Month: April 2013

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Is Empathy a major cause of depression?

I’ve had a question in my mind recently:

Do sociopaths get depressed?

A Sociopath is someone who is someone lacking in empathy . They give the illusion of being emphatic  but their actions are self serving and rarely benefit others.

I know they get upset, anxious, worried and lose sleep over problems that will affect them, but do they actually get depressed? Do they even  feel down in the dumps?

So far, in my observations, I’d have to say I’ve not seen it. I could be wrong, of course, as I’ve not had the resources to do any meaningful study on the subject, but let’s assume I’m right for a moment.

The reason I pondered this question is because I’m wondering if one of the major cause of depression, (and cause of those who do self-harm), is empathy.

Are Empaths not only more prone to depression, but does depression mean that you may be an Empath?

Of course, I know enough to understand that this is a very simplistic premise, as depression can be caused by post-traumatic stress disorders, or uncleared shock and trauma, leading to clinical depression and everyone can have that happen in their life.

Still, there seems to be a common link between depression without obvious cause and being an Empath.

If someone is depressed, the first thing I wonder about them is are they one? In many cases, the answer is yes.

Still thinking it over.

 

If you know someone with depression, I’d love your feedback on the below poll.

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Healing Depression Series: Bach Flower Remedies (BFR) – Are they a placebo? part 1, or wait, this is just alcohol!

Are they a placebo? Part 1.

What I want to do with this entry is discuss if the Bach Flower Remedies are a placebo or not.

It is reasonable for people to be sceptical about the BFR’s and so they should be. I certainly was. When I first saw them around 1992, the claims they made about healing emotional conditions seemed a little too good to be true.

To my logical mind back then, I just couldn’t see how that was possible.

It is true that many claims are made about products that are false and misleading. There are a lot of scams out there. There are many unscrupulous people who use spiritual mumbo jumbo to sell their goods with the promise of healing on a miraculous level.

They are blatantly misleading and how they are allowed to advertise their products and get away with it is just beyond belief.

They hurt the products that are legitimate. It’s like looking for a diamond in a mountain of glass facsimiles. At first glance, it looks promising until you realize it’s just another fake.

I’ve come across my fair share of such scams, and I’m sure many others have, too.

The Bach Flowers seemed to fall under the same category, so it wasn’t until 1994 when I finally tried them.

A lady, who I was getting therapeutic massages from, explained that they did work. At the time, I was quite drawn to her, and hung  on her every word (in fact, this turned out to be a soul call, which is a call for help on a spiritual level) but I didn’t know that back then.

So, I bought a few, tried them, and found that worked so well that it was remarked that I was on happy pills.

What really sold me was that, around that time, I received some really bad news about a business investment I had made. As it involved a partner, it made it worse. I had made this decision right before I started trusting my intuition. (Which advised me against it, but I didn’t know enough at the time to listen.)

Normally, I would have not been able to sleep due to mulling over it and worrying about what I had to do, the reactions, and so on, but I decided to take Star of Bethlehem, which is the remedy for shock and trauma.

I immediately felt a peace settle over me, and the problem didn’t bother me again and it did eventually resolve itself, like most things do.

I started trying them on other people and found that the remedies would have a calming effect, especially on my mother, who could be highly strung.

I found that by putting same Rescue Remedy on her wrist, she calmed right now. My mind told me this shouldn’t be possible, but the results were certainly real.

Next: Are they a placebo – Part 2

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Healing Depression Series: Bach Flower Remedies or Flower Power.

Bach Flower Remedies – Introduction   

I hated being depressed. I hated it so much that I relentlessly pursued and tried everything that I could get my hands on. I tried herbs, psychic healers, meditation, therapies like Reiki and Kinesiology, crystals, aura-light, aura-soma, anti-depressants and just about anything else I could get access to. Each one I approached with optimism, and each one failed to produce the desired results.

There were times when I did have significant breakthroughs, and my depression lifted, and I had a new lease on life, but it returned a year or so later. Those breakthroughs, I should also hasten to mention were not connected with any therapies I was trying out at the time.

I had suffered from depression since I was around 13 years of age. Each year was a struggle, especially during Fall.

It wasn’t till I was 30 that I started using the Bach Flower Remedies. They are a simple, safe, non-addictive, non-toxic way to heal yourself on an emotional level.  For instance, if you have a fear of spiders, that is classed as a known fear and taking Mimulus will help or even stop the fear,  as that is the remedy for known fears.

I had ignored the remedies for a few years, thinking ‘yeah right!’ when I saw them at the health food shop. Then, one day, during a soul call, in which I was helping someone with a natural therapy business, I saw them being sold in their shop. I asked about them, and she explained what they did and how they worked.

