Die Mehrzahl der Menschheit führt ein Leben in stiller Verzweiflung.
Henry-David Thoreau (1817-1862) US-amerikanischer Philosoph, Historiker, Transzendentalist

Die klinische Depression tritt vorwiegend im Alter von 24 bis 44 Jahren auf, bei Frauen doppelt so häufig wie bei Männern. In jüngster Zeit ist ein Anstieg der psychischen Krankheit bei Männern zu beobachten.

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Funktionelle Hypoglykämie

Hypoglykämie bezeichnet einen zu niedrigen Blutzuckerspiegel, einen zu geringen Glukoseanteil im Blut (Unterzucker). Oft geht das mit Symptomen verminderter Hirnleistung, Krampfanfällen oder verstärkter Adrenalinausschüttung einher. Bei einer Unterzuckerung sinkt der Zuckergehalt im Zwischenzellwasser so weit, dass die Zellen deshalb nicht korrekt funktionieren. zit. aus Wikipedia

Der Psychiater Dr. David Hawkins hat im Lauf seines Berufslebens Tausende von Patienten, die unter Depressionen und Angststörungen litten, behandelt. Er selbst hatte Angststörungen, bei denen Antidepressiva nicht anschlugen.
Das Buch Zucker Blues. Suchtstoff Zucker von William Dufty, Verlag Zweitausendeins, Frankfurt am Main, 1996 gab ihm den entscheidenden Hinweis auf den oft übersehenen Auslöser von 95% der Depressionerkrankungen: Funktionelle Hypoglyklämie.
Zuckerunverträglichkeit von Glukose und Saccharose hat eine schädliche Wirkung auf das Gehirn eines Depressiven. Der Verzicht auf Industriezucker ist angezeigt. Fruchtzucker (Fruktose) ist ein geeigneter Ersatz. Unter dieser Voraussetzung haben Antidepressiva erst die Chance, zu wirken. Sie sind hilfreich, um die Gehirnchemie eines Depressiven zu balancieren.

Audiointerview mit David R. Hawkins, präsentiert vom Webradiosender Blogtalkradio Awakenings, Gastgeberin Michele Meiche, Minute 49:52 55:18, 1:30 h Dauer, Mittwoch, 15. Juli 2009

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Statistik – Lebensverlängernde Verhaltensweisen

Mehrere Langzeitstudien ermittelten folgende Sieben Faktoren der Lebensführung für eine hohe Lebenserwartung:

Mäßiger Alkoholkonsum
Verzicht aufs Rauchen
Stabile Ehe / Partnerschaft
Regelmäßige Bewegung / Sport
Angemessenes Körpergewicht
Fähigkeit, positiv mit Problemen umzugehen
Vermeidung depressiver Erkrankungen
Quelle: American Journal of Psychiatry, 158 (6): 839-47, 2001

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Fünf Strategien angesichts des Unausweichlichen

In berühmten ihrem Buch On Death and Dying erforschte die die Sterbeforscherin Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross die heutzutage anerkannten fünf Phasen bzw. Strategien, Tragödien wie man sich der Diagnose einer tödlich endenden Krankheit und der immanenten Sterlichkeit stellt. Sie sind in der Reihenfolge nicht festgelegt, Wiederholungen einzelner Phasen sind möglich.

Nichtwahrhabenwollen und Isolierung
Zorn, Wut
Verhandeln
Depression
Zustimmung / Akzeptanz

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Zitate zum Thema Depression

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Zitate allgemein

Persönliche Bekenntnisse von Depressiven und deren Angehörigen und Freunden

Es freut mich nichts. Alles hat sein Gewicht verloren. Ich habe eigentlich kein Heim, keine Heimat, kann nicht recht Wurzel fassen. Und alles ist so zerstört und gespenstisch, beladen mit traurigen oder süßen und dann erst recht so wehen Erinnerungen. Du kannst mich ja verstehen – wahrscheinlich klingt das alles riesig banal.
Ich glaube nicht, dass ich noch lange leben werde. Nicht, als ob ich den Tod fürchtete oder wünschte. Sondern ich habe nur das Gefühl, nichts zu suchen zu haben […]
Gegenüber der Traurigkeit versagt das Wort. Ich hätte nie gedacht, dass ein Mensch so einsam und allein sein kann, ohne einfach sterben zu müssen. Und ich hätte nie gedacht, dass einem das Sterben so leicht werden kann.
Die Sehnsucht nach Tilly ist mein inneres Brot, von dem ich lebe. Und die Fülle des Leidens ist mir zuletzt irgendwie als eine Auszeichnung, eine Nahesein gegenüber etwas Höherem vorgekommen. […]
Es ist nur arg, dass einem so die Bodenlosigkeit des Leids zu Bewusstsein kommt: Im Lager dachte man, am Tiefstpunkt angelangt zu sein: aber er wurde erst erreicht, als man 'frei' nach 'Hause' kam. Viktor E. Frankl (1905-1997) österreichischer Psychiater, Psychotherapeut, Neurologe, KZ-Überlebender, Sinnforscher, Begründer der Logotherapie, 1982, exzerpiert aus einem Brief von Wien an seinen Freund Rudolf Stenger, 30. Oktober 1945
Während einer Depression von Mitte August 1945 bis Mitte April 1946

Ich habe stets versucht, ihm Perspektive und Hoffnung zu geben. Ich habe geglaubt, mit Liebe können wir das durchstehen. Teresa Enke, Witwe des depressiven deutschen Nationaltorwarts Robert Enke, der am 10. November 2009 Selbstmord beging

