Because people have gotten used to functioning only on the energy provided by stress hormones, most people experiencing chronic stress are rarely self-motivated, functioning only when things go too far or a deadline is looming. When the 'danger' of a missed deadline floods their system with stress hormones, they are finally able to function. So they fluctuate between super-charged when the hormones are pumping through the system or 'lazy' and exhausted.
Due to the lack of energy the rest of the times, there can often be this feeling of spacing out from the world, some people may use binge-watching, binge eating or addictive substances as tools for this escape.
Most people will end up either feeling too hungry or not hungry enough as the digestive process is affected. Sleep can change as well, crashing out when exhausted and difficulty sleeping or shallow sleep otherwise. People living in situations where the body doesn't feel safe for whatever reason (abusive relationships for eg) can wake up at every little disturbance.
And one of the most telling signs I observe is the person's sensitivity to sound. When people are greatly affected by noise, this is very frequently a sign of the body being in a state of constant alarm.
Some people can experience these things after a specific incident, like a breakup or the death of a loved one or even the sudden loss of a job. In these cases, some good therapy can help the body get back to a state of ease and wellbeing. In cases where people are stuck in abusive relationships or workplaces, a lot more work is needed.
In either case, if you experience these please pay attention, because it doesn't take long before this becomes physical, causing issues like headaches, chronic fatigue or pain, brain fog, palpitations, IBS, anxiety and the hardest one - auto immune disorders.
If you have any of the signs above do consider therapy to identify and resolve the conflict
please watch out for these signs in your child as well. We don't need early interventions, no. We need parents who are working on themselves. Children model themselves after parents, and if parents are sorted, then they know better how to deal with children. This can change at any moment, but the core lesson is merely this - what do we value?
As a society we spend hours and hours earning money, that is a priority. Everything else is now secondary, that's the core issue. Spending 2% of our time on something that can improve our health, mind and relationships is too much of a burden. When we learn to prioritise the right things, our children follow suit, it really is that simple. Takes a few weeks or a few months, rarely ever more than that. Nature has designed children to biologically mimic parents.
We call them Reiki children, where parents practice Reiki from before conception or from the time the child is born or very young. It changes everything, the kids are very special. Even at this stage it isn't late for you. But the question is only - is it important enough yet?
Article by Ashwita Goel
Popular television actress Pratyusha Banerjee’s suicide has once again aroused the question ‘why end life this way’? She is the latest to be added to the list of Bollywood Actress Jiah Khan, VJ Nafisa Joseph and the likes. Recently heard of a young medical student committing suicide and I’m sure there are many more who have succumbed, only it hasn’t become national news.
The article doesn’t aim to decipher or decode why Pratyusha committed suicide. But tries to provide a picture as to what causes a person to take such an extreme step. On the outset, the lives of all those mentioned above seemed to be going pretty smoothly, then why such a tragic death? No matter how glamorous or perfect a life seems, everyone has their share of problems. It could be financial issue, relationship, death and the list goes on. When things go wrong or against our expectations, most will hit a low and feel caught in a web of emotions.
However, most would seek the help and support of friends, family, mentors, therapists and the like. Life seems a burden in the midst of a crisis because we are not able to see the bigger picture and remember that ‘this too shall pass’. This is where ‘support system’ becomes so important. Our well-wishers show us what we’re worthy and capable of when we’re focusing on an unsuccessful relationship or project for example.
At this point, as a Psychologist, we help clients reassess life and bring their focus to anything that could uplift them- be it volunteering, a goal or travelling. We all need ‘something to look forward to’- it is essential to help an individual focus on these and help them overcome the short-sighted view of life that normally engulfs during such stressful times.
Sadly, the alarming rate of suicide among youngsters also highlights that their coping mechanism seems inadequate. It is normal to be a little low, moody and depressed when things are not going great but when it goes beyond 2-3 weeks, then the individual ought to seek support. Alcohol and drugs are only a temporary escape from reality. We have to accept the challenge and face it head–on at some point. It seems that especially with high profiles, the need to appear at their best and image management is a priority. I recall a high-profile celebrity stating that he didn’t know how to emotionally be present with his family during a crisis because they are so used to curbing emotions. Too much curtailing and faking of emotions will affect the individual, especially in what seems to be a crisis.
