Depression, Exercise & Heart Attacks

New research led by Dr. Mary A. Whooley of the VA Medical Center in San Francisco found that patients with depression had a 50 percent greater risk of cardiovascular events.  They also determined that physical inactivity was associated with a 44 percent greater rate of cardiovascular events.

Heart patients with depression are less likely to follow dietary, exercise and medication recommendations, and poor health behaviors can lead to cardiovascular events, said the authors of the study, which was published in the November 26 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The researchers said their findings “raise the hypothesis that the increased risk of cardiovascular events associated with depression could potentially be preventable with behavior modifications, especially exercise.”

The study did not indicate whether depression leads to inactivity or if inactivity leads to depression. However, common sense says exercise is beneficial, especially for sufferers of both depression and heart disease.

Report: http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/300/20/2379

‘Flower Power’ – Garden Therapy is Healing

A news release published at MarketWatch.com reports that the garden at Lee Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Pennington Gap, Virginia is just one example of a growing nationwide trend toward extending various types of garden or horticultural therapy into healthcare settings, senior facilities, schools, prisons and community gardens for people with special needs.

Barbara D. May, president of National Garden Clubs Inc., a non-profit volunteer organization (the largest of its type in the world) is quoted as saying, “Our members recognize through personal experience the healing effects of working with plants and absorbing all of the sights, smells and sounds of a garden, indoor or outdoor, whatever the season.”

The organization’s garden therapy program was successfully launched in the 1940’s to help veterans hospitals rehabilitate injured or disabled soldiers returning from World War II.

Source link no longer works: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Flower-Power-National-Garden-Clubs/story.aspx

Depression is Emotional

I saw a television commercial today that announced, “Depression is emotional.”  It was the first time I had heard of the pharmaceutical that was being advertised.

The commercial said nothing about the causes of depression, although it mentioned some of its symptoms.  It advised speaking with your medical doctor, the one you’d ask about any pharmaceutical, but it said nothing about the value of speaking with a licensed therapist or counselor.

It ended with an obligatory acknowledgment of the possible side effects from taking this pharmaceutical.

When I searched the Internet for information about this pharmaceutical, I found a number of personal testimonials from people who said it helped with physical pain associated with fibromyalgia.

I think it unfortunate, to say the least, that the marketing of this pharmaceutical does not include any mention of the wisdom or benefit of speaking with an experienced professional trained to deal with depression, nor the importance and value of identifying and addressing the causes of one’s depression.

Emotional-Health-Friendly City

Gerald Newmark, Ph.D., author of “How to Raise Emotionally Healthy Children,” is on a crusade to make Salinas, California an “emotional-health-friendly city,” according to an article published today in the Salinas Californian.

In an interview on October 21, Newmark summed up his mission: “I want to raise public consciousness to the fact that one of the most critical problems we have is neglect of emotional health in our communities and our homes. This book provides practical tools to enable adults to interact with children in emotionally healthy ways.”

Newmark’s book, first published in 2000 and now in its second edition, offers 150 pages of practical, common-sense advice based on the premise that every child – and every adult – has five critical emotional needs: to feel respected, important, accepted, included and secure.

The book is being used by the Mission Park school, Salinas Union High School District, Spreckels Union School District, Monterey County Health Department Behavioral Health Division, Natividad Medical Center Perinatal Services, Salinas Valley Memorial Healthcare System, Oasis Charter School and Salinas Adult School.

What’s more, Maya Cinemas in Oldtown Salinas is showing 30-second promotions for the emotional-health-friendly project.

Original Source: thecalifornian.com/article/20081115/NEWS01/811150313

See: http://emotionallyhealthychildren.org/

Politics, Stress, and Emotional Health

In the wake of political protest, the Bangkok Post has published an article under a banner that says, “Politics and Mental Health”.

According to the article, Dr. Yongyud Wongpiromsarn, senior adviser of the Mental Health Department, said the willingness to accept a different opinion is a measurement of the emotional quotient (EQ) of an individual.

A person with high EQ is described as being able to calmly listen to an argument without resorting to verbal outbursts. Prolonged stress can help people develop skills to handle stress.

People tend to be more stressed if they only listen to one side of an argument.

