The Truth About Mental Health by Paula Sweet at Absolute Mind

OK don't shoot the messenger just yet. I'm about to tell you depression may not actually be real.

Let me add some more clarity to this seemingly ridiculous statement. Being depressed is real and is detrimental to anyone. But, having depression isn't real. This paradigm is also really helpful if you are dealing with times of depression.

From a Psychological point of view have a think about the difference between, feeling depressed and having depression? If you have depression it somehow seems more fixed and something that you own, but being depressed has an element of temporary to it. You can be too cold, you can be too hot and we all know that its not a permanent thing.

If you are have depression, how do you not have it? We are wired to understand how to gain and lose things. If we want to not have something, how do we rid ourselves of it? We have to sell it, lose it, transfer the rights to it and so on. And I bet my bottom dollar you'd struggle to find a buyer for your depression!

So, the first and most important step of depression is the right label. From now on you don't have depression, you simply feel depressed. And you most definitely don't label it as yours. Its not your depression, you just feel depressed.

Exercise: The thought of getting up and exercising when you're feeling depressed and down seems like a bridge too far. But the science is simple and there is no conflicting studies that show exercise to be detrimental. It's a clear winner, exercising and moving your body dramatically changes the way you feel. Is not some mystical magical way that it just makes you feel better, chemically you change wherever you exercise, sweat, endorphins, movement, motion and exertion all allow your body to chemically change for the better. After all this is what we're trying to do when taking antidepressant type drugs. Were looking to alter a chemical in balance. The thing is, your body is a factory which creates chemicals but sometimes that factory to shake up, and exercise is exactly what needs to be done.

Don't panic and think you need to start running marathons every week, because that certainly won't help. But walking 2 to 3 times a day if you normally sedentary, and like exercise to 3 times a week we move your entire body workup a sweat have your heart• rate pumping and push muscles to create that chemical shift.

Spend a few moments to do research on how exercising your body will dramatically change the way you feel and also the way you look.

Contrast showers! I case you're feeling down and feeling depressed sometimes all we need is a warm blanket, a warm cuddle and somewhere cosy to sit. But the science tells us opposite. Contrast showers are a method whereby you have a warm shower as normal, and then you'll switch that warm water to cold, cool your body down for a minute or two, and just when you become used to it increased tempter back to warm again for a few minutes and then back down cold.

This seems like absolute torture and this doesn't work because comparatively is the worst thing that ever happened to you so whatever you are depressed about seems insignificant, it works in the same way as exercise. Cold bursts have the ability to optimise our hormones and chemicals very quickly. It also changes fat composition and allows body to burn more fat as fuel and increase our metabolism.

Pop over to Dr Google lol and have a hunt around about the benefits of contract showers and you may be surprised to find that the things you feel you don't want actually could help you in so many ways.

Diet and water! There's a pattern emerging here I keep talking about hormones, and chemicals. And the fact that your body is a factory that can create those hormones and chemicals to balance the environment that its in. Means that you need to provide it with all of the tools and materials it needs to do the job in hand.

Foods that are inflammatory, foods that cause insulin spikes, foods that dramatically change moods are certainly not something that we beneficial if you're feeling depressed. But isn't it strange that we seem to dive for those foods whenever we do feel low the foods that make us feel the worst tend to have the strongest impact on the chemical imbalance within our body, they can dramatically spike our emotions and feelings albeit temporarily which is why we strive for them whenever we are feeling low and depressed.

Again, it's all about breaking the cycle, providing your body with all the foods nutrients and vitamins that it needs from wholefood sources is a proven scientific way to help begin the battle the feelings of depression.

Water, your body is pretty much made of the stuff, the grey matter that we talk about is nearly all water. So which thing happens when the dehydrated? Studies have shown that even dehydration can dramatically affect the way we function cognitively. Need to make sure that you get in the right amount of water every single day if you do feel depressed and low. Let's face it, water is around us and its abundant. We're pretty much made of the stuff, and without it we would perish. However most of us don't realise the effects that simply drinking not enough has.

