Mood Spectrum, Internet and College Students, Forgiveness, and Talk Therapy
Welcome to the July 4, 2007 edition of carnival of depression, bipolar disorder, and mental health journeys. Congratulations to those of you whose submissions were accepted to this edition - and thanks to the authors who took the time to submit an entry. Even though I may not be able to include all submissions to this edition, I appreciate your consideration and read each and every entry sent.
If you submit an article that summarizes studies or scientific research: Please include links to references and cite the actual studies so that readers who wish to look at the actual studies may read the original source. I tend to be very strict about citations and source references because 1) this helps me maintain integrity of health information shared on this website esp. given the HONcode accreditation, and 2) my scientific background has made me a stickler for going to original sources whenever possible to look at studies conducted and assumptions made.
I understood Barbara’s argument to teach forgiveness to parents instead of children so that children do not fall to the hands of abuse. However, reality is such that the very people who should learn forgiveness usually end up being the ones who need to be forgiven. In my personal experience, forgiving is letting go of a hatred that consumes and at the same time, letting go of self-loathing that came from “having something bad done to me” when I was a small child and unable to help myself.
mercurial scribe shared a very creative post called, Call it “Covering the Spectrum of the Dwarves” to describe an experience of the spectrum of moods.
I found Brandon’s Students Should Cut The Net, Not Themselves a sobering article. Even though I was severely depressed as a college student, I didn’t have the internet back then, or I may end up even more isolated than I was. What really helped me was taking up tae kwon do during my senior year in college. The combination of physical exercise, a sense of pride in actually being good at the martial art, and regular interactions with people in class made my senior year most memorable. It was a rare time when I really felt like I had “a college student experience”.
Dave Johnson reminded us that Cognitive Therapy is generally as effective as medication. We’ve been so quick to go to medication that sometimes choosing meds is more a matter of convenience than doing what will ultimately help us get better. I vouch for the benefit for both therapies, although I admit when I first started treatment for depression, my therapy sessions were more productive when the correct meds kicked in (started working). Then, many years later, as I am more familiar with the cognitive tools, I relied only on psychotherapy during a period of depression relapse, because I was not able to tolerate medication side effects.
I’ve gotten a couple of bloggers who have generously reached out to me to help host a future edition of this carnival. Karen will be hosting the July 11th edition, and James is hosting the July 18th edition. You may also submit your articles to the next edition via this link.
For those of you in the U.S., have a joyful and safe July 4th holiday. For those of you in the rest of the world - take good care of yourself. Until Next Time -
Photo Credits for this post: Quiet by scol22, Halcon by Martin M Hernandez Tena, tulip by kyrsun.
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