DBSAlliance

On this short discussion, Ryan and Chris talk about the central message of the blog and show: taking control of your health while you can.

Ryan and Chris discuss the fundamental concept of the week: Do you really believe that it's possible to get better? Do you really believe that if you do something, it will make a difference? The science continually says that people that take consistent and active steps in order to fight their depression have a very high rate of getting better. However, people all too often fall into the trap of giving up and getting frustrated, using negative self-talk like, "It's no use." But it is of use. Ryan and Chris get the ball rolling this week, talking about why you should take it to the bank that taking positive action against depression gets results!

Ryan talks about how the media's reaction to the Fort Hood tragedy is one of the few where psychological state is tossed aside as irrelevant in favor of the shooter's religious background.

Hey guys, it’s Aime Lynn with Flipswitch’s Erasing Negative Thoughts segment. On each edition of Erasing Negative Thoughts, we identify one way of "stinkin thinkin" and show how it’s more often than not, either completely untrue or extremely exaggerated.

On this edition of Erasing Negative Thoughts, we’ll cover the thinking pattern known as Overgeneralization.

This one’s a biggy.

It’s not, “I messed up this one time on this project. Oh no. I mess up EVERY on EVERY project.”

It’s not, “I’m not going out tonight with my friends.” It’s, “I NEVER go ANYWHERE at all.”

You made a bad grade on a test? Is it because you ALWAYS fail no matter what you do?

These are just few examples of overgeneralization. Overgeneralization occurs when you take one single event and infer from it a pattern of life that is almost always true, regardless of how much evidence to the contrary there is. You can usually tell when overgeneralization is going on because examples often make use of words like “always” “never” or “every”: words that extend one isolated incident to every incident that has ever happened to you. But overgeneralization is pretty easy to disprove. “My Mother never lets me do anything!” HIGHLY unlikely. I mean, she lets you go to school. She lets you take bath. Etc. Maybe not always what you want, but then again, who gets to do everything they want? You always fail? You formed a sentence to convey the meaning that you always fail. That’s a success. By definition, you’ve already disproved that you always fail on tests. Assuming that you’re talking about failing one test in 8th grade math, the fact that you were passed to 8th grade likely means you didn’t fail at least what was necessary to get that far. And on and on. It’s very rare that claims that use words like “always” or “never” are true, so why are you thinking that way? Many other distorted ways of thinking are sub-forms of overgeneralization. '

And we’ll talk about those more in the coming weeks. For now, stop ALWAYS beating up on yourself. You NEVER give yourself a break. (Hey, if you can do it, so can I!) Join us next time for another way to start Erasing Negative Thinking.

On this week’s theme, we talk about the very beginnings of getting a grip on your problems. When it starts, people invariably know at least one thing: they don’t like how they’re feeling. But from there, they have to figure out what’s wrong and why? Maybe it’s one specific situation that you’re not happy with. More likely, it’s a number of things that are related. If nothing else, someone can at least define the nature of how they’re doing. Are they sleeping well? Are they eating well? Are they feeling happy? Are they feeling lonely? Are they angry? and on and on. The more you can define the problem. The more you can come up with solutions to “STARVE THE BEAST” of bipolar disorder and depression.

Ryan and Chris talk about how to define lousy feelings more accurately with a real world example from a special guest host (hint: Teeny Teen).

Hey guys, it’s Aime Lynn with Flipswitch’s Erasing Negative Thoughts segment. On each edition of Erasing Negative Thoughts, we identify one way of “stinkin thinkin” and show how it’s more often than not, either completely untrue or extremely exaggerated.

On this edition of Erasing Negative Thoughts, we’ll cover the thinking pattern known as “Disqualifying the Positive.”

We’ve all done this one, right?:

“Sure I get A’s on all my tests, but I made a C on this one. I’m just a C student.”

“This person said he didn’t like me. I don’t have any friends. Sure, lots of people hang out with me, but they don’t count.”

“I’ve just not ever been happy. Sure there were times when I thought I was happy, but I don’t really think I was now.”

And on and on.

Disqualifying the positive is a particularly insidious distorted way of thinking because it allows you to gloss over literally mountains of evidence to the contrary of your other distorted ways of thinking. Why? Because, regardless of all that evidence, none of it counts. No no no. Only the negative beliefs are right because “insert excuse X here.”

