Depression – Page 6 – Hope > Vision

April 27, 2018April 27, 2018

Michael Phelps: ‘I am extremely thankful that I did not take my life’

Far from the familiar waters of an Olympic pool, swimmer Michael Phelps shared the story of his personal encounter with depression at a mental health conference in Chicago this week.

“You do contemplate suicide,” the winner of 28 Olympic medals told a hushed audience at the fourth annual conference of the Kennedy Forum, a behavioral health advocacy group.

Interviewed at the conference by political strategist David Axelrod (who is a senior political commentator for CNN), Phelps’ 20-minute discussion highlighted his battle against anxiety, depression. and suicidal thoughts — and some questions about his athletic prowess.

The ‘easy’ part

Asked what it takes to become a champion, Phelps, 32, immediately replied, “I think that part is pretty easy — it’s hard work, dedication, not giving up.”

Pressed for more details, the Baltimore native described the moment his coach told his parents he could become an Olympian and he recalled the taste of defeat when losing a race by “less than half a second” at his first Olympics in Sydney in 2000, which meant returning home without a medal.

“I wanted to come home with hardware,” said Phelps, acknowledging this feeling helped him break his first world record at age 15 and later win his first gold medal at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004.

“I was always hungry, hungry, and I wanted more,” said Phelps. “I wanted to push myself really to see what my max was.”

Intensity has a price.

“Really, after every Olympics I think I fell into a major state of depression,” said Phelps when asked to pinpoint when his trouble began. He noticed a pattern of emotion “that just wasn’t right” at “a certain time during every year,” around the beginning of October or November, he said. “I would say ’04 was probably the first depression spell I went through.”

That was the same year that Phelps was charged with driving under the influence, Axelrod reminded the spellbound audience.

And there was a photo taken in fall 2008 — just weeks after he’d won a record eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics — that showed Phelps smoking from a bong. He later apologized and called his behavior “regrettable.”

Drugs were a way of running from “whatever it was I wanted to run from,” he said. “It would be just me self-medicating myself, basically daily, to try to fix whatever it was that I was trying to run from.”

Raptors’ DeRozan hopes honest talk on depression helps others

From The Star

All-star DeMar DeRozan copes with troubled times — hinted at in all-star weekend tweet that sparked a wave of support — by throwing his life into his family and his basketball: “Sometimes . . . it gets the best of you.”

They appear to be invincible, professional athletes do, with so much money, so much fame, so many people to help with everything — a first-class life, everything taken care of.

And then the difficult, lonely moments hit — maybe in the middle of the night, or maybe just out of nowhere — and they struggle as many do to handle them, the tugs of life overwhelming.

DeMar DeRozan, who would seemingly have it all, knows those struggles — those times of depression, anxiety, loneliness — as well as anyone and they are his demons to deal with.

“It’s one of them things that no matter how indestructible we look like we are, we’re all human at the end of the day,” the 28-year-old Raptors all-star said. “We all got feelings . . . all of that. Sometimes . . . it gets the best of you, where times everything in the whole world’s on top of you.”

DeRozan is unimaginably wealthy, uncommonly famous and has at his disposal a virtual army of family, friends and support staff arranged in part by the Raptors.

April 5, 2018

Be Vocal Speak Up

Be Vocal is a partnership between Demi Lovato, who is living with bipolar disorder, five leading mental health advocacy organizations and Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Visit the amazing website here, and listen to Demi Lovato’s story.

http://www.bevocalspeakup.com/

April 5, 2018

Depression and anxiety: Have we got it wrong?

Full story at Al Jazeera

For 13 years, British author Johann Hari says he took the maximum possible dose of antidepressants. In Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Cause of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions, Hari draws from his personal experience to challenge how depression and anxiety are understood in society, particularly in the West.

“There are plenty of people who were, like me, taking chemical antidepressants and they didn’t help,” says Hari. “This isn’t an argument for or against chemical antidepressants, it’s an argument for expanding what we think of as an antidepressant.”

Spending more time in nature, enjoying work and building lasting relationships are some of the cultural and societal solutions Hari says need to be considered as part of treatment for depression and anxiety.

