Theoretically Christmas is a joyous occasion but let’s face it, it can stress us out. Lots of presents to buy, too much food and alcohol consumed, and exercise ignored.

For some it represents seeing people that have been avoided all year. Not surprisingly, calls to helplines and charities go through the roof during the holiday period.

This can lead to us feeling overwhelmed and unable to cope. It can prevent us from experiencing the extraordinary benefits of a holiday. We can be consumed by what isn’t rather than what is.

Imagine if it wasn’t like that. Imagine if you returned to work in January full of zest and purpose.

Here are 3 proven strategies that can help.

Plan ahead

There are 3 main aspects to consider here, your finances, your wellbeing, and next year.

It is so easy to spend money we don’t have during this period: presents, parties, food etc. Credit card bills can mount up. Consider setting a total budget that you will spend for Christmas, plan how to spend it, and then record everything you spend. You may also consider non-monetary gifts like doing what a good friend of mine does who has a very low income. He writes a note to each of his family thanking them for something they have done for him that year that he has truly appreciated. They often say it is their favourite present. For the last 10 years my family has taken  a Kris Kringle approach for everyone over 18 – it is so much better to focus on buying one great present than try to second guess and buy something different for 12 people.

Wellbeing strategies can fall by the wayside when there are so many distractions. Plan one week ahead and work out when you plan to do some pleasant exercise (more later), activities and rest. If you don’t plan it in advance it won’t happen.

Next year: If it is too late to make changes this year, you can resolve that this never has to happen again, and write down what will be different next year.

Boost Mood

Your mood is largely within your control. Here are 3 things science says will boost your mood.

30 minute brisk walk (or equivalent) significantly improves your mood after 2, 4, 8, and 12 hours compared to those that don’t exercise (Mayo Clinic 2008). Exercise boosts energy, confidence, and sexual desirability (American Fitness, 19 (6), 32-36). Exercise 6 days per week. To ensure this happens, you must have a ritual and modest goals. A ritual is something you do every day, which prompts behaviour eg. Put a pedometer on when you brush your teeth in the morning, and record your daily steps when you brush your teeth at night. Why not buy a pedometer or download a smart phone app.

Rest well – we have forgotten how to switch off. We think it isn’t productive. A NASA study of 4000 of their employees shows that those that took a 30 minute nap or meditation after lunch increased their productivity by 35% and decision making ability by 50% (Power of full Engagement , 2005). Getting a good night’s sleep is like setting the reset button. From a health, appearance and wellbeing standpoint we need somewhere between 7 and 8 hours sleep each night for optimal benefits (Rath et al Wellbeing, 2010)

Why not go to your library and take out a few relaxation of meditation CD’s and see what works for you. Use your time off to build the critical skill of knowing how to let go.

Be grateful – Writing down 3 things you are grateful for each day stimulates a 6 month boost to your mood. (Seligman et al 2002). Why not buy a small note book to place near your bed for this purpose.

Difficult person plan

The thought of seeing someone that pushes your buttons can cause underlying unease or outright anxiety. Here are 3 things to keep in mind.

Plan for the worse – hope for the best. It is very, very rare for a leopard to change their spots. It is better to go into the situation with a realistic view of what to expect based on past interactions. At worst you will be pleasantly surprised. If you have spent a lifetime having difficulty with this person it is unlikely Christmas lunch will be different.

Avoid alcohol and controversial topics. Whilst having a few drinks is logical course of action when thinking about seeing this person, this is rarely the case. Alcohol can inflame the situation. If you feel compelled to have drink, why not intersperse each drink with water and limit yourself to 2.

Walk away. Your wellbeing is your first priority. Is this person really worth your angst. If you feel your agitation rising, just walk away. Find someone else to talk to. Help in the kitchen. Play with the dog. Go out to the garden. Ride into the sunset. It’s just not worth it.

I hope this may be of assistance. May the best in life and love and happiness be ahead of you.