And if all the positive things in life no longer get to count, the bad things aren’t just bad, they’re REALLY since there are no longer any positives in your world. It would be funny if it weren’t so detrimental to you. On the one hand you’re already unhappy for various reasons. And on top of that, that already bad feeling is made worse by this false belief that positives either don’t count or, even worse, don’t exist at all.

But if you stop and think for a moment, positive evidence does exist all around you. In fact, positive evidence is kind of the reason most of the other distorted ways of thinking we talk about here aren’t really true either.

You’re always a failing? What about that B you got on a test 3 months ago. You say it doesn’t count because it was 3 months ago, but believe me…..it counts. If nothing else, you could at least change your thoughts to the more accurate description, I haven’t made the grades I’ve wanted for the last 3 months. I would doubt that even that would be universally true though.

All those friends you have don’t count because, they’re not that close, they’re not real friends, whatever whatever what..ever.

Not disqualifying the positive means basically looking around you for all that you do right, even when you’ve made a few mistakes. By not disqualifying the positive, your real problems become much more manageable because suddenly you have a mountain of successes with which to short circuit absurd claims of your universal awfulness as well as a good amount of evidence that you can learn and succeed even when your screw ups are quite real.

So, the next time you say, “It’s all so bad, I always screw up” stop and think for a moment; what about that time I didn’t screw up.” Yep, it’s that easy.

That’s it for this round of Erasing Negative Thinking. I’m Aime Lynn, catch you next time.

This is Ryan with another round of Flipswitch’s Mood Disorders In the Media. On Mood Disorders in the Media, we take a closer look at one instance of how the media is currently handling mood disorders. News, movies, tv, radio, the internets......if it’s somehow connected to the media, it’s fair game.

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. A show about depression and bipolar disorder and growing up..........we could only avoid it so long.

Love it or hate it, here it is. We’re finally going to deal with it.

Yes. Yes. Yes, that’s right. You know what I’m talking about.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, .....today we talk about.......The Twilight Series.

Okay, okay! Girls, calm down, please! And if you guys over there can stop looking annoyed for just one moment, we can get through this promptly!

Look, for better or worse, the Twilight series of books and movies have been hugely successful, raking gobs and gobs of money, with more sequels planned for the future. Maybe it’s the Romeo-and-Julietness of it all or the fact that we all just simply like stories about werewolves and vampires; whatever it is, fans just can’t seem to get enough.

In the latest movie installment of the series, New Moon, the main character of the whole shebang, Bella, goes through a trying break up with a boyfriend, Edward, and is flung into the depths of heartbreak and sadness, eventually leading her to do some dangerous things in order to get him back.

Vampires and werewolves aside, it’s an interesting take on an extremely common part of life, a part of life that many people are first introduced to in high school and sometimes, even junior high. Girl meets boy, girl falls for boy, girl and boy share romance, boy changes suddenly on girl, boy leaves girl, girl becomes distraught, spending hours, days, weeks, months, etc pining for her lost love. Sure, that’s the basic thing going on in New Moon, but I was also describing three of my friend’s from high school’s lives as well. It’s just that common. Sure, in my case, it was more like: boy meets girl, girl tells boy to leave her alone, boy comes up to girl two weeks later to profess his love for girl, girl explains that she doesn’t remember boy at all, girl introduces boy to girl’s football player boyfriend, boy runs away before he gets beat up....but.....okay let’s move on.

A lot has been written about the tumultuous relationship between Bella and Edward in the media, with more than a few news segments on the dark (say quote) “depression” that Bella experiences after Edward leads. ABC news, for example, called Bella’s condition a “classic case of clinical depression.” The media has sought out shrinks and experts of all stripes to talk about Bella’s depression.

But this brings up a perfect opportunity to talk about something media hasn’t adequately addressed when talking about Bella’s feelings: namely, duration of mood.

Remember this mantra: sadness and depression are NOT the same thing. Oh, they’re related alright, but they are NOT the same thing.

For someone to have clinical depression, they have to experience a sad (say quote) “depressed” mood for most of the day for at least two weeks. But it’s important to remember that depression as a disorder isn’t usually given unless that sadness lasts at least a couple of months. Why is that?

