Monday 23 April 2018

Psychology of Depression

Psychology of Depression and Emotional Healing

(Please refer the flow chart for this article)

1) There are 3 types of depression: 1) Everyday depression 2) Major Depression which is persisting for 2 weeks 3) Severe Depression - of loss, thoughts of suicide, losing interest.

2) Major Depression is loss of pleasure - anhedonia along with great grief and great guilt. It has distorted thinking of terrible, getting worse and hopelessness. It is a disorder of thought rather than an emotion. It also features psychomotor retardation - moving and speaking slowly, eating and sleep also declines. They learn to be helpless, is quite generalized. The more someone has an internal locus of control, the less likelihood of depression. A major depression is an outcome of particularly severe lessons in uncontrollability. Exposed to stressors early in life have a life long increase in CRH (Corticocorpin Releasing Hormone) levels in their brain.

3) Stress and Depression go together. Stress: Human stress is a response due to uncontrollable ideas, protective and preparative thoughts. We call it anxiety, neurosis, paranoia or needless hostility. It is caused just by thinking (by imagining). Those with Major Depression experience more stressors and lack of social support, winding up, socially rejected. First Major Depression have undergone recent and significant stress. Stress emerges as triggers for first few depressions. Later mind clock takes over.
Link between Stress, Anxiety, Mental disorders and Depression: Stress leads to anxiety. Anxiety is of different types like phobia, OCD(Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), GAD(Generalized Anxiety Disorder), PTSD. Anxiety is disorganized coping with stress. Chronic anxiety leads to depression.

4) Psychodynamic: Psychological cause explained by Freud:
a.       Mourning is a normal depression and it recovers quickly.
b.      Melancholia is major depression.
Every loving relationship is a balance of hatred as well as love. Ambivalence of intense love and intense hatred cause Melancholia. Celebrating (the love) and Grieving (the hatred), the person under depression takes on some irritating traits of the other person to convince the argument and the world. Here the Aggression is turned inward.

5) Biological: 
1. Abnormal neurotransmitter levels and their abnormal communication
2. Abnormal hormone ratios
3. General vulnerability.
4. Extremes of psychological stress cause endocrine changes of depression. Genes, act in stressful environment, glucocorticoids is due to stress response. Stress and Glucocorticoids bring neurochemical changes of depression.
5. Limbic system involved in stress response. Above limbic is Cortex which thinks negative in people with chronic depression. Front portion of Cortex is ACC (Anterior Cingulate Cortex) involved in emotions like feelings of pain and fear. By Hypnotic Suggestion, by Counseling, ACC never becomes active. Another part Amygdala is hyperactive on depression being sad. Front of ACC is Frontal Cortex. Left PFC is associated with positive moods and right with negative moods (Choice is yours).

Hormones Glucocorticoids (prepares brain for future-next stressor) present in depression and Catecholamines(epinephrine and norepinephrine appears to deal with present situation-current stressor) in psychiatric disorders like coping activity or stress or anxiety. During trauma Amygdala learns to react in PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).  Glucocorticoids work differently in Amygdala. If sympathetic system is relaxed, Amygdala never reacts in PTSD - Relaxation can help.

Why only some of us fall prey to this awful depression?
Because some of us are exposed to lot more stress than others. Like, history of early life stressors makes lot more vulnerable. Stress depletes norepinephrine causing biology of vulnerability. It is the interaction between the ambiguous experiences that life throws at us and the biology of our vulnerabilities and resilience’s that determines which of us fall prey to this awful disease.

Emotional Healing by Relaxation (Hypnotherapy)
By relaxing the person, it is easy to access the exact memory that associate, distort, generalize, assume for processing the day-to-day information received by the brain. By accessing them we can identify and remove the cognitive distortions of CBT by understanding the Psycho-bio-social causes. Emotional healing by relaxation also helps to deal with the sub/un conscious memories of psychodynamic theory to balance the defense mechanisms-function of id, ego and superego.

