Emotional Breakdown - Depression and Bipolar Disorder

What is emotional breakdown?

Diverse life difficulties lead to changes in behavior and mood of people. It is important not to confuse changes in behavior caused by such difficulties, and signs of more serious problems. Changes in behavior and mood are causes for serious concern when they are lasting, radical and hinder coping with everyday life.

Emotional breakdown (disorders) is too strong emotional states that a person cannot control and that lead to problems in school, work and family life.

Emotional disorders are treatable. It is very important time to seek assistance in the early stage, not only in order to not suffer in vain, but because without treatment, many emotional disorders are renewed and strengthened with time. The two most common types of emotional disorders ( emotional breakdown - commonly used term) are depression and manic-depressive illness (Bipolar Disorder).

What Are Signs of Depression?

People with depression almost constantly have depressed mood. They can experience the following symptoms:

• Permanent sad or anxious mood or feeling of inner emptiness


• Feelings of hopelessness and pessimism


• Feelings of guilt, low self and the feeling of inability to change anything in their life


• Loss of interest in what previously enjoyed, including loss of interest in sex


• Loss of energy and motivation, a sense of "slowness"


• Problems with concentration, memory and decision-making


• Insomnia, waking up too early or too long sleep


• Significant changes in appetite and weight


• Thoughts of death or suicide, suicide attempts


• Increased anxiety or irritability


• Physical symptoms such as headaches, digestive problems and chronic muscle pain

What are the symptoms of manic-depressive illness (Bipolar Disorder)?

The exact cause of most mental illnesses are not fully investigated. In general, mental disorders are the result of a combination of genetic and other biological factors and factors as education and environment. The interaction between biological factors affecting human behavior, and the environment is extremely difficult. The brain affects human behavior and interaction with the environment affects brain development. The serious life difficulties, such as immigration or the death of a loved one, can contribute to the development of emotional disorders.

How is Emotional Breakdown (Mood Disorders) Treated?

Effective treatment begins with a correct diagnosis. In most cases, in addition to psychiatric consultation is necessary to consult with a physician in order to prevent physical diseases that can cause similar symptoms.

Treatment usually consists of psychotherapy or drugs. Often a combination of medication with psychotherapy is most effective. In combination with medication, psychotherapy helps people to focus on violations in interpersonal relations and the negative way of thinking, often associated with depression.

Where can I get help?

If you or your family member develops symptoms of emotional disorder, consult your physician and ask for referral to psychiatric consultation and treatment.

The fact of contacting a specialist in mental disorders do not have any negative social impacts, since the rights of patients is strictly protected by law, and treatment is confidential.

You or a family member may be eligible for psychological assistance from the City Plan for Mental Health. The city has free hour phone on which experts can answer your questions in your own language. List of available services and their phone numbers can be found on the pages of your local phone book, set aside for public services.

How To Stop Being So Hyper

Many people at one time or another get hyper. This is where you have tons of energy that is not really directed in one place. You might feel giddy and anxious inside at the same time. You tend to act a bit differently than your normal self. At times this happens quite often and you might not like it. Find out what you need to do to stop being so hyper so that you can relax.

First of all, you need to watch what you are eating. There are certain things that will make you feel more hyper than you normally would be if you avoided these. You need to start avoiding sugars and caffeine. These will both make you hyper. Don't have soda, coffee, or sweets before going out else you are going to be very hyper.

Learn what you are anxious about. Sometimes you have an anxiety problem or something is bothering you. Being hyper is a way of covering up what you are feeling. Deal with these nervous feelings and you will be less hyper.

Slow down. Before saying anything or reacting, you need to take a pause. Being hyper is shown when you are reacting completely. If you slow down, things will be better for you.

Become more comfortable with those you are around. When you are comfortable with others, you will have less anxiety. You won't have to be hyper to cover up for feeling uncomfortable.

Exercise more. Many times you have this excessive nervous energy. When you exercise, you have a place to direct this energy.

Get more sleep or less sleep. When you have too much sleep, you will have this extra energy that sometimes will cause you to be hyper. When you lack sleep, you will be more giddy which will make you act this way. Get proper sleep.

Learn The One Great Secret That Every Successful Person Knows, But You Don't - Go With The Flow!