Normally, an individual attempting or committing suicide is usually depressed and/or tends to be impulsive. Studies have shown that adequate support and care many a times prevents suicide. The tendency to magnify an issue is very common in such circumstances. Therefore, the individual feels he/she doesn’t have adequate resources to cope with the issue at hand, and feels death resolves the suffering. I recall reading that it is not death they seek but it’s an avoidance of life.
The least we can do is to reach out to those who seem to be going through a tough phase. This does not mean over powering or taking over them but letting them know that ‘I’m here for you’. Everyone faces some stressor/s- we can choose to take it as a challenge and that’s when it can empower us and thus becomes Eustress or Positive Stress. Else, if we let it engulf us- it becomes Negative Stress or Distress. One thing that i found helpful with my clients is to focus their attention on some goal – no matter how small, so that energy is directed towards it and thus slowly begin the process of healing and self-empowerment. Life is too precious – let’s embrace it with all its ups and downs.
Statistics from WHO are staggering, nearly 350 million people around the world are depressed. 350 MILLION!! That’s nearly 5% of the world’s population. The statistics are much worse when it comes to women, 1 in every 8 woman is suffering from depression or would develop clinical depression in her lifetime. We lose nearly 800000 people to suicides due to depression every year. If these statistics does not jolt you awake then nothing will.
Jessica, aged 32 is a high powered executive, has always been a high achiever. She graduated with top honors in both school and college. She has very high standards for herself and can be very self-critical when she fails to meet them. She is slowly but surely breaking the glass ceiling in the otherwise male dominated company. At home, she is mother to two adorable girls aged 8 and 6 who are mirrors of their mum. Her husband is the city’s leading lawyers and their love story is the envy of the town. Her in-laws adore her and she is the apple of her parent’s eye. Jessica’s life is perfect and envious.
Not everything is as it seems. If you look closely you observe that the once ever smiling Jessica does not smile a lot, she has dark circles around her eyes. She, since a few months has not been able to concentrate on work and hence the company is on the verge of losing a major account. She gets irritated by her children quiet often and yesterday had slapped the elder one. Her in-laws too observe her lack of attention to them. Jessica’s husband has noticed changes as well. She’s shown little interest in sex and has had difficulties falling asleep at night. So, what is happening to Jessica???
We are bombarded with images of superwomen wherever we see, be it movies or television. Advertisements with women who not only take care of house and family but are also the perfect career women. Such visuals look great in reel life but reality is different. Women are constantly pressurized to do it all, if they are stay at home moms taking care of their families; they are constantly taunted for lacking ambition and if women are career oriented they are pressurized into settling down and starting a family. This puts paramount pressure on a woman and under this kind of stress even the high and mighty crumble.
Read: Bust Stress with Reiki
Jessica was slowly failing to meet the impossibly high standard that she herself and the society put on her. She was slowly loosing the delicate balance between family and work. She felt that she was not giving time to her children and was constantly reminded about it. The final nail was when Jessica’s younger daughter fell ill, the “mommy please, don’t go to office, I need you here” became her undoing. Jessica had to attend office as she had an important meeting. Though she came early that day, the feeling of not being there when needed began to eat her up. She began to get depressed; she started to suffer from low self esteem and insomnia. Consequently her job began to suffer which gave rise to more problems and she started undervaluing herself. The usually upbeat Jessica would hardly smile she would be irritable and withdrawn. Jessica was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.Jessicas husband accidentally happened to spot her researching on the web the ways to commit suicide. This was the final straw, her husband and family intervened and immediately sought medical intervention. Jessica was diagnosed as being clinically depressed. Six months on, she is better. She was immediately put on medications. Jessica still visits her psychiatrist once a week.
Read: Depression healed through Reiki
Jessica’s story isn’t unique; if we look closely we will find Jessica in every corner. Women due to their anatomy are predisposed to depression. The hormonal changes that happen every month makes us especially vulnerable. The need of the hour is to talk about it, to communicate, to express ourselves. But we are busy hiding it. Mental illness like depression should not be brushed under the carpet, it has to be addressed. But there is hope. We are changing. Celebrities like Deepika Padukone have come out in the open about them combating depression; this has given the average woman more power to speak up. Also, we women have to stop pressuring ourselves into being perfect at all times. Sometimes it’s OK to let go and Breathe.
