Blog Carnival Edition for December 12, 2006
I want to thank everyone for your overwhelming response to this edition of our carnival. I personally visit each and every entry submission, and where warranted, comment on the entry. Thus unlike other carnivals where your entries simply get listed, you know your submissions are being read (at the very least, by me!). However, this also means my carnival posts tend to run long. We’ve received almost 20 entries in this edition! Unfortunately I had to eliminate entries that are not directly related to mental health, which is unrelated to the quality of the post.
This edition will be particularly lengthy. If you need to find a particular topic, you can hit the [Ctrl] + [F] keys to “find” the word you are looking for without scrolling down paragraphs of text.
Dr. Neill Neill wrote Mental Illness after a mother of a mentally ill daughter came to him depressed, grieving and at her wit’s end as to how to help her daughter. Dr. Neill has been around these woods, both professionally and personally. He wrote the article for her and the rest of us. Jane’s Note: I want to add to Dr. Neill’s #6, which states “The mentally ill are first and foremost people, albeit people who may be severely traumatized.” The mentally ill not only may be traumatized, but they can also traumatize others, which can further exacerbate mental conditions in another person and further perpetuates the victimization cycle in mental illness. For example, my mother’s mental condition caused her to traumatize me as a child, which then triggered my disposition to depression as I was growing up. One of the main reasons why I sought help is to end the victimization cycle.
Charles Donovan presents VNS Therapy™: No Pain, no gain. Not True posted at MyDepressionSpace.com, saying, “Vagus nerve stimulation(VNS) is the only FDA approved long term treatment option for depression.” Jane’s Note: Charles was kind enough to send me a gift: his published book on VNS. I will be reading this over the holidays and sharing more about VNS with readers here in the next few weeks.
Beau presents My Seasonal Affective Disorder posted at Seasons Under The Sun. Jane’s Note: I like this post because Beau talks about different modalities in therapy for SAD, where antidepressants are but one of many options.
John Briffa presents Bulimia shown to be more common in cities, and two highly effective remedies for this condition for those not planning on moving to the country posted at drbriffa.com - a good look at good health. Jane’s Note: I’m grouping John’s post with Beau’s because John also talks about sunlight. Even though John included citations to his article, I want to caution that 2 of the references dealing with supplementation in treatment of bulimia and quite dated. This post therefore is considered anecdotal and not a scientific conclusion (although John is a medical doctor).
Miguel Trujillo presents Happiness and Culture posted at Miguel Trujillo. Jane’s Note: This post suggests that modern culture encourages unhappiness. I’m curious whether there are any epidemiological studies looking at cultural influences on depression.
lorenzo presents The Source of All Illnesses posted at RealitySeeds. Jane’s Note: Many may consider this post more along the “alternative therapy” approach and some who are more critical may consider it “quackery”. However, Lorenzo at no point advocates not taking medication or stop taking medication, and states, “Even if the root cause of illness is in the mind and in the thoughts you have, it doesn’t mean that you should stop taking medicines or go to see a doctor when you are sick.” Lorenzo has written a long and thoughtful article on how some of our internal conflicts bear fruit as illness symptoms. I think this article is worthwhile to look at some of our beliefs and how these may affect our thoughts and actions, and subsequently cause physical symptoms.
Alvaro Fernandez presents Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg on Brain Fitness Programs and Cognitive Training posted at SharpBrains: Your Window into the Brain Fitness Revolution, saying, “An interview with a leading expert in the field of cognitive training.” Jane’s Note: I suspect that the “bolded” phrases are Alvaro’s own highlights of notable points. I do like the new (and more effective) perspective of “use it and get more of it” over the old “use it or lose it.”