“Nobody denies that there are social and psychological causes of depression and anxiety,” says Hari, “but that has not informed most of how we respond to these problems.”

“I think part of the cruellest thing we’ve done is, we’ve put the onus for solving this problem onto depressed and anxious people,” says Hari.

Dwayne Johnson has opened up about his experience with depression

Full story at Mashable.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has opened up about the times during his life he’s battled with depression.

The actor spoke about his mother’s suicide attempt when he was 15, which he witnessed, in a recent interview with the Express.

“I reached a point where I didn’t want to do a thing or go anywhere,” he said. “I was crying constantly.”

He went on to describe another difficult period he went through after injuries prevented him from becoming a professional footballer and his girlfriend broke up with him — something he referred to as his “absolute worst time”.

Johnson finished by stressing the importance of helping people who are experiencing depression.

“We both healed but we’ve always got to do our best to pay attention when other people are in pain,” he said. “We have to help them through it and remind them they are not alone.”

Quebecer among winners of mental health awards

Originally From and full story at The Montreal Gazette

Josée Parent, who created the Mon Shack … Mes Choix … Mon Avenir! An organization in Sherbrooke in 2013 for young people living with mental illness.

She is one of seven winners of the 2018 Champions of Mental Health Awards announced by the Canadian Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health in Ottawa on Wednesday.

Mon Shack, the first organization of its kind in the Eastern Townships, provides bilingual services for people age 18 to 36 living with mental health issues; it is set to open a community housing project this summer to provide 18 transitional housing units. Groundbreaking for the two-storey structure took place in December.

Kristin Legault-Donkers was awarded the Sharon Johnston Champion of Mental Health Award for Youth. The young Ontario woman, who grew up with mental-health challenges, has written the Children’s Mental Health Series, a series of four books adapted into an educational package used in schools in London, Ont.

Traci Melchor, a Canadian television personality who has shared her continuing struggle with mental illness, along with the message that, “It’s OK not to be OK,” wins in the media category.

The winner in the community organization category is the British Columbia Aboriginal Network on Disability Society, which works with individuals and families living with mental illness to address the ongoing effects of residential-school trauma, racial discrimination, addictions and post-traumatic stress disorder.

8 Things To Remember When You Feel Broken Inside

This life certainly likes to push us to our limits, but sometimes, it all seems like too much and we fall into a black abyss of despair and hopelessness.

Feeling broken doesn’t mean that you should just give up entirely, however; it just means you need to take a step back and let those feelings come to the surface.

We all feel broken from time to time, because life can seem heartbreaking and terrifying when we go through certain experiences. These life lessons only make us stronger and more capable of dealing with life, though, so use your brokenness as a gift that will help you grow as a person.

1. Remember that cracks allow light to come in.
If you didn’t become broken from time to time, there would be no place for the light to enter your soul. Basically, it takes awful, heart-wrenching experiences for us to see all the good in the world sometimes, and for us to go through a transformation of the soul. If we just had positive, uplifting experiences all the time, we would have no room to grow and no life experiences that would challenge us to become more resilient, powerful people.

You can’t expect life to grant you an easy ride; if it did, you would miss out on life-changing experiences that would break you open, tear you apart, and rebuild you into a better version of yourself. Many parts of ourselves open up when we feel broken, so remember this any time you feel exhausted and utterly shattered by life.

2. Remember to accept and honor your feelings; don’t fight them.
Don’t feel bad for having negative or heavy emotions; if you didn’t, you wouldn’t be human. Certain experiences warrant a strong reaction from us, and sometimes that means crying, screaming, falling to our knees, and just accepting the waves of emotion that come over us. Keeping all of this balled up inside will only backfire in the end, so don’t ever keep your feelings hidden for fear of other people’s reactions. Fighting off your feelings will only delay the breakdown, and you’ll walk around feeling the weight of the world on your shoulders. You must walk bravely into the place within you that harbors these deep emotions, so you can begin to work through them and figure out what they want you to take from all you’ve been through.