Ich war deprimiert über die Zukunft der Welt. Deshalb habe ich mich aufgerafft, Orangenkonfitüre zuzubereiten. Es ist erstaunlich, wie es einen aufmuntert, wenn man Orangen zerkleinert und den Boden aufwischt! D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930) englischer Schriftsteller

Die Schwermütigen [Depressiven] leben Wand an Wand mit Gott. Romano Guardini (1885-1968) italienischer katholischer Religionsphilosoph, Theologe, Autor

Die blinden Flecke in unserer Wahrnehmung helfen uns also offensichtlich, besser durchs Leben zu kommen. Henrik Ibsen, der die Fähigkeit des Menschen zur Selbsttäuschung in vielen seiner Werke thematisiert hat, schreibt ihr eine wichtige Funktion zu: "Nimm dem Durchschnittsmenschen seine Lebenslüge, und du hast ihn auch seines Glückes beraubt." Ursula Nuber, deutsche Diplompsychologin, Psychotherapeutin, Autorin, stellvertretende Chefredakteurin der Zeitschrift Psychologie Heute, Die verkannte Krankheit Depression, S. 137, Kreuz Verlag, 1991

Depression ist die einzige neurotische Manifestation, die der alten Seele geblieben ist. Selbst Jesus war davon betroffen. Jeder von euch brachte Jahre damit zu, diese Fassade aufzubauen, Meint ihr nun wirklich, dass ihr euch mit linker Hand dieser verfestigten Kruste entledigen könnt? Es wird nicht ohne Tränen abgehen. Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (*1942) finnisch-italienisch-US-amerikanische Schriftstellerin, Michael, Mensch sein, Band 1, S. 90, Edition Borg

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Zitate (engl.) allgemein

Personal avowals of depressives

Bill Moyers: Are you're happy at 80?
Robert Bly: Yeah, i am happy at 80. I can't stand so much happiness.
And sometimes – maybe one day at the week – I'll become depressed.
But the rest of the time, especially if I'm writing poetry, I'm never depressed.
Bill Moyers: What depresses you?
Robert Bly: Who knows? Depression comes up from underneath. It just grabs you.
It is an entity of its own. We are built for depression in a way because the nafs
[i.e. the "greedy soul"] is so strong in us it doesn't want us to be happy and give away things.
It wants us to pull back inside.
Video presentation with Robert Bly (*1926) US American poet, author, activist, leader Mythopoetic Men's Movement, Bill Moyers talks with Poet Robert Bly, presented by PBS' Bill Moyer's Journal, producer and interviewer Bill Moyers, presented by PBS, minute 24:30, see Interview transcript, 27:22 minutes duration, posted 31. August 2007

As I've gotten older, I find I am able to be nourished more by sorrow and to distinguish it from depression. Robert Bly (*1926) US American poet, author, activist, leader Mythopoetic Men's Movement

I got the blues thinking of the future of the world, so I left off and made some marmalade. It's amazing how it cheers one up to shred oranges and scrub the floor! D. H. Lawrence (1885-1930) English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic

I have studiously tried to avoid ever using the word 'madness' to describe my condition. Now and again, the word slips out, but I hate it. 'Madness' is too glamorous a term to convey what happens to most people who are losing their minds. That word is too exciting, too literary, too interesting in its connotations, to convey the boredom, the slowness, the dreariness, the dampness of depression. Elizabeth Wurtzel (*1967) US American confessional memoir writer, journalist, Prozac Nation, Riverhead Trade, 1994

If I had not been already been meditating, I would certainly have had to start. I've treated my own depression for many years with exercise and meditation, and I've found that to be a tremendous help. Judy Collins (*1939) US American folk and standards singer, songwriter, social activist

It is so strange to me that I cannot get it right – the depression, I mean, which does not come from something definite, but from nothing. Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) English author, essayist, publisher, writer

For four decades I have sat in shrinks' offices and talked about my wish to die the way other people talk about their wish to find a love. Daphne Merkin (*1954) US American literary critic, essayist, novelist, on her forty year battle with depression, The Observer, Sunday, 13. September 2009
From the age of five, Daphne Merkin has battled depression.

I cry a lot. My emotions are very close to my surface. I don't want to hold anything in so it it festers and turns into pus – a pustule of emotion that explodes into a festering cesspool of depression. Nicolas Cage (*1964) US American actor, producer, director

My recovery from manic depression has been an evolution, not a sudden miracle. Patty Duke (1946) US American actress, diagnosed with bipolar disorder (manic depression) in 1982, educating the public on mental health issues

I don't believe in depression. Wipe it out! You've got to replace a bad thought with a good one. Happiness is a habit, a good habit. [...] I don't get bored because I know how to go into the unknown. I can just sit here and go off into the world of my own thoughts. Mae West (1893-1980) US American actress, playwright, screenwriter, sex symbol

I don't believe in happiness: why should we expect to be happy? In such a world as this, depression is rational, rage reasonable. Fay Weldon (*1931) English feminist author, essayist, playwright

If I wasn't doing this, I'd probably be a depressed little person. Britney Spears (*1981) US American recording artist, entertainer

I personally think that most depression has its roots in loneliness, but that the medical professionals are a lot more comfortable calling it 'depression' than calling it 'loneliness.' Patch Adams, M.D. (*1945) US American physician, social activist, citizen diplomat, author, Conferenza con Patch Adams, presented by Arcoiris.TV, Reggio Emilia, 27. March 2008, Google video, minute 4:48, 1:00:12 duration, posted 25. January 2009

There is no anti-depressant that will cure a depression that's spiritually based, for the malaise doesn't originate from brain dysfunction, but from an accurate response to the desecration of life. Dr. David Hawkins, Power vs. Force, S. ?

