Archive for the ‘depression’ Category
Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010
“Nothing vivifies, and nothing kills, like emotions”, Joseph Roux
It’s almost the end of December already and I missed writing a blog in November. Seems I was trying to recover from the many crises (or at least perceived crises) in my life. The physiotherapist (Nick) said my nervous system was “completely exhausted” and to rest. For the past few weeks things have finally quieted down and I am having Feldenkrais movement treatments/activities (I am somewhat certain that Tai Chi would be equally as effective, or any kind of movement) to help revitalize me somewhat. The fatigue is slowly dissipating and with it some of the pain from all the hyperactivity and intense stressful emotions in my life. I am back on my recumbent bike a couple of times a week for about 20 minutes a day now (again!).
As I write this I watch little light snow flakes outside; there’s a fire in the fireplace; I have just spent 20 minutes meditating and I am at peace with my heating pad on my shoulders and hot tea to comfort me. The winter skylight is incredible at dusk. Now that we have had Solstice the days will be getting longer.
If only there were more days like this, but of course, crises happen…stuff happens. I can’t stop the world. I am though working on focused practices such as mild exercise and meditation which is what my emotional roller coaster craves and my brain ( that darn amygdala!) has a difficult time understanding. My brain wants to go that well worn path to emotional chaos instead of the new calming pathways I am trying to cultivate. The stresses that many of us experience during the festive season create in us emotions that can make us sick, or conversely could make us well.
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Posted in amygdala, angry, anxious, compassion, crises, depression, empathy, exhausted nervous system, fatigue, fearful, Feldenkrais, Fibromyalgia, fretting, happy, joyful, laughter, meditation, mild exercise, neuro-elasticity, recumbent bike, sad, seasonal stresses, sensitive persons, Solstice, stressed | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 27th, 2010
“When you change the way you think, you can change the way you feel“, David D. Burns
I have been pondering of late how I can change the nature of this website from that which focusses on symptoms and instead place more emphasis on neuroplasticity in action. Now as I write this 70th blog, for the time being at least, I want to write about living the experience of actively working on changing my brain, rather than espousing the rhetoric. After all these years I am finally fed up with defining myself, to myself, that I am “fibromyalgia”. I am bored with it. I have even become fed up with the word. What kind of a label have I given myself? It has become self fulfilling. I expect pain, fatigue and flare-ups. My brain, sleepy at times, crazy at others, jumps to the old pathways and keeps up the usual harangue. “Can’t do this, it will cause a flare-up”. “Too much excitement, I will be in pain tomorrow”. ” I shouldn’t do this long walk, I will be in a state of fatigue all week”. My brain eagerly accepts these depressing messages and goes down the well worn path. Strangely, it is so well travelled that it actually feels comfortable. New journeys into unfamiliar places in my brain means taking risks and cutting through the brush. So, why haven’t I taken this road before? Why do I have a mild flirtation with going a new route while trudging back into the boring, old worn out path? I have crept onto the unexplored by occasionally meditating, taking on a new, creative, repetitious craft (quilting), trying to remember how important movement is to changing the brain, but not in any disciplined way. I have not actively sought out joy in my life. When it happens I am thrilled but suspicious! The brain has amazing capacities and neural pathways, so why not bring the pathway to joy, rather than depression and anxiety?
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Posted in central nervous system, changing the brain, conquering fibromyalgia, david burns, david butler, depression, discipline, fatigue, Fibromyalgia, flare-ups, joy, labelling, neurodynamics, neuroplasticity, sensitive nervous system, symptoms of fibromyalgia, taking risks, triggers | 10 Comments »
Friday, March 12th, 2010
“If you can anchor yourself to a ship of tranquility, you won’t be tossed about by the waves of stimulation”, Ted Zeff
I recently asked my spouse what lessons he learned from his father. His reply was how to ‘pace’ himself; to be cautious and not overly frenetic. His father lived to be 90, was a factory worker and a musician and helped raise five children. He was a calm man, did not complain about aches or pains, was easy going and like his son, my partner of many years, a relaxed man. He was like this in spite of the stimulation of five children and two jobs. It was a pleasure to be around him. He moved about slowly, pacing himself. Neither he, nor his son, have , nor had fibromyalgia. That goes without saying.
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Posted in Buddhism, depression, fearfulness, Fibromyalgia, frenetic activity, highly sensitive persons, joy, living life in the slow lane, meditation, neuroscientists, optimism, overstimulation, personality characteristics, rushing, Ted Zeff | 10 Comments »
Saturday, December 15th, 2007
“Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency”, Natalie Goldberg
Stress and excitement are two main triggers for an acute onset of fibromyalgia. Stress may be only minimal or severe, temporary or chronic, nonetheless it is usually bound to bring on an attack, usually a day or two after the episode. Excitement can be happy or frightening, but that too usually precipitates pain, fatigue, sleeplessness and perhaps depression among a host of other undesirable symptoms.
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Posted in addicted to high achievment, December is a stimulating month, depression, empath, family dynamcis, Fibromyalgia, fibromyalgia and watchfulness, Fibromyalgia:why more women?, gift buying, highly sensitive personality, holidays, overstimulated nervous system, peaceful contentment, Robert Sapolsky, root cause of fibromyalgia, stress/excitement, supersensitive personality, tranquillity, travel, ultrasensitive personality, women's intuition | 2 Comments »
Saturday, July 14th, 2007
“Sometimes questions are more important than answers” , Nancy Willard. 
One of the major challenges that many people with FMS face is depression. The question that I pose here is which of the major daily struggles of living with fibromyalgia come first? Which of the ‘Gang of Four’ symptoms: pain, sleeplessness, fatigue or depression (the four most common plagues of fibromyalgia) first precipitates the vicious cycle ?
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Posted in Arthur Frank, Arthur Kleinman, coping, Dana Jack, depression, DSM-IV, fatigue, Fibromyalgia, medications, melancholy, moodaltering medications, pain, Silencing the Self Women and Depression, sleeplessness, suffering | 3 Comments »