3. Keep remembering your “why.”
During hardships, we often forget what we even want from life in the first place. We all came here to love with all of our hearts, and increase the vibration of this planet in unison. When you feel broken, you can easily overlook or forget your mission here on Earth, but going through hard times actually gives your purpose more depth. If you didn’t go through unpleasant experiences, you wouldn’t be able to relate to so many other people on this planet who go through hard times almost every day. Keep your “why” in mind, and reflect on how the negative situations you’ve encountered allow you to have a more well-rounded perspective and better serve your purpose on Earth.

4. Remember everything that exists beyond your brokenness.
Just because you feel broken, does not mean the whole world shares your perspective. It does not mean the entire planet must go down in flames because of one bad day or experience you had, so remember to broaden your perspective next time you go through bad times. Think of the fact that you still get to breathe fresh air, see the clouds float by on a sunny day, feel the wind on your skin, smile at a stranger..think of all these beautiful little things you can still do even though you feel broken. Remember all of the good things happening on the planet despite your temporary slump, and the whole world won’t look like such a dark place anymore.

5. Remember the friends and family that are there for support.
When you feel down and out about life, your friends and family will comfort you and be your rock when you need them. Don’t hesitate to ask them for help, because we all need some assistance when we go through a rough patch in life. If you feel like a burden on them, just remember all the times you were there for them; the people who care about you would gladly do the same for you.

6. Remember to focus on the things that bring you joy.
So often when we feel broken, we focus our attention entirely on our despair and forget about the things that bring us happiness. Go out and get some sunshine, plant some flowers, ride your bike, catch up with friends over coffee, or simply anything on this Earth that makes your heart light up with joy. Just because you feel broken, doesn’t mean you have to spend every waking minute of your life mulling over your feelings and wallowing in a sea of turmoil.

7. Don’t identify so much with your feelings.
Remember that you don’t really own your feelings or thoughts; they just come and go as they please, and you just get to watch them make an appearance, even if you didn’t invite them in. Think about this: you consciously invite friends and family over to your house, but you don’t knock on the doors of your emotions and give them an invitation to your brain. It just doesn’t work that way, so remember that you don’t have to identify with your feelings. You are SO much more than your temporary emotions, so don’t let them control you.

8. Remember that life is a series of ups and downs, and this is only temporary.

Just like your emotions, this whole ride we have been thrown onto since birth only exists for a short while. We take it so seriously, yet overlook the fact that we don’t get to spend forever in this existence. Enjoy it while it lasts; yes, even the hardships and despair, because when you look back on your life, you will thank your brokenness just as much as your happiness for all it taught you on your own personal journey.

March 13, 2018

Taking a paws for mental health in Innisfil

From Simcoe.Com

Exam time can be stressful for teenagers and the Innisfil IdeaLAB and Library has a solution: dogs and doughnuts.

The new Dogs and Donuts program was first tested in the summer and again on Dec. 15.

Another session is planned in January.

It pairs dogs from the St. John Ambulance therapy dog program with area high school students after school.

“We come here to get community service hours for Nantyr Shores Secondary School,” Ashlee Pauze said. “This is the first time we visited with the dogs.”

She has a dog at home and appreciated petting a bigger dog, a labradoodle named Dooley.

Dooley’s owner Greg Belanger has been with St. John Ambulance for over four years.

“I accidentally found out about the program when I first moved here after doing first aid training.”

Dooley just celebrated his 350th therapy visit.

“Everyone tells us he brings them joy and happiness and it reduces stress,” Belanger said. “Visiting with the students, most of them want to talk about their own dog.”

Jashvitha Vasanthakumar said she does get stressed around exam time.

“There’s a lot to handle. So much studying to do and it’s hard to concentrate on all of them, especially when they’re different subjects,” she said.

March 2, 2018March 2, 2018

How to connect with depressed friends…

March 2, 2018

Depression is often very well hidden

The people that have suffered and have overcome? They know all the tricks. They know what to say. They know how to act. They know what NOT to say.

And those people sometimes die.

It’s so hard to know, to intrude without intruding, to be able to get in front of it.

I don’t have the answer. Maybe there is none. Just always try and take care of each other. Always care, and never be shy to let them know. Do your best. It’s all anyone can do.