Well, let’s go back and remember why mood disorders are disorders at all: They are incongruent with reality. That means they don’t match what’s going on in the world. If your dog dies and suddenly your all happy the next day, your mood isn’t congruent to the situation. that’s a problem.

But in the Twilight Saga, Bella has lost the love of her life. And well.... she’s not happy about it. In fact, she’s not happy about it for quite a while.

Here’s one question for everyone: Should Bella be happy that she’s lost the love of her life? Should she have gotten over it in a couple of days and been cheery? A week? 2 weeks? How...

Hey there. This is Aime Lynn with Flipswitch’s Erasing Negative Thoughts. On each edition of Erasing Negative Thoughts, we identify one way of stinkin thinkin and show how it’s more often than not, either completely untrue or extremely exaggerated. All too often hand in hand with depression, don’t fall prey to these outright false ways of thinking.

On this edition of Erasing Negative Thoughts, we’ll cover the distorted way of thinking pattern known as “Emotional Reasoning”.

“I’m so overwhelmed with work. I know I’m doing a bad job.”

“I’ll feel awful. I am awful.”

“I don’t feel like going out and being around people, so I shouldn’t go out and be around people.”

These are just a smattering of examples of emotional reasoning.

Emotional reasoning occurs when you simply think that reality matches the way you feel instead of anything to do with evidence or physics or anything else in the world. Nope. You feel it, therefore it’s true.

Except, that’s not how the world really works does it?

I mean, you don’t say, “How much gas do I have in my tank? The gauge says empty, but I feel it’s full, so it must be full.”

You don’t say, “I don’t feel hot, therefore I know I won’t get sunburned on a sunny day.”

No, of course, not. That’s just silly.

Yet, these are exactly the types of warped thoughts people all too often employ in the depths of a dark depression. They become certain that they are so worthless simply because they feel they are, even going so far as to argue as good as any lawyer against those people that try to dispute this “truth”. They wall themselves off from opportunities to feel better because they’ve let their feelings overcome reality.

But the good news is it doesn’t have to be that way. Stop and think: I feel this way. So what? What’s the actual evidence for my belief. Maybe more importantly, what’s the evidence against my negative belief.

Live a life based on reality, not just what you feel.

This has been Aime Lynn with Erasing Negative Thoughts here on Flipswitch.

Welcome to Flipswitch’s mood disorders in the media. On Mood Disorders in the Media, we take a closer look at one instance of how the media is currently handling mood disorders. News, movies, tv, radio, the internets......if it’s somehow connected to the media, it’s fair game.

Did you know that people are getting depressed while watching blue people that live in communal setting in nature? According to the media news reports, there’s something about the peace of the land and these blue folks that has people all sad and blue because life out here in the real world just isn’t as carefree.

No, we’re not talking about the smurfs. We’re talking about Avatar.

In Avatar, a blue humanoid species known as the Navi live on the planet Pandora, existing in a manner that is very similar to Native Americans of centuries past. They commune with nature in a tranquil and peaceful way, going so far as to do some kind of vulcan mind meld with the roots of trees......or something......I was still getting used to the 3D glasses to tell you the truth.

But my point this week isn’t to talk about the giant James Cameron 3D smurfs. No.

What’s got me in a tizzy is the fact that out of all the important things the media could bring up about depression and put on the front page of newspapers, what the media settled on was something that was relatively titillating and meaningless.

They could’ve focused on the very real problem of suicide and how depression eats away at so many people until they just don’t want to face life anymore.

They could’ve focused on families that watch as their loved one’s suffer needlessly from the ravages of a severe depression.

They could’ve focused on the fact that the rates of getting better for people that receive treatment are astoundingly good.

They could’ve really focused on a million things. But no. Instead, we get the short shrift of listening to babble about people that are sad because they don’t live on another planet in a movie.

Mind you, the follow up and ramifications of just what this “depression” really means to these people is never really addressed in any of these stories. Only that something so banal as being upset by a movie is occurring is “neato.”

