One of the best things a depressed person can do is step out the front door. Natural light is very beneficial, especially early in the day. Exercise has proven benefits. Something as simple as taking a walk or gardening can lift your mood.

I wrote about ecotherapy a few years ago, following a major report by Mind UK. According to the report there are four main reasons why “green exercise” is beneficial for mental health:

• Natural and social connections: watching wildlife, evoking good memories, spiritual feelings
• Sensory stimulation: colors and sounds, fresh air, enjoyment, escape from pollution, contrasts with urban life, being exposed to the weather
• Activity: using manual skills, physically challenging activities such as digging or cycling
• Escape from modern life: time to think and reflect, clear the head, get away from pressures and stress.

Visit Mind UK to read or download the full report: Ecotherapy – the Green Agenda for Mental Health.

During the week the excellent Mind Hacks blog pointed to an article in ScienceLine on the same topic. The article reviews the state of play in ecopsychology, and research into ecotherapy. While it’s not as gung-ho as the Mind UK report it still makes a pretty good read.

My key takeaway from the article was not about the science of ecotherapy, but that a whole genre of therapy has flown right under my radar. Wilderness therapy, adventure therapy, outdoor behavioral healthcare and extreme ecotherapy^TM. (Actually this last one is mine).

By the way, I’m a die-hard fan of Man vs Wild. It’s my only weekly TV commitment and watching it equips me with good survival skills. In my mind adventure, wilderness and therapy are made for each other. Even without a mid-life crisis this is something I can embrace. Later.

During the week author and friend Graeme Cowan added a post on his site, also on exercise and mental health. It lists a dozen websites that help with motivation and cater to different life scenarios. Graeme also referred me to Spark People a while back. I can’t stand their website (sorry Spark People), but I get their daily exercise tips by email and find them very helpful. They are always small, simple exercises that can integrate easily into a normal daily routine. Exactly where I’m at right now.

There is one other web service that I’m using called HassleMe. I receive 2 emails that I worded myself, at irregular intervals. The first one tells me that I have lousy posture – which makes me instantly sit up straight. The other tells me to take just one step outside. (The second step is always easier.)

Do you use online reminders or social websites to help motivate you? I’m interested to hear which ones help, so please share your experiences below.

The Black Dog Institute has just run an art competition with the theme “Snapping the Black Dog: A Photographic Competition about Hope and Resilience in the Fight against Depression”.

There are 30 in the gallery of winning and highly commended works. The pic above is my favorite. It may not have the most artistic merit – I wouldn’t know – but it says something to me personally.

This woman seems comfortable with herself; at ease with being different. Being outside in the sun, relaxing, taking a photo of a pelican is healthy and hopeful. It’s as though she’s recovering.

Visit the full Black Dog Institute gallery.

The RSA videos are very engaging, especially a group under the banner of RSA Animate. Instead of watching a person for 10 minutes, you are drawn into the content through a cartoon developed in parallel with the talk.

The one below is a presentation by Barbara Ehrenreich, author of “Nickel and Dimed”. It’s about unrealistic positivity (“keeping up appearances” in my parlance).

Much of the video is about the corporate workplace, where expressing pessimism can be a death knell. I know this from personal experience. My corporate career swung up and down in line with my moods. A long spell of unbridled, hypomanic optimism saw me climb the ladder with frightening speed. When the crash came I was immediately out of step with corporate culture and my shelf life was curtailed. Then new job, rinse and repeat.

To my way of thinking, reciting affirmations is a close cousin to unrealistic, unquestioning optimism. Barbara Ehrenreich touches on this in the video. I’ve tried affirmations many times, and given up just as many. Do affirmations change your world?

Depressed folk like me gravitate to the self-help section of Amazon. There is no shortage of advice on the power of positivity. As much as I wish I was a magnet for happiness, my life is more complicated and just thinking it so won’t make it so. That is why this video resonates with me.

If you can’t see the player then watch the video on YouTube. To watch more of the RSA Animate videos visit the RSA blog.

Books that are written for depressed people are everywhere. Books that are written for their caregivers are hard to find. There is often a chapter for caregivers at the end of a book, but the advice can be superficial for lack of space.

“Back From the Brink Too” is devoted entirely to caregivers. It’s an excellent resource, and being a caregiver myself, I devoured it in a couple of sittings. Lovely.

The book’s author, Graeme Cowan, suffered severe depression over an extended period. As he recovered he was inspired by other people’s stories of their own recoveries. This was the basis of his first book “Back From the Brink”.

“Back From the Brink Too” is another collection plus more, this time focused on the needs of caregivers. It is down-to-earth and practical; a genuine “how-to” volume for helping a loved one with depression and working through the issues faced as a caregiver.

Graeme interviewed 550 people: 300 with depression and 250 caregivers. It is fair to say the book is well grounded in people’s experiences. He quotes from them extensively. One memorable example is “I wished I understood that he was mentally ill and not a bastard”. Very applicable stuff!

The interviews are complemented with plenty of current research.

