Woman’s Passions

“Tell me, please, how to cope with depression, what to do to start wanting to live again and enjoy life? I’m 25, have a good work, loved man and everything to live and enjoy life, but I cannot - my mood is terrible during last months, whining, irritable and anxious.

I think, the reason is in lack of communication (I’ve been living alone for 4 years already, communication is reduced to minimum on work, as I’m an accountant, we seldom meet with girlfriends, and my loved one can find time for me only during weekend: he has his own matters and hobbies). I understand everything in my mind, but my soul is crying??¦ But what is the most surprising, is that earlier I managed to find way out from such conditions, and now there’re only tears, feeling of emptiness, otioseness and confusion. It seems, I’m not living, but just existing; even realized dreams don’t make me glad. Please, help me, I’m very frightened at my today’s mood!”

From time to time everyone suffers from fits of melancholy. Someone recovers for 5 minutes, someone is suffering during 2 weeks. But depression cannot appear on Tuesday, and disappear on Thursday. Depression is like rust, it’s eating a person away little by little. Firstly it eats a tiny piece of organism, then enlarges more and more and here’s a result - world becomes colorless, and an absolutely colorless man is living in this world, as if somebody took away his soul and body. Everything seems the same around, there’re many reasons for joy, but you do not want to enjoy life at all. You want to disappear, get lost.

       - “I feel absolutely done in”.
-    ”I have no appetite”. Or vise versa - I eat a lot, even don’t understand what I’m eating, don’t sense taste.
-    ”I don’t want it today”. And tomorrow I also don’t want, and in general, who needs this sex?
-    ”I want nothing, I’m fed up”.
-    ”Nothing makes me glad”. Everything is bad, or I don’t care.
-    ”Why, what’s the sense?” Why shall I do something, all the same we have one result - death. In some situations a person may decide to approach the final.
-    ”I don’t want to see anybody”. I have no wish to communicate, I want to hide from people.
-    ”It is deadly dull here”. Looks at the ceiling, TV, leads “sofa” way of living, turns over the pages of magazines and books aimlessly, can be lying for hours.

Melancholy - is a temporary phenomenon, and depression is a disease, having its own seasonal peaks. For example, change of warm bright summer to cold gloomy autumn. By the way, ultraviolet increases production of serotonin in our organism, that’s why Southern people, who always live in an almost stable climate, don’t suffer from such seasonal change of mood. And people, living in moderate climate, lack of serotonin causes seasonal depression, which psychologists call “mental cold” as a joke.

Another reason of depression - is the trivial round. Go shopping. Take out garbage. Work. Work a lot, work even more. Yesterday, today, tomorrow, always. Same things every day. And until very death. This reliability and stability of existence constantly grows to sickness, apathy and dreary despair.

Constant conceptualization of events disorder can lead to depression.

Everything in this world is subjected to our evaluation. When some event is very important for us, we are disposed to distort reality either towards too negative, or too positive. For example, communication is very important for you, and during a period, when there’s not too much of it, you start emphasizing this fact too much. I.e. not just to communicate or do something else, but think about this lack all the time.

The event itself always has neutral meaning. Only importance concretely for you endows it with energetic. Change focus of your attention. For example, other person, turning to be isolated from communication for a while, will think: it’s so good that now I have time to engage into my own hobbies, creative work etc.

Absence of life purposes and hobbies also contributes to depression. Judge yourself: when we have decent goals, then a problem of idleness disappears. If goals are connected with realization of our potential, then we receive pleasure not only from their realization, but also from the process itself. And it’s rather important, as, as a matter of fact, our life consists of those everyday matters, which we spend precious hours and minutes for. The more pleasant matters we have, the more pleasure we receive from life. And the more pleasure we receive, the fewer reasons for sadness we have.

Appearance of bad mood, and as a result - depression, can be explained by lack of “hormones of happiness”, which include neuropeptides - endorphins and enkephalines, which are produced in our brain.

Endorphins are combined with opiate receptors of our organism and ease nerve impulse passage, which “runs” to the “center of pleasure”.

Stimulation of this nerve center brings us feeling of lightness, joy and vivacity. Most today’s drugs have the same effect. Besides, endorphins are natural pain relievers. So, let’s try to return “hormones of happiness” in our life. For this we will create a small personal factory to produce them.

Let’s lapse into memories

The most reliable source of resource - is you. Close your eyes and remember your happiest and most joyful day. When you really felt happy, light, able to everything. Imagine that you are there now. Remember all details: what you did, said, your cloth, atmosphere, colors, everything. If you have troubles with this, look through photos, which are especially precious for you.

Photos will help you to return to those wonderful times, when everything was still colored and merry. Compare that condition with present-day situation. Find differences. Transfer details from that picture to a present-day one. Picture content should not change, only colors, parameters, brightness, size, distances, mimicry and gestures change. When second picture receives all characteristics of the first one, enter it, and associate yourself with it completely.

This exercise - is an important step towards awakening of resources of your organism. Often this exercise is enough to awaken from depressive lethargy and start acting.

To support good mood always, surround yourself with such merry reminders: these can be photos, souvenirs, pictures - everything that makes you glad and returns you into state of joy.

Add colors

Influence of color on a man’s psychological state is proved long ago. Some colors bring us energy, and others cause state of anxiety and despair. Look at your apartment, this is the place where you spend much time, and its appearance affects you.

Surround yourself with pleasant things that please your eyes, choose bright colors. For example, when we have a rest on a warm sea resort, we never have depression. The matter is that we are surrounded by bright colors, sunlight. Pay attention to choice of cloth, depending on a person’s mood. When we are depressed, we want to seem as much unnoticeable as possible, and prefer grey, black, mossy and brown tones. Depressed people feel lack of energy. There’re several colors, which will help to return joy of life. These are orange, yellow and red colors. Try to create an oasis of good mood in your apartment.

