How to Cure Depression and Anxiety

By C Viljoen

This book is a comprehensive collection of all the different coping and overcoming methods that are usually given to those who suffer from psychological stress factors, such as depression or anxiety, all in one place. Everything from sleeping methods to dietary tips, modern positive thinking, motivation, and thought pattern adjustments are explained in this book, with personal testimony from the author of the success or failure of each method. Medical information is also available in this book as well as a detailed easy-to-understand overview of how the brain of a happy person works as opposed to that of a person under stress and how these stresses can be relieved (and its effects reversed) with modern techniques and advancements in the field of therapy and medicine, tried and proven by the author, Chris Viljoen.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing Africa
• Release date: Jun 17, 2016
• ISBN: 9781482863475

C Viljoen

The author, a software developer with first-hand experience with major depression, brings together the solutions to these psychological issues after three years in research and study and over ten years in suffering. A wealth of wisdom summarized, compiled, and intended for those who plan to fight and overcome!

Book preview

Copyright © 2016 by Chris Viljoen.

A former sufferer of depression himself, who overcame and now brings victory to the lives of others.

ISBN:      Softcover      978-1-4828-6348-2

      eBook         978-1-4828-6347-5

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

The entire content of this book was researched by various means, including books, internet, and medical advice. No part of such researched information was copied or reproduced. All information in this book is the sole creation of the author, by mentioning pure facts, as stated by such researched entities, and supported by further research and evidence.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

www.partridgepublishing.com/africa

Contents

Terms, Conditions & Disclaimer

Introduction

Chapter 1.1 The brain’s neurology

Chapter 1.2 Some amazing chemical works

Chapter 1.3 Life for a depressed or anxious person

Chapter 2.1 Some causes of depression

Chapter 3.1 The process

Chapter 4.1 Basics about the meds

Chapter 5.1 The different types of depression

Chapter 5.2 Important solutions for depression

Chapter 5.3 Your diet

Chapter 5.4 Exercise your chemical glands

Chapter 5.5 Make your exercise fun

Chapter 5.6 Reasons to exercise

Chapter 5.7 Sleeping the right way

Chapter 5.8 Tips for a better day

Chapter 5.9 Best Friend Syndrome

Chapter 5.10 Problems & more tips

Chapter 6.1 Summary

Chapter 6.2 Motivation & a last word

Divine Involvement

Reference List

Terms, Conditions & Disclaimer

Christoffel Jakobus Viljoen is the author, and copyright owner of the book How to Cure Depression & Anxiety and all of its content © 2012. All rights reserved. ®™ All information provided in this book is for educational and informational purposes only. This information should not replace proper evaluation and diagnosis of depression or anxiety or other medical conditions by a licensed medical and mental health professional. Before taking any action, please consult with a licensed medical and mental health professional. You receive this book and all of its content as is, without any representation as to its fitness for any purpose. In addition, you do not receive warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including without limitation the implied warranties and fitness for any particular purpose in its content. You do not receive any guarantee with respect to accuracy, completeness, errors, or omissions, of any content in this book. The author of this book and any of his representatives are under no obligation to provide support, updates, enhancements, or other modifications. In no event will the author of this book or any of his representatives be liable for any action taken, or any negative or costly outcome in reliance upon the information provided through this book. The author of this book, including all its content, and all the representatives of these entities, shall not be liable for any compensatory or non-compensatory damages, including but not limited to special, indirect, incidental, or consequential damages or loss of any kind, with respect to any claim arising out of or in connection with the use of this book, even if it has been or is hereafter advised of the possibility of such damages. By reading this book, you agree to be bound in all the terms and conditions stated in the Terms, Conditions, & Disclaimer section of this book.

Introduction

My name is Chris Viljoen, and I wrote this book to help those who suffer from depression effectively, and those who want to help loved-ones with depression. In this book, we also take a deep look at anxiety-related depression. It is important that you do everything you can do to feel better, even if you do not feel like it right now, but it is most important that you understand it better first!

Have you ever found yourself wondering why you are not like everybody else? Craving an answer to why you always feel so weak or tense, why your personality is not as fun as those of your friends, always asking yourself: What is wrong with me?, I’m always shy, nobody likes me, I’m worthless, this stress is killing me, I feel so weak, and tense, and tired, and sick? Do you maybe know of someone who feels like this all the time? Well, then you should find this book very interesting and helpful.

This book talks about everything you might be wondering about, and though most examples in this book relate to major depression, it lists and discusses all common forms of depression and anxiety, along with their symptoms and solutions.

Here are some of the fundamental questions this book will answer:

1. What EXACTLY is depression and anxiety?

2. Why does it happen?

3. Where does it all start and where can it lead?

4. When will it end in happily ever after?

5. How do we get depressed, and how can we solve it?

6. Lastly, you will see a summary of everything covered and read a little motivation.

Something to note before we start:

- If you are going through some tough times, it is easy to misdiagnose yourself, and believe you have depression, while you actually suffer from something different. If you have a feeling that you might be suffering from depression, you should take it seriously and see a qualified professional, like a psychiatrist who can put you through a simple fifteen-minute test to determine if you do in fact have depression, and what you can do about it. Sadness and depression are two very different things!

