Category Archives: Anxiety

Prayerful Meditation and Contemplation

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photo (22)While on vacation with old friends this summer, I enjoyed a few moments of solitude and prayer beside the lake.  When I returned to the cabin a friend asked me, “What are you doing out there?”  I tried to explain what I had reading about contemplative prayer.

For me, contemplative prayer is a form of meditation that begins with quieting and focusing my mind.  I find it remarkably relaxing to gaze over a lake while praying.  Considering the waves as they move over the surface is curiously relaxing.  Not much to analyze, not much to worry about.  This relaxed state of mind is a prelude to contemplative prayer.  For some it comes with time at the beach or the lake.  For others it comes with inspirational reading or mellow music.

Contemplative prayer has as its aim an intimate experience of God.  It is a state of mind in which all concerns about past and future are replaced by a present awareness of God.  This awareness is described by Christian mystics as a spiritual union.  Writers use this term to describe the level of intimacy  embodied in this taste of the supernatural grace of God.  Time spent in prayerful contemplation changes the spirit of the person who is praying.  The person’s heart is changed in a way that mysteriously knows the answer to questions he or she did not even know how to ask.  The spirit of this person comes to love and understand more easily.

While at its deepest level contemplative prayer is free from specific ideas, on another level it may focus on a single idea.  This solitary focus may be an initial step to spiritual union.  Here, the meditating person focuses on one idea such as God, love, sin, or forgiveness.  The goal prayer at this level is to try to remain aware of the value represented in the idea without going off into details.  When meditating on the idea of love, for example, try to stay focused on the idea of love, not the love of God, family or friends.  Simply focus on the one-word-idea of love.  When your mind wanders, come back to the single idea, again and again.  Without specifically analyzing the relationships in your life, you will come to a greater ability to love them.

Many of these ideas were gleaned from The Cloud of Unknowing, written by an unknown  fourteenth century author.

The Cloud of Unknowing. (Author unknown).  Republished by Paraclete Press, Brewster Massachusetts, 2006.

Too Many Antidepressants?

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photo (13)Over 10% of the US population use antidepressants each year, according to a recent study.   Researchers at the National Center for Health Statistics*, also found that antidepressant use rose nearly 400% between approximate years of 1998-2008.

Clearly antidepressants can be over-prescribed.  Doctors may rush to treatment  when they hear complaints of  “I’ve been feeling a bit depressed lately”.  Visits to the doctor tend to brief encounters and quick answers may appear necessary.  It takes a little longer to explain that talking therapy or better self-care may be the better choice for relieving sad and worried moods.

On the other hand, many people who could benefit from medication are not getting the help they need.  This can lead to job loss, broken relationships, and social isolation.  Some people refuse to see the problem.  Others refuse to consider medication as a solution.

Yes, there a lot of people taking medications.  Some should be using psychotherapy, exercise, or another health-promoting alternative instead.  Still many others should recognize that the brain develops chemical imbalance just like any other body part and consider medication. Most people using antidepressants have been properly diagnosed with some form of depression or anxiety disorder.  These people should continue using antidepressants under the care of a medical professional.

So yes, antidepressant medications are over-prescribed.  But they are also under-prescribed.  A thoughtful discussion with a psychiatrist or other mental health professional can usually identify who is who and what is what is this dilemma.

 

* National Center for Health Statistics.  Health, United States, 2010.  Hyattsville, MD. 2011.

Easter Spirituality: Christ’s Views on Good and Evil

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IMG_1984Believers of Jesus Christ as the incarnate son of God view the Easter weekend as a time of tragedy and triumph.  Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant churches will open their doors to the curious and the devout and proclaim a message of good overcoming evil.

Like followers of Christ two thousand years ago, it is easy to get focused on the evil around us.  Early Christians watched Christ arrested, humiliated, and killed by men consumed by evil.

But Christ said, “Hey wait a minute.  Don’t be so short sighted.  Evil is coming for me but it has no power over me.  I am willing – no wait – looking forward to glorifying my father in obedient sacrifice, with the full assurance that I am headed to heaven.  It’s actually a good thing.  And, by the way, I am going back to heaven to prepare a place for you… got a room reserved for you in my father’s house.” (paraphrased from John 13).

