Posted on Sun, Jan 31, 2010
Helping professionals look at a number of factors when assessing depression. We may ask you questions about your sleep, your appetite, your energy, your ability to think, your mood, and thoughts of dying.
Signs of depression or deep sadness:
When people are feeling sad, low, or flat, they may not feel like doing things they used to be interested in doing. They may not want to be around other people or may feel really worthless or guilty about anything and everything they do. Sometimes what can happen is people want to eat everything in sight, or food can become meaningless to them. Significant weight changes up or down may be a sign of deep sadness. Feeling like your walking through molasses throughout your day may be another signal. Your brain can feel like it’s stuck in that dark glue too because it can be hard to concentrate, hard to remember what you set out to do, or it can be hard to stay focused on what you’re doing.
Obvious Signs:
More obvious signs are that you’re feeling really down in the dumps and are having thoughts of dying or of killing yourself. Wishing for the pain to stop, wishing to die in an accident or from an illness, taking unreasonable risks with your life, or actively thinking about killing yourself are signs you need help.
Get Help:
Most of us feel sad from time to time. Life can present things that are hard to deal with for us. There are times when that sadness can grow to proportions that can seem more and more unmanageable. If you’re feeling like that or know someone who is, seek out some support. If you’d like more information or support, please contact me at renee@reneemeggs.com or 403-762-3040.
About the author:
Renée Meggs is a Registered Psychologist who works with adults and children to help them do what works, both in counselling and coaching. If you’d like to book an appointment or enquire about my services, please e-mail me at renee@reneemeggs.com and/or go to my website at http://reneemeggs.com. I can meet with you in person, on the phone, or on-line.
Posted on Fri, Jan 29, 2010
Change always comes bearing gifts. ~Price Pritchett
Over the last few weeks, I’ve been writing about goals. See Creating a New Year’s Resolution Jackpot!, Resolutions or to do lists, and Passionate Goals. I’ve talked about developing a rich vision, thinking about specific steps you can take, measuring where you’re at with those goals, and deciding whether you’re really passionate about them or not.
But what about those goals that you know will be good for you, that have obvious health and wellness benefits, but are going to be hard to figure out how to start, when to start, or how to maintain on an ongoing basis? You know, goals like:
- Quitting smoking
- Losing weight
- Leaving an abusive relationship
- Exercising regularly
- Speaking up for yourself
- Relaxing
- Eating well
- Letting go of worry
- Getting or staying organized
- Communicating clearly and constructively
- Feeling better about yourself
What do you do then?
I’ve recently gotten a fresh reminder of how challenging change can be. I’ve developed a number of food intolerances that have made me feel really sick. Once I discovered that certain foods were the problem, I started to cut them out of my diet—at least I’ve been trying. The problem has been that I love food. In fact, I once had someone tell me I should write a book entitled, Foods I’ve Known and Loved. Good food is a BIG part of my life. I get excited about foods I’m going to eat and coo when I get to eat them.
Now I’ve got a list of about 30 things I can’t eat. 3-0! They’re primarily healthy, delicious food—things like some red grapes, asparagus, nuts, and eggs. It’s not a matter of moderation—it’s a matter of not going anywhere near them—no way no how.
I’ve gotten a good reminder of how difficult change can be, how some goals may be really good for us but involve sacrifice, discipline, and the willingness to give up things you’ve previously really enjoyed—at least in some ways. It’s been a really good reminder of how difficult it can be to create new habits that become just that—habits.
What helps? Creating a rich vision of what you want can be really helpful. Thinking about small steps you will take to get there, and measuring your progress help. For me, discipline has also been key, and something I’ve had to re-visit several times. Talking myself through cravings, reminding myself of how sick I’ve felt, reminding myself how good I feel when I stick to my diet plan and what other things it’s enabled me to do, reminding myself those foods are no longer an option, planning for success (i.e. eating at home or select restaurants), and reminding myself to keep trying even when I slip have all helped.
What helps for you? What helps you discipline yourself to really commit to your goals? What can you do to stand up to pressure from within or from others to stick to your plan? What is going to help you deal with setbacks?