The truth is that it can happen. You can get hit with circumstances that almost seem to paralyze you in your tracks. Unfortunately when you get hit with something that is very difficult to work through you may not be able to continue to move forward. However, that does not have to be the case.

Instead, you can learn how to hang onto hope that you will find a happy place again. You want to learn how to go with the flow of every moment.

Let's say that you find out that you are diagnosed with cancer. This is a set of circumstances that could allow you to spiral into a state of self pity and unhappiness. No good can come from that.

You want to get into a state of hope so that your body has the strength to fight the disease. This is not to suggest that you should just slap on a happy face and make your way through life. You want to go with the flow!

Be realistic and put things into perspective. Yes, cancer is a scary disease, but it is not a death sentence. You need to focus on the hope of the medical technologies at your finger tips. You want to go with the flow!

Additionally, when you are going with the flow you find that you start to appreciate everything that you have and not worrying about what you are missing. In tough circumstances like this it is an opportunity to be grateful for the people in your life. To be thankful for what you have in your life. More importantly you can be grateful for the fact that you have an opportunity to live.

While living with cancer can be a challenge, you are still breathing. That means that you should be happy for each morning that you wake up because it is one more morning that you have the opportunity to walk the earth. Yet this can be difficult to do.

It is unrealistic to expect to be perfectly happy each and every day. Keeping in mind that everything in life is temporary can help you to make your way through more difficult moments without losing sight of how lucky you are to even be having those moments. Some lives are cut dramatically short, but yours has not been.

So the next time that you come up against upsetting news try to remember that it is only temporary. You are lucky to be alive. If you can do this you will find yourself significantly more happy. By setting that example of flexibility those around you may learn from your example, and you may inherently help make their lives even better. Go with the flow!

Why Pre-Employment Drug Testing is Needed

Employee productivity and healthy professional environment needs to be maintained at any organization to ensure sustained growth and profit. Pre-employment drug testing helps organization maintain integrity, discipline, professionalism etc at workplace by ensuring a drug free environment. Pre-employment drug testing has become important process in many organizations as it helps to prevent employees who abuse drugs from joining the organization. Thus, it helps save costs that are lost in employee health care and compensation given to drug abusing employees.

Reasons:
Pre-employment drug testing plays an important role to ensure safe and secure workplace environment.

Safety
The organizations has to make sure that the workplace environment is free from any kind of addiction related accidents, injuries, crimes etc. Pre-employment testing for drugs increases the safety at the job and maintains safe and secure environment. A future employee with addiction problems can be found by performing pre-employment testing and stopped from joining the organization. As pre-employment testing ensures that only productive and efficient employees join the organization, it can get assured that Federal work-safety guidelines are followed by its employees.

Helps In Effective Hiring Decision Making
The companies suffer a loss of several thousand dollars every year for hiring a drug using employee. The pre-employment testing for drugs helps in making effective hiring decision as companies can eliminate future employees who abuse drugs at the screening stage itself. So, the organizations finds it easier not to hire a person who abuses drugs than spending on health insurance premiums, training, and compensation on later date.

To Reduce Absenteeism
Employees who abuse drugs suffer from illnesses, injuries, depression etc that affects their productivity, punctuality, presence at workplace. They frequently remain absent from their work. Pre-employment drug testing can help point out such employees who abuse drugs and reduce absenteeism of employees.

Reduces Disciplinary Actions
Pre-employment testing helps filter out future employees who abuse drugs that can become detrimental to the growth of organization. By filtering out such employees, organizations can ensure that there will be less workplace conflicts, accidents, unscrupulous behavior etc. Thus, the management of the organization will have to take less disciplinary action against employees. There will be less disciplinary action taken as there will be very few employees who abuse drugs.

Reduces Losses Due To Absenteeism, Theft, and Fraud
Employees who abuse drugs are likely to get indulged in workplace conflicts, absenteeism, theft, fraud etc which means significant losses for organization. These losses can be in terms of damage to equipments, machinery, vehicles, property etc. Conducting pre-employment drug testing can help reduce these losses by removing drug abusing employees.

To Increase Productivity
Drug free and healthy work environment promotes positive traits like productivity, professionalism, discipline, integrity etc. Drug abusing employee decreases productivity, corrupts workplace environment, promotes negative traits, and unprofessional behavior. Pre-employment drug testing ensures that there is healthier working environment. A healthier workplace environment means increased employee productivity and quality of work thereby increasing the profits of organization. Also, it is notice that removing drug addicted employees improves productivity of other employees and reduces workplace accidents.