Each negative input brought the [TV] watcher closer to eventual sickness and to imminent depression – which is now the world's most prevalent illness. Subtle grades of depression kill more people than the other diseases of mankind combined. Dr. David Hawkins, Power vs Force, S. 278

All the negative energy fields are based on placing the source of our happiness externally. This results as being vulnerable and also being the potential, hopeless victim. Being a victim means perceiving a cause as being outside of ourselves. […] It is only by owning ourself as the source of happiness, as the experience of our existence, independent and beyond that which happens within the world, that we become immune to depressive episodes. Dr. David Hawkins, Healing and Recovery, chapter 12 Depression, S. 366-367

One might say that anybody who gets depressed has been addicted to placing their survival on something outside of themselves. Dr. David Hawkins, Healing and Recovery, chapter 12 Depression, S. 370

Suicidality is a risk when very depressed patients begin to improve. I believe that this risk occurs independently of antidepressants per se. The severely depressed are too apathetic to activate suicide. Dr. David Hawkins, Suicidality and Antidepressants, presented by Psychiatric News, Volume 40, Number 10, p. 52, © 2005 American Psychiatric Association, 20. May 2005

Why do you stay in prison when the door is so wide open?
Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking. Live in silence. Jalal ad-Din Muḥammad Rumi [LoC 550] (1207-1273) Persian Muslim poet, jurist, theologian, Sufi mystic

There are moments in human life when a new page is turned. New interests and tendencies appear which have hitherto received no attention, or there is a sudden change of personality (a so-called mutation of character). During the incubation period of such a change we can often observe a loss of conscious energy: the new development has drawn off the energy it needs from consciousness. The lowering of energy can be seen most clearly before the onset of certain psychoses and also in the empty stillness which precedes creative work. Carl Gustav Jung [LoC 540] (1875-1961) Swiss psychiatrist, psychoanalytist, depth psychologist

It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it's a depression when you lose yours. Harry S. Truman [LoC 495] (1884-1972) 33rd US president during World War II

Most people live their lives in silent agony. Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) US American author, poet, historian, philosopher, transcendentalist, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor

Depression can be healthy for the soul, insofar as "it brings refuge, limitation, focus, gravity, weight, and humble powerlessness." James Hillman (*1926) Jewish-European US-American archetypal Jungian psychologist, author, A blue fire. Selected writings by James Hillman, pp. 152–53, Harper & Row, New York, NY, 1989

Depression is an emotion to be consciously transformed;
grief is a reaction to loss that can transform you. Judith Orloff, M.D., Ph.D., US American psychiatrist, author, lecturer, dying companion, Healing Loss: The Difference Between Grief and Depression, adaptation from Emotional Freedom. Liberate Yourself From Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life, Harmony Books, March 2009

Just the opposite of how it feels, tears and sadness feel like the worst way, but are the best way to break us into liminality and transformation, frankly because the old consciousness can’t work anymore. Do you understand the old problem-solving consciousness? It doesn’t suffice. Until you let go of that consciousness where everything has got to be 2+2 = 4, you cannot break through to what I think all of our religions would call enlightenment or transformation. Father Richard Rohr O.F.M. (*1943) US American Franciscan friar, Sadness, Yale University Address to Medical Students, presented by Malespirituality.org, November 2005

In every culture […] there was one universal element in historic initiation – grief work. The young male had to be taught somehow the way of tears. He had to be taught how to cry. In fact, if I were to sum up this whole spirituality of initiation in a one liner, it would be this; the young man who cannot cry is a savage, the old man who cannot laugh is a fool. Father Richard Rohr O.F.M. (*1943) US American Franciscan friar, Sadness, Yale University Address to Medical Students, presented by Malespirituality.org, November 2005

I believe transformation almost always happens when you’re inside of liminal space, when you’re on the threshold. […] Being in liminal space doesn’t mean identifying with this victim theology that we have so much of today. […] There is meaning there precisely because at that point you can’t fix it and therefore, the ego has to give up control. That’s liminal space […] and that’s when God can get at you. As long as the ego is in control, as long as you’re into the fixing mode of thinking you can explain it. All of our Christian mystics say that the great teacher is darkness not light. Father Richard Rohr O.F.M. (*1943) US American Franciscan friar, Sadness, Yale University Address to Medical Students, presented by Malespirituality.org, November 2005

The ego wants light, which lends a certain kind of superficial clarity. Ego wants it so bad that it seems to me it settles for satisfying untruth. Ego wants satisfaction. […] therefore, it will choose immediately satisfying untruth instead of what is always unsatisfying truth. Now unsatisfying truth is what I would call the theology of darkness. Father Richard Rohr O.F.M. (*1943) US American Franciscan friar, Sadness, Yale University Address to Medical Students, presented by Malespirituality.org, November 2005

The mood state Americans are in, on average, when watching television is mildly depressed. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (*1934) Hungarian professor in psychology, happiness researcher

The term 'clinical depression' finds its way into too many conversations these days. One has a sense that a catastrophe has occurred in the psychic landscape. Leonard Cohen (*1934) Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet, novelist, depressive

So often we dwell on the things that seem impossible rather than on the things that are possible. So often we are depressed by what remains to be done and forget to be thankful for all that has been done. Marian Wright Edelman (*1939) US American activist for the rights of children, president and founder of the Children's Defense Fund