Yellow color can be called a main engine in a person. It keeps him moving. Any work is done easily and quickly. Yellow color affects our emotions positively and gives us joy, fun and zest for life.

Lack of orange color is displayed in lowered vitality, depressive mood, apathy, doubts, diffidence, self-reproach. So, if you feel sad and lack of communication, you feel apathy and diffidence - add more orange in your interior.

“Red energy” gives you a very important purpose - a wish to live. Self-reliance, acceptation of yourself the way you are.

But surplus of red in interior can add aggression and anxiety, so it’s better to combine this color with other wisely, or make bright color accents.

There’s a simple and fascinating business, which contributes to good mood a lot. Take all bright colors you like - orange, red, yellow and draw. If you cannot draw, just pain something - wall, flowerpot, usual sheet of paper, veneer etc. Therapeutic effect of such things is really astonishing!

Cheer yourself up with bright lightning

We already said about medicinal qualities of sun, and it’s of yellow color too. Phototherapy is used in many Northern countries. Under bright lightning organism “remembers” sunny days and recharges, like battery. Create bright lightning on your work and at home. Solarium is a wonderful remedy to charge yourself with sun energy.

Light candles in the evening, this will create romantic atmosphere and improve your mood.

Magic of scents

Aromatic oils penetrate into blood through skin and then are spread along whole body, and through membranes and nose - to brain and affect mood directly.

There’re lots of oils or their mixtures, which can be used to relieve depression. Here’re some of them: anise, orange, basil, bergamot, marjoram, fir, jasmine, cedar, coriander, lavender, lemon, mandarin, balm, peppermint, rose, rosemary.

If you form a habit of taking baths with aromatic oils every day in yourself - then soon you will forget about depression.

Food

It was proved that carbohydrate food is on the first place as for stimulation of “hormones of happiness” production. Eating chocolate affects our mood especially strongly (by the way, you can replace it by cocoa).

Then we have bananas. They not only stimulate production of inner endorphin, but also contain much serotonin. Ice-cream has almost same effect.

These products contribute to production of endorphins, which improve emotional background.

It’s better to eat more fish and low-calorie sour milk produce. Mackerel and red sorts of fish are especially efficient in struggle with depression. Spaghetti and whole grain bread contain wholesome carbohydrates, which can reduce thirst for food and improve your mood.

Chemical elements - calcium (is contained in dairy produce, cheeses), potassium, which can relieve tension (our organism receives it with oranges, prunes, dried apricots, raisins, young potato, celery) and magnesium (is contained in legumes, cereals, nuts, chocolate).

Spinach, olives and almond will raise your mood every day due to their chemical composition.

Being in depression, organism needs adaptogenes - substances, which increase abilities of adaptive systems. The include vegetable substances - today many herbal teas are made of plants, containing adaptogenes - these are ginseng, lemon tree, peavine, St.-John’s wort, Echinacea, green tea and many others.

Try to change usual order of events, this will help you to avoid depression. Don’t go home after work, go, for example, to a fitness club, theater, friend’s place.

If you work is connected with monotonous repetition of same actions and excludes communication with people, and you are a sociable person and need emotions, impressions, conversations, meetings, then business, excluding communication can lead you to depression.

Dancing lessons relieve depression best of all - here you receive motions, positive emotions, communication and music.

Yoga helps to restore soul balance, get rid of anxiety, irritation, gain self-reliance.

Try belly-dancing, it restores blood circulation in small pelvis excellently and regulates female hormonal system. Riding has same effect.

Sex is the simplest way to increase concentration of endorphins. During sexual act huge quantity of “hormones of happiness” is thrown into partners’ blood.

Try massage and swimming.

Communication with live nature

The fact that home pets can affect our health, was known since times of Hippocrates. However, the term “pet therapy” appeared only in the middle of XX century. On the one hand, staying near man, animals help him to improve quality of his life, as they serve as a stimulus, cultivate and create good mood. On the other hand, they can become a real doctor, saving man from many serious diseases.

Besides, animals help to cope with high level of anxiety, constant nervousness. For example, American researches showed that in 70 retirement homes, where presence of animals was allowed, old people, suffering from depression or rejecting any type of communication, changed their character completely, started taking part in social life, made friends with other inhabitants of home, whom they have not contacted before.

Surprising possibilities of cats were checked during various researches many times. Researches, carried out in mental hospitals, showed that care about cat restored self-reliance in patients, reduced physical nervousness until the level, which was reached due to weeks of exercises in relaxation. It turned out that cats - are excellent, unique experts as for reaction to touches. A person has a natural wish to stroke it, and when we immerse hands into thick hair, we feel better. Through such energetic exchange a man receives steadiness and calmness. According to scientists, tom-cats relieve stress more efficiently, than cats.

Horses have really strong energetic effect. There’s even a special term “race track therapy”. Horses have positive effect on human mind, relieving nervous tension and depression.

You cannot stroke fishes, and hug them sitting on a sofa. However, it was proved long ago that a person, admiring their smooth motions, is inspired with calmness and feeling of soul balance.

Of course, not a bird can compete with a dog or cat as for medicinal effect. However, if you cannot adopt home pets for some reasons, choose a feathered friend. For example, songs of canaries relieve tension wonderfully, calm down nerves and raise spirits.

??¦You are back to life again, feeling joy and inspiration. But everyday routine touches you again. Holidays go away and working days come. How to keep a holiday mood?

Mood is just a habit. When feeling of holiday becomes a habit, then you will constantly be on the crest of the wave of luck. The more positive things you let into yourself, the more often you will meet good news and favorable possibilities on your way.