Depression In Covid Times: 'Take the Test'

+ The 12 Best Natural Solutions to Heal Yourself

The WISDOM podcast  Season 2  Episode 50

with Dorothy Ratusny

 

TIMESTAMPS:

Sadness Has A Place:  1:03 | There is Purpose to Sadness:  2:32 | Release What Sadness has Enveloped You:  3:08 | This Interactive Journey:  5:16 |  Podcast Branded Intro:   7:57 |  What Depression Is:  11:58  | The Crisis of Covid:  3:46  |  To Thrive:  16:06 |  The List of 12 Natural Solutions:  18:59  |  Your Depression Free Checklist PDF:  19:16  |  The First Solution: Meditation/Mindfulness/Prayer  20:06  |  The Second Solution: Go Outdoors  22:43  |  The Third Solution: Be Proactive  26:01  |  The Fourth Solution: Use Positive Supports  27:16  | The Fifth Solution: Gratitude  29:28  |  The Sixth Solution: Exercise  31:48  | The Seventh Solution: Healthy Eating  34:48  | The Eighth Solution: Sleep  35:42  | The Ninth Solution: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)  37:41  | The Tenth Solution: Acceptance  38:56  | The Eleventh Solution: Be of Service and Help  40:13 | The Twelfth Solution: Be Love  42:52 | + Thirteenth BONUS Solution: A Daily Schedule  43:52 | Closing Notes:  46:18  | Podcast Outro:  47:53

 

Here we are. At the time of release of this episode, it is almost one year to the day that the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed the coronavirus as pandemic.

We are discussing a topic this is long overdue, that you may have already been experiencing; that we all need to shed more light upon so that you and others who are suffering in sadness and with depression can heal yourself.

This information is not intended to replace your proactive work and the medical attention that I would encourage you to seek, particularly if you experience any or all of the symptoms that I will describe shortly.

Something that we don’t speak enough about; sadness has a place in your life; not forever, not as a condition that you must live in each day; but as a reminder that you have the infinite propensity to feel; to feel for another living being, to feel the suffering and grief of another, of yourself; and for real and just reasons.

To release what sadness has enveloped you, you must first be willing to let it in; to acknowledge it; to say ‘I feel this.’ ‘I feel sad.’ To acknowledge sadness is to then have the power to do something more with it; and to release the burden of needing to keep what you feel away or hidden; to disavow how you feel, or to feel lost or submerged in its abyss.

 

In this interactive journey into what depression is and how you can best help yourself, let me also present another theory: prolonged sadness and depression is also the result of a lack of love.

 

“If love was once conditional or absent, you can still feel loved.” - dorothy ratusny

 

It now must be because of you. You must now learn to love yourself – for yourself (and to also integrate healthy self-care and self-love back into your life).

 

We’ll talk more about this as I go through this list The 12 + 1 BONUS Best Solutions for Healing Depression - Naturally.

 

Beyond what you will integrate of this list into your life (hopefully most or all of it), I also highly recommend that you find a caring and loving therapist that can provide helpful guidance and support as you discover what it means to acknowledge your feelings and then to be willing to release them as you decide instead what you need to feel; and to be willing to do this for yourself.

 

We’re going to begin your self-assessment with the 'big list'; the official diagnostic and statistical manual (or DSM-5) and the criteria that your physician or psychiatrist would use to make an official diagnosis.  

We begin here because this information is the Holy Grail for what constitutes a major depressive disorder (MDD) and it is also completely available in the public realm.  It is important that you have the accurate means to self-assess.  

Please join me for this valuable dive into what it means to heal yourself from d