Healclinic has expert practitioners based in different locations. So if you want help with depression, reiki or yoga treatment in India or anywhere around the globe, we can help you. Contact us
Imagine yourself being trapped in a room where the only voice you hear, constantly screams at you saying how hopeless, helpless and unworthy you are. The voice possesses such confidence that it is impossible for you to ignore it. Imagine your entire life without color, just shades of Black and Grey, while this voice is constantly trying to convince you that life isn’t worth living.
Imagine you trying very hard to fight it but it finds more and improved ways to attack you. This is DEPRESSION. Depression is that dark cloud that convinces you how bad things are and no matter how hard you fight it, it defeats you, it wears you down.
It is human nature to feel down sometimes. To feel as though nothing’s going your way, a sense of gloom like a dark rainy day surrounds you, the world seems dull, everything makes you sad, but we mostly snap out of it within a day or two and the world seems bright and colorful as it should be.
But imagine feeling this gloom all the time, every single day. Forcing yourself to do things that brought you so much enjoyment earlier. Mundane things like getting out of bed is a humungous effort.
Depression is caused by chemical imbalance in the brain hence difficult to predict the trigger element. One moment you are happy and having fun and the very next minute you feel your whole world crumbling. You desperately are crying for help.
Your loved ones book an appointment with a psychiatrist, but why a psychiatrist??? Am I mad?? Will I be locked away in the mad house like the people we see in the movies??
The doctor is kind and say he just wants to talk, speaks to you about the changes in you. He wants you to relax and communicate with him. He asks you some questions which are easy to answer. It is before several of these sittings with a psychiatrist that you are diagnosed with having Clinical Depression. A bunch of tests are ordered to test your physiological well being. The kind doctor recommends antidepressants and counseling.
Amongst the many people you meet, you are most influenced by a woman called Kanta. She was a share broker before depression which ruined her career and her relationships. She always recommends her therapist named Sanjana, who helped her in recovering from depression. Kanta talks about how taking too many antidepressants are dangerous in the long run.
It’s a known fact that long term usage of antidepressants is associated with seizures and other heart rhythm abnormalities. Also, many patients suffer from a phenomenon called the “Prozac Pop Out” wherein initially the patients respond well to treatment but as time passes they see a return of symptoms even though they are on full term medication. Risk of Type 2 diabetes is increased with the use of antidepressant medication.
Lets read about two women who though apparently had everything going for them, were still diagonised with depression
The depression fighters emerge, who treat and who get treated
Sanjana: the corporate challenger
Sanjana is a practitioner of alternative therapies and has worked on integrative therapies to treat depression.
Sanjana was once diagnosed as being Clinically Depressed. A high-ranking officer in the corporate world, Sanjana’s life was picture perfect. She had it all, intelligence, beauty, doting and encouraging parents. Though she worked as a techie, her main passion in life was writing. She loved to weave magic through her writing. But lately, Sanjana’s pretty smile seem to be strained.
There was darkness beneath her eyes suggesting lack of sleep, the spark in her eyes were missing. Sanjana herself had no clue as to what was wrong with her, she felt lost.
The mood swings had started to take a toll on her work as well as family life. The final straw was when Sanjana felt burdened while indulging in her favorite hobby –writing. Writing had always brought her so much joy and happiness was now nothing but a burden. This scared her and she decided to seek professional help.
Sanjana was diagnosed with Depression. This was a jolt out of the blue but since Sanjana was a strong girl she decided to take control of her life. She started the long journey of self-help and healing. The first step was to let go the stress of the corporate world. She quit her job. She discovered the benefits of meditation and Reiki to heal herself.
Sanjana is cured of depression now. Not only has she started writing but has also found a new passion in painting. It helps her calm down and gives her inner peace. She has become an energy healer who now helps others who are in a similar situation as her.
Kanta: the Braveheart
Kanta’s story starts from her childhood. She came from a broken home. Her mother was abandoned by her father when Kanta was a little girl. Kanta was bullied throughout her school and college. This had a very big impact on her psyche. She hated her life and blamed her father for all the troubles that she went through.
Despite all of this happening to her, Kanta was an exceptionally good student; she passed with flying colors and was immediately offered a high-powered job in a reputed Trading Company. Kanta kept climbing the corporate ladder but with it came a great deal of stress and pressure. Slowly signs of depression began to show up in Kanta. Loss of appetite, weight loss, a sense of gloom, extreme fatigue – she started to be withdrawn and unsociable. The situation got so worse that she even attempted suicide but was thankfully saved at the last minute by her fiancé. She was diagnosed with major depression.
