Thought Leaders Showcase

Last Thursday, I was one of 8 participants in a Thought Leaders Winter Showcase. This is an event put on for Speakers Bureaus and Convention Organisers. My presentation was on Brinkmanship: the art of turning adversity into opportunity. It was quite ironic that it was on July 24 - exactly 4 years after my last suicide attempt. If you had told me back then that I would be speaking so publicly about my depression I wouldn’t have believed you.

Brinkmanship

I have come to realise that we often see problems and adversity with our mind and opportunities with our hearts. How then do we begin to engage our hearts. When we are in the depths of depression this is very hard but I will try to describe my path out. I believe there are 5 principles of brinkmanship.

Step Back

After leaving hospital following a 9 week stay in November 2005 I attended an outpatient depression management course. In this course they encouraged us not to try to solve our whole life’s problems today, but to live in weekly compartments. We set goals, initially around exercise and contact with family and friends. When you are depressed, this is not something you feel like doing, but I decided to give it a go. Over a 4 month period my mood started to improve.

Experience the NOW

This is easy to understand intellectually, but so hard to live. A friend of mine had done a meditation course with the Brahma Kumaris and encouraged me to do the same. I did the course and immediately started seeing benefits. It was interesting, because when I was really depressed, I had tried meditating but without much success. I believe the exercise I had done before hand really helped to prepare me. I now start each day with 20 minutes of meditation and a 45 minute bush walk and this gets me off to a great start.

Reach Out

As my mood improved, I became involved with a 12 step support group called GROW. As I reached out to others, I found it also helped me. I began to reacquaint myself with old friends.

Value Yourself and Others

This is about caring for others and yourself. I started doing voluntary work which got me out of the house and really helped. When I began working on BFTB, this project became bigger than myself and served as motivation when I wasn’t feeling great.

Energise

Once your new mission evolves, the energy comes naturally - you seem to be in the flow.

I don’t want to trivialise depression, but the more I see it in perspective, the more I am convinced that there are many self help things that can be done to aid your own recovery.

SERVE

You’ll notice that the five principles form the acronym SERVE. I know that when I am depressed I become very self absorbed and that thinking about how my experience of adversity can help others is an important change in mindset that can often allow us to move forward.

This is a brief summary of my talk which I hope to be presenting on a much wider scale - particularly in the corporate sector.

Kind Regards

Graeme

Tags: depression, depression treatments, overcoming depression

In my role as an organiser for GROW - a 12 step support group for people with mental illness issues - www.grow.net.au - I am continually reminded of how insurmountable the black hole of depression can be. This is highlighted when new people come who have reached the end of their tether. I can so easily relate to them because it wasn’t that long ago that I was there myself.

The value of personal testimonies

One the most potent things to give them hope is when they hear another describe how they were once in that same situation but now are feeling so much more stronger and capable. There is something about an authentic story that moves the heart. I have pleasure in telling newcomers of the many examples people who came to GROW broken but who now are back working full time.

What exactly are you troubled by?

This is something we endeavour to find out from our members when they are struggling. Often when you are depressed everything seems overwhelming, but we try to encourage people to identify their major worry.

Is it likely, probable, or only possible?

So often we worry about things that never happen and this question seeks to identify what is worth investing time trying to solve and what can be forgotten for the moment. Often with the benefit of other’s perspectives, something that has been really troubling someone can be reduced to the imposter it really is.

How important is it?

Is it something worth investing time in to solve or is it not worth spending another moment on.

What shall I do about it?

In GROW we try to concentrate on one problem at a time - usually something that is likely to happen and that you have some control over. We then brainstorm some potential solutions and endeavour to get the person to chose the most appropriate course of action for them.

Emotional Support

What people often find very beneficial about GROW is the support they get from those around them. You don’t have to explain what depression or anxiety feels like as most members have personally experienced these illnesses. When someone shares a problem, and then agrees to undertake a practical task to address it, we usually organise for another member to call them during the week to see how they are going. This emotional support is hugely beneficial.

Support groups like GROW can be a god send for people who are really struggling - particularly if they don’t have friends or family to confide in.

BACK FROM THE BRINK TOO: Helping your loved one overcome depression

In research I did for my latest book, Back From The Brink Too (available September 9, 2008), which is for the loved ones of people with depression, many carers recounted how hard it was for them to find emotional support for them. I have suggested many strategies of where carers can find emotional support.

If you have a story about a support group. I would love to hear from you.

Kind Regards

Graeme

Tags: anxiety, depression, problems, stress, support groups

I thought I would share some wonderful news with you. There is a book by Jack Canfield called the “Aladdin Factor”. Basically it asserts that if you have wishes and dreams you should float them out there because it is remarkable what can happen. I have a very good example of that. I’ll try and keep a long story short:

An amazing journey

Earlier this year I had a call from a counsellor from Lifeline Cental in SA requesting to buy a couple of books. As I had previously received several emails from other Lifeline counsellors saying how helpful they had found the book, I decided to donate a box of 30 books. The counselling manager from the region, offered to help coordinate the written feedback from counsellors after they had read it. Overwhelmingly they agreed that it would be very helpful (see comments below).

