DEPRESSION, WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT IT?

Transcription

1 DEPRESSION, WHAT CAN YOU DO ABOUT IT? by Patricia Gavotto, Psychologist Port Vila milliards de neurones About 10% of men and 25% of women will experience depression in their lifetime. Depression is a common complaint & and a leading source of unhappiness over the course of a lifetime. It is hard to understand the causes of this condition and how to treat it. Here is what you can do: 1. recognize the signs 2. Learn how your brain makes you depressed 3. Understand neural networking & Stop saying bad things about yourself 4. Reduce sources of stress 5. start your treatment plan

2 Patricia Gavotto, Psychologist Recognize! the signs: Negative mood & excessive feelings of hopelessness, helplessness, worthlessness or guilt Lost of interest or pleasure in things that were of great interest to you Physical signs: significant and sudden changes in appetite, sleeping, libido Loss of concentration (low mental energy) Rumination, feeling of restlessness or being slow down Thoughts of death of suicidal ideation

3 2. Learn how your brain makes you depressed a BRAIN IS A COMPLICATED NETWORK OF BRAIN CELLS, CALLED NEURONS.! 100 billions of neurons communicate with each other to create your thoughts, behaviors and emotions. Every function in your body every thought you have, every emotion you feel is the result of the activity in your brain. As an organ in the body, the brain continuously interacts with every aspect of physical functioning and your life experiences, which shape your brain circuitry to make it unique and shape your awareness, interpretation and integration of new experience. Patricia Gavotto, Psychologist

4 Neurons communicate by sending back & forth messengers, called NEUROTRANSMITTERS YOUR BRAIN MAKES YOU DEPRESSED WHEN THEY ARE problems in the transmission of neurotransmitters Too little communication, with not enough of the neurotransmitter to make good effect Too much communication, swamping your brain with activity. For example, in excessive stress, a flood of neurotransmitters is exhausted Out of balance neurotransmitter released, which may be caused by one neurotransmitter being low on supply Patricia Gavotto, Psychologist

5 NEUROTRANSMITTERS involved in DEPRESSION Glutamate: the brain go signal GABA: the brain STOP signal Serotonin: affects mood, appetite, sleep, libido & mental functioning like impulse control, sensory reception, stress response, pain response, perception & memory Norepinephrine: the brain energizer bunny. It keeps you mentally & physically alert & energetic, & blood pressure balanced. under stress it helps to mobilize your energy to fight negative thoughts. IT KEEPS YOU alert to register incoming information. Dopamine - i FEEL GOOD: produces different results depending on how much goes out and where in the brain it is received. if received in some parts of the brain, it is as I feel good. If it is received in the thinking part, it works to help you pay attention. If received in the motor part, it helps you to have smooth motor functioning. If not enough, feel disinterested, are low on motivation and hard to pay attention. Significant in depression, without the I feel good message, no motivation to do things even things you used to be interested in. Poor sleep & poor nutrition reduce also neurotransmitter supplies

6 3. UNDERSTAND NEURAL NETWORKING, its role in depression & recovery from depression neurons that fire together, wire together, meaning that emotion, thought and physical sensations are all recorded together in the memory of an experience. The whole of that memory can be recalled by any one aspect of it. CAUSE OF DEPRESSION: the ways prior experiences organize understanding of new experience. Prior experience is like a filter. A new experience may immediately evoke an old memory, making us see what is happening now through the lens of that memory. Neural networking can create depression by coloring new experience with the shades of disappointment, sadness, helplessness of worthlessness we felt in a previous experience. Think how easy it is, when you are already upset at one person to recall how many times that Patricia person Gavotto, Psychologist, irritated Private Practice, you. Port Vila

7 NEURAL NETWORKING, HOW WE STORE & RETRIEVE MEMORIES When something triggers one memory, a network of similar memories is automatically activated. Aspects of the memory the emotion and the details connect to similar experiences, an effective way to recall information,

8 IN A DEPRESSIVE BRAIN, NEURAL NETWORKING links the memory of one unhappy situation with other similar memories it pulls you to think about things that are not right about yourself, reinforcing feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness. start right now to interfere with that network. 3. JUST STOP SAYING BAD THINKS ABOUT YOURSELF. DON T SAY THEM TO YOURSELF & don t Patricia Gavotto, say Psychologist, them Private to Practice, others. Port Vila

9 4. REDUCE SOURCES OF STRESS, A MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR TO DEPRESSION WHEN UNDER STRESS FLOW OF STRESS HORMONES CHRONIC STRESS CAN DAMAGE THE BRAIN, MAKING IT MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO DEPRESSION. IT USES STOCKS OF DOPAMINE, SEROTONIN & norepinephrine. a overactive stress response makes small stress seem very large. overreaction may be the outcome of TRAUMA.

10 5. your treatment plan in the therapy room with Patricia Gavotto, Psychologist MS in clinical psychology, Paris 8 University Diploma in Family Therapy Build positive brain circuitry that will balance & offset the brain circuits, for rumination, & negative thinking. The therapist will support you to interrupt negative networking and assist you shifting into a positive network. focus on the positive aspects of the experiences presented, to broaden your perspective, & increase flexibility to assist you finding ways to break out of these harmful and patterns. support you to: DO RATHER THAN NOT DO APPROACH RATHER THAN AVOID GO RATHER THAN STOP THERAPY, A TOOL TO KNOW YOURSELF BETTER, IDENTIFY THE TRIGGERS, and PLAN NEW & SAFE RESPONSES USE MORE AND MORE POSITIVE AFFIRMATIONS ABOUT YOURSELF Mind map

11 5. your treatment plan outside the therapy room 1. Implement the safety plan & no harm contract 2. Improve satisfaction 3. use positive affirmations about yourself 4. make a to do list 5. plan to get what you want 6. build positive brain circuitry 7. notice what is good about an experience Patricia Gavotto, Psychologist, end isolation: take small steps Mind map toward reliance on others, get their help to view your situation through fresh eyes