Kanta started to take therapy from Sanjana. Within a couple of sessions, Sanjana could find out that the root cause of her depression was the pent-up anger and grief that she suffered due to her father’s abandonment.
Kanta was taught how to deal with her anger issues through Counselling, Reiki and Yoga. This helped her get the passion back in her life and helped forgive her father so that she can move on with her life.
Depression strikes both men and women equally hard. Although studies have shown that women are more prone to depression than men.
Women while depressed tend to rehash negative feelings from long ago, this leads to negative self talk, crying for no reason and blaming one self. Whereas men tend to distract themselves when depressed. This helps ease the depression. Men tend to substance abuse such as drinking, gambling, and engaging in reckless behavior prior to the onset of depression whereas women tend to indulge in such behavior after the onset of depression especially when anxiety levels increase.
Women are more likely to get depressed in response to stressful situations; they also tend to respond in such a way that prolongs their feelings of stress more so than men.
Depression is more common than we think, but not untreatable as many of us perceive. Nor are antidepressants the only solution.
Take our depression test to check the likelihood of you having any of the symptoms or encourage those around you to take it. Prevention is always better than cure.
Need help with getting your life back, call us at +91 8050003237 or write in to us at consult@healclinic.in
How effective is reiki for depression and anxiety? Let’s understand through a patient journey.
Reiki has been around for decades but the general perception is that it is only useful for relieving pains and aches. Whereas in reality, it works at an energy level. It works on the philosophy that most illnesses occur based on emotional disturbances that our body has experienced either recently or in the past. Reiki practitioners work on the energy patterns and healing from the root cause. Reiki can help heal any illness at a physical, mental or emotional level. Healing for depression is definitely a very good alternate option.
And this is what a young girl in her early thirties experienced when she turned to reiki for the depression of her mother. Sreelatha (name changed to protect privacy), as she recounted her story “My mother suffered a lot, she had been suffering from depression since my childhood days but we never knew about the same. We belong to a small town near Dehradun and there was no way we could have taken her to see a psychiatrist without her being labeled “mad woman”. I vividly remember even as a child that my mother was never like the other moms and always remained withdrawn. I hardly had conversations with her and she always complained of lethargy and tiredness.
“Soon I graduated, got married and moved to Bangalore, but there was always this guilt that I carried with me of not taking care of my mother’s health. I started reading and researching about the symptoms which my mother had and still continued. And that is when I realized that she was suffering from depression her entire life.
Now knowing my mother, I knew that she would never go to a conventional psychologist, and bringing her to Bangalore for a long period of time was not an option. The only thing I was sure of in those days was that I had to get my mother healthy.
“I recalled having read somewhere that reiki healing for depression can be given remotely. I came across Healclinic and they connected me to a reiki healer on their platform"
“The reiki healer convinced my mother to take reiki sessions for depression through distance healing
Read: What is Reiki and how does it work?
During her sessions for reiki healing for depression, The Reiki healer connected the source of the depression to an incident that had occurred when my mother was in my grandmother’s womb. My mom’s sister, when she was 5 years old, had fallen from the roof and died. Because of which my grandmother went into depression. Grandma’s depression passed on to my mother who was in her womb at that time. Over time since it was not addressed, depression became part of my mother’s life without anyone really knowing the reason.’
This can be traced to a concept called Emotional Genealogy. It is the emotional traits that were handed down and the connection that we have to our ancestors. It can go back to our parents, grandparents, great grandparents, great great grandparents…going back two, three, four, five and sometimes more generations. It can include any emotional trait within our family lineage like happiness, pain, grit, kindness, cruelty, avoidance, violence, tenderness, fear, depression, etc. And this is precisely what had happened with Sreelatha’s mother. She used Karuna Reiki technique to heal my mother.
Karuna is a Sanskrit word and is used in Hinduism as well as Buddhism. It is translated to mean any action that is taken to diminish the suffering of others and could also be translated as compassionate action. Karuna Reiki for depression is considered as an advanced form of Reiki. Healing energies and tools used during karuna reiki sessions can be used to heal a wide set of challenges that are quite complex in nature. In Karuna reiki, instead of the energy transfer from the body and arms of the Reiki practitioner, it surrounds the whole body when transferring to the recipient.
Also Read: How Reiki helped a woman conceive with Reiki energy Healing?