I’d be interested in hearing your comments!!
Grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it’s me. ~Author Unknown
About the author: Renee Meggs is a Registered Psychologist who works with adults and children to help them do what works, both in counselling and coaching. If you’d like to enquire about my services, please e-mail me at reneemeggs@focusedsolutionscounselling.com and/or go to my website at http://reneemeggs.com
Posted on Mon, Jan 11, 2010
The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars…
~Jack Kerouac
Last week I asked you to consider whether you goal or plan of action is something that’s really important to you that come hell or high water you’re going to do, or is it one of those things that would be nice to do but really won’t make any difference? As Naomi Dunford said on her blog last week, kickass goals are ones that you’re passionate about—that are going to rock your world!
Dream it: You’re sitting in an Imax studio. There’s a movie playing of your passion. You’re sitting in the control seat with all the buttons at your finger tips to create and change your vision at will.
What do you see? What are the colours, the shapes, and the textures? Where are you? Are you outside or inside? Are you in a certain context, or is your passion something you can do anywhere? What are you doing? Is anyone with you?
Drink in this vision for it’s your life’s sustenance.
What do you hear? Are there are sounds in the background? Are there people talking, are you alone, is there a buzz of activity, or is it quiet and tranquil?
What do you feel—physically and emotionally? Is this passion active? Does it count on your strength, agility, or skill? Is it a cerebral passion? Are the creative juices oozing out of you? Who or what does your passion touch? What makes it so amazing that life would cease to exist unless you lived it?
Passionate goals are ones that come hell or high water you’re going to do! They’re oceans apart from the nice goals, the “I should” goals, and normal, everyday tasks.
I’d love to hear your comments. What are you passionate about? What difference does passion make in making your dreams happen?
Posted on Mon, Jan 04, 2010
On New Year’s Eve, we went out for dinner with some friends. We started talking about New Year’s resolutions and they quickly told us they didn’t make resolutions—they made “to do lists.” To do lists, we were told, are based on things they want to accomplish over the next year and are action oriented. So how do you make a “to do list” actionable?
Get specific: Think of something you want to accomplish this year. What is it? Suppose as an example, you decided you wanted to get healthier. What would be signs that you were healthy? What would you be doing that would let you know you were living well? Will you be exercising 4-5 days a week? If so, what kind of exercise will you be doing? Will you be eating better? If so, what kinds of food would you eat at each meal that would tell you that you were taking good care of yourself? Would you drink less alcohol—or no alcohol? If you drank less alcohol, how much less would you drink each week or month? What would you be doing instead of drinking?
People in your life: Let’s stay with the living healthier example. Who in your life would notice you were living healthy? What would s/he or they notice you doing that would tell him/her/them that you were healthier? What else would they notice?
The benefits: Imagine you started living a healthy life. What would the benefits be? What difference would it make in your life? What difference would it make in your personal life? How about in your relationships? What would be some of the benefits in your work or in your professional development?
How serious are you? On a scale of 0-10, if 10 was you were totally committed to becoming healthy this year and 0 was the opposite, how committed are you? What puts you there? What something you could see yourself doing over the next week that would move you up a notch on the scale?
Where are you now? On a scale of 0-10, if 10 is you’re already living a healthy life, you’re exercising 5 days a week, you’re eating 5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day, eating 2-3 servings of protein a day, and eating a variety of food, and 0 is the opposite, where do you think you are now? What are you doing that puts you there? Again, what can you see yourself doing over the next week that would move you up a notch?
Creating goals that you actually do means getting specific. Think of what you’ll be doing when you can cross off that item on your list that will tell you it’s a done deal. Think of people that know you and what they’ll notice you doing. Think about the benefits of doing this thing or things and what difference it will make in your life. Is it something that’s really important to you that come hell or high water you’re going to do, or is it one of those things that would be nice to do but really won’t make any difference? And finally, thinking about where you’re at and a small step you can take will help get you going. Have fun!!!
I’d love to hear from you!! Are resolutions or “to do lists” effective for you? If so, what makes them work? If not, what works better?