Not that people that are depressed because of the movie aren’t truly suffering. They have every right to combat their own pain. But that is NOT why the media is covering this story. I’m sure there have been people that were depressed after that dog died at the end of Marley and Me, as there probably are with virtually every movie. Instead, this is part of a giant media strategy to sell a movie; namely, Avatar. And much worse, it’s done at the expense of the very serious issue of depression and suicide.

Look, if the Avatar-depression story had been part of a long line of stories, many of which addressed the more important issue of mood disorders, I would’ve been much less annoyed by the media this go round; but that’s not been the way it has gone at all.

Instead, the media has stuck to the script of shock and awe, letting things that are shocking, regardless of merit, rule the airwaves and the front pages.

But I say no! Depression is serious business. Suicide is not something to be taken lightly. The true pain that people in these times go through is not to be made light of, regardless of how titillating a factoid is.

I know these people have to sell newspapers and adspace, but our media can do better.

Let them know that it’s serious business to you too.

Hey there. This is Aime Lynn with Flipswitch’s Erasing Negative Thoughts. On each edition of Erasing Negative Thoughts, we identify one way of stinkin thinkin and show how it’s more often than not, either completely untrue or extremely exaggerated. It’s important to not fall prey to these outright false ways of thinking cause let me tell ya, they’re good friends with depression.

On this edition of Erasing Negative Thoughts, we’ll cover the distorted way of thinking known as “Minimization”.

No no no. We’re not talking about shooting a science laser at you and shrinking you to the size of a pea so that you’ll end up running away from a giant human foot and a spider trying to eat you...no, that’s miniaturization. This is something completely different.

It helps to think of minimization as denial-lite. It’s not full blown pretending that something doesn’t exist or isn’t happening, but it’s not quite admitting to the full magnitude either.

For example:

“Who cares if i took that guy’s headphones. His parents have money, he can buy a new set. “

“I only stayed up two nights in a row. That can’t have affected me THAT much.”

“I’m only smoking the pot every now and then. Once a day isn’t all that much. It can’t be why I’m broke and not doing well in school.”

These are a few examples of minimization. Roughly stated, minimization is when you attempt to minimize the effect of your behavior or of an event’s impact upon your psyche.

Why is that important? Basically, because it allows you to do whatever you want without taking responsibility for anything that goes wrong.

That guy whose headphones you took. Yes, his parents can buy him more, but that doesn’t change the fact that you harmed him, especially since he actually spent his own money on those headphones.

Yeah, it was only two days of staying awake, but I’m pretty sure you could often say it was only 2 days of staying awake, oh great knower of all that is sleep deprivation.

And let’s face it, you can smoke ALL the pot you want if you ignore how broke you are or how tired you are. In fact, isn’t that what you’ve been doing? How’s that working for you? Has the problem gone away?

The main ways we tend to minimize behavior is by blaming someone or something else for our circumstance, ie minimizing our own responsibility, or we justify and downplay the impact or our own behavior on others.

“I had to punch that guy. He had it coming to him getting in my face like that. He looked alright afterwards anyhow.” Virtually everything in that spiel is designed to escape responsibility.

“I had to punch that guy”....because I certainly have no control over my own body. I’m a robot controlled by gamma radiation. Baaaaaah!!!!

“He had it coming to him getting in my face like that.” ....I mean, I can’t really be to blame because that guy actually wanted me to hit him, just like I want some robot to hit me. Baaaah!

“He looked okay afterwards anyhow.” ...and I should know, I spent hours watching Grey’s Anatomy to learn the full extent of psychological and physical injuries. I can’t be to blame if the guy isn’t even really hurt. Which reminds me, I wonder why they haven’t called me to start my rotation after watching all of last season. Hmmmm.

The really frustrating thing about minimization is that it comes in so many subtle variations. In fact, often large parts of therapy are devoted to getting you not to minimize your responsibility in the outcome of your behavior.

So, always remember this one mantra to avoid minimization. “I’m responsible for my behavior. My behavior has consequences.”

Yelled at your boyfriend? “I’m responsible for my behavior. My behavior has consequences.” So YOU may really have hurt your boyfriend’s feelings, regardless of what he did and how tough he is.

Failed your math test? “I’m responsible for my behavior. My behavior has consequences.” Maybe playing Guitar Hero, 3 nights in a row instead of studying had