- To find out more, or to contact the author, visit: www.chrisviljoen.org

Ok, let us start talking about this very important topic…

Chapter 1.1

The brain’s neurology

So firstly, we will answer the question: What EXACTLY is depression?

There is a very easy way of knowing what depression really is! Do you feel tired, or not in the mood to do anything? Are you sad, or do you feel helpless, and hopeless, or unimportant? Do you consider yourself not worth loving? Do you struggle to fall asleep at night because of many racing thoughts? Are you saying yes to more than two of these examples? Maybe you are tense and stressed every day of your life? Well, then you might be suffering from depression or anxiety, but luckily this is only half the story.

What if you were told there are chemicals in your bloodstream that forces your brain to make you think and feel like this? Well, there are, and that means if you can fix these chemicals, and get more of the right ones flowing in your brain, you will feel much better! There are many causes for the way we feel sometimes, so we will discuss the chemical, as well as the psychological side! Let us start by having a look at how the brain works, and check out some chemicals that influence our feelings:

Billions of neurons and synapses exist in our brain that looks like tiny hairs, pointing toward each other. These words might sound intimidating, but you will understand them quite well as you read on.

Imagine plucking two hairs from your head and pointing them toward each other on a piece of white paper, leaving a very small opening between those two hairs. Your brain has billions of little hair-like structures just like this, going all over the place! Those hairs represent neurons in your brain, and they act like a road where information travels on. So remember, neurons are information highways. The synapse is the little open space between the tips of these two hairs, and this is where information can move from one road, to another. Think about these synapses as ramps on the neuron-highway.

The information you think about moves through these neuron-roads, and it uses the synapses or ramps to get from one neuron-hair to another. Now you might be wondering how information can travel safely across those openings between two roads. Well, a chemical called serotonin exists in the tips of each of these neuron-hairs. This serotonin chemical is the main thing concerning depression and anxiety! Serotonin is the chemical that regulates your mood, and helps information to stay safe in your mind! There are a few other chemicals also, like GABA, but serotonin is the one! You will learn about serotonin shortly. Remember for now that there are billions of roads connected to each other in our brain.

With every one of our thoughts, our brain shoots electronic pulses from one neuron to another, sending information around our brain. You see, our brain has many different parts, like memory and processing. Think about this: If you want to tell someone about the 09/11 incident, information needs to travel from your memory and into a processor in your brain before you can tell someone about it! Does that make sense to you? Now when you want to think about something, here is exactly what will happen: An electronic pulse (or static pulse) will fire, sending the information from your memory to the tip of the first neuron-road. Here the information can climb into little busses of serotonin. This serotonin-chemical will capture the information, and then safely move the information out of the first neuron, through the synapse-ramp, and into the tip of the second neuron. After the serotonin empties out the information into the second neuron-hair, the serotonin can safely move back through the synapse into the first neuron and wait for you to think about something else. The information that is now in the tip of the second neuron moves further with another static pulse, where it will move into a processor, so you can see the things you are thinking about in your mind.

Bear with these names; you have only one more to learn! You are doing great so far! Neurotransmitters have the job of taking information into different neuron-hairs around our brain, and serotonin is one example of these neurotransmitter-chemicals. So first, we have an electronic signal, then a chemical signal, and then another electronic signal with every thought in our minds, but if the chemical signal is weak, the second electronic signal will also be weak, causing depression.

Are you still following? Serotonin enables us to think, but it also regulates our mood by telling our body when to create the other chemicals we need to have feelings.

Here is a more practical example:

Let us say you recently went on vacation and you saw the most beautiful sunset ever… After you get back, you still remember how it looks, and a week later, you want to tell someone about it. What will happen in your brain? Well, the image of the sunset will come out of your long-term memory banks, and move through a neuron until it reaches the tip. When the image of the sunset reaches the end of the first neuron-road, it will climb into a series of busses called serotonin. These little Serotonin busses will then transport the information through the synapse-ramp, and into the second hair. After the sunset image gets out of the busses, the empty serotonin busses will move back to their original first neuron-hair, and wait for more information. The information about the sunset that is now in the second hair will continue to move with electronic pulses on the second neuron-road, into a processor, so that you can see the image in your head and describe it to someone.

However, what if there is not enough of this Serotonin-chemical in your brain? Well, this is actually the cause of depression and anxiety, as you learnt earlier. Why, you may ask? Well, because serotonin also has the job of telling your body when to make other chemicals.

If there is not enough of this serotonin-chemical in your brain, many things will go wrong.

Here are some practical examples:

1. Your thinking becomes very slow, because every time information travels across your brain, this small amount of serotonin-busses need to make many more than just one trip to get the information out of one hair, into the second.

In addition, you need to recall the same information many more times than once, because some serotonin that moves through the synapse, does not make it through to the second hair, and so it dissolves, causing you to forget that information you were thinking about, or to have difficulty remembering specific details.

This is why you may sometimes find yourself running to the kitchen, and forget what you wanted to do there. You may also struggle to concentrate on what you are busy doing. Get your brain full of serotonin and you will be able to remember new information a lot better! You will learn methods to do this later in this book! If more serotonin does not seem to help, it is because of low GABA levels! GABA is a chemical that helps