“People who have begun to suffer from stress relating to the political crisis should attempt to think positively such as “both sides have good intentions for the country,” or “political thoughts can change and disagreeing foes can switch to different sides or even turn to the same side,” or “it’s okay to have a different opinion and violence is not needed”.

Original Source: bangkokpost.com//131108_Mylife/13Nov2008_family001.php

Popularizing Therapy

As I walked along a city street today, I was struck by the word “therapy” appearing atop two posters.

The headline on the first poster gleefully promoted “Heart Therapy”.  It was an advertisement for a juice beverage.

The headline on the second poster, located a half block away, proudly promoted “Couples Therapy”.  It was an advertisement for a new two-for-one deal at a fast food restaurant.

I see these commercial advertisements as part of a larger paradigm shift that’s popularizing therapy, making it more socially acceptable and, thus, dissolving social stigma that has inhibited so many from getting needed and beneficial professional help.

Emotional Health and Obesity

Headline in the Telegraph: Tackling emotional health ‘key to solving obesity crisis’

According to the Mayo clinic, 75% of Britons are overweight. According to Dr. Colin Waine, chairman of the National Obesity Forum, the problem is “even more serious than global warming.”  (Whoa! Really?)

U.K. Health Secretary Alan Johnson announced the Government’s plans for a “lifestyle revolution,” including a suggestion to pay overweight parents to walk their children to school. (Imagine the response to such a suggestion in the U.S.!)

Amazon offers more than 25,000 diet books (a fact that says more about our problems than it does about solution).

Dr. Waine says, “Individuals eat because they are unhappy, and unhappiness makes them eat. Until people have dealt with their emotional problems, they won’t lose weight, but many health and government professionals are happier to treat the end results, rather than the cause.”

According to author Deborah Bonser, “Being overweight is a symptom of what is wrong with our lives. We eat to take away emotional pain… If you don’t love yourself, it is easy to overeat. It is also a response to a bad relationship, both personal and at work. I believe that 70 percent of people who are overweight are emotional eaters and suffer from stress.”

Physician David Haslam, who specialises in treating obesity, says, “It is more likely to be the result of trauma and stress. When people are upset, they raid the fridge to take the emotion away.”

Although some disagree, a teacher insists that eating is an addiction: “It is much worse than any other addiction because food is legal and so easy to get hold of.”

What can we do?  Make emotional health a personal priority!

Original Source: telegraph.co.uk/health/3439724/Tackling-emotional-health-key-to-solving-obesity-crisis.html

Mind Over Matter

msnbc.com reports that if you change your mind, you might change your body, too.  According to the report published today, psychologists say our “self talk” or “internal dialogue” can make or break a fitness routine.

Gareth Dutton, a psychologist at Florida State University, is quoted as saying, “The thing that precedes your behavior is a thought, and we sometimes aren’t good at getting in touch with our thoughts. We’re on autopilot.”  Dutton says it is important to: 1) recognize how your thoughts are undermining your exercise plan, and 2) challenge the negative thinking.

Example of a negative thought: “I’ve missed a few workouts, so I might as well throw in the towel.”

Alternative: “I’ve temporarily fallen off the fitness wagon, but I can get back on. Why did I miss those workouts, and how can I avoid this happening next time? How can I change my schedule to make exercise fit in?”

Original Source: msnbc.msn.com/id/27598392/

Emotional Defense Mechanisms

Two days ago, Cox Newspapers published an article with the headline, “Emotional defense mechanisms can go awry“.  Hap LaCrone, a clinical psychologist in Texas, writes:

“Defense mechanisms are strategies or manners in which we behave or think to protect or “defend” ourselves from painful thoughts or feelings.  We all use them periodically in an attempt to deal with the world around us.

Utilizing these defenses appropriately can be useful and helpful.  However, all too often, their usefulness is extended beyond the boundaries of good mental health.”

Hap describes three defense mechanisms: rationalization, denial, and intellectualization.

Original Source: ajc.com/services/content/health/stories/2008/11/06/lecrone_emotional_defense.html

Archive of Dr. LaCrone’s columns: https://haplecrone.com/

Are you aware of your emotional defense mechanisms?  Have you thought about how your emotional defense mechanisms serve you – the ways they’re helpful and ways they’re not?