Post the sessions, as per Sreelatha, “The healing sessions with meditation lasted for 31 days and today my mother is a changed woman. The depression has disappeared and she now leads a normal happy life, something which we had never imagined. This has reinforced my belief in energy healing as it helped solve my mother’s fifty year long suffering. A big thank you Healclinic”
Read: Reiki therapy and its simplicity in everyday life
Healclinic offers online Reiki healing for different challenges being faced by clients.
Depression is a mood disorder characterized by persistently low mood and a feeling of sadness and loss of interest. Depression is a persistent problem, not a passing one – the average length of a depressive episode is 6 to 8 months.
It is different from the fluctuations in mood that people experience as a part of normal life. Temporary emotional responses to the challenges of everyday life do not constitute depression. Likewise, even the feeling of grief resulting from the death of someone close is not itself depression if it does not persist. There are several mental ailments that can be effectively treated with yoga and depression is one of them. In fact, now-a-days yoga for depression is widely used as an alternative therapy.
The causes of depression are not fully understood and is likely to be due to a complex combination of factors that include:
Some people are at higher risk of depression than others; wherein the risk factors include:
Life events – including bereavement, divorce, work issues, relationships with friends and family, financial problems, medical concerns, or acute stress.
Personality – those with less successful coping strategies, or previous life trauma.
Genetic factors – first-degree relatives of depressed patients are at higher risk.
Childhood trauma.
Some prescription drugs – including corticosteroids, some beta-blockers, and other prescription drugs.
A past head injury.
People who have had an episode of major depression are at higher risk of a subsequent one.
Chronic pain syndromes in particular, but also other chronic conditions, such as diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cardiovascular disease.
Symptoms of depression can include:
Read: How depression can hit any of us?
As per our yoga practitioner
Yoga is a physical exercise that involves different body poses, breathing techniques, and meditation. Yoga for anxiety and depression helps with symptoms, such as improving energy levels, pain tolerance and self esteem and reduces stress, anxiety and depression.
Yoga for depression is a set of yoga’s which control the mind, since trying to control the mind directly is impossible, we need gross physical and breathing techniques.
The technique is to start with loosening exercises which are body movements repeated with jerks and speed. This helps initially to distract the mind from the loop of repeated thoughts. Once it is distracted by fast body movements you go on to slower body movements like surya namaskar and asanas. Similarly, one can start with fast breathing practices like Kapalabatti and then move on to slower breathing practices like Pranayama.
After alternating between a set of fast and slow body and breathing practices for about 20-30 minutes, the mind is pulled out of its loop of worrying thoughts. Now it can be set into further slowing down by Nadanusandhana, and then to actual meditation, which is nothing but a very slow effortless flow of single thought in the mind sinking down into total inner silence for a few seconds.
Read: Yoga Nidra and relaxationThis in due course helps in getting better mastery over mind and to taper off the medication to a very small maintenance dose.
Healclinic has yoga therapists based in different locations and also offer live customised sessions online. So if you are looking for customised sessions in India or anywhere around the globe, we can help you. Don't let the demons of depression take over your life. Contact us for online sessions of yoga for stress and depression management.
Statistics from WHO are staggering, nearly 350 million people around the world are depressed. 350 MILLION!! That’s nearly 5% of the world’s population. The statistics are much worse when it comes to women, 1 in every 8 woman is suffering from depression or would develop clinical depression in her lifetime. We lose nearly 800000 people to suicides due to depression every year. If these statistics does not jolt you awake then nothing will.
Jessica, aged 32 is a high powered executive, has always been a high achiever. She graduated with top honors in both school and college. She has very high standards for herself and can be very self-critical when she fails to meet them. She is slowly but surely breaking the glass ceiling in the otherwise male dominated company. At home, she is mother to two adorable girls aged 8 and 6 who are mirrors of their mum. Her husband is the city’s leading lawyers and their love story is the envy of the town. Her in-laws adore her and she is the apple of her parent’s eye. Jessica’s life is perfect and envious.
Not everything is as it seems. If you look closely you observe that the once ever smiling Jessica does not smile a lot, she has dark circles around her eyes. She, since a few months has not been able to concentrate on work and hence the company is on the verge of losing a major account. She gets irritated by her children quiet often and yesterday had slapped the elder one. Her in-laws too observe her lack of attention to them. Jessica’s husband has noticed changes as well. She’s shown little interest in sex and has had difficulties falling asleep at night. So, what is happening to Jessica???
