Posted by dj on June 11, 2000, at 17:44:05
In reply to Re: To DJ with love, posted by Oddzilla on June 7, 2000, at 18:12:39
Thanks all for your kind greetings and Shar for sharing the correct version of that celtic (been reading up on my roots, great stuff celtic history) toast.
Oddzilla, if you read some of my back posts I can be provocative, that's my nature and nurture to varying degrees. Both play a role and that's the tricky part with depression, anxiety and all the related angsts that one can encounter.
I consider myself to have been very un-well and un-balanced emotionally, physically, socially and mentally. My entire being was out of whack, not just my mind. Some characterize that as major or acute depression. I characterize it as an unbalanced system and all my efforts, which are detailed to some degree from last February on back to the previous April or May in P-Babble files, have been to find ways to rebalance.
As the unbalance was multi-faceted so was my approach, as it continues to be. I don't follow any particular diet or regime but strive for balance and pay attention to what my body and mind are telling me. If I am feeling out of whack, as I have been this past week then I use whatever approachs I deem helpful. Rest,yoga and other exercise, spicy food, some socializing, intimate discussions, matinee therapy, some deep thinking and discussions have all played a role in re-balancing.
Systemic balance is what I believe it is all about and unfortunately for some of us our systems get out of whack easier than others. Though we have common themes we also have unique themes, stressors and symptoms and the challenge is to find the balance that works best and uniquely for each of us.
I believe medication can and does play a role for many and has been helpful for me, as well. And I also believe that the body/mind will heal itself if one works hard at clearing away the sources of dis-ease. This is not necessarily simple as the sources of dis-ease are often the mental and social enviromnents we create for ourselves and like fish in water it is seeminly hard to seperate ourselves from our environments.
That's where good counselling can help and drugs if carefully applied and monitored by the recipient in careful discussion with a p-doc. The book "Undoing Depression" which is referenced on Dr. Bob's book page and is outlined at http://www.undoingdepression.com is one of the better ones on this issue. "The Manual for Life" by http://www.pdseminars.com by Jock McKeen and Ben Wong also has some eloquent discussions about the role individuals play in their "depression algorithm". The Come Alive workshop I did with them twice last year and the Haven's "Disengaging depression" workshop were crucial in helping me accept the role I played in my interaction with my dis-ease.
And I continue to learn and shall until I depart this mortal coil, hopefully a better person from having learned more compasson for others and myself, which is the key, I have come to believe.
Sante!
DJ
> Hi, DJ I think you left before I arrived but welcome back. I know people with out of the mainstream viewpoints are not always treated kindly here. (If you hang around long be prepared to deny that you are boBB :-)
>
> I am very interested in the book you mentioned. It seems to me that mental illness is indeed being aggressively marketed.
>
> I am neither for nor against medication either if it is taken voluntarily. Do you consider yourself to have been mentally ill and recovered or how do you conceptionalize what happened to you? What kind of diet and meditation are you using? Feel free not to answer-I'm always afraid of being intrusive.
>
> Best wishes O.
poster:dj
thread:23125
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000610/msgs/36951.html