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It's All In The Mind
It's all in the mind:
Things to avoid
14/11/11 15:00
It’s All In The Mind is a series of helping tools for doing pastoral care with people suffering from mental illness. It is written by Kirk Vette from Shore Vineyards Churches, who is a clinical worker for YouthLine NZ. Kirk and his wife, Caroline, live in Auckland with their three children and on his day's off you will find him sneaking off for a surf.
Depression - Things to avoid
Today, our blog post is a very easy one; the things not to say.• It’s all in your head.
• We all go through times like this.
• Look on the bright side.
• You have so much to live for why do you want to die?
• I can’t do anything about your situation.
• Just snap out of it.
• What’s wrong with you?
• Shouldn’t you be better by now?
Next week I will post some of the things that are important to understand from the side of the helper when working with depression.
Next entry: Things to understand
Subscribe via RSS Feed, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to not miss the next entry.It's all in the mind:
How to help
24/10/11 06:00
It’s All In The Mind is a series of helping tools for doing pastoral care with people suffering from mental illness. It is written by Kirk Vette from Shore Vineyards Churches, who is a clinical worker for YouthLine NZ. Kirk and his wife, Caroline, live in Auckland with their three children and on his day's off you will find him sneaking off for a surf.
Depression - How to help
To be fair helping a person with depression is not an easy task.Rule number one from my experience in working with depressed people. The hardest part of working with people with depression is watching them struggle. Don’t get caught in trying to rescue the person. Their low mood, despair and misery can draw a person in who cares and wants to help. I have learnt that this time will pass once they get the help, encouragement, support that they need.
Number two don’t be afraid to refer to a doctor and counselor, if the person is significantly low and fits the criteria above or you are just simply concerned for them get advice from another professional. The sooner help is sort and action taken the less severe the depression will get. Working back from severe depression can be a tough thing to do.
Three would be from a preventative view point; you can only be of assistance when you are in a good place yourself. Make sure you have plenty of the fun, exercise, good sleep and healthy diet. Take a long term view to your work and give yourself the breaks and stress relief that you need so that you don’t burn out.
I have quoted the following “How to talk to a loved one about depression” from this website, it says it very well.
Sometimes it is hard to know what to say or where to start when speaking to a loved one about depression. You might fear that if you bring up your worries he or she will get angry, feel insulted, or ignore your concerns. You may be unsure what questions to ask or how to be supportive. Try using some of these suggestions to guide your conversation.
Ways to start the conversation:
- I have been feeling concerned about you lately.
- Recently, I have noticed some differences in you and wondered how you are doing.
- I wanted to check in with you because you have seemed pretty down lately.
- When did you begin feeling like this?
- Did something happen that made you start feeling this way?
- How can I best support you right now?
- Do you ever feel so bad that you don’t want to be anymore?
- Have you thought about getting help?
What you can say that helps:
- You are not alone in this. I’m here for you.
- You may not believe it now, but the way you’re feeling will change.
- I may not be able to understand exactly how you feel, but I care about you and want to help.
- When you want to give up, tell yourself you will hold of for just one more day, hour, minute — whatever you can manage.
- You are important to me. Your life is important to me.
- Tell me what I can do now to help you.
Next entry: Things to avoid
Subscribe via RSS Feed, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to not miss the next entry.It's all in the mind:
Causes of depression
14/10/11 15:00
It’s All In The Mind is a series of helping tools for doing pastoral care with people suffering from mental illness. It is written by Kirk Vette from Shore Vineyards Churches, who is a clinical worker for YouthLine NZ. Kirk and his wife, Caroline, live in Auckland with their three children and on his day's off you will find him sneaking off for a surf.
Causes of depression
It is important here not to rush to any conclusions about what may be the cause of a person’s depression. Sometimes a person may become depressed from a single event or may become depressed over time. There are often a several reasons for a person’s depression.
There are three areas that can influence a person’s likely hood of becoming depressed. They are called risk factors. These are family history, lifestyle choices and life events. (www.depression.org.nz)
- Firstly family history, this includes a history of abuse in the family and / or a history of depression in the family.