A good chunk of the book covers a 7-step “plan”:

• Building Knowledge
• Learning to listen
• Finding the right help
• Providing the best support
• Finding help for you
• Taking care of yourself
• Surviving a crisis

I found all of the sections to be helpful, but especially the 3rd. It is basically a guide for navigating the health system, where to look for help, what to say to health professionals, how to make the most of medical appointments, and finding help for a child or adolescent. Very handy if you don’t have much experience with this. It is written around the Australian health system but most if not all would apply anywhere.

I would have liked more emphasis on helping someone to remain well after recovery or to be resilient in the early stages of illness. Perhaps there will be a “Back to the Brink 3″ with more on this. But the book is great and I highly recommend it.

N.B. This is an Australian book and not available on Amazon (yet), however there is a paid download. For more information and other resources visit Graeme Cowan’s website.

Reviewed by Anna.

Therese Borchard has written a great little book. Not only is it small in size (it fits into my handbag, which is saying something) but it is easy to read in small chunks. It’s a collection of 144 tools and techniques she has learned over many years of suffering with bipolar disorder and other illnesses.

I loved the book, and found it funny, profound and useful.

Number 47 is one of many that resonated: “Process heat and suffering like a coffee bean”. Therese tells the story of a chef who was listening to his daughter vent about life being hard. He boiled three pots of water: one with a carrot in it, one an egg and one a coffee bean.

He then said to his daughter, “When you confront adversity, which one will you be? The carrot that starts out strong but wilts under pressure? The egg that becomes callous and bitter? Or the coffee bean, which makes something useful, tasty, even beautiful from the boiling water?”

Just great.

Here’s my problem: who do I recommend it to? If you are having a mental health crisis, then this book won’t solve it. You need professional help. If you are recovering from an episode of mental illness, then it will resonate and you should find it helpful. If you are a caregiver, then it will give you lots of ideas.

I’ve been using the tools in parenting. Not that I tell my children that, but I’ve found myself trying out some of the techniques on them and they are working. ; )

I’m sure it’s not what Therese had in mind.

View the book on Amazon (not an affiliate link).

Reviewed by Anna.

Here is the synopsis:

Buddy has depression. It’s not debilitating, but serious enough that he has no joy in life. He’s not so much a black dog; more a brown dog if you like.

Buddy has read some books that have helped him with his depression, but the one called “Taming the Black Dog” falls on him, compounding his woes.

He gets on his computer and uses the Optimism software. (Ahem, where are the screen images?) The app helps and he’s feeling more positive about overcoming depression. For some reason he is now reading Napolean Hill – what’s that about, Buddy? – and climbs into his box with a little more hope than before.

“

CureTogether is a community based health site, where members share their health concerns, symptoms and treatments. It has grown very quickly over the last couple of years, and the “crowd-sourcing” of health data is really starting to bear fruit. Kudos to Cure Together!

In compiling the chart, anonymous information was collected from 944 people in their Depression community.

Perhaps not surprisingly, exercise is rated as both the most popular and effective treatment. For us depressed folk, it is also one of the hardest to start and continue with. Especially when we need it most. Maintaining good sleep habits was also found to be popular and effective. Again one of the first things to depart with the arrival of depression.

I think it’s odd that people consider caffeine to be a treatment, even if a less helpful one. Odd, because in large quantities caffeine acts as a depressant; it releases stress hormones like adrenalin. I’m acutely aware of this. My addiction to strong, freshly roasted Australian coffee is incompatible with bipolar, at both ends of the spectrum.

Cure Together also released an ebook a week ago, called “The CureTogether Guide to Depression” and subtitled “How to Find a Treatment That Works: Research Results and Practical Advice”. I haven’t purchased it yet, but for $10 it sounds like a bargain. This is exactly this kind of patient centered research that has real potential for improving the body of knowledge, influencing the direction of clinical research, and ultimately improving health outcomes. (To be clear, I don’t have a relationship with Cure Together and no financial interest in promoting this book).

Another similar but much older resource can be found at the Australian National University’s Blue Pages site. Its survey of treatments is based on clinical, not patient-generated research, but the results dovetail nicely.

On a related note, many people who use our desktop and online applications have authorized the anonymous use of their data for scientific research. The proportion opting in has been exceptional – somewhere between 40% and 50%.

Later this year we will have sufficient data to start analyzing correlations between the items being tracked. The results will be freely available. It is my fervent belief that the Optimism community will also make a helpful contribution to the body of knowledge on mental health.

The research will be done in collaboration with a well regarded U.S. university, in addition to a more formal study on how the apps can change a person’s relationship with their physician and the quality of their treatment.

Watch this space! :)

Does it sound too good to be true?

You’ll be absolutely delighted with your new life. No more exhaustion, no more worrying, no more uncertainty and no more fear. You’ll enjoy living again, you’ll have greater self-confidence, you’ll know you can deal with problems and situations effectively and you’ll enjoy peace of mind.

Plenty of online folk offer the cure for depression. To wile away some of my free time I decided to see what they have in common.

