I’m sure you’ve heard of the winter blues, or seasonal affective disorder, where people are unable to function due to lack of sunlight. In fact, it’s long been thought that there is an increase in the number of suicides in late autumn and early winter months due to this lack of sunlight and increased hours of darkness.

But now a new study by Swedish researchers indicates that, in some places in the world, too much sunlight can also be a catalyst for an increased number of people committing suicide.

The researchers studied the suicide rates of people living in Greenland,  a country that’s so far north it never sees the sun setting in the summer months. Looking at the suicides between 1968 and 2002, the researchers found that 82% of them occurred during the summer months. 

According to the researchers,  this increased summer suicide rate is probably due to the fact that prolonged daylight causes not only insomnia but also an imbalance in serotinin (the brain chemical linked to mood) both of which make some people more vulnerable to depression and suicide.

(source and image)

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to ‘dance like no one is watching’.

Turns out it’s not such a bad idea. Dancing, it seems, has many health benefits. Besides the obvious - it is exercise and therefore should help you keep fit - dancing is also good for lowering the risk of dementia, helping those with depression, and improving balance for those with Parkinsons.

So I’m going to make good my resolution and ‘dance like no one is watching’. And for inspiration, I’ll follow the lead of Matt Harding, better known for his video ‘Where the Hell is Matt?’. He doesn’t care whether anyone is watching or not. He just keeps on dancing his way around the world. And it looks like fun…

(source)

“I find myself regarding existence as though from beyond the tomb, from another world; all is strange to me; I am, as it were, outside my own body and individuality; I am depersonalized, detached, cut adrift. Is this madness?”
(Henri Frédéric Amiel, Swiss Philosopher, July 8, 1880)

It hit a few film festivals, pretty much bypassed the mainstream theaters, and is now being released on DVD, but if you get a chance, check out Matthew Perry’s latest movie, Numb.

It’s a semi-autobiographical  dark comedy about mental health and romance by writer-director Harris Goldberg, a Hollywood screenwriter suffering from acute Depersonalisation Disorder (DPD).

DPD is a psychological condition that causes sufferers to feel detached from reality which turns them into an outside observer of their own mental processes and body functions. In other words, they feel numb.

Here’s a reading list for anyone who wants to know more about depersonalisaiton disorder (DPD).

Yes, ladies, your man can (and probably does) fake it from time to time.

How do you like them apples?

Shocking, of course. Conventional wisdom says that it’s the ladies who excel at Oscar-worthy fake orgasmic performances, while the boys are genuinely pleasured every time.

But not so, says this article. In fact, due to increased usage in anti-depressants, and other life’s stresses, reaching the Big O can occasionally be elusive for menfolk as well.

The cure? Same things as for the ladies:

1) Have sex only when you want to. Forcing yourself to have sex when you’re not in the mood can make you feel indignant and resentful. It’s not doing your partner any good either, since that feeling of closeness won’t be there if you’re mentally pulling away.

2) Relax. Stressing about erupting your sexual volcano only makes matters worse and the end result harder to achieve. Be in the moment, be present, and pay attention to how great what your partner is doing to you feels.

3) Don’t fake. Hey, sometimes it just ain’t gonna happen. So what? Heavens knows your partner will be good and ready to give you another shot. However, if there’s something in particular that’s keeping you from scaling Mount O, be brave enough to bring it up with your partner. He or she will definitely want to hear what you have to say. Indeed.

Hope this serves in reassuring you that we peeps are just humans. Humans who sometimes reach orgasm, and humans who sometimes don’t. C’est la vie, right? Be we can at least have fun trying.

Enjoy!

Smile though your heart is aching
Smile even though its breaking
When there are clouds in the sky, you’ll get by
If you smile through your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
Youll see the sun come shining through for you

Smile by Nat King Cole

A beautiful song but prehaps not the best thing for your health according to German professor Professor Dieter Zapf. He conducted a two year study with 4,000 volunteers who were subjected to daily abuse in a fake call centre. Half of them were allowed to answer back and the other half had to ‘grin and bear it.’