Graeme Cowan inspires the discouraged to bounce back and thrive. He is an Australian based speaker and author of the BACK FROM THE BRINK book series.

www.Facebook.com/BackFromTheBrink

www.Youtube.com/user/Strive2ThriveTV

Tags: avoiding Christmas stress, Christmas anxiety, difficult person, holiday stress, overcoming depression, wellbeing strategies

For mental health week I think it is essential to celebrate our uniqueness. I am convinced that honouring our uniqueness in the key to a thriving life. At conception, we won the race from 500 million other sperm. It was the ultimate survival of the fittest. The more we strive to understand the unique elements of our DNA: our strengths, values and passions, and live them, the more effortless our lives become. There is an Indian proverb that says:

Relaxation is who I am; tension is who I think I should be

If we have a predisposition to depression, bipolar, or anxiety it should not define who we are. Sure we have to learn to manage it and be aware of our early warning signs, but there is no reason why that should define us or limit our contribution. Our strengths if developed and celebrated will always outweigh any weakness.

Discover and celebrate your strengths

If you haven’t discovered your top 5 strengths out of a possible 24 strengths, I can’t think of a better time to do it than for Mental Health Week. Martin Seligman and positive psychology movement have made a free assessment available to discover you strengths. They have shown that those people that use and constantly develop their strengths will have a much more fulfilling life than those who don’t. Discover yours now.

Brisbane seminar this Saturday - 7 essential strategies to beat depression for good

I have been often asked when I am presenting interstate. I do travel a lot but unfortunately it is usually for private conferences – not open to the public.

This Saturday October 15 from 2-5pm I will be presenting at the Relaxation Centre in Brisbane. For more information and to register.

In an endeavour to share what I have learnt for those who aren’t able to attend my seminars I have created the following:

BACK FROM THE BRINK Facebook Page

The BACK FROM THE BRINK Facebook Page allows me to share my thoughts on how to bounce back from depression and adversity to live a meaningful life. I have shared over 40 free downloadable resources under these categories:

· Anxiety

· Bipolar

· Carers

· Clinician Resources

· Diagnosis

· Facts

· Lifestyle treatments

· Old people

· Medical Treatments

· Wellbeing

Click the link. Click “LIKE”. Click “Free Stuff”

Let me know if you have any questions/comments/suggestions.

Strive2Thrive YouTube Channel

I have also created this channel to share some insights. Some of the videos on there include:

· Finding a GP that can help with depression

· What if you partner has depression

· Rituals for behaviour change

· Guiding principles to build resilience

· Depression treatments that really, REALLY work

Click here to check them out and subscribe to be advised of new additions. If you have a question you would like me to cover, please let me know.

RUOK?Day 2011

As a Director of RUOK?Day I was delighted with the coverage and impact we achieved this year. I will share more details of this in my next post, but we were delighted to learn that awareness of the day increased from 28% in 2010 to 68% this year. Over 2500 organisations participated in the RUOK?atWork program this year compared to 700 in 2010. More information soon.

Kind Regards

Graeme

Tags: Bounce Back, depression treatments, mental health, natural depression treatments, overcoming depression, resilience

Provocative title?

Can I ask you to invest 20 minutes of your time to answer a survey that will send loud shockwaves through the mental health policy world. If you can’t spare 20 minutes now, please schedule a time in your diary when you can complete the Holistic Depression Treatment Effectiveness Survey.

Let’s face it; the “experts” have failed badly. Despite endless reports, meetings, and proposed new strategies, the mental health landscape is littered with defeat. Despite increasing spending the World Health Organisation says that depression is now the most disabling illness in the world, and its incidence is climbing rapidly.

The experts and the bureaucrats constantly say they are following “evidence based” medicine when they claim the only effective treatments for depression are antidepressants and psychological counselling.  If it is, why are the rates of depression climbing so rapidly. We can only assume they are under informed, underfunded, or incapable of implementation – or perhaps a combination of all three.

Their blinding us with science!!!

The scientific reductionism approach to medicine is highly flawed when it comes to something as complex as human psychology (from Latin word psyche which means “study of the human soul”) Ever see a published psychology study about the soul? It assumes you can find “one silver bullet” that will turn you from despair to wellbeing.

I’m not the only one to doubt the veracity of “evidence based medicine”. In his recent book “WRONG:  Why experts keep failing us” David Freedman reveals some startling facts. When examining hundreds of studies from prestigious medical journals, often it was only a matter of months, and at most a few years, before other studies came out to either fully refute the findings or declare that the results were “exaggerated” in the sense that later papers revealed significantly lesser benefits to the treatment under study. This study revealed that there was a TWO OUT OF THREE wrongness rate in published medical research from the most elite medical journals. What is even more worrying in that this “most trusted research” represents only one tenth of one percent of all published medical research. Unfortunately psychological research has a reputation for being the least reliable of all.