That terrible mood of depression of whether it's any good or not is what is known as The Artist's Reward. Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) US American author, journalist

Depression is nourished by a lifetime of ungrieved and unforgiven hurts. Penelope Sweet

You largely constructed your depression. It wasn't given to you. Therefore, you can deconstruct it. Albert Ellis (1913-2007) US American psychologist, developer of the Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), 1955

Depression is rage spread thin. George Santayana (1863-1952) Spanish US American philosopher, essayist, poet, novelist, literature critic

Tears

There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief [...] and unspeakable love. Elie Wiesel (*1928) German-French Jewish writer, professor, political activist, Holocaust survivor, Peace Nobel Price laureate

Tears are the safety valve of the heart when too much pressure is laid on it. Albert Richard Smith (1816-1860) English author, entertainer, mountaineer

It is impossible to feel grateful and depressed in the same moment. Naomi Williams (1979-2009) US American wife, mother, photographer, cancer fighter

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Zitate (engl.) von Dorothy Rowe, depression expert

Nobody has a happy childhood!
Life is difficult.
Only 'good' [good according to one's family's definition of "good", guilt-ridden] people get depressed.
Actually, what's falling apart are our ideas, but it feels like yourself falling apart. And that's utterly, utterly terrifying.
It comes about the way how we see ourselves in the world. It feels like falling apart. When we suffer loss the natural feeling is to feel sad. But when you turn that loss into blame you fall into depression.
I like to know how stories turn out.
Dorothy Rowe, Homepage, Australian clinical psychologist, author, leader in the study and treatment of depression, voted as one of the 50 wisest people in the UK by Saga Magazine in 2003 in an audio interview, presented by Radio National, Australia, program Wisdom Interviews, host Peter Thompson, 25. July 2004

There never has been any evidence that any brain chemical was depleted when a person was depressed. […] Now, thirty years after the hypothesis was first produced, the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Institute of Psychiatry have accepted that depression isn’t caused by a chemical imbalance. But you’ll find this out only if you visit their websites. They haven’t issued a press release saying, ‘We were wrong.’
On the Institute of Psychiatry’s website there is a lengthy notice about an important conference on depression which will be held in April 2007. The preamble to this notice reads, ‘Depression cannot be described any longer as a simple disorder of the brain, but rather as a series of behavioural and biological changes that span mind, brain, genes, body – and indeed affects both psychological and physical health.’
The website of the Royal College of Psychiatrists has dropped all references to chemical imbalance causing depression. If you look at the very detailed and informative pamphlet on depression made available on the website, under the heading, ‘Why does it [depression] happen?’, there is a statement which says that sometimes there’s an obvious reason for becoming depressed and sometimes there isn’t. It’s different for different people. Then there’s a list of the things that can lead you to be depressed […] such as a bereavement, a divorce or losing a job; circumstances, such as having no friends, being stressed or physically run down; physical illness, such as having a life threatening illness like cancer or a chronic disease like arthritis or bronchitis;
personality which ‘may be because of our genes, because of experiences in our early life, or both’; alcohol ‘It often isn’t clear which came first – the drinking or the depression’;
gender '‘Women seem to get depressed more than men do. It may be that men are less likely to admit their feelings and bottle them up, or express them in aggression or through drinking heavily. Women are likely to have the double stress of having to work and look after children’';
and genes – depression can run in families. Dorothy Rowe, Homepage, Australian clinical psychologist, author, leader in the study and treatment of depression, voted as one of the 50 wisest people in the UK, The Real Causes of Depression, presented by Saga Magazine, February 2007

For many years geneticists have been saying that a single gene cannot be the cause of complex behaviour, but only recently have psychiatrists stopped talking about ‘a depression gene’ or ‘a schizophrenic gene’.
Moreover, developmental psychologists studying newborn babies have shown that babies born to depressed mothers become distressed and then apathetic when their mother fails to respond to the baby’s attempts to engage his mother in those little conversations which undepressed mothers have with their babies all the time. […] Depression does run in families, but it’s not through the genes. Dorothy Rowe, Homepage, Australian clinical psychologist, author, leader in the study and treatment of depression, voted as one of the 50 wisest people in the UK, The Real Causes of Depression, presented by Saga Magazine, February 2007

Psychiatrists don’t talk of curing depression but of managing it in a way similar to the way doctors manage a chronic illness like diabetes or epilepsy. Dorothy Rowe, Homepage, Australian clinical psychologist, author, leader in the study and treatment of depression, voted as one of the 50 wisest people in the UK, The Real Causes of Depression, presented by Saga Magazine, February 2007

Having to take responsibility for yourself can seem like a tremendous disadvantage, but there is a great advantage. If you don’t understand how you created your depression, then by learning more about yourself you can uncreate it. In the same way many people diagnosed schizophrenic have recovered by coming to understand themselves. Dorothy Rowe, Homepage, Australian clinical psychologist, author, leader in the study and treatment of depression, voted as one of the 50 wisest people in the UK, The Real Causes of Depression, presented by Saga Magazine, February 2007

The different experiences which psychiatrists call mental illness or mental disorder begin with an overwhelming fear and a feeling that your very self is shattering, even disappearing. This happens when you discover that there is a serious discrepancy between what you thought your life was and what it actually is. Mental illnesses are not illnesses but defences to hold the person together when he feels that he is falling apart. These desperate defences are terrible to endure but, if we are willing to learn, they can teach us that we need to change the way we live our life. It isn’t always easy to change how we see ourselves and our world but, as the testimonies of many people show, it is in our power to do so. Dorothy Rowe, Homepage, Australian clinical psychologist, author, leader in the study and treatment of depression, voted as one of the 50 wisest people in the UK, The Real Causes of Depression, presented by Saga Magazine, February 2007