I had a very strong pull to try, study and understand them. Over the course of several months, I bought books, all 38 remedies and committed to memory what all of them did, and what their names were.

Now, normally, my attention spam for trying something new ranges from two weeks to two years, and I will then just completely forget about whatever it is I’m trying.

The Bach Flower Remedies (BFR) were different through. Each time I used them, I felt a shift in my emotions. Learning about each remedy was exciting to me, and the positive results kept me going. Every time I suffered from depression, I would find the remedy I needed, and the depression would lift.

As the years went on, I started to understand them at a much deeper level, and realized that emotions are a tricky thing to identify. For instance, what might feel like fear and worry might actually be guilt.

Identifying what we are really feeling is vital to using the BFR’s with any degree of success.

I can state that I no longer suffer depression on the scale I once did. I still get feelings of anxiety, due to my empathy, but I am aware that’s not me, and I also know what I need to do to block it.

I do claim to know as much about the Bach Flowers as anyone in this world, and I also have made discoveries about them that had not been published before.

Hence, the majority of my discussion on healing depression will be BFR related and I will cover all aspects.

Depression can be healed. I truly believe and have experienced that.  Not just covered up, not just glossed over, but healed.

The next series of blogs will look at and discuss the BFR’s objectively.

 

Next: Are they a Placebo? 

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Healing Depression Series: You can cure depression or WTF! How dare you say that!

Depression can be cured.

Yes, I know that’s a bold statement to make and I also know it will make many people very angry that I even would suggest such a thing.

Actually, that anger has always bemused me. The general reaction is: how dare you suggest such a thing! You have not gone through what I have, and you can’t possibly know what it’s like to have gone through Hell and back.

And they are right. No one knows what it’s like to go through what they have gone through, unless they have gone through the same things themselves.

Empaths will feel it, but it’s not the same thing.

Those suffering from depression will know it on such a level that they resent that anyone might claim they understand and can help.

And really, I can turn it around and claim that those people have no clue what I’ve been though, and I’m pretty sure that I’m in the small minority of people who has had also relentless psychic attacks every day for years. I experienced that when I was young and lived with seemingly no hope or help.

But it’s what makes me, me. It’s what has brought me to this point in my life and qualifies me to talk about many subjects that I have personally experienced.

And while I can’t claim to have been through what everyone else has, and let’s face it, who has? It is a fact that depressions come down to certain types and certain categories.

For instance, traumatic childhood events will produce uncleared trauma, and lead to clinical depression if not dealt with. The cause will differ; the results will certainly be similar, though.

And I can claim to have experienced nearly every type of depression over the years. I can also claim that I was able to cure it and move past it.

When I was a teen, I could never accept that certain conditions were incurable. That nothing could be done to help. I could not accept that there wasn’t a solution, and so I, almost obsessively, researched and tried everything I could get my hands on.

Over the years, I must have tried most therapies at least once, and I came across some which were actually effective.

I also came across many that just didn’t do a thing for me. But I still tried them for long enough to see if they would work.

When I write about something, it’s from my own experience. These are the things that have worked for me, on a constant basis, and could be repeated in other people who were experiencing the same type of problems.

So, yes, there are people who will be incensed at my claims that I can help them.

This blog isn’t for them… at least not yet.

It’s for those who have had enough, and are willing to try things that they might not have looked at before.

Next: Healing Depression Series: Bach Flower Remedies – An Introduction.

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Empath series: My empathy goes to the dogs.

In January 2013, I had, what was to me, a rather intense experience.

My partner asked me if I wanted to go out to the movies with her. It was a midday session, and within walking distance.

I thought about it, and felt this overwhelming sense of anxiety. I couldn’t identify the cause, though.

It was odd. The anxiety felt strong regardless of if I went with her or if she went alone (which she was going to do), however I felt no sense of danger to her, and nor did she.

The evening felt better, but still not 100%.

I decided to take some Bach Flower Remedies. Aspen (for anxiety) and Cerato (for clarifying intuition) and a minute later, I realized I was picked up the anxiety from her dog.

He’s a Doberman Pincher, and was nearly 14 years old (I use Swedish Bitters to increase his longevity and prevent Hips Dysplasia) but he is generally highly strung as it is.

What I was sensing was the anxiety he was going to feel when my partner was away. I explained this to her, and we both gave him some quality time for around an hour. The anxiety dissipated after that.

If you are having an anxiety attack, and you can’t find the source, remember to check any pets to see if they are the ones that are sending.

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