What if?

What if there really was another way?
Where all that suffering could be swept away?

What if all it took was a shift in direction?
Some new self care and a little reflection?

What if somone offered to show you the way...
would you know to listen or brush them away?

 

very thought provocing mnme.

 

Sometimes it's easier to say I have ___________ or I am ________________
Then, we assume no responsibility for our recovery.

Not always, not in every case.....but sometimes.....maybe more often than not.

So, if we make the shift in direction.....that means we are steering......is that too scary.......
Are we now responsible.......are we accountable

I've been down the easy path for a long time. I did take a shift in direction....it was hard.....maybe too hard....or
Maybe I didn't want to be responsible or accountable.

I'll be ready again some day........because I don't want to not know if there was another way....for me.

 

Miah, thank you for acknowledging how this got you thinking. You are something!

Kim, how right you are that 'steering' ourselves is initially very scary. I think I am a little like you in that I would hate to be left wondering whether perhaps there was another way. When I found my way, I realised I would never have done so if I didn't take a huge turn in a new direction. That initial turn was tough... very unsettling, particularly as no one had pointed out it was possible. But then I found it was easy: just straight ahead as she goes with a few inevitable bumps along the way.

The sad thing is, people are out there selling ideas left right and centre on what we should/should not be doing/eating/thinking. It's a marketplace feeding off sufferers. So how do we know when someone genuine comes our way? My quick reference is if it is free and they are passionate, they are worth listening to. Nothing to lose.

Kim, this little piece popped into my mind after reading your thread on Depression. You talked of how out of all people who are diagnosed with this, 95% can actually start steering themselves with lifestyle changes. This raises the point that they can only do this if they see this is possible. They have no chance if they don't. How do we know who is a part of that 5% who really are stuck if we all aren't encouraged to at least try a positive approach first? 95 out of 100 success rate makes for pretty good odds! I suspect these sorts of odds would translate to many forms of suffering.

I really appreciate you taking the time to post here Miah and Kim.

Lee

 

Hi Lee,

I wasn't real clear on that 95%. I meant there were maybe 95% who could get help through counseling, medicine, therapy, or natural means, including diet and exercise. The other 5%, I believed, needed extreme measures of medical intervention or hospitalization with intensive treatment.

That said, I'm not sure what portion of that 95% would be helped by natural methods.....maybe all of them? Certainly a great portion of them. Countless studies have already been done in Europe and other countries (even here, finally ) that are proving that intense exercise 5 days a week make the majority (in some cases close to 100%) of depressed patients feel at least somewhat better. Funny thing if you look at antidepressant trials, there results were similar (except for a higher drop out rate due to side effects). Now think about the side effects of exercise: weight loss, blood sugar stabilization, balance improvement, enhanced absorption of vitamins and nutrients.......The problem is that depressed people aren't motivated. When I was at my worst, I couldn't walk from my bed to the shower much less around the block. Sometimes a pill gets people from the bed to the sidewalk. BUT, it doesn't have to be a synthetic chemical. SamE and 5HTP are both already in our bodies. They are both successful antidepressant treatments (when used properly). St. Johns Wort, although not without side effects, is another natural alternative. Not to mention all the amino acids that might be lacking such as tyrosine.

Lee...I know I'm preaching to the choir here Maybe if one other person who is depressed or even feeling "down" understands that there are options to feeling worse, it's worth it.

My body rebelled so much from antidepressants, I ended up refusing them (in 1999). People were so shocked (pun intended) when they heard I had ECT. But, I got complete remission without the use of one chemical. And that was from extreme catatonic and psychotic depression (ya can't get any lower than that, clinically). So if inducing a grand mal seizure can put depression in complete remission, there must be many other natural things that can, too. Again, it's just easier to swallow that little yellow pill and get pissed off at your doctor if it doesn't work or if it makes you gain 100 pounds or if you can't sleep.

But, after I got in the accident and put my head through the window, and got mm, the neurologist told me I couldn't get ECT ever again because I already had brain damage and a messed up vestibular nerve so........I found a little yellow pill that I could tolerate and, yea, it pulled me back up. But I'd like to get off it and feel alive and energetic again.

Gotta go....I'm taking that walk.

 

Kim, just before I was forced to give up my job due to ill health, the thing that would make me feel best of all was a swim in the ocean. I would head down there after a long day with my head down low, all the worries playing over and over in my mind. Then I'd dive into that water and it was like a gentle 'shock' to my system where instantly all those thoughts and feelings left, leaving me with the pure sensations of icy cold water, the feeling of weightlessness and the rhythmic power in the sea. But as I got busier, something had to give, so I gave this up. Pretty dumb now I think about it. I guess in a way, ECT's are the ultimate 'shock'!