The other huge flaw in the “evidence based” approach is that research funds tend to follow the money – huge amounts are spent on “commercially viable intellectual property” e.g.  gene therapy or identifying new pharmaceutical compounds, and relatively nothing is spent on lifestyle strategies such as the role that exercise, relationships and good nutrition can play in ones mental wellbeing.

Not all doctors are equal

Can we also assume that doctors and psychologists are following the best “evidence based approach”? Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, not. A recent study published in Discover called “Reckless Medicine” revealed that less than half the surgeries, drugs, and tests that doctors recommend have been proved effective. No wonder healthcare costs are ballooning out of control.

I’m not saying that research is not important, in fact quite the contrary. What I am saying is that we are giving “experts” standing behind “evidence based” research much too much say in how mental health services are run. Text book theory doesn’t translate to good patient care.

Please have your say

Take the survey now: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DepressionTreatment

It’s time that the real experts – those who have lived with a mental illness, to start telling the leaders of mental health policy and funding what should be done to start improving things. It’s time for us lunatics to start running the asylums.

In collaboration with the Black Dog Institute I have developed a survey designed for us fellow travellers to tell us what works best from MOST THINGS you have tried. It covers lifestyle strategies, psychological counselling, emotional support and pharmaceutical intervention. It also asks what can be done to make the most difference in reducing stigma in the community and the workplace.

It takes about 20minutes to complete, but I believe it is one of the most important things you can do to change a system that is clearly broken. Already 4000 people from around the world have completed the survey and I would like to grow that number to 10,000 so that our voice can no longer be ignored. What those 4000 have already said is vastly different to what is happening now.

Please have your say

Please provide your input by doing the survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DepressionTreatment

Many thanks.

Approaching Seminars

Sunday March 20, 3.00-5.00pm,

BK Retreat Leura – 1.5 hours west of Sydney – by donation

BEATING DEPRESSION TOGETHER

7 immutable principles for those who wish to overcome depression and the people that love them. In this two hour session Graeme will discuss what advice he would give a best friend if they were beset with depression. It will be practical and eminently implementable.

REGISTER HERE

Wednesday, March 23, 6.00-8:00pm

City Fringe Meditation Space, 99 Crown St, East Sydney – by donation

10 Things Science Says Will Make You Thrive

Many people feel that although they are busy, there is something missing from their life and this only adds to a persistent hollowness. Graeme relates to the true way to thrive is to understand our mood and energy levels and results will take care of themselves by focusing on the process and not on the outcome. But how do you sustain a good mood in a turbulent world? How to know your top 5 strengths and apply them in your personal life and career?

REGISTER HERE

Thursday July 14, 7.00-10.00pm

Relaxation Centre Brisbane

15 South Pine Rd,
Alderley, 4051

BEATING DEPRESSION TOGETHER (same content as above)

Cost $45 per person or $70 for pair

REGISTER BY CALLING 07 3856 3733 or email relaxcentreofqld@powerup.com.au

Back From The Brink Facebook Fanpage

I have created this Fanpage to build a community where we can help each other. You’ll find lots of free resources and videos there. It is also a place where you can make requests to the community. Don’t forget to click the “Like” button.

ACCESS IT HERE

Virtual Seminars

For a long time I have had requests to speak more frequently around Australia, which unfortunately is very difficult with my current commitments. To help address this, I have created a YouTube Channel called Strive2ThriveTV. If you subscribe to that channel you will be notified of new videos when they are uploaded. You can also put in requests for topics you would like me to cover.

May the best in life and love and happiness be ahead of you.

Kind Regards

Graeme

PS. Only we can refer to each other as lunatics J

Tags: depression treatment survey, mental health advocacy, what works best for depression

Between 2000-2005 I went through, what my psychiatrist described as the worst episode of depression he had ever treated. Although I had experienced four major episodes of depression previously, this was by far the worst. During that time I was hospitalised 4 times and attempted suicide. I tried 23 different medications, underwent ECT (shock treatment) on 20 occasions, tried Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, Acupuncture, Kinesiology, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and participated in many other programs related to the treatment of clinical depression.

