Jane McGonigal: The game that can give you 10 extra years of life

12-Steps to Creating Motivation When Depressed

By Nathan Feiles, LMSW
Creating motivation when feeling depressed can be one of the most difficult things a person can do. An episode of depression can be physically and emotionally draining. The simplest of tasks seem to take maximum effort, and sometimes even beyond maximum. Some may feel lethargic. It may be tough make meals, or clean up at home, or take showers, or even get out of bed.

Navigating motivation when depressed can be tough because the instinct is to wait for the energy to return. People who are depressed often fall into the trap of trying to wait it out — that if you give in to the urge to stay in bed for a few days, that you’ll be re-energized and recharged, believing you’ll have exorcised the depression demons by just “going with it”.

Unfortunately, it’s not usually as simple as this. If everybody tried to wait out their depressive episodes, some people would be in bed for 20 years, realizing somewhere along the way that depression actually tends to breed depression if it’s not actively confronted. That’s right, catering to our depressive urges actually reinforces them. To read more, click here.

Wellness Benefits You Should Be Taking Advantage of

January 25, 2013

And what you can do if you don't have wellness benefits

By Ashley Kascak

Understanding your workplace benefits plan can often feel like navigating your way through a time-sucking labyrinth. As painful and daunting as it may appear, you could be missing out on opportunities that provide discounted access to both personal and family support. Here are a few wellness benefits you should be taking advantage of and tips for finding affordable support if you don’t have them.

Fitness Program
Fitness programs can include anything from subsidizing gym memberships or may be integrated into a wellness spending account, so you can receive reimbursement for your exercise of choice. This is a great benefit, as the more you enjoy your physical activity, the more likely you’re going to stick with it.

If you don’t have fitness benefits, get creative. Start a fitness challenge competition amongst employees, request your employer bring in small exercise equipment or arrange lunchtime runs or walks with your colleagues. Click here to read more.

New Study: Yoga May Offer Greater Relief from Depression than Walking

Numerous studies indicate that exercise may be up to 95% as effective as prescription drugs for relieving depression. And while the effect of anti-depressants often takes months to kick in, people report relief from depression within only the first four weeks of adopting a physical activity program. However, a recent study reveals that yoga for depression may be even more effective at offering relief for depression than other forms of exercise.
Conducted by researchers Chris C. Streeter, MD and associates at Boston University School of Medicine, the study analyzed the mood, anxiety, and brain GABA levels  (which directly correlate to emotional health) of 34 participants over the course of 12 weeks.
The participants were divided into two groups: a yoga for depression group and a metabolically matched walking group. Each group practiced their prescribed form of exercise for 60 minutes, three times a week. Researchers measured mood and anxiety scales for all participants at the start of the study and at weeks 4, 8, and 12.  Participants also received magnetic resonance spectroscopy scans to measure their GABA
(γ-Aminobutyric acid) levels.
At the end of the 12 weeks, researchers found that not only had the yoga practitioners’ GABA levels gone up, but that those in the yoga for depression had also experienced greater improvements in both anxiety and depression than those in the metabolically-matched walking group. Click here to read on.

Elyn Saks: A tale of mental illness -- from the inside

ADHD and Being a Loner

By Zoë Kessler, BA, B.Ed.
I’d had to travel out of town for a medical appointment which I’d dreaded, and decided to stop at one of my favorite restaurants for lunch on the way home.
The appointment went far better than I’d expected, so instead of driving home feeling sorry for myself I felt happy and celebratory. I began wishing I’d had company for lunch.
This got me thinking about why I hadn’t called ahead to make a lunch date with a friend. That’s when it struck me: for nearly half a century, I’d believed I was a natural-born loner. By the time the waitress brought my food, I’d started to deconstruct that belief.

Like the layers of an onion I peeled back each reason why I found myself sitting alone that day when I would have far preferred company.

Layer 1: ADHD Time-Management Rationalizing

Since it’s next to impossible to know if an appointment with a specialist will start on time, or how long it will take, it’s much easier to just go to the appointment and drive home rather than scheduling a lunch date when I’m not sure when I’ll be available.
Thinking this through, I realized that the friend I would have invited to join me would have been flexible as to when we met for lunch. Still, I’d chosen to eat alone. To read more, click here.

Top 10 Mental Health Apps

By Sandra Kiume
With so many apps on the market, it’s hard to know which are useful.
Many are designed by software developers instead of psychologists, without scientific testing. They range from beneficial, to harmless but useless, to bordering on fraudulent.
The apps selected for this list make no hucksterish claims and are based on established treatments. Progressive Muscle Relaxation, for example, has been used for a century and is likely just as effective in this new medium. Knowledge from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy enrich two apps on this list. Others mix solid information with ingenuity.

Don’t forget to download the free PsychCentral app to keep up with the latest mental health information.
1. BellyBio
Free app that teaches a deep breathing technique useful in fighting anxiety and stress. A simple interface uses biofeedback to monitor your breathing. Sounds cascade with the movements of your belly, in rhythms reminiscent of waves on a beach. Charts also let you know how you’re doing. A great tool when you need to slow down and breathe.
2. Operation Reach Out
Literally a lifesaving app, this free intervention tool helps people who are having suicidal thoughts to reassess their thinking and get help. Recommended by followers of @unsuicide, who report that this app has helped in suicidal crises. Developed by the military, but useful to all. Worth a download even if you’re not suicidal. You never know if you might need it.
3. eCBT Calm
Provides a set of tools to help you evaluate personal stress and anxiety, challenge distorted thoughts, and learn relaxation skills that have been scientifically validated in research on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Lots of background and useful information along with step-by-step guides. Click here to read more.