Pre-employment testing for drugs is an effective tool to maintain a drug free and healthy environment at workplace, enhance employee productivity etc. The company can significantly reduce health costs towards medical treatment of drug abusing employees due to addiction related workplace accidents and illnesses. Recruitment costs towards hiring, firing, and training can also be saved as drug abusing employees can be filtered out through pre-employment drug testing.

My Depressed Husband Feels Nothing, Doesn't Love Me Anymore, and Wants a Divorce

I get a lot of emails from wives whose husbands are dealing with some form of depression. The descriptions given run the gauntlet from clinical depression, to a chemical imbalance, to bipolar disorder, to manic depressive disorder. And, in today's very tough economic environment, folks feeling as though they are just not able to cope and who therefore shut down their feelings as a result are very much on the rise.

Of course, the depression affects everything in the husband's life - including your marriage. And, many of the wives who write to me want my advice on how to handle the husband's recent request for a divorce. It's logical to think that the depression is clouding the husband's perception and / or his ability to feel affection. Many wives tell me that their depressed husbands "feel nothing for anything or anyone, including me." So, again they logically blame the depression for robbing them of what was once their happy husbands.

These are tough situations because many of the wives know in their hearts that all of this negativity and divorce business is the depression talking, not the husband that they love. So, in the following article, I'll offer tips and advice on how to best cope with this situation.

Know That You Can't Tackle This Alone. People Who Are Depressed Have A Medical Condition: Before I get into telling you how to handle the request for a divorce, I first want to stress that no matter how much you love your husband, unless you are a medical professional who deals with depression, you can not and should not handle this alone. Most people who are severely depressed need medical help. This is a disease just like diabetes or cancer. It's no one's fault, but it can be managed.

Many wives tell me that they believe if they just love their husband through this or can make him happy or can show him that the marriage can be a positive influence in his life, his depression will lift. This can sometimes appear to happen, but it's not likely that severe depression is going to go away on it's on. And many times, the marriage isn't the cause of his depression, so fixing the marriage is not going to miraculously make it go away (although you should fix the marriage, as this is affecting you too.)

If your husband is not under a doctor's or counselor's care, gently suggest that you want him to be happy and believe that seeing someone could really help. If he already has a doctor, let that doctor in on what is going on. It may be that the depression truly has nothing to do with his wanting a divorce, but you don't know this so you should mention it so that the doctor can follow this up and dig a bit deeper. With that said, know that this isn't your fault and that you can only do the best that you can. It's just not a reality that you and you alone can make someone else happy or cure them of a medical condition through sheer will or positivity. These things can and do help, but it often takes much more than good intentions or a loving relationship.

How To Respond To Your Depressed Husband's Wanting A Divorce: Many wives are very tempted to do one of two things here. The first is to flat out tell the husband that you both know full well that this request is the depression talking. The other reaction is to try to be over accommodating and affectionate, hoping that if you can make your husband happy in the marriage again, the depression issue will just disappear.

The problem with both of these tactics is that they don't validate your husband. Your reactions are insinuating that he is wrong and that he's not mentally able to form his own perceptions or decisions. Many men tell me that this makes him feel like a child and that they very much resents this.

The better way to handle it is to listen calmly and to focus on the happiness issue. Tell him that you're deeply sorry that he's not happy right now because you love him and that his well being is your top priority. Tell him that for your part, you're going to focus on things that you can do to improve the relationship and communication between you. This is what you are able to control and contribute. What he is able to contribute is to see if he can work with his doctor so that he is approaching this from a healthy place. Tell him that you are fully aware that this still may result in the marriage ending, but at least this way you both know that you took control over what you could, and should you have to walk away, you will be able to hold your head high and will have peace in your heart knowing that you handled this in the most healthy way that you could.

You and I both know that you have no intention of allowing this divorce to happen or in letting your marriage end, but you should not share this information with him. If you do, he will think that you are attempting to manipulate him or that your loving stance is only meant to ultimately change his mind. You need him to be open to and receptive to you, so you can't do anything that would run counter to this.