Generally there are thought to be 2 major types of depression, reactive – which occurs due to adverse circumstances, and melancholic – which seems to be more biological in nature, and can occur for no apparent reason. The latter was my diagnosis. Whatever  the cause,  I know it is impossible to describe the despair I felt.

After coming out of a 9 week stint in a psychiatric hospital in 2005, I began to walk regularly every day (even though I didn’t feel like it) and began having regular contact with family and friends who I had been isolating from (didn’t feel like that either). I also began taking a higher dose of a medication I had been on. Over the next  4 months, my mood lifted a little. A friend then encouraged me to do a meditation course. I had tried this when I was severely depressed, but found that I couldn’t concentrate. This time I was able to experience peace and this further lifted my mood.

 When I was at my worst, I yearned for stories of people who had been through what I was feeling and had come out the other side. Now that my mood had lifted significantly, I decided to prepare a book that told authentic stories of hope.

In 2007, “BACK FROM THE BRINK: Australians tell their stories of overcoming depression” was launched at the Black Dog Institute in Sydney. In it I interviewed people like the ex WA Premier, Geoff Gallop, Olympic Swimming Gold Medallist’s John Konrads and Petria Thomas, artist Margaret Olley, poet Les Murray, and 7 other everyday Australians. These courageous people told their stories with honesty and dignity.

The book launch lead to around 150 media interviews and book signings. What astonished me was that around 70% of the people who spoke to me during these events, were loved ones of the depressed person, desperate to know how they could make a difference. This lead to me writing “BACK FROM THE BRINK TOO: Helping your loved one overcome depression” which was awarded SANE’s 2009 Book of the Year.

Through the process of writing the books and afterwards, I interviewed over 5000 people, either in person or via surveys, to understand their strategies for bouncing back. This is what I’ve learnt.

When you are severely depressed there is no light at the end of the tunnel. I know from personal experience that you can reach a point where you TOTALLY lose hope. This emphasizes two things. It’s essential to act early and seek help before you slip below the water. The cargiver can play a critical role by providing much needed emotional support and encouragement.  Carers can often they feel pushed away, but they should be assured that this is the response of someone in great pain who is lashing out.

The mental health system is extraordinarily fragmented. There are resources out there, but it is incredibly difficult to find holistic solutions. For those trying to make sense of it when they are depressed, it is almost impossible. For a comprehensive list of helplines and mental health websites there is a free ebook at www.DepressionCarer.com

If you’re holding a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Mental health professionals are very well meaning, but in most cases, the communication between say a GP, psychologist, psychiatrist, community health worker, naturopath, hospital employees, etc, about your case is virtually zero. You may find that, for example, your psychologist recommends Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, your psychiatrist antidepressants, your naturopath St Johns Wart, a GP exercise. What complicates this further is that some health professionals are openly dismissive of the advice of others, leaving you wondering who to believe. Some fantastic GP’s play the role of a defacto case manager and help guide people through this maze. Unfortunately they are rare. If you do not believe your GP has good expertise in mental health,  go to www.beyondblue.org.au and do a postcode search to identify doctors that have a special interest (and training) in your area.

There are multiple tracks to the land of milk and honey  The term “depression” is used to cover a myriad of situations and symptoms. The vast majority of GP’s have a one size fits all approach which is usually just drug or therapy oriented. Everyone’s path to recovery is unique – there is no golden bullet. In my view and from what 5000 people have told me, you are best to follow multiple strategies. When I asked people who had overcome or managed their depression what worked best for them they listed the following 7 strategies: exercise, support of family and friends, psychological counselling, fulfilling work, meditation/relaxation, nutrition, and antidepressants. To see the details of the research you can download a free ebook from www.IamBackFromTheBrink.com

In summary, if my best friend experienced the symptoms of depression every day for two weeks this would be my advice to them:

1.       Immediately encourage them to see their GP (or help them find one with mental health expertise – see above).

2.       Encourage them to share what is happening to them with a couple of trusted friends/family members.

3.       Encourage them to begin walking (or equivalent) every day and offer to accompany them.

4.       Encourage them to set moderate goals for the next week for the above 3 areas - ask them what they think is realistic.