Randy Yniguez presents Breathe Away Anxiety and Stress posted at Randy Yniguez, saying, “This goes hand in hand with progressive muscle relaxation. A great combo for on the spot reduction in anxiety.” Jane’s Note: Important point about stress and breathing; some of us don’t realize that we actually hold our breaths when we’re anxious and cut off oxygen to our system. Also I want to comment on Randy’s statement about personal growth: “Personal growth involves not only branching outward, but taking care of your inner needs.” I believe that personal growth happens from the inside out.
Linda Freedman presents Holiday Post 3: Remembering and Xmas posted at Everyone needs therapy? Lessons from a family therapist, saying, “The holiday season is a busy time of year for therapy docs. This post demonstrates how to turn memories into living memories, making holiday loss a managable, even bittersweet observance.” Jane’s Note: Thanks, Linda, I enjoyed the story. This is practical advice on how to keep on living and building new traditions for yourself.
I’m grouping this one with Linda’s given the topical relevance: Suni presents Depression and the Holiday Season posted at Bulletproof Soul, with resource links relating to depression and the holidays.
Mercurial Scribe presents Aftermath posted at Mercurial Scribe. Jane’s Note: I’m with you, Scribe. Keep on keeping on, and you’ll be doing the right thing.
GrrlScientist sent me 3 posts, which I’ll group here: To Answer Some Questions saying, “this story goes to show you that truth is stranger than fiction”, Court Date saying, “involuntary commitment? we shall see” and Some More Answers saying, “more about my bipolar breakdown.” Jane’s Note: GrrlScientist, thank you for sharing your experience with us. This is a rare, inside look at a personal experience with bipolar disorder, suicide, and the aftermath of a suicide attempt (institutionalization)… on top of being enrolled in a Ph.D. program. During my Ph.D. program, I was deep in the throes of clinical depression. I admit, suicide ideation was not foreign to me, although it remained mainly ideation in my case at the time. I read past the 3 entries Grrlscientist wrote and you can do the same by clicking on the ‘What Happened Next?’ link at the bottom of each entry. Grrlscientist: My thoughts are with you.
Miguel Trujillo presents Elements of Happiness: #1: Thought control posted at Miguel Trujillo, saying, “The link between happiness and personal thought control.” Jane’s Note: Interesting point, but needs an important premise that the choice to exercise thought control to become happy may come easier to some (example: non clinically depressed persons) than others (example: clinically depressed persons). While I can see how increasing one’s awareness to painful thoughts is a first step toward managing those thoughts and the influences over one’s actions and thus life, this awareness can be a long way off from actual behaviorial change that requires more internal work (for some this may include various forms of therapy).
This concludes our edition! Sorry I posted this one day late… I was in a thought-intensive seminar all day yesterday, and my brain was happily exhausted by the end of the day.
Since the holidays are coming up, I’ll posting the next edition of carnival of depression, bipolar disorder, and mental health journeys on January 10, 2007. You may submit your entries here.
Happy Holidays and Take Care of Yourself!
Photo credit: Polar Bear Holiday (artist: Craig Jewell)
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3 Responses to “Blog Carnival Edition for December 12, 2006”
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Jane, this is one of the best presented carnivals I have seen. I enjoy very much your one-sentence take-aways.
And you guessed right (“I suspect that bolded phrases are Alvaro’s own highlights of notable points”).
The alternative would be quite funny…I could give interviewees some castanets for them to play while they say something that they’d like me to highlight
Thank you, Alvaro!
I can see how castanets can come in handy when blogging becomes multimedia! I’m not quite into blogcasting (blog podcasting?) or YouTube’ing yet.
[...] Another easy to learn stress reduction technique is deep diaphragmic breathing, which was posted in the Carnival of Depression, Bipolar Disorder, and Mental Health Journeys. In a nutshell, when you’re anxious, your breathing becomes short and shallow which, through a chain reaction, increases your anxiety. Not good! Fortunately, “when we are able to fully expand our lungs when we breathe, we are able to instigate a chain reaction of events within us that lead to calmer and more relaxed states of being. We can control our reaction to stress and in effect keep ourselves healthier.” [...]