We are bombarded with images of superwomen wherever we see, be it movies or television. Advertisements with women who not only take care of house and family but are also the perfect career women. Such visuals look great in reel life but reality is different. Women are constantly pressurized to do it all, if they are stay at home moms taking care of their families; they are constantly taunted for lacking ambition and if women are career oriented they are pressurized into settling down and starting a family. This puts paramount pressure on a woman and under this kind of stress even the high and mighty crumble.
Read: Bust Stress with Reiki
Jessica was slowly failing to meet the impossibly high standard that she herself and the society put on her. She was slowly loosing the delicate balance between family and work. She felt that she was not giving time to her children and was constantly reminded about it. The final nail was when Jessica’s younger daughter fell ill, the “mommy please, don’t go to office, I need you here” became her undoing. Jessica had to attend office as she had an important meeting. Though she came early that day, the feeling of not being there when needed began to eat her up. She began to get depressed; she started to suffer from low self esteem and insomnia. Consequently her job began to suffer which gave rise to more problems and she started undervaluing herself. The usually upbeat Jessica would hardly smile she would be irritable and withdrawn. Jessica was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.Jessicas husband accidentally happened to spot her researching on the web the ways to commit suicide. This was the final straw, her husband and family intervened and immediately sought medical intervention. Jessica was diagnosed as being clinically depressed. Six months on, she is better. She was immediately put on medications. Jessica still visits her psychiatrist once a week.
Read: Depression healed through Reiki
Jessica’s story isn’t unique; if we look closely we will find Jessica in every corner. Women due to their anatomy are predisposed to depression. The hormonal changes that happen every month makes us especially vulnerable. The need of the hour is to talk about it, to communicate, to express ourselves. But we are busy hiding it. Mental illness like depression should not be brushed under the carpet, it has to be addressed. But there is hope. We are changing. Celebrities like Deepika Padukone have come out in the open about them combating depression; this has given the average woman more power to speak up. Also, we women have to stop pressuring ourselves into being perfect at all times. Sometimes it’s OK to let go and Breathe.
Healclinic has expert practitioners based in different locations. So if you want help with depression, reiki or yoga treatment in India or anywhere around the globe, we can help you. Contact us here
Imagine yourself being trapped in a room where the only voice you hear, constantly screams at you saying how hopeless, helpless and unworthy you are. The voice possesses such confidence that it is impossible for you to ignore it. Imagine your entire life without color, just shades of Black and Grey, while this voice is constantly trying to convince you that life isn’t worth living.
Imagine you trying very hard to fight it but it finds more and improved ways to attack you. This is DEPRESSION. Depression is that dark cloud that convinces you how bad things are and no matter how hard you fight it, it defeats you, it wears you down.
It is human nature to feel down sometimes. To feel as though nothing’s going your way, a sense of gloom like a dark rainy day surrounds you, the world seems dull, everything makes you sad, but we mostly snap out of it within a day or two and the world seems bright and colorful as it should be.
But imagine feeling this gloom all the time, every single day. Forcing yourself to do things that brought you so much enjoyment earlier. Mundane things like getting out of bed is a humungous effort.
Depression is caused by chemical imbalance in the brain hence difficult to predict the trigger element. One moment you are happy and having fun and the very next minute you feel your whole world crumbling. You desperately are crying for help.
Your loved ones book an appointment with a psychiatrist, but why a psychiatrist??? Am I mad?? Will I be locked away in the mad house like the people we see in the movies??
The doctor is kind and say he just wants to talk, speaks to you about the changes in you. He wants you to relax and communicate with him. He asks you some questions which are easy to answer. It is before several of these sittings with a psychiatrist that you are diagnosed with having Clinical Depression. A bunch of tests are ordered to test your physiological well being. The kind doctor recommends antidepressants and counseling.
Amongst the many people you meet, you are most influenced by a woman called Kanta. She was a share broker before depression which ruined her career and her relationships. She always recommends her therapist named Sanjana, who helped her in recovering from depression. Kanta talks about how taking too many antidepressants are dangerous in the long run.
It’s a known fact that long term usage of antidepressants is associated with seizures and other heart rhythm abnormalities. Also, many patients suffer from a phenomenon called the “Prozac Pop Out” wherein initially the patients respond well to treatment but as time passes they see a return of symptoms even though they are on full term medication. Risk of Type 2 diabetes is increased with the use of antidepressant medication.