Don’t say, “I am depressed.” If you want to say, “It is depressed,” that’s all right. If you want to say that depression is there, that’s fine; if you want to say gloominess is there, that’s fine. But not: I am gloomy. You’re defining yourself in terms of the feeling. That’s your illusion; that’s your mistake. There is a depression there right now, but let it be, leave it alone. It will pass. Everything passes, everything.''' Your depressions and your thrills have nothing to do with happiness. Those are swings of the pendulum. If you seek kicks or thrills, get ready for depression. Do you want your drug? Get ready for the hangover. One end of the pendulum swings over to the other.
Anthony de Mello SJ (1931-1987) Indian Catholic Jesuit priest, psychotherapist, spiritual leader

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Englische Texte – English section on Depression

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A Cure For Life – Healing Depression without Drugs

25 % of the Americans and every 5th person worldwide are depressed.
Since WW2 depression rates have risen 10 times more. I has doubled its numbers since 1990.
in 2020 depression will be the 2nd largest killer next to heart diseases.

Psychologist Stephen S. Ilardi points out that experience heals the imbalanced brain.

Ilardi's non-pharmaceutical cure is called Therapeutic Lifestyle Change (TLC). It's success rate in curing depressives is 77%.
It adopts a 19th century life style like the Amish people (who have only 1 tenth of depressives in USA among them):

Intense physical activity (like hunter-gatherers, agrarians) –
Diet – Omega-3 fatty acids / cod liver oil
Environment – 1 hour sunlight exposure daily
Close and frequent interpersonal contact – social support, friendship
Engaged joyful activities (not watching TV) instead of ruminating / brooding on negative thoughts in lonely leisure time
Sleep – at least 8 hours, better 9 hours daily

Sources:

Stephen S. Ilardi PhD, psychologist at the University of Kansas, The Depression Cure. The 6-Step Program to Beat Depression without Drugs, reading excerpt Introduction to The Depression Cure, Da Capo Lifelong Books, 1st edition, 1. June 2009
Anti-Depression "Stone Age" Remedy, presented by watercolor online KBT, YouTube clip, 5:21 minutes duration, posted 15. October 2007
referring to Stephen Ilardi, psychologist at the University of Kansas
Audio Interview with Stephen Ilardi, presented by Radio Project "Equal time", aired July 20th, reaired 7. September 2009
Audio Interview with Stephen Ilardi The Depression Cure on Positively Incorrect!, presented by blogtalkradio Positively Incorrect, host Scott Cluthe, 1 hour duration, aired 12. June 2009

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Poems – Depression

A lazy part of us is like a tumbleweed.
It doesn’t move on its own. Sometimes it takes
A lot of Depression to get tumbleweeds moving.
Robert Bly, Morning Poems

Hiding in my room, safe within my womb,
I touch no one and no one touches me.
I am a rock,
I am an island.
And a rock feels no pain;
And an island never cries.
Paul Simon, cited from the song I Am a Rock

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Abraham Lincoln's depression

Lincoln and His Depressisons. His unremitting despair and constant failure steeled his character,
excerpts by John McManamy, presented by mcmanweb.com, 10. November 2005, reviewed 12. February 2008

"Lincoln’s look at that moment – the classic image of gloom – was familiar to everyone who knew him well. … He often wept in public and cited maudlin poetry. He told jokes and stories at odd times – he needed the laughs, he said, for his survival. As a young man he talked of suicide, and as he grew older, he said he saw the world as hard and grim, made that way by fates and forces of God. ‘No element of Mr Lincoln’s character,’ declared his colleague Henry Whitney, ‘was so marked, obvious and ingrained as his mysterious and profound melancholy.’ His law partner, William Herndon said, ‘His melancholy dripped from him as he walked.’" Joshua Shenk, US American essayist, author, creative strategist, Lincoln’s Melancholy. How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness, Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005

"I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on the earth. Whether I shall ever be better I can not tell; I awfully forebode I shall not; To remain as I am is impossible; I must die or be better. Abraham Lincoln [LOC 500] (1809-1865) assassinated 16th US President (1861-1865), confession at age 31

Lincoln’s melancholia allowed him to see events with preternatural second sight. […] Nevertheless, he felt compelled to speak out against the madness, even at the risk of his career. Paradoxically, his political career took off […]

Back in Lincoln’s time, living successfully with a mental illness was viewed as a character virtue.
[…] having decided that he WOULD live, he then decided HOW to live. When faced with the challenge of a lifetime, he proved more than ready.

"My greatest concern is to be on God's side," Abraham Lincoln's advise to a colleague

[…] On assuming his second term of office, Lincoln spoke the finest words ever uttered in the English tongue:

"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds." Abraham Lincoln, 20. January 1865

Not only did Abraham Lincoln suffer from serious bouts of depression, but he also tried to give advice to others he knew were suffering. Lincoln's depressions, whether they lasted for hours, days, weeks, or months always came to an end. Knowing this, he could encourage others. It would seem his own experience led him to believe that depression was not a permanent condition.

Source: Abraham Lincoln Research Site

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The benefits of tears

For over 20 years as physician, I've witnessed time and again the healing power of tears. […] In my own life, I am grateful when I can cry. It feels cleansing, a way to purge pent up emotions so they don't lodge in my body as stress symptoms such as fatigue or pain. To stay healthy and release stress, I encourage my patients to cry. For both men and women, tears are a sign of courage, strength and authenticity.