At the end of the day, you can't force him or fool him into being happy with life in general or with his marriage. But what you can do is support him as he struggles, conduct yourself in a way that brings about positive rather than negative feelings, and have a certain degree of confidence that the combination of dealing with the depression and focusing on making the marriage better will turn this situation around so that you are both much happier in the end.

Living Life With Multiple Sclerosis

Are you living life with multiple sclerosis? If you are or you know someone who is, you know that MS is a difficult, painful, and uncertain, condition to live with on a day to day basis. You either learn to cope with it or it will get the best of you.

What Does it Mean?

What does it mean to live with MS? A diagnosis usually comes after one or more symptoms appears. Many times the symptom is something very noticeable like optic neuritis or extreme fatigue. More often than not, you may have mild, annoying symptoms over a long period of time. These can be things like unexplained balance issues, tingling or numbness in your feet, legs, or arms, and they can come and go. In the beginning, the length of time between the episodes may be so long that the symptoms you have don't seem connected.

Living Day to Day

After the diagnosis is confirmed, the uncertainty of living with MS is one of the main things people living with the actual disease and those caring for someone with it, struggle to deal with on a day to day basis. What symptom am I going to wake up with today? Can I make plans to go to an event next week or next month and be able to keep them? What's going to happen to me - will I end up in a wheelchair when I'm older or possibly even next year?

One of the first actions you can take is to figure out what you are capable of doing physically, then decide what it will take to keep you there as long as possible. In other words, if you are still working - what will it take to keep you at your job for as long as you are able and willing to work? Learning to manage your symptoms may be the first step in this process.

1 - Do you go to bed early enough so that you have adequate rest when you get up to go to work?
2 - Are you able to conserve enough energy so that you can do the work consistently?
3 - Are there medications or alternative treatments that could help alleviate or at least make your symptoms milder?
4 - Could therapy - occupational or physical - help you do your job better and more efficiently?

Long Term Plans

Living with MS can also hinder you from making long term plans. The uncertainty of what will happen from day to day keeps you from planning anything because you don't know whether you will be able to carry them out when the time comes. Believe it or not, it helps if you learn to be flexible early on. If you do decide to make plans, realize that you may have to change them depending on how you feel when the event comes around.

For many people with MS, though, constantly changing plans, on the one hand, or the stress from inflexibility, on the other, can lead to depression. Feelings of inadequacy or guilt can cause you to alienate yourself from others. Why make plans to attend a function when you may have to cancel them yet again? Isn't it better to just stay home, rather than disappoint your family and friends because you may not be able to make it anyway? This staying home alone can lead to feelings of isolation and eventually depression.

The Common Symptom of Depression

This is a very common symptom for people with multiple sclerosis. If you develop depression for whatever reason, you should make it a point to talk to your doctor. Depression is a real symptom and it is treatable. If you're hesitant to use medications, to overcome it, then ask your doctor any alternatives that may be helpful instead. The main thing is, you don't have to live with it.

A Support Group

Having a strong support group of family, friends, and professionals, around you who have your best interest at heart, is one of the best things for a person with MS. Chronic diseases have a way of breaking down a persons resolve. If you have people around you to help you deal with the everyday uncertainties that come up, you are more likely to come through them successfully.

Living life with multiple sclerosis is a day to day challenge. Although it may seem impossible or improbable to those around you, many have done it. With careful management of symptoms; doctors, family, and friends, who understand where you're coming from; a long life with MS can be achieved. And sometime during that lifetime, a cure may come along that will end the suffering for those who already have multiple sclerosis and for those yet to be diagnosed.

Music For Depression Sure Beats Drugs

Music for depression is powerful solution now being offered to the 15 million people in the USA alone who are challenged with depression. Given that all pharmaceutical drugs have negative side-effects such as:

* Nausea
* Insomnia
* Anxiety
* Restlessness
* Decreased sex drive
* Dizziness
* Weight gain or loss
* Tremors
* Sweating
* Sleepiness
* Fatigue
* Dry mouth
* Diarrhea
* Constipation
* Headaches

MUSIC FOR DEPRESSION HAS NONE! A major government study released in 2006 showed that less than 50 percent of people become symptom-free on antidepressants, even after trying two different medications. Furthermore, many who do respond to medication slip back into major depression within a short while, despite sticking with drug treatment. Clearly, more and more people are looking for natural depression remedies.

