Personal Development: Dealing With Emotional Distress
I've been a counselor for several years now and met with a fair amount of success in helping people with issues in their therapy.
It's definitely become more clear to me that some people have issues in their diagnosis, not because there are problems with the people making the diagnosis, but with every diagnosis that follows the DSM-IV(TR) or the upcoming DSM-V, they are still meant to be guiding academic research rather than clinical decision-making structure.
Still, this may be the most comprehensive guide (other than a well-trained psychologist's experience and gut feel) to be able to help psychologists or counselors.
At the same time, not everyone who uses the DSM is able to conduct effective therapy.
For example, some psychiatrists (medical doctors) may default to medication rather than talk therapy.
Psychologists, on the other hand, who aren't medically trained, may not have the option for medication, and default to talk therapies instead.
Generally, it's my personal experience that unless disturbed and a client faces pathological issues, it is not recommended that medication be used.
This is largely because even with medication, we will be going through a 'best guess' situation, and medications will have to be modified as part of overall therapy.
Also, if the triggering factors are environmental in nature, it could well mean that an individual will be stuck having to take medication all his life! In his book "Undoing Depression", psychologist Richard O'Connor suggests that depression is one of the fingers on a hand, which would include (ii) anxiety, (iii) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), (iv) stress-related physical illness and (v) cognitive disturbances such as ADHD.
In other words, in a clinical case of depression, many of the symptoms of each of these conditions may occur in someone experiencing 'depression' alone.
Some may even experience other typical symptoms such as:
Often, it is suggested that the onset of an event that triggers a depressive episode creates the pathway in the brain that enables 'relapses' to take place in the future.
In other words, 'depression' might be similar to war-related PTSD: an individual encounters an event that causes recurring behaviors to take place until some form of reprocessing takes place.
Such forms of emotional disturbance or distress may manifest itself in various forms.
You definitely feel as though you're not the same person, a withdrawal of feelings, perhaps even a numbing of senses.
Behaviors also go awry, thoughts are compulsively negative.
Emotional management is a combination of factors.
1.
Get professional help (yes, you guys too).
A lot of men still think that emotional outbursts are all 'man', and depression is 'wimpy'.
Heh, sorry to burst your bubble but that's not scientifically supported whatsoever.
It is necessary for anyone experiencing such symptoms to seek help, no matter how expensive you may think it is simply because it can wreak havoc in your family, career and personal life.
2.
Develop a strong emotional support network If you don't have friends to chat emotions with, you might be in greater danger in experiencing depression than others.
Resilience can be developed, but it's always better to have a strong emotional support network of rational friends who have some knowledge about this mental illness.
3.
Learn Skills To Combat Emotional Distress.
It is possible to pick up some skills to help you in the interim before you seek professional help.
And it is true that sometimes, you will need to stop yourself from making it worse by utilizing strategies from cognitive therapies (some of these are taught in short courses out there) that allow you to challenge negative self-talk and negative beliefs.
In the meanwhile, keep fighting it.
Every one of us experiences this at some level or other in our lifetime.
More important is that everyone of us can learn to take charge of it and move toward our desired goals in spite of it.
It's definitely become more clear to me that some people have issues in their diagnosis, not because there are problems with the people making the diagnosis, but with every diagnosis that follows the DSM-IV(TR) or the upcoming DSM-V, they are still meant to be guiding academic research rather than clinical decision-making structure.
Still, this may be the most comprehensive guide (other than a well-trained psychologist's experience and gut feel) to be able to help psychologists or counselors.
At the same time, not everyone who uses the DSM is able to conduct effective therapy.
For example, some psychiatrists (medical doctors) may default to medication rather than talk therapy.
Psychologists, on the other hand, who aren't medically trained, may not have the option for medication, and default to talk therapies instead.
Generally, it's my personal experience that unless disturbed and a client faces pathological issues, it is not recommended that medication be used.
This is largely because even with medication, we will be going through a 'best guess' situation, and medications will have to be modified as part of overall therapy.
Also, if the triggering factors are environmental in nature, it could well mean that an individual will be stuck having to take medication all his life! In his book "Undoing Depression", psychologist Richard O'Connor suggests that depression is one of the fingers on a hand, which would include (ii) anxiety, (iii) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), (iv) stress-related physical illness and (v) cognitive disturbances such as ADHD.
In other words, in a clinical case of depression, many of the symptoms of each of these conditions may occur in someone experiencing 'depression' alone.
Some may even experience other typical symptoms such as:
- difficulty sleeping, possibly obsessing over thoughts
- difficulty in concentrating
- a sense of hopelessness
- a lot of negative thoughts and negative self-attribution (blame and anger)loss of appetite or you can't stop eating
- higher levels of irritability and short-temperedness than usual
- suicidal thoughts
Often, it is suggested that the onset of an event that triggers a depressive episode creates the pathway in the brain that enables 'relapses' to take place in the future.
In other words, 'depression' might be similar to war-related PTSD: an individual encounters an event that causes recurring behaviors to take place until some form of reprocessing takes place.
Such forms of emotional disturbance or distress may manifest itself in various forms.
You definitely feel as though you're not the same person, a withdrawal of feelings, perhaps even a numbing of senses.
Behaviors also go awry, thoughts are compulsively negative.
Emotional management is a combination of factors.
1.
Get professional help (yes, you guys too).
A lot of men still think that emotional outbursts are all 'man', and depression is 'wimpy'.
Heh, sorry to burst your bubble but that's not scientifically supported whatsoever.
It is necessary for anyone experiencing such symptoms to seek help, no matter how expensive you may think it is simply because it can wreak havoc in your family, career and personal life.
2.
Develop a strong emotional support network If you don't have friends to chat emotions with, you might be in greater danger in experiencing depression than others.
Resilience can be developed, but it's always better to have a strong emotional support network of rational friends who have some knowledge about this mental illness.
3.
Learn Skills To Combat Emotional Distress.
It is possible to pick up some skills to help you in the interim before you seek professional help.
And it is true that sometimes, you will need to stop yourself from making it worse by utilizing strategies from cognitive therapies (some of these are taught in short courses out there) that allow you to challenge negative self-talk and negative beliefs.
In the meanwhile, keep fighting it.
Every one of us experiences this at some level or other in our lifetime.
More important is that everyone of us can learn to take charge of it and move toward our desired goals in spite of it.