I've been this enthusiastic about crying for years. In fact, during my psychiatric residency at UCLA when supervisors and I watched videos of me with patients, they'd point out that I'd smile when a patient cried. "That's inappropriate," they'd say. I disagreed then; I still do. I wasn't smiling because my patients were depressed or grieving. I was smiling because they were courageously healing depression or other difficult emotions with tears. I was happy for their breakthrough. In my life, too, I love to cry. I cry whenever I can. Wish I could more. Thank God our bodies have this capacity. I hope you too can appreciate the experience. Let your tears flow to purify stress and negativity.

When a friend apologized for curling up in the fetal position on my floor, weeping, depressed over a failing romance, I told her, "Your tears blessed my floor. There is nothing to apologize for."

Dr. Judith Orloff, M.D., Ph.D., US American psychiatrist, author, lecturer, dying companion,
Emotional Freedom. Liberate Yourself From Negative Emotions And Transform Your Life,
The Health Benefits of Tears, Huffington Post, 21. July 2010

The benefits of tears

Tears are your body's release valve for stress, sadness, grief, anxiety and frustration. Also, you can have tears of joy, say when a child is born or tears of relief when a difficult time has passed.

Crying makes us feel better, even when a problem persists. In addition to physical detoxification, emotional tears heal the heart You don't want to hold tears back.

Like the ocean, tears are salt water. They lubricate your eyes, remove irritants, reduce stress hormones and contain antibodies that fight pathogenic microbes. Our bodies produce three kinds of tears: reflex, continuous and emotional. Each kind has different healing roles. For instance, reflex tears allow your eyes to clear out noxious particles when they're irritated by smoke or exhaust. The second kind, continuous tears, are produced regularly to keep our eyes lubricated. These contain a chemical called "lysozyme" which functions as an anti-bacterial and protects our eyes from infection. Tears also travel to the nose through the tear duct to keep the nose moist and bacteria free. Typically, after crying, our breathing and heart rate decrease, and we enter into a calmer biological and emotional state.

It is good to cry. It is healthy to cry. This helps to emotionally clear sadness and stress. Crying is also essential to resolve grief, when waves of tears periodically come over us after we experience a loss. Tears help us process the loss so we can keep living with open hearts. Otherwise, we are a set up for depression if we suppress these potent feelings.

Emotional tears have special health benefits. Biochemist and "tear expert" Dr. William Frey at the Ramsey Medical Center in Minneapolis discovered that reflex tears are 98 percent water, whereas emotional tears also contain stress hormones which get excreted from the body through crying. After studying the composition of tears, Dr. Frey found that emotional tears shed these hormones and other toxins which accumulate during stress. Additional studies also suggest that crying stimulates the production of endorphins, our body's natural pain killer and "feel-good" hormones." Interestingly, humans are the only creatures known to shed emotional tears, though it's possible that the elephants and gorillas do too. Other mammals and also salt-water crocodiles produce reflex tears which are protective and lubricating.

Dr. Judith Orloff, M.D., Ph.D., US American psychiatrist, author, lecturer, dying companion,
Emotional Freedom: Liberate Yourself From Negative Emotions And Transform Your Life,
The Health Benefits of Tears, Huffington Post, 21. July 2010

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Depression at the brink of suicide

My duty as physician and healer is to talk people out of suicide.
I can be effective because I absolutely know there’s hope for everyone and that depression is a distortion. It swallows the light, making misery seem like the only truth. But it is not. You must remember that. If ever suicide starts looking good, stop, regroup, and fight to find hope. Reach out for help. Don’t be seduced by the voice of depression.

Leaving your body doesn’t make emotional challenges disappear. The soul’s work continues. What I intuitively sense about its destinations is that who you are here is who you’ll be there too, albeit without the physical form you’re accustomed to identifying with. I don’t mean this punitively. I’m simply saying you’ll eventually have to face your demons.

Dr. Judith Orloff, M.D., Ph.D., US American psychiatrist, author, lecturer, dying companion,
Suicide: A Perspective Beyond Time and Space, excerpted from
Emotional Freedom. Liberate Yourself From Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life, Harmony Books, 2009

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Five strategies when faced with the inevitable

Coping strategies in facing loss, disease, and death
In her iconic book On Death and Dying psychiatrist and dying researcher Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross presents five common stages of grief:
Stage	Behavior Pattern	Key phrase
1.	Denial	“This can’t be happening!”
2.	Anger	“I’m furious about the loss or at everything.”
3.	Bargaining	“I promise I’ll be a better person if only you bring him back.”
4.	Depression	“I don’t care anymore. Life is too unfair. Why try at all?”
5.	Acceptance	“I’m coming to terms with what-is. I’m devastated but I can continue to keep loving.”

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Experiment on the depressed brain of men and women

J. Douglas Bremner, M.D., US American professor of psychiatry and radiology, Emory University School of Medicine, director of mental health research at the Atlanta Veterans Administration Medical Center, author of the book Does Stress Damage the Brain?, conducted experiment on gender differences in depression.
A group of former depression patients agreed to drink a beverage that was spiked with an amino acid that blocks the brain’s ability to absorb the neurotransmitter serotonin. It induces the upbeat and happy feelings.

The men's reaction to the serotonine inhibiting potion was:

John, a middle-aged businessman who had fully recovered from depression, thanks to a combination of psychotherapy and Prozac, shortly after drinking the brew, wanted to escape to a bar across the street. He didn’t express sadness or any other feelings. He just wanted to go to Larry’s Lounge.