Lets read about two women who though apparently had everything going for them, were still diagonised with depression
The depression fighters emerge, who treat and who get treated
Sanjana: the corporate challenger
Sanjana is a practitioner of alternative therapies and has worked on integrative therapies to treat depression.
Sanjana was once diagnosed as being Clinically Depressed. A high-ranking officer in the corporate world, Sanjana’s life was picture perfect. She had it all, intelligence, beauty, doting and encouraging parents. Though she worked as a techie, her main passion in life was writing. She loved to weave magic through her writing. But lately, Sanjana’s pretty smile seem to be strained.
There was darkness beneath her eyes suggesting lack of sleep, the spark in her eyes were missing. Sanjana herself had no clue as to what was wrong with her, she felt lost.
The mood swings had started to take a toll on her work as well as family life. The final straw was when Sanjana felt burdened while indulging in her favorite hobby –writing. Writing had always brought her so much joy and happiness was now nothing but a burden. This scared her and she decided to seek professional help.
Sanjana was diagnosed with Depression. This was a jolt out of the blue but since Sanjana was a strong girl she decided to take control of her life. She started the long journey of self-help and healing. The first step was to let go the stress of the corporate world. She quit her job. She discovered the benefits of meditation and Reiki to heal herself.
Sanjana is cured of depression now. Not only has she started writing but has also found a new passion in painting. It helps her calm down and gives her inner peace. She has become an energy healer who now helps others who are in a similar situation as her.
Kanta: the Braveheart
Kanta’s story starts from her childhood. She came from a broken home. Her mother was abandoned by her father when Kanta was a little girl. Kanta was bullied throughout her school and college. This had a very big impact on her psyche. She hated her life and blamed her father for all the troubles that she went through.
Despite all of this happening to her, Kanta was an exceptionally good student; she passed with flying colors and was immediately offered a high-powered job in a reputed Trading Company. Kanta kept climbing the corporate ladder but with it came a great deal of stress and pressure. Slowly signs of depression began to show up in Kanta. Loss of appetite, weight loss, a sense of gloom, extreme fatigue – she started to be withdrawn and unsociable. The situation got so worse that she even attempted suicide but was thankfully saved at the last minute by her fiancé. She was diagnosed with major depression.
Kanta started to take therapy from Sanjana. Within a couple of sessions, Sanjana could find out that the root cause of her depression was the pent-up anger and grief that she suffered due to her father’s abandonment.
Kanta was taught how to deal with her anger issues through Counselling, Reiki and Yoga. This helped her get the passion back in her life and helped forgive her father so that she can move on with her life.
Depression strikes both men and women equally hard. Although studies have shown that women are more prone to depression than men.
Women while depressed tend to rehash negative feelings from long ago, this leads to negative self talk, crying for no reason and blaming one self. Whereas men tend to distract themselves when depressed. This helps ease the depression. Men tend to substance abuse such as drinking, gambling, and engaging in reckless behavior prior to the onset of depression whereas women tend to indulge in such behavior after the onset of depression especially when anxiety levels increase.
Women are more likely to get depressed in response to stressful situations; they also tend to respond in such a way that prolongs their feelings of stress more so than men.
Depression is more common than we think, but not untreatable as many of us perceive. Nor are antidepressants the only solution.
Take our depression test to check the likelihood of you having any of the symptoms or encourage those around you to take it. Prevention is always better than cure.
Need help with getting your life back, call us at +91 8050003237 or write in to us at consult@healclinic.in
Healclinic is a wellness platform which offers energy healing therapies like Reiki, Pranic Healing, Theta, Past Life, Inner Child, Family Constellation, Redikal, Graphotherapy, Akashik Records, Tarot Reading, Numerology, Astrology, Chakra Healing, by expert Healers.
Some of the energy healing therapies which we offer are reiki, pranic healing, past life regression, theta healing, redikal healing, family constellation, akashic records reading, astrological healing, inner child healing, hypnotherapy, tarot reading, numerology, astrology and many more. The basic tenet of all these therapies is that the human body is self healing and a person needs to be treated and not the disease.
They work on the cause of an ailment rather than the symptom and are more holistic in nature. It uses body’s own power to heal. These theraies are execllent ways to become aware of why you are facing a particular challenge and start healing from the root cause