Nowhere else in history is recorded such a story of bruising tragedy and ultimate fulfillment as in the historical events of Easter.  Whether you tend to get overwhelmed by worry or struggle with depression, may God refresh and bless you, with a new peace and perspective that surpasses human understanding.

See the Bible, John Chapter 13, for Christ’s perspective on evil, goodness, and his understanding of eternity.

Stress and Skin Electricity

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imagesSteams of electrical current are coursing over your skin, increasing in power under periods of stress.  Like measurements of cortisol in your bloodstream, electrical currents over skin reflect the level of stress in your mind and body.

You can now buy a device, to measure the electrical activity flowing over your skin.  But rather than purchasing a galvanic skin response instrument for $200, why not just use this observation to realize that high stress impacts on your body and do something about it?

You don’t need a new high-tech gadget to tell you to lower your skin electricity and relax.  Use common sense and know that the human body needs time to rest and unwind.  Too much stress as reflected by increased sweating and skin electricity is not good for your heart, your brain, or your emotional balance.  Be deliberate about making some time for exercise and meditation, two behaviors proven to lower stress.

For the spiritually-minded person, find a quiet space to relax, take some slow deep breaths, and reach out to the Comforter in prayer.  Your blood pressure will ease and the electrical currents passing over your body will diminish.

See Popular Science (March, 2015) for nice discussion of the biology of stress and relaxation.

Five Tips to Reduce Anxiety and Depression

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0561. Develop a healthy habit. Growing a healthy habit may help to displace an unhealthy one.
2. Be open-minded about the benefits of medication to reduce worry or irritability, especially if your moods are creating conflicts in relationships or problems at work.
3. Consider counseling as way to unpack and examine your deeper feelings, ones that are not discussed in most day-to-day relationships.
4. Strengthen your social ties. Call an old friend or have breakfast with someone in the family.
5. Make a goal to grow spiritually over the next year. Then meditate on how your behavior may reflect that change.

Energy Balance in Depression and Anxiety

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photo (54)Two things I ask nearly every patient on every visit: “How are you sleeping” and, “Are you getting some exercise.”

If the answers are fine and yes, then I begin to relax in the belief that things are going pretty well for this person.  It’s a remarkably sensible formula: Rest + Exercise = Improved Health.

Our bodies were made to do things; and then, to rest in order to more things the next day.  People have been getting physical exercise since the time we lived in caves and hunted for dinner.  In modern times, we spend less time foraging through the woods for dinner and more time standing in front of the microwave oven.

Exercise researchers have shown that regular exercise is good for your mind and body.  It can even be a remedy for mild depression (see earlier blog).  The huffing and puffing of exercise blows off the emotional steam that comes with anxiety.  It is one of the few documented factors that help to reduce the risk of dementia and heart attacks.  Need I say more about the need to make some time for exercise?

Sleep researchers recommend 6-10 hour s of sleep.  Most people need about eight.  Some of us do better with nine.  Very few people function well with less than six.

In many ways, sleep seems like one of the easiest things to do with our time.  It is not.  A healthy sleep pattern takes discipline.  Reduce or eliminate caffeine if you sleep poorly.   Good sleep hygiene also requires that you spend the last hour or so of your day unwinding – not finishing a work or school project, not watching an adventure movie or reading a scary book. Let your mind and body relax.

Then make yourself go to bed.  Your mother does not control your bedtime anymore, so tell your own self “It’s time to go to bed so I can get up in the morning and exercise.”

Mindfulness Meditation Lowers Anxiety

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Meditation can be good for your mental health. A research report from August 2013 shows that mindfulness meditation can reduce symptoms in those with anxiety disorders. Investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital studied people who were suffering from Generalized Anxiety Disorder, a emotional problem marked by poor sleep, irritability, and muscle tension. They trained subjects to slow down and clear worries from their minds, and looked for changes in anxiety symptoms. It worked – significant relief was found through meditation.

Mindfulness is only one technique likely to lower stress. Many other secular and spiritual meditative practices are likely to prove helpful, if investigators decide to study them. The benefits of scheduling some time in your day to sit quietly and relax, and refocus your mental energies makes sense.

Mindfulness training is available at Riverside Counseling Center. Dan Towery, LPC offers evening seminars on mindfulness training and incorporates this training into individual counseling for those with this interest.

Hoge, E and others. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, August 2013