Turns out that those who could answer back experienced a short sharp surge in their heart rate while those who had to ‘grin and bear it’ experienced prolonged high heart rates and other stress like symptoms. Prof Zapf says that “Every time a person is forced to repress his true feelings there are negative consequences. We are all able to rein in our emotions, but it becomes difficult to do this over a protracted period.”

Professor Zapf is not, by the way, the first person to look at the health risks of ‘professional smilers’, those people (flight attendents, shop workers) who are required to constantly smile, regardless of the situation. 

Makoto Natsume, a leading psychiatrist at Osaka University, has also been studying the effects of the perpetual smile that thousands of Japanese women are required to practice as part of their job description. He found that “Real emotions are being dangerously suppressed by the “smile masks” that women wear all day at work and the psychological effects he sees among patients are devastating. Depression, mental illness and other disorders are spreading fast, he cautions, and smile-mask syndrome could soon become a serious national health issue.”

So what are these smiley faced people meant to do ?

Professor Zapf suggests that they need to take regular smile breaks during which time they can be as glum as they like.

Personally, as someone who often has to put on a professional smiley face, I’d suggest that laughter would be a better answer….

In case you missed it, the other day, we at Healthbolt heard from Tris Hussey, a b5 pal and long-time depression sufferer. Tris’s interview was surely enlightening and hopefully encouraging, but in addition to his story, there are many, many other ways to explore depression and mental health in general.

Thus, in honor of Mental Health Awareness month, the entire b5media Health & Wellness channel rallied together to bring you the best explorations of mental health we could. The awesome Alicia at Mental Health Notes was our gracious host for this month’s theme day, and compiled all of our post links together in a one-stop-shop sort of manner for you.

Take a look through the links to learn what our amazing and insightful bloggers have to say and leave your own comments and ideas as well. Thanks so much for joining us in this special recognition. We hope you find the information very beneficial.

Tomorrow is theme day once again here at the b5media Health & Wellness channel and this month is all about depression. Not a sunny topic, I know, but one that is vitally important and has most likely touched each and every one of us in some way or another.

Thus, I am so honored to have been able to interview Tristram Hussey, our very own blogger training extraordinaire. Tris has been suffering with depression for many years and has some incredibly valuable insight to share regarding diagnosis, treatment, triggers and more. Tris’s hope is that if this interview helps even one person see a doctor for treatment, we have accomplished something great. Indeed, Tris.

And now, the interview:

1. Depression is often considered a quiet disease or one that many folks live with for quite some time without treatment. Have you found that to be the case with you, and if so, how did you finally decide to seek treatment?

Personally I lived with depression from when I was in my teens until my mid-30s, yes a very, very long time. I figured I could handle it. I knew that I suffered from more than just the blues, but I also didn’t want to take medication. I was afraid that the medications would mess around with the one thing I treasured–my mind. What I didn’t know was that the medications just help my brain work better.

Why did I finally get help? Frankly I hit rock bottom. My marriage was falling apart and my professional life was not going well. Finally I went to my doctor. The best decision of my life, it probably saved my life.

2. Why do you believe people wait so long to seek treatment?

There are lots of reasons, especially for men, the biggest I think is the stigma of being “mentally ill”. Men also don’t want to feel like being less of a man or that they “can’t handle it” themselves.

Even though many, many men and women suffer from and are treated for depression, the stigma is still there. This is one reason that I talk openly about it. I suffer from depression, I take medication, and I’m okay.

2. Do you believe depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain or by circumstances? Or both?

For me, the cause is chemical, but the triggers are circumstances. You can have “situational depression” and still need help to get out of it. So, it is both. And, for me, the chemical reasons make it easier to grapple with.

3. Once you’ve received treatment for depression, are you “cured” or is recovery an ongoing process?

I don’t know about being cured. Maybe for people who have something related to a specific event, but for me, it’s going to be the rest of my life. Will I be able to reduce my medication in the future? Maybe. That is something that I work with my doctor on. Working with your doctor is critical to success.

4. What are some triggers you’ve experienced?

Read Tris’s answer to this question and the remainder of the interview after the fold…
Read more