Understanding the “Why” Behind Depression

12 January, 2012 by 2 Comments


     During the process of writing my “Tips to a Happier You” series, I’ve thought about how I felt in the midst of my depression. Would I have been receptive to small, practical tips to help my depression? I can tell you the answer is no. There are just some lessons we have to learn the hard way. If I could have put some of these things into practice, I’m sure I would not have had to endure the hell I went through…oh if I’d only listened to some of the instruction given to me! But honestly, I let myself fall into the “I need it NOW” trap.
 
I let myself get wrapped up in the desire for immediate gratification. I wanted a magic pill to solve all of my problems. And let me tell you, there are drug companies that advertise their drugs on television and promise to do just that. Just like any advertising, they tell you all the benefits and none of the risks. They tell you how good the drug is going to make you feel, but they neglect to tell you all of the risks associated with taking it. Sure they mention some of the more common side effects, but only after they have you totally hooked on the awesomeness of their miracle drug. And when they do list any side effects, it comes through your television  mimicking the voice of the teacher in Charlie Brown, and it’s in the last three seconds of the commercial. 
     Okay, now that I’ve bashed antidepressants, let me say this: There is a real need for antidepressants, and they are appropriate under the right circumstances.
I just don’t believe they need to be the first choice treatment. 
Often when someone is placed on an antidepressant, it is situational. They have become depressed as a result of some event in their life. Sadness is a natural first response to any type of trauma we might experience. We become self-absorbed. We tend to think “poor me.” The next step we take is critical, and is dependent on the condition of our brain. The person 
who will end up depressed doesn’t have the ability to think, “What do I do from here?” 
     Here’s why (sorry, I’m about to get a little “sciency” on you): We have a part of our brain called the pre-frontal cortex. It is the part of our brain that reacts to trauma. If there is enough serotonin in our brain to activate the pre-frontal cortex, we will be sad, but will be able to recover from the trauma and look forward. If our brain is low on serotonin, our pre-frontal cortex is essentially dead and that’s when we can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s a physical abnormality, and it’s why people cannot typically “will” themselves out of depression. 
     Whether you are on an antidepressant or not, the tips I am giving here can be incorporated into your lifestyle. All of these tips are small, practical habits you can incorporate into your life and will benefit you whether you’re on an antidepressant or not. Once you have a few in place and are feeling better, you very well might be able to slowly come off of the antidepressant. You certainly don’t have incorporate all of these tips, just whichever ones strike your fancy! 

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Filed Under: Beating Depression, How to be Happy, Making Changes, Managing Prescription Drugs Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Who’s behind your mask?

31 October, 2011 by 3 Comments

Have you ever seen the movie, Point Break, with Patrick Swayze? I’ll never forget it. Not because Patrick was in it (though that was memorable), not because of the surfing and huge waves in the movie, but because of those stupid masks they wear at the beginning to rob the bank. There are four robbers, each wearing the mask of a US President. Doesn’t sound like big deal, right? For whatever reason, those masks completely freaked me out! I had nightmares about them for weeks!


I used to love scary movies. Halloween has never bothered me…haunted houses, scary masks, trick-or-treating…I loved it all. So what was it about the masks in that movie that disturbed me? 

They weren’t scary masks. They were masks of good people, worn by some seriously not good people.  

I’ve spent the last five days at the Christian Communicators Conference at Lake Keowee, South Carolina– Twenty-four women in one house who all want to be speakers. Can you imagine? We had to have scheduled quiet time every day like preschoolers, and preschoolers would have probably been better at being quiet than we were! But I digress…

I was so blessed by the transparency of all of these women. After only four days them, I’d made a connection with each and every one. They wear no masks. We are all women who have gone through different struggles in life, all trying to use our experiences to help others in similar situations. No judgment. The blood of Jesus Christ covers us all. No need for judgment. 

Once we can accept the gift of the cross that God gave us through his son Jesus, there is no need for masks. 

No need to worry about being judged by others. It’s only God’s judgment we need to worry about. Go back and read the verse on today’s prescription above. As Christians, we are to be ourselves; unashamed of our past or who we are, because we are covered by the blood of Christ. He calls us to share his truth with everyone, but how will they believe if they cannot see the work he’s done in us? 

In the movie, the robbers chose those US President masks to hide so they would not be punished for the crime they were committing. If they did not have the masks, do you think they would have robbed the bank? If they knew everyone would see who they truly were, wouldn’t they have been more likely to obey the law and act more honorably? 

It’s time to shed those good masks. Masks of deception. They may look good from the outside, but they also prevent you from healing on the inside. God calls us to be transparent and unashamed.