Role of Positive Psychology and RajYoga to deal with Depression

Character, Strengths and Virtues are the bedrock of the human condition and that strength-congruent activity represents an important route to the psychological good life. Positive psychology is able to help people evolve toward their highest potential. The classification, similar to DSM and ICD, described in the book “Character, Strengths and Virtues” by authors Christopher Peterson and Martin E.P.Seligman published during 2004 concerned that inadequate progress was being made from well-worn problem-fixing approaches and that an approach based on recognizing people’s strengths and aspirations might prove more effective. Positive Psychology has devised a classification of character, strengths and virtues (addressing the “good” teenager concern) and ways of measuring them (addressing the program evaluation concern) and this classification and measurement strategies they have created can be applied much more broadly.

Rajyoga which is being taught since 1936 focuses on self awareness and empowerment of mind, the practice of which develops the character, strength and virtues described in Positive Psychology. To deal with Stress and Depression, which are the main cause of Physical and Mental illnesses, (modern medicine reveals that 75 to 90% diseases are psychosomatic–stress related), Brahma kumaris and Annamalai University, Tamilnadu has jointly introduced Diploma, P.G. and M.Sc courses on Counseling and Spiritual Health where Healthy Life Style, Managing Psycho-Bio-Social Cause, Emotional Healing and Self Empowerment through Spiritual Intelligence are being taught to deal with Non-communicable physical and mental diseases to create a stress free peaceful, happy and healthy life.



References:

Azeem Dana (2014) “Instant Healing”, A guide for Emotional Healing: Bloomington-U.S.A: Balboa Press

Christopher Peterson and Martin E.P.Seligman, (2004) “Character Strengths and Virtues”: A Handbook and Classification; Oxford University Press,U.S.A

Deepak Chopra, M.D. Healing from Depression www.chopra.com

McLeod, S. A. (2015). Psychological theories of depression. Retrieved from www.simplypsychology.org/depression.html

Mental Health Strategy, Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Robert M.Sapolsky (1994, 1998) Why Zebras Dont get Ulcer-the Acclaimed Guide to Stress and Stress related diseases and Coping, U.S.A

Seligman ME, et al. "Positive Psychology Progress: Empirical Validation of Interventions," American Psychologist (July–Aug. 2005): Vol. 60, No. 5, pp. 410–21.

Spirituality Health Inner Values Academy (2017) Shrimat Bhagawad Gita by God Shiva, Create Space, U.S.A

Taittriya Upanishad, Ancient Vedas, India

Saturday 14 April 2018

Psycho-Bio-Social Factors of Depression

Psycho-Bio-Social Factors of Depression
from
Paper 1 Unit 4 and Paper 4 Unit 5

Msc Counseling and Spiritual Health: Paper 1 Unit 4

1) Stress: Human stress is a response due to uncontrollable ideas, protective and preparative thoughts - for no reason unlike animals (Like humanbeings, animals never have thoughts of protecting themselves-anxiety for future). We call it anxiety, neurosis, paranoia or needless hostility. It is caused just by thinking (by imagining).

2) There are 3 types of depression: 1) Everyday depression 2) Major Depression which is persisting for 2 weeks 3) Severe Depression - of loss, thoughts of suicide, losing interest.

Major Depression is loss of pleasure - anhedonia along with great grief and great guilt. It has distorted thinking of terrible, getting worse and hopelessness. It is a disorder of thought rather than an emotion. It also features psychomotor retardation - moving and speaking slowly, eating and sleep also declines.

3) Stress and Depression go together. Those with Major Depression experience more stressors and lack of social support, winding up, socially rejected. First Major Depression have undergone recent and significant stress. Stress emerges as triggers for first few depressions. Later mind clock takes over.

4) Psychodynamic: Psychological cause explained by Freud:

a.       Mourning is a normal depression and it recovers quickly.

b.      Melancholia is major depression.

Every loving relationship is a balance of hatred as well as love. Ambivalence of intense love and intense hatred cause Melancholia. Celebrating (the love) and Grieving (the hatred), the person under depression takes on some irritating traits of the other person to convince the argument and the world. Here the Aggression is turned inward.