The women's reaction to the serotonin inhibiting potion was:

After taking the cocktail Sue, a mother of two in her mid-thirties was overwhelmed by her emotions. She began to cry and express her sadness over the loss of her father two years ago.

Although most depressed men tend to “act out” their unhappiness through anger or alcohol, around 10% are prone to “acting in.” They think, ruminate, and feel sad. Most depressed women tend to “act in” their unhappiness, about 10% of them use the more traditional male style of acting out. I’ve found some men and women who go back and forth between both styles. J. Douglas Bremner, M.D., US American professor of psychiatry and radiology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta VA Medical Center

Study results on serotonine inhibited men versus women:

10% of the women act out – 90% of the inhibited men act out.

10% of the men act in – 90% of the women act in.

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Links zum Thema Depression

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Literatur

Ursula Nuber, deutsche Diplompsychologin, Psychotherapeutin, Autorin, stellvertretende Chefredakteurin der Zeitschrift Psychologie Heute Depression. Die verkannte Krankheit, Erstveröffentlichung Januar 2001, Kreuz-Vlg., Stuttgart, Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 4. Auflage, 1. Januar 2006
William Dufty, Zucker Blues. Suchtstoff Zucker, Verlag Zweitausendeins, Frankfurt am Main, 1996
David Servan-Schreiber, französischer Psychiater, Die Neue Medizin der Emotionen: Stress, Angst, Depression – Gesund werden ohne Medikamente, Betonung auf Herzkohärenz: Synchronisierung von Herzschlag, Atmung und Blutdruck zur Verbesserung der Herzratenvariabilität, Goldmann Verlag, 16. Januar 2006

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Literatur (engl.)

William Dufty, Sugar Blues, Grand Central Pub Mass Market, Warner Books, 17. March 1986
Dorothy Rowe, Homepage, Depression. The Way Out of Your Prison, Brunner-Routledge, first edition, 1983, 3rd edition, 3. July 2003
Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindel Segal, Jon Kabat-Zinn, The Mindful Way through Depression. Freeing Yourself from Chronic Unhappiness, The Guilford Press, 2. June 2007
Stephen S. Ilardi PhD, psychologist at the University of Kansas, The Depression Cure. The 6-Step Program to Beat Depression without Drugs, reading excerpt Introduction to The Depression Cure, Da Capo Lifelong Books, 1st edition, 1. June 2009

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Externe Weblinks

Wikipedia-Einträge Depression
Todesursache gebrochenes Herz. Verlust erhöht Risiko, präsentiert von NTV.de, Dienstag, 15. September 2009

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Externe Weblinks (engl.)

Wikipedia entries Depression

Hypothalamo-pituitary axis, presented by Docstoc.com
Understanding and Helping the Suicidal Person, HealthyPlace.com, depression forum
David Hawkins, Linus Pauling, Abram Hoffer, Orthomolecular Psychiatry. Treatment of Schizophrenia, W H Freeman & Co., June 1973
Insight: Undetected reversible biochemical imbalances like low blood sugar level [hypoglycemia] which can masquerade as schizophrenia and other "mental" illnesses that can be changed with diet, food supplements and life style changes.
Dr. Judith Orloff, Healing Loss: The Difference Between Grief and Depression, adaptation from Emotional Freedom. Liberate Yourself From Negative Emotions and Transform Your Life, Harmony Books, March 2009
People can die of a broken heart: study, presented by ABC News, Sophie Scott, medical reporter, 15. September 2009

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Audio- und Videolinks

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Audio- und Videolinks (engl.)

Lawyers with Depression, Podcast archive
Audio presentation by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Zindel Segal, Mark Williams, John Teasdale, The Mindful Way Through Depression narrated, 5 hours duration, 4 discs, presented by Learn out Loud, issuing date unknown
Video interview with Jeff Meiring, recovered from severe depression after the death of his adopted son, strategist for the Air Force, Pentagon, Coming back from the Depths of Depression, presented by Conscious Media Network, host Regina Meredith, 26:52 minutes duration, posted September 2006
Video presentation by Dr. Louann Brizendine, professor in Neurobiology, neuropsychiatrist at UC Berkeley, founder of the first US clinic to study and treat women's brain functions, Women and Depression, Book Passage, Corte Madera, CA, filmed 17. November 2006, presented by Fora TV, YouTube film, 5:58 minutes duration, posted 8. December 2006
Audio interview with David D. Burns, MD, adjunct clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine, On curing anxiety and depression without medication on the art of Feeling Good'' using Cognitive Therapy to control anxiety and depression, presented by web radio station |Anxiety insights Art+ broadcasts on KDRT 101.5 FM, Davis, California, 28 minutes duration, 29MB, aired 28. March 2007
Audio conversation between Dorothy Rowe, Homepage, Australian clinical psychologist, author, leader in the study and treatment of depression, voted as one of the 50 wisest people in the UK by Saga Magazine in 2003 and Gwyneth Lewis, first National Poet for Wales, author of Sunbathing in the Rain. A Cheerful Book on Depression talking, well documented battle with Clinical depression and alcoholism, About depression, presented by Podcast archive by DorothyRowe.com, Wednesday, 1. August 2007
TV presentation by Daniel G. Amen, US American neuropsychiatrist, on Depression is a symptom, not an single illness, YouTube film, 3:16 minutes duration, posted 1. January 2009
Video Interview with Kay Redfield Jamison, clinical psychologist, professor of psychiatry, John's Hopkins School of Medicine, lifelong struggle with manic-depressive illness, on Nothing Was the Same, presented by Big Think, 34:13 minutes duration, aired 5. October 2009
Video interview with Katherine Shear, professor of psychiatry, Columbia University School of Social Work, Current insights on dying, panick attacks, depression, grieving and bereavement, presented by Big Think, interviewed by Austin Allen, 32:26 minutes duration, recorded 3. November 2009, aired 18. November 2009
Video interview with Susan Piver, How to Mend a Broken Heart, presented by TV station US.News, YouTube film, 5:14 minutes duration, posted 14. January 2010

