For those who want to stay up to date with new health studies, especially those regarding depression and anxiety, you may want to sign up to receive Johns Hopkins Health Alerts, which are free, mostly targeted to people over 50. (I feel like I'm 90, so I like to read them). For more information on them, click here.
The following information came in one of these Johns Hopkins Health Alerts that I get. I've read in several places that religion can combat various depressive symptoms, but I'm still encouraged to read specific studies explaining the connection. It's just one more thing that gives me hope.
For patients with phobias or panic disorder, strong religious belief may help to quell symptoms.The treatment of panic disorder often involves both psychotherapy and medication. Now a study reported in the journal Depression and Anxiety (Volume 23, page 266) shows that people with panic disorder who perceive themselves as being religious are more likely to experience improvements in their panic symptoms than people who rank religion or spirituality as unimportant to them.
The study enrolled 56 people with panic disorder and had them participate in group cognitive-behavioral therapy sessions for a year, during which they reviewed their panic symptoms, learned relaxation techniques, and discussed dysfunctional thinking patterns that contributed to their panic attacks. Some of the patients were also taking anti-anxiety medications.
The investigators assessed the participants ratings of the importance of religion, perceived stress, self-esteem, sense of control over ones life (mastery), and social isolation at the start of the study, at six months, and at 12 months.
Placing a high value on religion was more important in predicting improvements in panic symptoms than age, gender, lifetime presence of moderate mania symptoms, self-esteem, mastery, and feeling socially isolated. Those who rated religion as very important had fewer anxiety, panic, and phobia symptoms and less perceived stress than other participants.Previous research suggests that engaging in organized religious activities leads to many health benefits, such as reduced reliance on alcohol. The social aspect of attending religious functions now also appears to help quell panic and anxiety.
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Dear Babs,
Like Larry nd my sEF forum partner, your response has been overwhelmingly supportive and gracious and I thank you for that. Perhaps G-d IS using Beyond blueto give me the sign I so desperately need that I AM one of His in spite of my shortcomings. I was discussing this with my caregiver'friend earlier today, and she opined that it was just "the adversary" attempting to pull me away from God through these doubts. whatever, the reality is, I feel so bouyed up by the responses I have gotten that my stay in the "snake pit" seems not to be holding me for as long as it frequently does. My doc also upped my antidepressant dosage today to see if perhaps that will also help and I contacted my therapist leaving a message for her to please call me to set up an "emergency(read"unschedled") session. although M"" is not a particularly spiritual individual, she does know me pretty well and is very quick to catch me falling into old behavior patterns in which I devalue myself and my feelings; she's good at what she does and specializes in the psychological rehabilitation of stroke survivors such as myself. i'm hoping that once all these pieces fall into place I'll have a fresher perspective on the situation and need less assurance, but the B.B. responses I've received have been literally life-saving. I haven't been suicidal or anuthing, but I HAVE been the most deeply depressed as i've been in probably a year or so. Doesn't help that I've caught a "winter chest cold", one of the prices we midwesterners pay for our lovely sptings and summers. I'm always more despondent when I'm feeling physically less than well; the two seem to "feed" off one another, creating a vicious cycle. (I don't feel well, so I'm more depressed and sleep less well, which makes me feel even worse physically and so oN and so on.) It's also the time of the month when my finances become more strained as I receive both my disability and retirement incomes around the twenty-fifth of each month and it's a l-o-n-g stretch between checks. when I reach the middle of the month I'm generally checking my accounts daily to try to avoid overdrafts and the resulting fees. It was hard enough for me to manage my $ back when I was working and getting paid bimonthly; this once-a month stuff is even WORSE. So,looking more objectively, I'm beginning to ssee that there are several factors feeding my current miasma, and the outpouring of caring has been extremely edifying, especially when I take into consideration that each of you has your own issues to deal with and are allowing my well beingto occupy some of your time and thoughts.
I found your point about the intimacy of our relationship with God as compared to our spouses to be quite thought-provoking; I was never any good at negative emotions in my marriage, either (got hurt instead of angry when anger was warranted) thank you, Babs for reaching out to me and caring about the place i'm finding myself in. this kind of introspection is probably healthy for me in the long run, so all is not in vain! It at lesst leaves me feeling more positive about staying with the rest of you here on B.B.
blessings and hugs,
Margaret
Dear Margaret,
I live in Virginia, but grew up in Chicago and lived there until I was 34. My husband's family is from here and one of the draws for me to make a move was that the weather is so much better than Chicago's. The grey, the slush, the grey, the cold, the grey...I know you get the idea. I am certain that people up north have it harder in many ways than those of us who live further south. The cost of heating this winter has been huge for me and I keep the temperature set at about 63 degrees.
Babs: Chicago is directly across "the" lake from my Michigan residence, so you know EXACTLY what I'm talking about in terms of weather and how it has an effect on absolutely everything in our lives. I don't know if I could enjoy living further south, as I truly enjoy te changing of the seasons we "Yanks" experience; especially spring when the rebirth of all that appeared to be dead becomes an almost spiritual experience for me. Heating costs are indeed a negative, but I reap such hope from the advent of spring here that I guess I think it's a fair trade. (I live in the "Fruit Belt," so the fruit trees all break into blossom as well as the crocus, daffodils, dogwoods and everything else. It is truly a wondrous thing to behold/smell/touch etc. One of my favorites of OHenry's short stories is "The Last Leaf" partly because I can relate to that clinging of the spirit to reawakening asnd partly because I think it exemplifies the power of the spirit over the body.
Margaret,
I know the region you live in and it is beautiful. Add the mountains to your description, and that describes my area of Virginia, the Shenandoah Valley. We don't have the same variety of fruits that grow in your area of Michigan, but just a skip from where I live are acres and acres of apple orchards. We still have the change of seasons that you experience, but the extreme cold doesn't often strike here, and snow doesn't stay on the ground for months. We also have a real spring that lasts for weeks, and a real fall that lasts for a good long time. Since we've been here the last twenty some years, there have been years with a bunch of snow, and years when there isn't any. I loved Chicago, and still do, but I don't miss the bitter winds coming off the lake, the gutters bursting with ice, the leaks caused by ice build up, and the unremitting gray skies. We haven't had much snow the last few years, and I do miss watching the snow fall, but I don't miss battling it week after week, like I did back home.
I now know where you live, and from another posting that you are a red-head. It is good to put you in some sort of context as we write back and forth.
Babs,
i've driven through the Blue Risge Mountains and it is also a beautiful spot. Knowing that you have the season of rebirth makes me think maybe I COULD live that far south. Every detail about midwestern winter travails is one I have experienced, and my post-stroke less-than-steady equilibrium makes it even more difficult to walk outside during winter; those lake winds you described have more than once actually blown me off my feet! I don't think relocation is anywhere in my mear future as I have a fairly-well established support system here which I've come to depend on. i've also been doing some one-on-one tutoring (they come to me) in the past two years with children who are experiencing academic difficulty. It allows me to feel like I'm still contributing and keeps me out of bed some afternoons. All three of my sisters and my son live within an hour and a half of me, so I'd have to give that up as well. Regardless, your part of the country holds some appeal, so who knows what the future holds, especially after my son has married and moved to the chicago area where his fiance is from and a job awaits her once her occupational therapist's licensing is completed?
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