So when Halloween is over tonight, take off those masks for good! 
From my heart,

Celeste


Filed Under: How to be Happy, Living in Faith, Making Changes, Real Relationships, Your Relationship with God Tagged With: , , , , ,

What I learned from Rudy Giuliani…

6 September, 2011 by Leave a Comment
A few weeks ago, David and I went to a big motivation seminar held in downtown Greenville. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Rudy Giuliani spoke about something that’s
fascinating and frustrating to me these days…the “almighty” internet. 
With the invention of the internet, we have “knowledge” at our fingertips and it travels faster than we are capable of dealing with. Computer knowledge is necessary to live in this century. It’s here, and it’s here to stay. The problem is, however, that we have stopped thinking for ourselves. We are becoming a manipulated society. 
One of the problems I have with this computer generation is how we are becoming so accustomed to immediate gratification. With health issues, it is frustrating because as patients, we punch in our symptoms on the keyboard and the computer generates a list of possibilities. Within an hour or so, we have diagnosed ourselves! Let me give you an example of a pharmacist “friend” of mine…
She was seven months pregnant, had an eight-year-old and four-year-old also, and a husband who happened to be out of town. After work, she went to retrieve her children, and her mom commented about a “bump” on her forehead. She had thought it was just a weird zit! In a panic, her mom said, “You call the dermatologist in the morning and you tell him you have to be seen immediately! That looks exactly like what Nita’s daughter had and it was melanoma!” 
Well, since she was a pharmacist, she knew to just look it up on the computer and she would see it was nothing. SO…after getting the kids to bed, she finally sat down at the computer around midnight. By 1:00 a.m. she was convinced that she was dying of melanoma and would be leaving her husband with three kids to raise alone. That made for one long, sleepless night. 
Anybody had a similar experience? I’m sure you’ve realized that that “friend” was me. As a pharmacist, I should have known better! The sad thing is I have gone to the computer more than once for my need for immediate gratification, and more than once I’ve come to the wrong conclusion.
To keep us thinking for ourselves and not relying on Sir Google, Mr. Giuliani suggested five things we must do to keep our minds active and maintain our ability to think independently:
1) Read books–have a basis to make your own decisions. Don’t just read other people’s opinions about what they’ve read. 
2) Listen–to other people. Seek advice from people you look up to and believe in. You can become a leader by learning from other successful people. 
3) Take notes–never stop writing. Write your thoughts, goals, lists…keep the parts of your mind active that make you an individual.
4) Take five minutes every day to just STOP–relax, pray, stop your world for a few minutes.
5) Most importantly, we must care and love other people. The computer tends to isolate and disconnect us from people. Sure we have Facebook and email, and they are great ways to communicate. But they don’t allow us to see the heart of people or minister to their needs. 
Coming from the person in charge of NYC when the twin towers were hit on 9/11/2001, I wanted to listen.  The Rudy Giuliani I watched handle that chaos and tragedy obviously had standards and values in place that helped him. While he relied on computers and statistics to help New York recover from that tragedy, it was his willingness to listen to people one on one and his compassion for them that made the difference in those months after September 2001. He prayed and asked God’s guidance in knowing the right steps to take. He relied on his heavenly father for wisdom and instruction. While it was one of the toughest times our country has endured, I consider Rudy Giuliani a man of great character and principal, and someone to learn from. 
I thought his “five things” were very interesting. I find myself doing all of those things these days, though I would have never put them together in a list on thinking independently. I realized, though, that during my seven years of depression, I didn’t want to do any of those things. I didn’t want to read books to because I just wanted to mindlessly watch television so I didn’t have to think about my world. I got to a point where I didn’t want to seek advice of others because I was convinced it was hopeless. I never thought writing things down would help me, although I’d been told to try it more than once. I prayed, but it was selfish prayer. I was too busy being self-absorbed in my own pity party to worry about anyone else long enough to actually do something that required effort. 
I wonder now how much sooner I could have overcome the depression if I had made the items on this list a priority? Hmmm…
From my heart, 
Celeste
Filed Under: Beating Depression, Handling Stress, How to be Happy, Living in Faith, Making Changes, The Power of Prayer, Your Relationship with God Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Freedom

26 July, 2011 by Leave a Comment


What does the word “freedom” mean to you? 

     You’ve just been released from prison? 
     You are finally out of that abusive relationship you’d been in? 
     You are free from the bonds of an addiction? 
     You’ve finally paid off those student loans from school? 
     You finally got out of your three year old daughter’s room that she locked you in with the
      lock you put  on the door to lock her in? (yes, that really happened…but thank
      goodness not to me!)

One of the worse traps people put themselves in from childhood to the grave, is worrying about what other people think. Someone once gave me some very good advice, and at the time I never realized how much I would cherish it. “What other people think of you is their problem, not yours.” 

There are hundreds of ways we feel trapped, and I want to share with you the way to freedom from everything. Now just 11 months ago, I was trapped. Once God freed me from a seven year struggle with my health, he has shown me how to have freedom in everything. Now stick with me here, I’m not saying it is EASY, but once you get a taste of how sweet freedom in Christ is, you’ll never want to turn back. 
    
Freedom in forgiveness–In Matthew 18:21-22, God tells us to forgive those who have wronged us. How many times? Seventy times seven. When you can let go of a grudge…truly forgive the person who has wronged you and let God be their judge, you would be amazed at the weight lifted from your shoulders.
Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.”
He also tells us in Mark 11:25, in order for God to forgive us or our sins, we must forgive those who have sinned against us. Now if that isn’t enough reason to forgive, I don’t know what is! 

And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. 

