Dr. Margaret Rutherford Speaking at This is the Brave

I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Rutherford a few years back and keep track of her work about people with perfectly hidden depression.



She has a post up on Psych Central about telling her story about having panic attacks. This is from a talk she gave as a speaker at This is the Brave storytelling event.

Show 116 - The Not So Wonderful World of Generalized Anxiety Disorder

General Anxiety Disorder becomes a medical condition when the worrying last more than six months AND it impacts and limits your life. You stop going places. You shrug off invitations. You don’t make the change you spent hours thinking about and then nothing really happened or changed.

In this episode, a look at what is the condition, treatment options and the on-line resources you can use to bust up the worry machine.




Paint it life, if you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

Resources Mentioned: 

There is a post on Mindful.org called A Meditation on Working with Anxiety, basically, how to use mindful techniques to try to find the sources of your anxiety. There is an audio recording you can listen to or you can read the transcript.

The Conversation on Act Tough and Hide Weakness, how young men see themselves as living up to society standards of manhood. Part of living up to those standards seem to be ignoring mental and emotional health issues.

ADAA,org  has a screening test if you suspect you might have GAD.

For information and treatment options there is the Generalized Anxiety Disorder page at Helpguide.org, this site is focused on behavioral health treatment and self-treatment options.

National Institute of Mental Health page on Generalized Anxiety Disorder: When Worry Gets Out of Control; you can download a PDF pamphlet or ePub version for your Kindle or ePub reading device.

In addition to the other sources, Healthline talks about life style changes that might be necessary to treatment your condition. This could mean dialing back on the caffeine or other stimulants.

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Show 115 Farmers Need Help and More Apps for Symptom Management

Coming back from a head cold. Lots of news items to cover, the proposed post-partum depression bill in California. a federal bill to provide mental health services to farmers, ranchers and agricultural workers, a book, and an app or two. Life is what it is but there are ways to make your body feel more comfortable.




Death might take a holiday but you don't have to join him. If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

Resources Mentioned: 

KCRB story about the possibility of a California bill to require doctors to perform a mental health test on their patients before and after giving birth.

Katherine Stone has a website that is devoted to issues about post-partum depression and treatment options called PostPartum Progress. Really good stuff about symptoms, treatment options and support.

Via FarmAid.org, a post about a bill to support mental health treatment in farm and rural areas of the United States. The the name of the bill is Stemming the Tide of Rural Economic Stress and Suicide (STRESS) Act (H.R. 5259).

How to Stop Freaking the %#$@ Out When Deep Breathing Doesn’t Work by Erin Pash and Kyle Keller. 

I've mentioned the Simply Noise app before but this time want to point to the download section where you for a very small amount of money, can purchase the specific sound noise that meets your needs. Special shout out to brown noise, which seems to draw more yarns that is normal for this time of day.

Dan Harris 10% Happier is geared to those folks that want and need the benefits of meditation without what they would refer to as the "bells and woo-woo." The app is available for iOS and Android users. Those of us on Windows Phones or on limited data plans can access the web version. There is a free section but there are also in-app purchases opportunities.

If money is an issue there are accessible meditation resources, The UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness has a number of mindfulness stress reduction audio files on a variety of topic. Those with limited plans might want to download the files onto your desktop and then transfer to your media device.

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Video on Power of Grandmothers, Depression and CBT

Not just in the United States, there is a reduction in the number of psychiatrist that are available to treat mental health concerns like depression.

We can either lament the loss or find ways to deliver treatment options.





Dixon Chibanda gave a TED Women talk about invoking the power of the grandmothers in delivering primary cognitive behavioral therapy services in Zimbabwe.

In America, there are a number of mental health first aid responders classes. The problem, the classes either fill up quick or not available in many communities.

Neither of these options can fill the needs of a psychiatrist but we do have to start doing more than lamenting the lack of mental health services.


If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only.

Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Encore - How to Select a Therapist and the Talkspace App

Well, I was up against it again and since there are only 24 hours in a day, I ran out of time. This is an encore presentation (or in my day, a re-run) of episode 64 which talked about finding a therapist.

The good news is that it isn't as harsh as it was originally. I've tweaked the levels so it might be a bit gentler on the ear. Or not because its all a blur of reality man, from phase to phase.




If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

References Mentioned:

• Anxiety and Depression Association of America Find a Therapist page Questions to Ask a Potential Therapist about Treatment via AADA
• Tracey Cleantis Psychology Today article about Selecting the Best Therapist
• Good Therapy.org Ethical and Other Guidelines to Seeking A Therapist 
• Helpguide.org on Finding A Therapist Who Can Help You Heal
• State of California Booklet on Empowerment Brochure on Selecting A Therapist  
• Ofer Zur List of 22 Questions to Ask about A Therapist - really good questions.
• Talkspace App for iPhone and iPad 
• Talkspace App for Android

 

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Show 114 Hydra-8 App and Sleep Information Resources

The topic for this episode is sleep resources. In the podcast,  I mentioned using Ulysses as a sleep aid. I mean no disrespect to James Joyce. It is a fine book but let just say it is packed with words. It is possible that Ulysses and Leopold Bloom might help to usher sleep faster.

Just thinking about it has got me yawning.

You certainly can find excellent versions on Audible but might I recommend the 2007 version  or the 2014 version at LibriVox.org





Life is what you have now.  If the voices are telling you otherwise or if you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

Resources Mentioned: 

Association of American Medical Colleges page on the psychiatric doctor and related shortages of staff that are needed to treat Americans needing psychiatric help.

Your brain wants water. There are a number of water tracking apps - be sure to check out the permissions before downloading but you could check out  Hydr-8 Water Minder & Counter.

If you have anxiety, depression or have a phobia or two you know that sleep can be affected. Or you might not know. This would be a good time to learn about it so one of the places to check out is the Anxiety and Depression Association of America's page on how Stress and Anxiety Interfere with Sleep.

The Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Get Sleep dives a bit deeper into the need for sleep, how it affects moods and how to assess your sleep needs.

From Harvard, an old school page on how to Assess Your Sleep Needs.

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

Show 113 Military Focused Meditation and Relaxation Resources

This is a short pebble on the anxiety road for members of the military, vets and family members.

There are meditation podcasts specifically for the military and two apps that help you get a grip on your breathing practices.




If you need support contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or text “START” to 741-741.

Resources Mentioned: 

Military Meditation Coach is specifically designed for active duty, vets and their families to help them make use of this treatment option. There are a number of sources to listen to the podcast such as Soundcloud, Apple Podcast, and Facebook.

There is also an app developed by the Department of Military Affairs called Mindfulness Coach that is for iOS devices like smartphones and tablets.

You say you don't have time for meditation? Have you got seven seconds? There is an app called Seven Second Meditation, also in the Apple App store that can help you teach your brain how to chill out.

Breath2Relax is an app that contains breathing exercises to get that oxygen in your body. It also provides information about stress and how too much of the bad stress can wreck your health. The app in in the Android and iOS app stores.

Disclaimer: 

Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only and do not constitute endorsements. 

Always seek the advice of a qualified health provider with questions you may have regarding a medical or mental health disorder.

This blog and podcast is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Nothing in this program is intended to be a substitute for professional psychological, psychiatric or medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.