Sometimes When A Friend Is Depressed, You Want To Say Snap Out Of It...

Sometimes When A Friend Is Depressed, You Want To Say 'Snap Out Of It.' But This Is Better.

Talking about any sort of illness feels awkward. But talking about mental health and mental illness feels even more awkward. What are you supposed to do? What are you supposed to say? You're not a doctor, how can you help? Here are five tips that can really help, and you don't need a Ph.D. for any of them.

http://www.upworthy.com/sometimes-when-a-friend-is-depressed-you-want-to-say-snap-out-of-it-but-this-is-better?c=ufb1

The Effect Of Positive Emotions On Our Health

http://www.spiritscienceandmetaphysics.com/the-effect-of-positive-emotions-on-our-health/

The Effect Of Positive Emotions On Our Health

The Effect Of Positive Emotions On Our Health

The Effect Of Positive Emotions On Our Health

 

 

“The best way to overcome undesirable or negative thoughts and feelings is to cultivate the positive ones.” ~ William Atkinson

Its important we recognize our thoughts and emotions and be aware of their effect not only on our health but also our relationships and our surroundings. Positive emotions makes you feel happy and joyful. Everything around you seems beautiful, you enjoy the moment and things seem to fall into place.

Barbara Fredrickson, one of the long-time researchers and author on positive emotions, has shown how cultivating positivity can transform us at a cellular level and actually shape who we are.

Fredrickson’s theory of positive emotions, ‘Broaden-and-build’ suggests that positive emotions lead to novel, expansive behavior, and these actions, over time, lead to lasting emotional resilience, flourishing and meaningful social relationships.

Positive emotions or behaviour – like playfulness, gratitude, awe, love, interest, serenity, and feeling of interconnectedness to others – broadens our perspective, opens our mind and heart as we feel completely in tune with our environment. Like the flowers that open up when the sun rises, the same way positive emotions bring light and joy back in our lives.

According to Fredrickson, “Negative emotions are necessary for us to flourish, and positive emotions are by nature subtle and fleeting; the secret is not to deny their transience but to find ways to increase their quantity. Rather than trying to eliminate negativity, she recommends we balance negative feelings with positive ones.”

Shakespeare said, “Frame your mind to mirth and merriment, which bars a thousand harms and lengthens life.”

Lets see the physical and emotional benefits of positive emotions -

• Faster recovery from cardiovascular stress
• Positive emotions have also been shown to benefit individuals with cardiovascular disease.
• Lower blood pressure and risk for cardiovascular disease
• Better sleep, fewer colds, headaches, aches and pain, and a greater sense of overall happiness
• Expands our perception of what lies in our peripheral vision
• Research suggests that even more abstract positive emotions like hope and curiosity offer protective benefits from diseases like high blood pressure and diabetes.
• Studies show that positive emotions help a person to overcome negative emotions faster and be more resilient and be able to cope with a difficult situation.
• People are more playful when happy, so that leads better physical fitness, regular exercise or increased flexibility. (so its important to engage in an activity that makes you happy)
• People who experience warmer, more upbeat emotions may have better physical health because they make more social connections

When you delve in that happy space, more possibilities and new ideas emerge and our creativity flows. Happiness and joy transform us, although you might not stay in that state all the time. There will days when you feel down and out, but if we observe our emotions and divert our mind and think of the happy moments, you will find the negative emotion fading away.

Don’t forget negative, repressed emotions can have detrimental effect on our body, mind and spirit. It takes control over you and makes you feel down, gloomy, unhealthy and its a unpleasant state to be in.

Nothing like a good humour to drive the negativity away, always works for me. So increase your daily diet of positivity or engage in activities that bring about happy feelings either meditation, exercise, yoga, laughter clubs, walk, painting, and so on. Love your life and yourself.

Positive feelings also help us live in the present moment and believe in oneness and interconnectedness with everything around us. To sum it up, Marcus Aurelius said “Remember this, that very little is needed to make a happy life.”

Shakespeare said, “Frame your mind to mirth and merriment, which bars a thousand harms and lengthens life.”
Lets see the physical and emotional benefits of positive emotions -

• Faster recovery from cardiovascular stress
• Positive emotions have also been shown to benefit individuals with cardiovascular disease.
• Lower blood pressure and risk for cardiovascular disease
• Better sleep, fewer colds, headaches, aches and pain, and a greater sense of overall happiness
• Expands our perception of what lies in our peripheral vision
• Research suggests that even more abstract positive emotions like hope and curiosity offer protective benefits from diseases like high blood pressure and diabetes.
• Studies show that positive emotions help a person to overcome negative emotions faster and be more resilient and be able to cope with a difficult situation.
• People are more playful when happy, so that leads better physical fitness, regular exercise or increased flexibility. (so its important to engage in an activity that makes you happy)
• People who experience warmer, more upbeat emotions may have better physical health because they make more social connections

When you delve in that happy space, more possibilities and new ideas emerge and our creativity flows. Happiness and joy transform us, although you might not stay in that state all the time. There will days when you feel down and out, but if we observe our emotions and divert our mind and think of the happy moments, you will find the negative emotion fading away.
Don’t forget negative, repressed emotions can have detrimental effect on our body, mind and spirit. It takes control over you and makes you feel down, gloomy, unhealthy and its a unpleasant state to be in.
Nothing like a good humour to drive the negativity away, always works for me. So increase your daily diet of positivity or engage in activities that bring about happy feelings either meditation, exercise, yoga, laughter clubs, walk, painting, and so on. Love your life and yourself.
Positive feelings also help us live in the present moment and believe in oneness and interconnectedness with everything around us. To sum it up, Marcus Aurelius said “Remember this, that very little is needed to make a happy life.”
- See more at: http://www.spiritscienceandmetaphysics.com/the-effect-of-positive-emotions-on-our-health/#sthash.JHoreqRn.dpuf

Great poster- very inspiring

http://9gag.com/gag/a2NXEze?ref=fb.s

Depression explained

http://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/public/depression/depressionexplained/index.cfm

Depression explained

Depression is a common experience. We have all felt 'depressed' about a friend's cold shoulder, misunderstandings in our marriage, tussles with teenage children - sometimes we feel 'down' for no reason at all.

However, depression can become an illness when:

• The mood state is severe
• It lasts for 2 weeks or more and
• It interferes with our ability to function at home or at work.

Signs of a depression include:

• Lowered self-esteem (or self-worth)
• Change in sleep patterns, that is, insomnia or broken sleep
• Changes in appetite or weight
• Less ability to control emotions such as pessimism, anger, guilt, irritability and anxiety
• Varying emotions throughout the day, for example, feeling worse in the morning and better as the day progresses
• Reduced capacity to experience pleasure: you can't enjoy what's happening now, nor look forward to anything with pleasure. Hobbies and interests drop off
• Reduced pain tolerance: you are less able to tolerate aches and pains and may have a host of new ailments
• Changed sex drive: absent or reduced
• Poor concentration and memory: some people are so impaired that they think that they are becoming demented
• Reduced motivation: it doesn't seem worth the effort to do anything, things seem meaningless
• Lowered energy levels.

If you have such feelings and they persist for most of the day for more days than not over a two week period, and they interfere with your ability to manage at home and at work, then you might benefit from getting an assessment by a skilled professional.
Having one or other of these features, by themselves, is unlikely to indicate depression, however there could be other causes which may warrant medical assessment.
If you are feeling suicidal it is very important to seek immediate help, preferably by a mental health practitioner. See Getting Help and Emergency Help.
How to tell if you or someone else has depression