Very interesting about those studies on exercise. More and more seem to be realising that 'quick fixes' really don't 'fix' a thing. And that our own health deserves to be placed right at the top of our 'to do' list.

Lee

 

sorry if this is a bit off topic, but there is a book by Keith Johnsgard called "Conquering depression and anxiety through exercise"

http://www.amazon.com/Conquering-Depression-Anxiety-Through-Exercise/dp/1591021928/ref=pd_sxp_f_pt/104-4127969-1242323?ie=UTF8

It really is one of the best and most motivating books i have ever read. If anyone is really interested in this concept, it is worth reading.

 

Thanks Cheese! I think your input was very much 'on topic'! I'll see if I can find that book at my local Library (I'm such a cheap skate!)

Lee

 

Im not sure if this in breach of copyright? , but here is the 1st four pages of the prologue that i scanned from Keith Johnsgards book.

I think it is a great story. I truly believe that physical exertion is great for the mind and body. It's a pity that my balance isnt good enough to really put the principles into practice, but I hope that one day soon I will be able to again.

Sorry again If anyone feels that this is a bit off topic.

 

Lee, Even when I was unable to read, my friends, Bill and Cathy, would drive me down to the ocean each afternoon in the Summer. When I didn't have enough strength, they would carry me in and let the gentle waves work their miracle on me. The ocean is filled with healing minerals and that Summer it was 82 degrees for about two months. It was the place where I felt "most normal".

 

Cheese, I have no idea about copyright, but thank you posting that little piece. It has a wonderful message. I think the tricky thing is for Meniere's sufferers with depression (and who can blame them!) that they can't just go out for a run. Balance is our seventh sense... in fact I now think it's the most basic of them all. Most take it for granted. But although we may not be able to get out there immediately and start running, that story you posted confirms how important it is to work out a way to get back to exercise.

Kim, how wonderful to have friends like Bill and Cathy. When I was ill, my husband would occasionally bundle me into the car and take me to just sit by the ocean. It was like you could taste the fresh air coming in over the Indian Ocean, and it always lifted my spirits.

Lee

 

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Yep, Diane. The all or nothing mentality. I wish I had a dollar for every time I said "I can't" or "I'll never".

 

Yes Diane! And Kim, I also used to look for reasons why I couldn't do something, and didn't even know I was doing it!

I think what we are talking about here is at the heart of the hopelessness we so often read about on this forum. Our condition is proclaimed to be 'Menieres Disease'/ 'Depression' and so our perspective becomes defined by that, which serves to limit our options.

Eventually I asked myself 'What if...?' and I still can't believe the changes that stemmed from that simple shift in perspective.

Lee

 

I totally agree with that Lee. By constantly surrounding ourselves with negative reminders of our infliction, I believe it can sometimes do more harm than good.

I know for a fact that I am struggling with this at the moment. I log onto this forum everyday hoping to see a thread titled "Cause of Meniere's discovered ....Cure on its way", sometimes I feel this constant hope is almost stopping me getting on with my life. Im very all or nothing in everything I do. So I guess that effects my perspective on the disease aswell. Im either Diseased, or Cured. I struggle with the concept of getting on with things whilst I feel this sick.

The "we cant run, so don't walk" line sums me up pretty well at the moment.

What if i went for walk, instead of telling myself I cant?! ......

 

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That's funnier/more pertinent than you think Cheese cause I used to post threads somewhere along those lines! But 'my' ideas stirred up quite a bit of controversy, so I've attempted to filter them out there instead, so they no longer sound so radical. I've also written it all down (still got to be published), so those who want to read about it can, and those who don't won't have to be bothered by it.

Lee
A fellow Aussie

 

So Diane I've got the Whatiffer voice and the protagonist whatiffer voice... so what about all those other voices telling me what's moral, what's fun, what's sensible etc.... It's so confusing in here at times! ;D

 

One thing that helped me (my husband pointed it out to me and it was excellent advice) is to not "claim it". Instead of saying "my depression" or "my Menieres" it's "the depression" or "the Menieres". I don't own it. I live with it (for now) and it IS NOT permanent. This is not denial.....it's hope.....and faith.

 

I think I mostly try to cultivate the "SoWhater" voice!
My What Ifs lead me to bad, anxious places.