Whether you've had a bad day, lost money, lost love or felt ill, at some point we've all experienced the magical effect that music for depression has to lift us instantaneously out of a negative state and into a state of joy and power.

How is it that music has this magical power to change your mood instantaneously? If you look at recent studies such as one published in The New York Times by the Cochrane Collaboration, a not-for-profit group that reviews health care issues, we find that music for depression offers a real clinical benefit to depression sufferers.

In the study the reviewers found five randomized trials that studied the effects of music for depression. Some studies looked at the effects of providing music for depression to patients who were receiving drug treatment for depression. Others compared music for depression to traditional talk therapy. In four out of five of the trials, music for depression therapy worked better at easing depression symptoms than therapies that did not employ music, the researchers found.

"The current studies indicate that music for depression may be able to improve mood and has low drop-out rates," said lead author Anna Maratos, an arts therapist for the National Health Service in London. "While the evidence came from a few small studies, it suggests that music for depression is an area that is well worth further investigation.

While some these studies measure the benefits of both music in general and the application of music with a trained therapist, which can be expensive and time consuming, what is available to the masses is "main stream music." Currently there are very few artists working towards bringing music for depression to the masses, a rare exception being a band called Shaka Buku, a Fusion of Reggae, Funk & Soul out of San Diego California.

Shaka Buku is a band that has made huge inroads to alleviating depression for thousands of devoted listeners through three critically acclaimed albums released on Empower Records over the last 10 years. Using some new and time tested techniques, Shaka Buku melds words, language, beats & instruments to create a sense of uplifting joy, confidence and inner power on a commercial level.

One of the new methods to create music for depression is the introduction of NLP or neuro-linguistic-programming. Unheard of and entirely revolutionary for song writing, NLP puts a very powerful tool in the hands of the writer. Created by Richard Bandler and made famous by Tony Robbins as a tool to remove fear and negative patterns from the minds of thousands, NLP is a powerful tool, which Shaka Buku uses to craft powerful uplifting lyrics and create music for depression

Currently supporting the latest of its three albums "Feel Different," the band has a tour called Enlightened Entertainment where songs are performed with intertwined spoken word to elevate people even higher. Co-produced by JB Eckl who also produced Santana, Mary J Blige, Ozomatli and many other major artists of today, the instrumentation is lush with horns, keyboards, percussion, acoustic and electric guitars and of course beautiful harmonies all combining for an unforgettable listening experience.

The sound is new, fresh and gives hope to many who suffer from depression or just want to alter the course of a bad day in an instant. Best thing of all is with the invention of the ipod someone can simply put on a pair of headphones or jump in the car and turn on the music and instantly get relief from depression.

What About Long Term Music For Depression?

Hundreds of different studies have proven that what you FOCUS on CREATES your RESULTS. By listening to empowering music such as Shaka Buku over and over its effect actually re-wires the neurons in the brain towards positive empowering thoughts. How? This goes back to the science of NLP, which uses language to re-wire the brain towards a positive and productive mind-set. Only with music you add another dimension, which takes re-wiring to a whole new level.

There are many in the medical establishment who have pointed to Serotonin as the key missing ingredient and cause of depression. As with most depression drugs such as Prozac, music for depression increases Serotonin levels, but doesn't take as long, its actually instantaneous.

An even deeper look at this Serotonin theory tells us that people don't necessarily have depression because they are deficient in Serotonin. There are many other contributing factors including inflammation, elevated stress hormones, immune system suppression, nutritional deficiencies, and shrinking brain cells. And these are just the biological causes of depression. Social and psychological factors - such as loneliness, lack of exercise, poor diet, and low self-esteem - also play an enormous role in depression.

What is so amazing about music for depression is that it addresses the main element in depression, which undisputedly is psychological. By rewiring the brain with positive empowering beliefs, using positive empowering lyrics and simultaneously raising serotonin levels with uplifting melodies and beats a listener is inundated with empowering pleasurable stimuli, which essentially becomes addicting. Rather that negative consequences, this addiction is powerful and necessary as it leads to LONG TERM RE-WIRING of the brain. By listening over and over, new neurons are formed based on new empowering beliefs.

Music for depression can be found at Itunes or Shaka Buku's home page. Entire songs can be listened to only at the home page of Shaka Buku and can be purchased individually to mix and match the personal preferences of each listener.