The sunshine vitamin D3 the body needs vitamin D3 in order to function. We pretty much only get the desired amounts of vitamin D3 when we have some exposure and light exposure directly onto our skin. Vitamin D3 is actually a hormone, it's made when the sun hits the skin and that's converted to vitamin D3 which body needs so many functions especially cognitive functions and growth. Vitamin D3 is also responsible for a number of hormonal interactions and therefore, if you're staying indoors because you're feeling low, there is a chance you're feeling low because you're staying indoors. Thankfully, supplementation of vitamin D3 has become very simple due to the studies and growth in knowledge and understanding about D3 over the past 10 or so years. During the winter months I personally take 2500 IU per day, and then during the summer months I'd make sure I get plenty of sun and plenty of daylight on my skin on my body. It's by no coincidence that we do feel better while we are on holiday basking in the sun. Have a chat to your doctor about supplementation with vitamin D3, the effects can be noticed very quickly and it said that in cooler countries, D3 supplementation is essential.

Have you ever had a gut feeling? so, if you know about depression and being depressed, your problem of heard the word serotonin. Serotonin is known as the happy hormone. And as this post seems to be largely about hormones and chemicals in the brain where do you think serotonin lives largely within the body? What actually I've got a gut feeling you don't know the answer to this. Serotonin largely resides and is made within the gut. That's right, not the brain, your happy hormone is made within your digestive tract. Now they can see the importance of consuming the right water and foods moving your body because we know that movement helps the digestive tract too. So if your gut is healthy and happy you are a great path to ensuring that depression is a thing of the past for you!

This is episode number 119 of the absolute my podcast and this podcast is all about meditation and mindfulness. And how spending some time on these will actually give you more time back.

There are so many reasons why meditation on mindfulness should be incorporated into your daily life. Not only will the time invested be repaid back in many more ways, but you also begin to feel differently to.

There are so me celebrities, and people within the public eye who initially didn't think that mindfulness or meditation would be for them. But once they tried it, they realised that not only is it simple to adopt, but it's not a case of whether it's for you or not, mindfulness meditation has a place in everybody's life, and it's absolutely worth adopting into yours.

In this episode I give two examples of mindfulness meditation is for you to begin to adopt into your daily routine. The first one is just over a minute long so you really do have no excuses. lol

The second is a bit longer, however it's a nice simple process to you to begin to follow and please don't get hung up on any of the details. All that matters here is that you are spending time thinking about a limited thought process and relaxing at the same time.

Please do keep us posted how you're getting on, would love to hear all your feedback at @absoluteminduk on Facebook.

Remember, if you are serious about weight loss and would like to find out if hypnosis could be for you, check out the podcast offer at http://www.absolutemind.co.uk/offer for over 90% off a 10 session hypnosis weight loss package.

Hypnosis for fertility. Really?

Naturally, as a hypnotherapist, I really regard hypnosis as a serious treatment for infertility in many cases.

Some would go as far as saying hypnosis can complete cure infertility regardless of the reason. For me personally, I find that too much of a stretch to contemplate at the moment.

The first question I get asked, is how can hypnosis really help improve fertility?

The first angle to this is simple. Extreme stress and anxiety makes it very difficult to fall pregnant. Let's face it, the body is clever enough to realise that if it's busy fighting extreme stresses and anxious situations that it's probably best that a new life is brought into that. So simply put hypnosis is amazing at producing relaxation and calming the central nervous system, this in turn reduces anxiety and overall levels of stress. This gets rid of one of the reasons people struggle to fall pregnant, stress.

Probably one of the most embarrassing times in any man's life. Suffering with erectile dysfunction is no laughing matter, however, it does seem to be a problem that most men will face at some point during their lifetime.

Suffering with erectile dysfunction is more than just a physical issue, it massively mental effects the person too. And if the man who is suffering is a relationship, then it will definitely have a detrimental effect on the other person also, we can't help ourselves, and it would only be natural for the partner to begin to blame themselves too.