Freedom from worry–God tells us not to worry. By worrying about something does it do you any good? Does the situation change by worrying about it? No. Action may change it, but worry does not. 


Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin… (Matthew 6:25-34) ESV


Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made know to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7) ESV


Freedom from fear–Everyone is afraid of something. But just like worry, does fear really do us any good? An action that helps us with that fear is good, but the fear itself is in vain. In a previous blog (Life is good, Eternity is better) I shared a story about Jeff Strueker faced with a life and death situation during the gulf war. He could fear death, but instead he chose to look at it like this: If he died in battle, he would get to receive his award in heaven and begin his eternity with Jesus. If he survived, he would gain his reward here, go back home to his wife and continue God’s work. Win-win.  
For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. (2 Timothy 1:7) ESV

So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 10:26-33) ESV

Fear of the Lord himself is the only fear that should drive our actions. He is our creator, our judge, and our savior, and is the only one who decides our eternity. 

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Proverbs 1:7)ESV

In the prescribed verse of the day, God tells us that we will have troubles in this world. We know that. The part we need to remember so well is “I have overcome the world.” We get so easily caught up in our troubles of this world. And while we must deal with them accordingly,  if we can remember that someday this world will be no more and look at the bigger picture, maybe our grudges, worries, and fears will be a little easier to let go. Freedom in Christ is an amazing way to live.

I recently bought a little leather bracelet that helps me remember not to let my thoughts  imprison me. Embossed in the leather are the simple words, “Change your thoughts and you will change your world.” Freedom. 

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Filed Under: Fighting Your Fears, Freedom in Christ Tagged With: , ,

Small Beginnings & New Habits

23 July, 2011 by 4 Comments

In this small, obscure book tucked neatly at the end of the Old Testament, the prophet Zechariah has been sent an angel from God to help him understand the visions he’s been having. Zerubbabel is the governor of Judah and in charge of the daunting task of rebuilding the temple. The vision given to Zechariah was a message to Zerubbabel to encourage him. Through Zechariah’s vision, God is telling Zerubbabel the task will seem huge, and he may think the task is too big for him, but not to doubt. Even though the beginning is small, God rejoices in his effort to begin this good work, and wants him to keep his vision on the grandeur of the end result.


We live in a society of immediate gratification. We want it and we want it now.

We exercise and diet for a week and wonder why we still can’t fit into that cute bathing suit we
bought as a motivation to lose weight.

We want to build our dream house and don’t know why we have to actually have the money first.

We have started a business and don’t know why we haven’t made our first million in the first year.

We start writing a book and don’t know why publishers aren’t knocking down our doors to publish it.

Anything worth accomplishing requires a little due diligence. We must begin creating new habits. Boy have I had to realize that one lately! During the seven years I was dealing with depression, seizures, and too many medications, my body and my brain were on lock down. I did not have the desire to do anything that required energy, whether it was physical or mental exercise. I was “mush” for 7 years.

Once God healed me (physically and mentally) and I was free of all medication, I expected to just jump back into life full force. Joy was once again my friend and I was ready to enjoy all pre-seizure and pre-depression activities.

God was not finished with his lessons yet!

I began writing (which was a new hobby for me), photography, exercising, driving the kids all over the place, cooking, cleaning, etc…and I would get so frustrated because I couldn’t keep up with it all. When I was trying to lose weight after pregnancies, my husband would always tell me it took 9 months to gain it, give myself at least that long to lose it. So now I have been “mush” for seven years. Does that mean it will take seven years to get back up to speed? Not if I can help it! But I do need to work diligently to accomplish my goals.

When I decided to write a book, I called an old friend who was now a writer to ask her advice. She immediately got me plugged in to a local christian writer’s group. I went in to the first meeting all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, only to walk away with the old deer-in-the-headlights look. I was overwhelmed. They were using terms like pitch, one sheet, tag lines, deep POV, query letter, blogging…I had no earthly idea what they were talking about!

My instinct was to forget the writing group and just go home and write, write, write. If God was calling me to do this, then he would make it successful, right? Well, obviously he can perform miracles, he’d already shown me that. But thankfully, my reclaimed friend and now mentor, Vonda, gave me some very good advice. She gave me a few writing blogs to follow, and she told me to just attend the first few meetings as an observer (not bringing anything in to be critiqued just yet).

Fighting my know-it-all instinct, I followed her advice. After a few meetings and some reading at home, I began to understand this foreign language I’d been hearing. I became even more inspired to write, and to give God glory by learning to do write effectively so I can do the best job possible to further his kingdom.

I still have much to learn, and this will be an education to last a lifetime. But when I went to a writer’s conference in May, I received confirmation over and over again that I was doing exactly what I needed to be doing. Two publishers took my work with them, and two agents requested book proposals.

As a pharmacist, writing is a whole new world for me, and is not one I would ever have considered on my own. God definitely led me there. I am sure Zerubbabel was intimidated by the task of building the temple, just as I am intimidated by the task of writing a book. But because I am being obedient to God in this task, I know that he is rejoicing and blessing my writing every small step of the way. I’m incorporating new habits  am looking forward to the grandeur of the end result, whatever and whenever that may be.

 

From my heart,
Celeste

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