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Audio- und Videolinks (engl.) – Sean Blackwell

Media list provided by Bipolarorwakingup – Sean Blackwell

Video presentation by Sean Blackwell, author of A quiet mind on Bipolar Info: How to Heal Depression?, presented by Bipolarorwakingup, Youtube film, 10:25 minutes duration, posted 18. November 2007
Video presentation by Sean Blackwell, author of A quiet mind on Bipolar Depression: 8 Reasons to RUN from Anti-Depressants, presented by Bipolarorwakingup, Youtube film, 6:12 minutes duration, posted 7. March 2008
Video presentation by Sean Blackwell, author of A quiet mind on Levels of Consciousness, Spiral Dynamics and Bipolar Disorder / Spiritual Emergencies, part 1 of 3, presented by Bipolarorwakingup, Youtube film, 10:40 minutes duration, posted 21. August 2008
Levels according to Graves Spiral Dynamics; status 1999:
1. Archaic (survival) (0%),
2. Tribal (us against them) (4%),
3. Feudal (me) (15%),
4. Traditional (religion) (40%),
5. Modern (science) (30%),
6. Post-Modern (pluralistic) (10%)
7. The Power of Now' (spontaneous) (1%)
- Levels of Consciousness, Spiral Dynamics and Bipolar Disorder / Spiritual Emergencies, part 2 of 3, 11:00 minutes duration
- Levels of Consciousness, Spiral Dynamics and Bipolar Disorder / Spiritual Emergencies, part 3 of 3, 10:00 minutes duration
Video presentation by Sean Blackwell, author of A quiet mind on The Spiritual Evolution of Bipolar Disorder: Love, Fear and Spirituality, part 1 of 2, Youtube film, 10:00 minutes duration, posted 27. May 2009
- The Spiritual Evolution of Bipolar Disorder: The Hard Evidence (Spirituality), part 2 of 2, 10:22 minutes duration, posted 6. July 2009

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Audio- und Videolinks (engl.) – Dr. David Hawkins

Audio lecture by Dr. David R. Hawkins on Depression, sample A10, Office Series, Veritaspub.com, beginning of the 80ties
Video lecture by Dr. David R. Hawkins on Video sample A10, Office Series, Veritaspub.com, beginning of the 80ties

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Audio- und Videolinks (engl.) – Unterzuckerung / Hypoglycemia, Abram Hoffer, David Hawkins, Linus Pauling

Video presentation with Dr. Abram Hoffer (1917-2009) Canadian psychiatrist Natural Cure for Depression, Bipolar, ADHD, Schizophrenia, Interview clip, sponsored by Healthy Mind Body Planet Tour 2006, 9:26 minutes duration, posted 15. December 2007
Video presentation by Dr. Abram Hoffer (1917-2009) Canadian psychiatrist on Interview sponsored by Community Addiction Recovery Association Intl. (CARA), Sacramento, 27.-29. September 2007, posted 21. February 2008
Video documentary on Masks of Madness, presented by International Schizophrenia Foundation, host Margret Kidder featuring Dr. Abram Hoffer (1917-2009) Canadian psychiatrist, YouTube film playlist
- Masks of Madness, part 1 of 10, 4:46 minutes duration, posted 30. March 2008
- Masks of Madness, part 2 of 10, 4:43 minutes duration, posted 30. March 2008
- Science of Healing, part 3 of 10, YouTube film, 4:40 minutes duration, posted 30. March 2008 half way defect
- Masks of Madness, part 4 of 10, 4:38 minutes duration, posted 2. April 2008
  A. Hoffer: Drugs (like antidepressants) are helpful. 0:57 minute
- Masks of Madness, part 5 of 10, 4:40 minutes duration, posted 30. March 2008
- Masks of Madness, part 6 of 10, 4:36 minutes duration, posted 2. April 2008
- Masks of Madness, part 7 of 10, 4:42 minutes duration, posted 2. April 2008
- Masks of Madness, part 8 of 10, 4:38 minutes duration, posted 2. April 2008
- Masks of Madness, part 9 of 10, 4: 35 minutes duration, posted 2. April 2008
- Masks of Madness, part 10 of 10, 4:35 minutes duration, posted 2. April 2008

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Audio- und Videolinks (engl.) – gesundheitsförderliche Vitamin D3-Versorgung / Vitamine D3 intake

Audio interview with Mario Martinez, Uruguayan American clinical neuropsychologist, on Depression: An American Pandemic, MP3, presented by web radio station Beyond Reason, hosts Teddy Bart and Karlen Evins, 30 minutes duration, recorded 30. March 2007
Video interview with Elizabeth Debold, Ed.D., US American senior editor of EnlightenNext Magazine, senior teacher of Evolutionary Enlightenment, Why Women Are Sad?, presented by Big Think, 8:35 minutes duration, aired 11. November 2009
Audio interview with Gabriele Stähler, German healing practitioner on Vitamin D3, presented by Project Camelot, host Bill Ryan, YouTube film, 1:00:23 duration, posted 20. November 2009