5) Biology of depression:

a.       It is from experimental psychology, explains cause as loss of control and of predictability. They are learned to be helpless, is quite generalized. Not due to physiological stress but due to psychological stress of not having control or not able to predict, and give up, never attempt coping response, no motivation. They have cognitive distortion and over generalizing and motor retardation. Less capable of coping even with simple and easily solvable task.

b.      The more someone has an internal locus of control, the less likelihood of depression. There are links among stress, personality and depression. Learned helplessness is a learned behaviour taught all too well previously.

c.       A major depression is an outcome of particularly severe lessons in uncontrollability. Exposed to stressors early in life have a life long increase in CRH (Corticocorpin Releasing Hormone) levels in their brain.

6) Depression is pessimism specific to the effects of one's own skilled actions. Subjected to the uncontrollable stress, we learn to be helpless, we lack the motivation, assume the worst, lack the cognitive clarity to perceive things which are going fine, an aching lack of pleasure.

7) Integration-Conclusion:

Depression is caused by stress caused by:

a. Psychological: 
1. Pathological over exposure to loss of control and outlets for frustration (cognitive distorted belief by over generalization)
2. Freudian: Internalized battle of ambivalence, aggression turned inward.

b. Biological: 
1. Abnormal neurotransmitter levels and their abnormal communication
2. Abnormal hormone ratios
3. General vulnerability.

c. Stress unites psychology and biology theories

d. Link between Stress and Depression: Extremes of psychological stress cause endocrine changes of depression. Genes, act in stressful environment, glucocorticoids is due to stress response. Stress and Glucocorticoids bring neurochemical changes of depression.

e. Major Depression: Stress of extremes of lack of control and outlets cause

1.      Psychological: Cognitive distortive belief of learned helplessness
2.      Emotions: Anhedonia
3.      Behaviour: Psychomotor retardation,
4.      Neurochemical: Disruption of serotinin, norepinephrine and dopamine.
5.      Physiologically: Appetite, sleep, sensitivity to glucocorticoid- feedback regulation.

Why only some of us fall prey to this awful depression?

Because some of us are exposed to lot more stress than others. Like, history of early life stressors makes lot more vulnerable. Stress depletes norepinephrine causing biology of vulnerability. It is the interaction between the ambiguous experiences that life throws at us and the biology of our vulnerabilities and resilience’s that determines which of us fall prey to this awful disease.

M.Sc Counseling and Spiritual Health Paper 4 Unit 5

1. Hypothalamus (also mid brain and hind brain) release hormones and instruct ANS (Autonomic Nervous System) to reduce blood pressure. Limbic system involved in stress response. Above limbic is Cortex which thinks negative in people with chronic depression. Front portion of Cortex is ACC (Anterior Cingulate Cortex) involved in emotions like feelings of pain and fear. By Hypnotic Suggestion, by Counseling, ACC never becomes active. Another part Amygdala is hyperactive on depression being sad. Front of ACC is Frontal Cortex. Left PFC is associated with positive moods and right with negative moods (Choice is yours).

Hormones Glucocorticoids (prepares brain for future-next stressor) present in depression and Catecholamines(epinephrine and norepinephrine appears to deal with present situation-current stressor) in psychiatric disorders like coping activity or stress or anxiety. During trauma Amygdala learns to react in PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder).  Glucocorticoids work differently in Amygdala. If sympathetic system is relaxed, Amygdala never reacts in PTSD - Relaxation can help.

Link between Stress, Anxiety, Mental disorders and Depression: Stress leads to anxiety. Anxiety is of different types like phobia, OCD(Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), GAD(Generalized Anxiety Disorder), PTSD.

Anxiety is disorganized coping with stress. Chronic anxiety leads to depression.

Bio-social Factors: DNA shared by the parents, present environment-people, situations, chronic illness that affects immune system, hormonal imbalance, personality influence depression.

Psychological Factors: Depression happens due to anxiety, phobia, ocd, GAD, PTSD caused by the discrepancy between stressors and its coping responses.

Treatment

The good news is, if you have will power to remain free from past habits and attachments of mind(past impressions), you can overcome stress and thereby prevent depression.