What thoughts/comments/questions do you have about this article? What advice would you give a best friend who you thought was depressed? Please reply to this post.

Kind Regards

Graeme

Graeme Cowan is an International Speaker and Author who educates people on how to bounce back from challenging times.  www.GraemeCowan.com.au

Tags: Bounce Back, graeme cowan, overcome adversity, overcoming depression, resilience

Last weekend I spent at a course learning how to ask better questions to understand someone’s needs. There were lots of good ideas that I wanted to use and so I began looking at my calendar to see when they could be actioned.

Shock, oh shock, I realised that it was almost March. It only seemed like yesterday that I was sitting with Hilary in a park overlooking the harbour watching the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge ablaze with colourful light. I then reflected that on that night, the majority of us make our 2010 New Year’s resolutions.

According to the website 43things where 150,000 people recorded their 2010 resolutions, this was the top 10:

1.       Lose weight 2. Be happy 3. Fall in love 4. Get a job 5. Travel 6. Stop smoking 7. Get married 8. Love 9. Find love 10 Lose my virginity.

WHY AREN’T MOST RESOLUTIONS KEPT?

According to an extensive report by the British psychologist, Richard Wiseman, 88% of people that make them will fail to honour them. Isn’t that depressing? I thought goals were healthy. Presumably we make them so that we can correct some perceived shortcoming in our lives.

I know how abysmal my own record is in this department. About 15 years ago on the stroke of midnight December 31^st, in a rush of blood, I decided that I wouldn’t drink alcohol for 3 months. I remember feeling very hung-over when I first woke up and thinking “what a great resolution”. I’m ashamed to say that at 2:30pm on January 1^st, at a recovery lunch my will power collapsed with the justification that I needed some “hair of the dog” to feel OK so I could continue my resolution. I never recovered. Then I felt guilty and miserable for giving in so easily.

Understanding what type of goals work and what don’t work, became the obsession of Harvard Psychology Professor David McClelland. He sought to understand if there were any common qualities between students who 20 years after graduating were leading a very fulfilling life.

His process was long and exhaustive but he ended up identifying 4 qualities around the goal setting of graduates that would determine who would be living an inspired life 20 years later, and who wouldn’t. These are the common goal setting qualities of students who were able to sustain an inspired life 20 years after graduating – drum roll – drum roll:

·         They set goals that were meaningful to THEM (their values, their strengths, their passions) and weren’t significantly swayed by social indicators of success. They would also regularly daydream as if they had already achieved their goal.

·         They set moderate goals which they have a 50:50 chance of achieving. No outlandish goals here – just things that were realistic but also had a slight stretch.

·         The engage in both positive and negative thinking in how the goals would happen. No Pollyanna’s here – just pragmatists. I good way to describe this approach is the English proverb “Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst”. They carefully monitor progress to then make corrections.

·         They seek advice from experienced people before deciding if a goal is realistic – someone who has travelled the path before them.

With a questionnaire that measured these 4 qualities Professor McClelland could predict with 90% accuracy who would be leading a meaningful and happy life 20 years later.

If you look at the top 10 for 2010, I can understand why they don’t last. I’m sure being intoxicated doesn’t help our clarity and sustainability of commitment.

What’s your experience with goal setting? What has worked for you and what hasn’t? Please reply to this blog and let me know.

THE GOOD NEWS

We don’t have to wait until December 31, 2010 before we try again.

WHAT THIS MEANS TO ME

As some of you may know, I have done lots of reflection over the last 10 years to understand what is really important to me. My life mission is to help people to realise that they can not only bounce back from adversity and depression, but also go on to lead inspired lives. I have decided to launch the BACK FROM THE BRINK book series in the US as I know what a difference it makes to have real people discuss their battles, struggles and victories. A key part of the success of the Australian book was having some high profile people in the book. This helped significantly in generating publicity. I am going to Chicago at the end of April to be a keynote speaker at the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance conference (this group is partnering with me for the US versions). I am then going on to New York to present my proposal to publishers.

