According to Healthline, approx 121 million people in the world suffer from depression. Most of them come from the richest countries (USA, Canada, European Union, Australia), more than likely because we live the most hectic lifestyles.
I honestly think these estimates are way too low, and that a lot of people are suffering in silence.
I used to be one of them.
Back when I lost my hearing and my health was the worst it had ever been, I got severely depressed – or at least, I think. I can only speak from my own experience here.
On the days I was depressed, I felt empty. I couldn’t feel any emotion. I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t angry either. I wasn’t sad. Nothing.
But the worst part is that I didn’t feel loved or loving either, I shut myself off from everybody. And ironically… I couldn’t even muster the emotions to give a toss about that.
Most people would have gone to their GP and probably got prescription drugs to help them.
But I thought – is that really a solution? Of course, if you have suicidal thoughts of life-threatening behaviours then meds really can save your life….
I’m talking about my own personal situation here.
I kept asking myself, are these pills really going to help fix the root cause of my depression?
Now you might think I’m wrong BUT I really think that sometimes the way the medical profession looks at mental illness is broken.
A patient feels unmotivated and depressed. He sees his doc. Doc gives him pills. Patient now relies on these pills to be happy.
90% of your serotonin – one of the key neurotransmitters in your brain that makes you happy – is produced in your gut, by billions of microscopic bacteria? This is why it’s so so important to make good food choices, take the time to eat your food properly and allow these nutrients to be absorbed. If you’re stressed out or rushing the chances of you being able to do that are slim ….
YOU ARE WHAT YOU DIGEST
Nutrient deficiencies can cause major dysfunction in your brain – a majority of the population has several of these deficiencies!!!
I’m not making any of this up… studies and reports have confirmed that people with violent behaviours are very often deficient in zinc, iron, and B vitamins – all essential for mental stability.
I decided not to take meds and decided to focus on my health and let my body heal. Eventually, my gut flora got better. And after months and months of hard work, my depression slowly vanished. My brain was back on track.
This was part 1 of the equation. Heal my body in order to heal my brain, and get my happiness back.
Part 2 was a much more personal and spiritual journey. Most people dismiss that part. It’s about fixing your internal conflicts, old hatreds and limiting beliefs about yourself.
Our whole life, we condition ourselves to think a certain way, and we drag old conflicts, things from our past that we have never dared to look at, and a massive emotional baggage that is weighing down on us like backpack (or s***sack I call it) you would have filled with bricks.
You can be perfectly healthy, your brain might be 100% normal and functioning, but you still might not feel OK. You can be depressed just because your psyche is designed this way, at least for the moment.
In the last few weeks, I’ve been so busy and have had so little time to do the things I normally do for myself .. I began to find there were days where I just wasn’t motivated or passionate about the things I was doing. I found myself focusing on my past mistakes.
Luckily I recognise the warning signs now to remind me to get back to doing the things that work for me.
Whenever I feel down or out of alignment, I focus on myself. I listen to vibrational music (did you know that there 7 healing frequencies of music?), I practice EFT, I exercise and eat well and, of course, I take my furry friends to the beach … and I come right back on track.
This is a subject most folk don’t like to talk about so I hope you don’t mind me sharing this with you.
My RAK today is a little self centred but I want you to use it too if you feel that things are getting out of control…
Repeat to yourself “Life Isn’t an Emergency”.
I’ve never met anyone (myself included) who hasn’t turned little things into great big emergencies.
We take our own goals so seriously that we forget to have fun along the way, and we forget to cut ourselves some slack.
We take simple preferences and turn them into conditions for our own happiness. Or, we beat ourselves up if we can’t meet our self-created deadlines. The first step in becoming a more peaceful person is to have the humility to admit that, in most cases, you’re creating your own emergencies.
Life will usually go on if things don’t go according to plan.
It’s helpful to keep reminding yourself and repeating the sentence, “Life isn’t an emergency.”
Dee xx
PS – I’m running a 6 week little black dress Challenge after Halloween – if YOU want in you’ve gotta hit reply to this email. That’s the only chance you’ll have to join the Million Dollar Family this side of Crimbo…… Picture yourself 10-15lbs lighter in the run up to Christmas.
Why would anybody want to wait until January to start when you’ll only have more work to do?
Mail me 🙂