A killer headline:
Dominate Your Depression With These Breakthrough Remedies and Revolutionary Mental Tactics Expertly Devised to Destroy Even the Most Stubborn Depression!

Credibility:
I spent over TWO YEARS reading every book, listening to every seminar, talking to every “expert” I could find…

Everything you’ve heard before is wrong:
What we found as we studied depression in our clients and emerging research about how the brain actually works, is that the public is so misinformed it’s almost a con.

And there is no value in traditional medical treatment:
Page 57 is the page health professionals don’t want you to read!

In fact, forget everything that you’ve tried in the past:
You’ve probably tried countless other methods, treatments and so-called “magic pills” to date – with little or no success.

Because the cause is not what you’ve been told:
It has nothing to do with brain chemicals, circumstances, trauma or illness…

Everything you need to know is in one place…right here:
I’ve helped thousands of other sufferers do it, and today I’ll help you too. Because for the first time, all of the information you need to conquer stress, depression and anxiety is now available to you. And when you put it into action, it will cut through these problems like a hot knife through butter.

It is easy to understand:
…the best part is that I’ve written these secrets in language that is so effortlessly simple that even an 8-year-old could easily understand and MASTER this stuff…

And just as quick to apply:
A simple cure for depression that works instantly any time you need it…you’re going to experience massive benefits from this program INSTANTLY.

It’s permanent:
Once you’ve beaten stress, depression and anxiety, you’ll have beaten them FOREVER!

To prove it we have testimonials:
“Buying [your book] online was the best thing I’ve ever done for myself. I can’t thank you enough. I’ve tried dozens of other books, and tapes, as well as many therapy sessions; and they did absolutely nothing for me…Your method works INSTANTLY.”

This is genuine:
Please do not mistake it for Internet hype or an exaggerated sales pitch.

You won’t find it anywhere else:
You’re NOT going to find the incredible knowledge inside of this program ANYWHERE ELSE on the planet — I know this because I had to figure it out from scratch.

And you have my 100% personal guarantee:
It will come to a relief to you when I say that I stand by this program and personally guarantee you FREEDOM from your depression and any symptoms attached to it.

So take action!
Click here immediately. My no-risk guarantee means you have nothing to lose!

Special Bonus #4:
The “Conquer Stress, Depression and Anxiety Quick-Start Guide”. You want relief and you want it FAST…You’ll be armed with ten easy-to-apply techniques to begin winning the fight against stress, depression and anxiety TODAY. A $19.95 value.

P.S. # 2
…These must-have strategies and cures are ironclad battle plans that will wage war and unleash a ‘Secret Weapon’ that will render your depression cured and defeated!

I love sneaking out of bed late at night to watch the shopping channel. These cures for depression sound strangely familiar.

I’ll leave Chris Rock, of all people, to sum it up.

The team of 4 are currently on the island of Spitsbergen in Norway. They are spending two days of preparations, testing skis, packing sleds with food and gear, and outfitting their polar clothing, before flying by Antonov-74 aircraft to the Ice Station Borneo.

(Has anyone else read “Ice Station” by Matthew Reilly? Ouch!)

Actually Borneo is a Russian scientific base, erected in April each year on the the moving ice flows in the heart of the Arctic Ocean.

On the 16th they will fly by Mi-8 helicopter to around 50km of the North Pole depending on current drift rate of the floating ice. From there they will spend 4-5 days skiing and sled hauling to the Pole, dragging themselves through the incredible icescapes of the the Arctic Ocean, with iconic features like pressure ridges, rubble, and leads of open water.

At this time of year daylight is enjoyed 24-hours a day, a blessing for those with SAD!

Although I’m glad they’re not going in May or June.

The objective of the expedition is very worthy – to raise medical research funds and increase awareness about Bipolar Disorder. If you want to get on board, with financial support or otherwise, then it’s not too late. To read more visit the BiPolar Expedition website.

I started this blog in 2007, about a year before we released our first Optimism app. Since then a lot of RSS and email subscribers have signed up, many in expectation of update announcements. Sorry. There have been plenty of announcements, but not on the blog.

Well here is something to shout about. Last week we released our first app for the iPhone and iPod Touch! With zero creative flair, we named it Optimism.

The new Optimism is a free data capture app to use with the Windows, Mac and web versions. It is simply a convenient way to enter records into the other apps, without firing up the computer or logging in online.

If you have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about then let me explain.

Optimism is a group of applications that we’ve developed over the last few years. They are mostly used in managing mood disorders like depression and bipolar, but also for other illnesses, and as straight self-help tools.

In a nutshell the applications help a person discover what causes their mood swings, the warning signs of a decline in their health, and strategies to help them remain well. It does this using a “feedback loop”, in the form of charts and reports, which point the person to patterns of cause and effect.

Here are some links for the new app:
Optimism for iPhone / iPod home page
Optimism for iPhone / iPod user guide
Optimism iTunes listing

We are also well advanced in developing an online interface for other mobile phones and portable devices. Another announcement soon!

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