MY GOAL – TO HAVE 4 US/UK CELEBRITIES AGREE TO BE INTERVIEWED FOR BFTB BY APRIL 15

I need your help. So far I have tried contacting the high profile people via their managers with a disappointing result. I found in Australia that when I was able to speak with the celebrities directly there was a much higher probability of success.

DO YOU KNOW THESE PEOPLE, OR KNOW SOMEONE WHO DOES?

Jane Pauley – former host of Today                                   Greg Louganis – Olympic gold – diving

Carrie Fisher – actress Star Wars                                       Mike Wallace – TV journalist

George Stephanopoulos – ABC commentator                     Buzz Aldrin – Astronaut

Owen Wilson – Actor                                                           Richard Dreyfuss                                           

Brooke Shields – Actress                                                      Marie Osmond – Singer

Jim Carrey – Actor                                                                 Larry King – TV Journalist

Winona Ryder – Actress                                                        Brian Wilson – Musician

Terry Bradshaw – NFL Footballer                                          JK Rawling – Author

Trish Goddard – TV presenter                                               George Michael – Singer

HOW YOU CAN HELP

If you know one of these people or how I can find away to contact them directly, please respond to this email. If you are reading this on my blog and want to contact me directly please email me at graeme@graemecowan.com.au .  Alternatively you may know an option through Facebook or Twitter – I will try anything.

Please respond to the blog and let us know what you think. Are there any subjects you would like me to cover?

Kind Regards

Graeme

Graeme Cowan

www.IamBackFromTheBrink.com

www.GraemeCowan.com.au

Tags: broken new year's resolutions, goal setting, mental health

For some time now, I have been emailing you with advice about how to overcome depression. I would now like you to tell me what you find most effective. But first some background……

UNDERSTANDING WHAT REALLY WORKS

I get very irate when I hear “experts” in the media saying that there are only 2 evidence based treatments for depression, antidepressants and psychological counselling…. What utter baloney. Don’t get me wrong – I still take antidepressants and have benefitted from psychological counselling, but I also know that there are many, many, other factors that contribute to our mental health. Things such as exercise, emotional support from loved ones, fulfilling work, relaxation and nutrition to name a few.

WE THAT LIVE WITH DEPRESSION AND BIPOLAR ARE THE REAL EXPERTS ON WHAT WORKS

Some of you who read my first book, BACK FROM THE BRINK, would know that I included the results of two surveys: one done for the book by Ultrafeedback in 2007 and one undertaken by the Black Dog Institute(BDI) in the previous year. The results from those surveys certainly challenged traditional approaches towards depression treatments.

Well it is now 2009 and I’ve decided to revisit this issue again with a survey that looks at the effectiveness of a broad range of strategies. It really combines the best features of the Ultrafeedback and BDI survey.  Through my association with www.DBSAlliance.org in the US, I am having people with depression from across North America also completing the survey, and hopefully other depression websites from around the world will help make this a truly global one.

I NEED YOUR HELP

I would love you to spend 10 minutes completing this survey and I will share the results for free on www.IamBackFromTheBrink.com  once the analysis has been completed – the survey will close on December 11, 2009. To access the survey please go to:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=XI_2bk_2f_2fgIwvYmsvuAz2UBlQ_3d_3d

I really appreciate you taking the time to complete the 10 minute survey and I look forward to sharing the results with you.

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO INVITE OTHERS WITH DEPRESSION TO COMPLETE THIS SURVEY

The more that complete this survey the better so please feel free to forward this on to anyone you know who has experienced depression.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=XI_2bk_2f_2fgIwvYmsvuAz2UBlQ_3d_3d

Kind Regards

Graeme

Tags: depression, depression survey, depression treatment survey, depression treatments, effective depression treatments, holistic depression treatments

With all our medical advances, why is it that the incidence of depression and anxiety is skyrocketing. The World Health Organisation says that depression is the most disabling disease in the Western World today, yet all mental healthcare specialists seem to talk about is “evidence based” treatments such as counselling and anti depressants. Whilst these strategies have been shown to be helpful for some people, if this was really cutting edge advice, why aren’t we seeing the incidence of depression declining or at the very least plateauing. This in no way seeks to imply that medication and psychological counselling don’t have their place in treating depression, just that we are not exploring all the variables

Having interviewed thousands of people who have battled with depression, I am convinced that there are some serious issues with the “evidence based” approach to treating depression. These can be summarised as follows:

1. The “evidence” is where the money is

Unfortunately clinical trials are very expensive to run so private funding will only be directed towards those areas where “investors” can see a return on investment. In the world of depression treatments, this means that the vast majority of funds are directed towards medication and psychological counselling interventions. This means that important lifestyle strategies such as exercise, emotional support,nutrition, relaxation, and fulfilling work are relatively ignored. Ironically these less discussed strategies can be much less costly to implement.