There are quite a few things that you need to know about erectile dysfunction. First and foremost, erectile dysfunction is largely based psychosomatic condition. Thus dealing with the temporary psychological parts as well as attending to the physical connection is absolutely imperative.

Nailbiting is one of those habits that can affect your life in so many areas. If you're sat at home watching TV biting your nails on your own then fill your boots and chomp away. After all, the only real side-effect there is grotty picked looking nails and sore nail beds.

But, for those people who bite their nails while they're out on dates, during meetings at work, standing in line in the shopping centre, nail-biting can become a real big problem.

This isn't necessarily factually correct, but I bet most people have bitten their nails at some point in their life, is quite a functional thing to do, a quick chomp on and it and we can have that extra long nail back down to size in no time at all. But when you bite your nails every single day, and they sore and you are aware that your fingers are always in your mouth then this seemingly small habit needs to change.

The world loves coffee. It's amazing how popular coffee has become. Coffee is the most popular drink worldwide and around two billion cups are drunk every day.

Are you a coffee addict? Is it time you feel like you again but without the help of coffee. Do you even remember when you were last caffeine free for a 2/3 weeks or more?

Caffeine withdrawal symptoms are real and the process can be very challenging. This hypnosis audio can be a companion on your journey to be caffeine free.

Using caffeine just to operate your day to day is a sure sign that things need to change. Once rid of caffeine, assuming you're medically and clinically fine. You will begin to feel more energised and vibrant.

Resetting your internal chemicals and hormones is not a simple task, but it's very worthwhile once you come out of the other side.

Welcome to podcast 114 covering insomnia and sleep problems. Did you know that a lack of sleep can cause many problems not only to your mental state but to your physical health too? Insomnia is one of the biggest issues we deal with in our practice with 1-2-1 sessions and we have helped many clients overcome this issue with techniques you can do easily yourself allowing you to gain control over your sleep patterns.

AMAZING OFFER CHECK OUT THE SLEEP PLAN www.absolutemind.co.uk/sleep

With easy techniques and hypnosis, you can begin to sleep better and feel refreshed every morning ready to take on the world head on!

The podcast cover a hypnosis session as always but to allow us to offer you some real value we have also compiled a package for you to purchase which gives you 2 x hypnosis session both with binaural background tracks, 2 x mindfulness tracks, a 10 step actionable plan for the best possible chance of a great nights sleep.

You can see this sleep plan here www.absolutemind.co.uk/sleep

As you all know were over 110 shows and downloaded all over the world, which is amazing. But we know we're aren't offering the value we want to be. Hypnosis can only be so effective in isolation, and over the years me and Paula have accumulated 1000's of hours or 1-2-1 therapy sessions and now is the time for us to offer you more value.

This session also has a relaxation audio which starts at 11.00 minutes into the audio.

Keep posted for the new offers and the new podcast all upcoming.

Remember, Do not listen to this podcast anytime you're driving, operating machinery or any other time you need to remain fully alert and awake.

Today's podcast has been requested and it is all about being more mindful avoiding wasted time on mobile phones and social media. I have included a mindful meditation session at the end. This is based upon a process called Halalau and is a Hawaiian practice.

• What is Mindfulness
• Dealing with Weapons of mass distraction
• Understanding
• Changing mindset towards taking time out
• Meditation

Many thanks for downloading today's podcast, if you would like to suggest or recommend a topic then please feel free to contact me through this website, twitter or Facebook the links to the pages are at the top and bottom of this webpage.

Today's podcast has been requested and it is all about stress. How we can deal with it, what its really is and why does it cause so many issues.

• What is stress
• Dealing with stress
• Understanding
• Changing mindset towards stress
• Hypnosis

Many thanks for downloading today's podcast, if you would like to suggest or recommend a topic then please feel free to contact me through this website, twitter or Facebook the links to the pages are at the top and bottom of this webpage.