A couple of nights after receiving that feedback from SA, I was giving a keynote address at a Lifeline fundraiser for h2h in Sydney. At the end of my speech, I mentioned briefly that it was my vision to find a sponsor to provide a copy of my book for every Lifeline TC. A couple approached me after my talk saying they would like to help on the condition that their involvement remained anonymous. After contacting a colleague overseas they were able to raise the necessary money for the 4200 books – truly inspirational.

What Lifeline TC’s had to say about BFTB

“I read it in two and a half days – I couldn’t put it down”

“It helped me understand the different forms depression can take and how they can affect people”

“The stories were full of hope – it is what clients need to hear”

“There are stories in there that everyone can relate to”

 Put 11.00am Tuesday September 9, 2008 @ The Blackdog Institute in your diary

I’m thrilled to confirm the launch day for BACK FROM THE BRINK TOO: Helping your loved one overcome depression. I am very excited by the potential of this book to touch many lives. An official invitation will follow soon but I just wanted to get the date in your diary.

Kind Regards

Graeme

Tags: depression books, inspiration, overcoming depression

In research I did for BFTB, nutrition was rated the sixth most effective strategy for managing/overcoming depression (after exercise, support of family and friends, psychological counselling, fulfilling work, and relaxation/meditation. The subject was raised in my awareness with books like “Potatoes not Prozac” but increasingly we are seeing research and books coming out with compelling arguments for the effectiveness of lifestyle strategies (several have been covered in recent News and Blog posts on www.IamBackFromTheBrink.com)

A colleague based in the UK has recently brought to my attention the MIND website. MIND is the leading mental health charity in the UK and the site contains some very practical advice regarding food and mood disorders. See:  http://www.mind.org.uk/Information/Booklets/Mind+guide+to/Mindguidetofoodandmood.htm#Useful_organisations 

I encourage you to review the above webpage as it is covered quite succinctly in a question and answer format. For those that don’t have the time I’ll cut to the chase on good nutrition for mental health:

6-8 glasses of water per day (stay close to the WC)

Max 2 cups of coffee per day

5 serves of fruit/vegetables (starchy products like potato and sweet potato don’t count.

Oily fish (high in omega 3)

Lean protein

Wholemeal bread

Looks a lot like a healthy diet for physical wellbeing - just goes to show how closely the two are linked.

My personal opinion is that you can’t rely on any one strategy for overcoming depression but if you are serious about making progress, good nutrition is something you can’t ignore. If you are aware of any other evidence of the benefits of good nutrition in mood disorders, please let me know.

Kind Regards

Graeme

Tags: depression, diet, mood disorders, nutrition, prozac

I read a very interesting story from The Boston Globe on the above topic (see News section of www.IamBackFromTheBrink.com). In short, it describes how the effectiveness of Prozac was thought to prove the theory that depression occurred because of low levels of serotonin in the brain. Prozac increases serotonin levels and peoples moods seemed to improve following this. There were a couple of interesting findings that left a lot of questions however:

1. When people had their levels of serotonin artificially reduced their was no decline in mood, and
2. Even though Prozac increased serotonin levels within a couple of days there was a substantial lag before mood improvement occurred.

An emerging theory

Instead of of seeing depression as a chemical imbalance, some researchers are saying that it occurs because some of the brains neurons are dying, much like what occurs with Alzeimers. The only difference is that it appears the atrophy that occurs due to depression is reversable.

The effectiveness of Prozac, these scientists say, has little to do with correcting a chemical imbalance, but rather the increased serotonin levels help to heal our neurons, allowing them to thrive again.

If this theory is valid, then it would also help to explain why exercise and nutrition (known brain regenerators) have such a positive effect on mood.

What ever way you cut it, it again really reinforces my view that you must take a multiple strategy approach when managing/overcoming your depression.

Kind Regards

Graeme

Tags: antidepressants, depression, nutrition, serotonin

Friends of mine have a child who experienced some very frightening psychotic episodes with their depression. They were very motivated and financially able to access the best support, but still found it incredibly difficult to find a competent doctor to advise them on the best course of action.

One in 12 children suffer from depression each year

In an article I have just linked to the News section of www.IamBackFromTheBrink.com it shows that 1 in 12 children between the ages of 12-17 in the US had a major episode of depression in the last year. So what are parents to do when faced with this very difficult issue?

In my new book, “Back from the Brink Too” (in bookshops in September) I give some insights based on my years working as a headhunter. In essence, a head hunter has the task of finding someone with a very definite set of skills and personal qualitites. My suggestions for finding the right mental health professional are:

Compile a list of people that can help you

Think of people or organisations that may know the right person, or may know a respected opinion leader who themselves may know the right person. This would include your GP, a clinical person at your local Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, your child’s school counsellor, Parentline, the beyondblue helpline, and so on.

Prepare your script

This is a succinct way of describing the the type of person you are seeking. You want a brief one or two minute description of the situation and symptoms and the type of specialist you are seeking.

Make the calls

By going through this process you will hopefully start to get a few names. Remember to listen and probe.

“What makes Dr Smith so good?”

“If he is too busy, is there anyone else you would recommend?”

I’m not saying this will be easy, but as a loved one, the greatest service you can provide is getting them to a skilled specialist who can make an accurate diagnosis and prepare a treatment plan.

If you have any other tips on finding the right specialist help for an adolescent, I would love to hear them.

KInd Regards

Graeme

Tags: adolescent depression, adolescent psychiatrist, depression