1. When you’re holding a hammer everything looks like a nail

The vast majority of depression treatment studies are undertaken by doctors or psychologists. Whilst there is nothing wrong with this per se, most of these studies are evaluating areas where they have expertise (which makes sense). This means that the comparisons are often looking in isolation at one drug verses another (or a placebo) or one psychological intervention verses another. Quite often meaningful advancements in areas can come from someone outside the established “paradigms”. I love the story of the little boy who came across rescue workers who had been struggling for 3 hours with sophisticated hydraulic equipment trying to dislodge a truck which had been tightly wedged under an overhead bridge.  After being encouraged to leave the site he quietly said “Why don’t you let down the tyres?”.

1. We are not just DNA

As human beings our bodies and minds are intricately linked. Depression treatments that focus purely on a “biological illness” are seriously limited. Much of the despair that exists in the western world today can be linked to loneliness, family breakdowns, excessive and unfulfilling work, and financial crises. Saying that depression is caused by low levels of serotonin is like saying teen pregnancies are caused by a sperm fertilising an egg – yes, but…. Depression treatments that fail to reconnect us with our passions and purpose are ultimately going to be short lived solutions.

What are the right depression treatments?

To find out what works best in managing or overcoming depression, we must ask the people who are living with depression what works best for them. In 2007 I asked just that, and their answers were (in order) exercise, support of family and friends, psychological counselling, fulfilling work, relaxation/meditation, nutrition and medication.

Coincidentally, the Black Dog Institute (BDI) –one of the pre-eminent mood disorder units in the world - also undertook a study directly asking those with depression what helped them most. Although there were some differences in the studies, lifestyle strategies were also shown to be extremely important. One of the authors of the published study, Professor Gordon Parker, who has been practicing psychiatry for over 30 years, has now started advising General Practitioners and their patients to exercise regularly to aid recovery.

If Professor Parker, who has published over 600 clinical papers and book chapters regarding mood disorders, can learn something from these results, perhaps we all can.  

Tags: back from the brink, depression anxiety, depression help, depression research, depression treatments, exercise and depression

I flew to New York on May 25 with the objective of finding Literary Agent to take on my book to complete US versions for the existing two.

On Wednesday I went to the first day of Book Expo America which was dedicated to authors. There were about 400 people there and they had some great seminars regarding how to plot your way through the publishing maze which gave some excellent insights.

We then had the opportunity to do a “pitch slam” with Literary Agents. Over here, publishers receive an average of 300 manuscripts per day and very rarely follow up any directly and rely on the LA’s to vet opportunities.

In “pitch slam” the 400 authors have 3 minutes to tell their story to about 50 LA’s with a view to getting feedback on their project and perhaps a signal of interest that could lead to the LA taking on their project. Before getting to NY I had done a lot of research to find out who would be the best LA’s to take on my project. I had targeted 6. Of the 6 I slammed, 5 expressed interest and my 3 top picks expressed very strong interest including one saying “I’m totally on board – don’t bother seeing any other agents”. I had emailed my top 3 LA’s prior to getting to NY with my new 3 minute keynote demo and I think this added considerable momentum (http://www.pineapplemedia.com.au/Cowan.html  )

I had another great day yesterday and by chance met with Judith Curr the Executive Vice President of Atria books which is a division of Simon and Schuster. Believe it or not she is an Australian who is now based in New York. She was the publisher of “The Secret” which has now sold 7 million copies. She asked me to post her copies of my books and follow up with her executive editor which is very exciting.

A key part of the US success will be getting on board the American celebrities to be interviewed in BFTB. BFTBToo is ready to go almost immediately but it makes sense to launch the 2 together.

On Monday we head to Chicago to see the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance to get their support (which I need for local credibility with the high profile people) for getting the project underway. I have already had email and phone contact with them and it is looking very good.