- Life style choices that may cause depression include excessive alcohol consumption, recreational or party drugs, social isolation, lack of sleep,poor diet , lack of exercise and stress.
- Life events include death or loss of someone close, relationship break-ups, traumatic, often life threatening events, financial pressure, unemployment, serious accidents (particularly head injuries) or long-term illness, some medication (check with your doctor),stress or problems at work, school or university, bullying or abuse, some women experience depression during pregnancy or after childbirth
Understanding that some of these areas may be the cause of depression helps to identify those that are relevant and address them. John Kirwin does an excellent job on the depression.org.nz website of helping people to identify the risk factors and then what treatment there is that may be appropriate to help. (depression.org.nz)
Next entry: How to help
Subscribe via RSS Feed, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to not miss the next entry.What action should a person take?
05/10/11 13:00
It’s All In The Mind is a series of helping tools for doing pastoral care with people suffering from mental illness. It is written by Kirk Vette from Shore Vineyards Churches, who is a clinical worker for YouthLine NZ. Kirk and his wife, Caroline, live in Auckland with their three children and on his day's off you will find him sneaking off for a surf.
What action should a person take if they or you recognise the signs depression?
The most important thing to do is to start to get help, talking about it with someone. Don’t think that by not doing anything about it a person is coping, most often people will get worse if they do not get the help they need.
If the key signs of depression are what you recognise then I recommend that people see their doctor or GP and get some help from them. As well as the GP find a counselor who is experienced in working with depression and talk with them about what they are experiencing. The medical to help enhance what your body is not producing in terms of the natural feel good chemicals and the counselor who will be able to help them to understand what is happening and how to move forward. They can also help to explain more fully the following treatment options such as self help techniques, and talking therapies.
The self help techniques include getting good sleep, reducing stress, regular exercise ,keep doing the things that you would normally find fun, stay connected with your friends and stop alcohol use .
Your Doctor can prescribe you antidepressants that will replace the feel good drugs that your body stops producing when you are depressed.
Talking therapies can be helpful to work through the possible underlying issues of the depression.
Creating opportunity for the presence of God to touch their life is an excellent treatment also.
Thinking holistically about dealing with depression will help the person embrace treatment. Medical, environmental, lifestyle and spiritual interventions will all work towards moving through depression.
Working with a doctor and counselor will greatly enhance the likely hood of the depression reducing faster. If the person finds that the treatment that they are receiving is not going well for them review what they are doing with your doctor or counselor.
Next entry: Causes of depression?
Subscribe via RSS Feed, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to not miss the next entry.Depression - What is it?
26/09/11 19:00
It’s All In The Mind is a series of helping tools for doing pastoral care with people suffering from mental illness. It is written by Kirk Vette from Shore Vineyards Churches, who is a clinical worker for YouthLine NZ. Kirk and his wife, Caroline, live in Auckland with their three children and on his day's off you will find him sneaking off for a surf.
Depression - What is it?
Unfortunately depression is one of the most common forms of mental illness in New Zealand.
Most people experience low moods at some time in their life after a difficult situation such as the death of a loved one, loss of a job etc. As life moves on the low mood generally dissipates we experience pleasure and the low mood becomes a memory.
However if the low mood lasts for 2 weeks or more and a person generally feels down for most of that time and has no pleasure in the things that normally give them pleasure they may be experiencing what is called a depressive episode.
The web site www.depression.org.nz clearly outlines the signs that indicate a person may be experiencing depression;
Key signs
- constantly feeling down or hopeless
- having little interest or pleasure in doing things you used to enjoy
Possible signs
- irritability or restlessness feeling tired all the time, or general loss of energy
- feelings of emptiness or loneliness
- no longer interested in favorite activities
- sleep problems – too much, or too little
- weight loss or gain
- low self-esteem
- problems with concentration
- reduced sex drive
- thinking about death a lot
If you recognise any or all of these signs – particularly the key signs – you should take action sooner rather than later. Depression is far easier to deal with before it gets serious. (www.depression.org.nz)