Msc Counseling and Spiritual Health: Paper 1 Unit 4

Dealing with Depression through RajYoga

1. Not to speak of illness, not to think about the past.

2. Use powers to transform, tolerate, accommodate, become unlimited in awareness.

3. To be free from bondage, desire, sorrow, peacelessness, sanskar and attachment. Find God, have clear aim, not to get influenced by people, not to cry or become distressed, become fearless free from all weaknesses.

4. Remain stable in Avyakt(Relaxed Bodiless) stage and practice it all the time till it become natural.

5. Detach by knowledge, by mind, change your karma-actions, relationship and connections, thinking

6. Practice five forms of self awareness:  I am a Child, I am a Godly student, I am a spiritual pilgrim, I am a warrior (spiritual warrior against my own vices) and I am a Godly helper.


Monday 2 April 2018

Message For Teachers who teach spirituality and values in education

Translation of the Hindi message received from Education wing Office, signed by BK Bro. Mruthyunjaya, Vice Chairperson of Education Wing and Dr.BK.Pandiamani, Director-Value Education Programmes, Brahma Kumaris, RE&RF

Beloved Divine brothers and sisters,

During this years annual meeting, it was decided that value in education and spirituality will be taught to school children from 1st standard to 12th standard. Based on this, the syllabus had been prepared.

It is requested to the Divine family that if you have any suggestions, you may call 9414153090 / 9560455797 and if you have contents like songs, poem, short stories related to value education and spirituality for school children, for the prepared syllabus, you may please send it BEFORE 31.5.18 to bkveschoolsyllabus@gmail.com in english typed-editable format.

Most important is, it should be related to the prepared syllabus and the mentioned Class/Grade.

With Divine intervention, hope we receive your cooperation in introducting this course to all schools.

Note: To receive the syllabus contents in pdf format, kindly send a request to email: mentalhealthghtc@gmail.com


The Original Message:

बापदादा के दिलतख्तनशीन, विश्व सेवा में निमित्त दैवी बहनें एवं भाई,

ईश्वरीय मधुर याद-प्यार।

अत्यन्त हर्ष की बात है कि इस वर्ष की वार्षिक मीटिंग 2018 के अंतर्गत शिक्षा प्रभाग की मीटिंग में `मूल्य शिक्षा और अध्यात्म' के पाठ्यक्रमों को स्कूलों में प्रारम्भ करने पर विचार-विमर्श किया गया जिससे विद्यार्थियों का सर्वांगीण विकास हो सके। इसी उद्देश्य को लेकर स्कूल पाठ्यक्रमों (School Syllabus) हेतु एक प्रपोजल - पहली कक्षा से लेकर बारहवीं कक्षा तक बनाया गया है जो इस पत्र के साथ संलग्न हैं।

आप सबसे नम्र निवेदन है कि इस प्रपोजल को पढ़ने के बाद यदि कोई अमूल्य सुझाव देना हो तो हमारे मोबाइल नं. 9414153090 / 9560455797 पर सम्पर्क करें। इसी प्रकार इस पाठ्यक्रम में आपको कुछ सुझाव व अन्य सामग्रियां जैसे- Song, Poem, Short Stories, etc. इत्यादि जोड़ना हो तो हमें अंग्रेजी में टाईप करके हमारे ई-मेल: bkveschoolsyllabus@gmail.com पर भेजने में सहयोग करें। आपका प्रत्येक सुझाव विद्यार्थियों के अनुकूल होना चाहिए। सुझाव भेजने की अंतिम तिथि 31 मई, 2018 रखा गया है। 

मुझे पूर्ण विश्वास है कि बापदादा की सूक्ष्म इशारों को समझते हुए शिक्षा प्रभाग के इस नवीन  और उच्चतम सेवाकार्य में आप सभी का अवश्य सहयोग मिलेगा।

शुभ आशाओं सहित,

ईश्वरीय सेवा में,
ब्र.कु. मृत्युंजय
कार्यकारी सचिव
ब्रह्माकुमारीज, आबू पर्वत

डॉ. ब्र.कु. पांड्यामणि
निदेशक, मूल्य शिक्षा कार्यक्रम
ब्रह्माकुमारीज, आर.ई.आर.एफ.