On Friday night Hilary and I went to “Jersey Boy” – a musical about Franky Valli and the Four Seasons. It was just sensational – real stand up, shout and cheer show. After that we strolled through Times Square which at 11pm was just jam packed with people – you feel guilty for going to sleep in this place.

Hope all is well back home.

Kind Regards

Graeme

Tags: back from the brink, depression books, depression help, depression treatments

I know through the emails I receive and the feedback I get from my GROW group members that  a lot of people find the Christmas period very unsettling and depressing. Often it brings into focus what we don’t have or highlights difficult family relationships.

I came across a very good paper from the Internet called “10 Things Science Says Will Make You Happy”. Whilst I usually shudder at these formulaic papers that promise happiness and fulfillment, this is a little different in that it is based on quantitative studies from positive psychology from the likes of Ed Diener, Standford Psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky, and ethicist Stephen Post. They have studied people all over the world. Here are 10 scientifically proven strategies for getting happy.

1. Savour Everyday Moments
2. Avoid Comparisons
3. Put Money Low on the List
4. Have Meaningful goals
5. Take Initiative at Work
6. Make friends, treasure family
7. Smile even when you don’t feel like it
8. Say thankyou like you mean it
9. Get out and exercise
10. Give it away, give it away now

For full details of the paper go to the news section of www.IamBackFromTheBrink.com

I think this is a very interesting list as it really parallels my experience in overcoming depression.

Make 2009 depression free

Whilst most of you would know that I don’t believe in quick fixes for depression, I believe the key to starting a more fulfilling life is to take appropriate action. I am going to be reading this paper to my GROW group tonight and ask them if they would like to choose 2 of these strategies that they would like to concentrate on for the next 3 months.

When we meet back on January 5 I will ask them to describe what they will be doing to make these things a higher priority in there life. Over the Christmas break when things get a bit difficult they can reflect on what they will be doing to make 2009 more pleasant.

I hope all my readers and visitors have a restful break and feel the sense of a new dawn in 2009.

Kind Regards

Graeme

Graeme Cowan

www.IamBackFromTheBrink.com

Tags: back from the brink, beating depression, depression, graeme cowan, happiness

Last week we held the first of four web and phone based seminars on overcoming depression. It also differed from other courses on this topic as it was designed with both the depression sufferer and their caregiver in mind.

We had over 100 people participating from all over Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the USA which I was really very pleased with.

What really really works in overcoming depression

It was interesting running a session on this over the web as when you put depression into Google you get over 87,700,000 page impressions. Surely everyone can access anything they want to know. Unfortunately that is just the problem. Most people are so time poor and don’t know just where to start.

I also found this to be an issue when I was in the depths of my depression and just had a hunch that a session that covered 7 evidence based strategies shown to help beat depression would be valuable to some people.

From my perspective it was a little strange presenting to over 100 people without being able to see their response so I was very keen to do some market research after the event.

The information presented in the seminar was helpful

I was very pleased that 70% Strongly Agree and 30% Agreed with this statement.

There were suggestions made during the seminar that I could action this week.

Strongly Agree 60% Agree 40%

I was very pleased with this also as I truly believe that action is one of the main enemies of depression.

I found the telephone and web simulcast concept convenient

Strongly Agree 70% Agree 30%

It could be improved by:

Having more time for questions

Strongly agree 49% Agree 42%

One of the issues when people listened via the web is that they could not ask verbal questions. This was also compounded by me trying to cover too much in the first session. The technology does allow for written questions to be conveyed and based on the feedback, I have decided to cover the formal presentation in the first hour and then have 20 minutes of answering questions at the end.

All in all I was very pleased with this first attempt. Of course I will be very keen to get additional feedback after the end of the next 3 seminars but I am very hopeful that it will be a great medium for 2009 and beyond.

The next 3 sessions will cover:

Finding the right mental health professionals

Building a support network

Helping to prevent a crisis and sustaining the care

If anyone has any questions or comments regarding these seminars please respond to this blog or email me at graeme@IamBackFromTheBrink.com

Kind Regards

Graeme

Tags: beating depression, depression carer, depression phone and web seminar, depression sufferer, depression treatments, overcoming depression