The Day Loans Blog

How many times have you started a diet or health plan only to quit after a few weeks? Maybe more often that you’d like to admit! How can you set yourself up for success and limit the temptation to quit? Plan well!

Once you have decided on your goals or what it is you’re trying to achieve there are some tips that can help you succeed.

Work on one goal at a time. Don’t cause yourself stress trying to make too many changes at the same time. Possibly some of the things you are trying to change are die-hard habits that need to be tackled slowly and consistently for the desired changes to become the new habit.

Break down your goals into smaller pieces. For example, focus on the half a kilo you want to lose this week compared to the 20 kilos all up.

Tackle only one piece at a time. Have you ever heard the saying, “How do you eat an elephant?” (One piece at a time!!) Biting off more than you can chew will only set you up to quit. To succeed, work on one small piece of your goal and only move on to the next step when the first step is complete.

Prepare and plan for obstacles. What will you do WHEN (not if) you get offered a slice of chocolate cake while on your diet? What will you do when it’s raining outside and you were planning to go for a walk? By planning ahead you won’t be put off or tempted to quit when obstacles arise.

Don’t give up if you slip up. So you don’t lose your half a kilo this week, don’t quit, just start from where you left off and learn from the slip up. Why did this happen? What will you do to prevent it happening again?

Celebrate every success. Every step towards your goal is a success. Reminding yourself of that and celebrating every success will help you stay in action and leave you feeling proud of what you’ve achieved. Reward yourself with every weekly step you accomplish. Go to the Day Spa, visit a friend, buy a small treat, whatever will reward you for your accomplishment.

Get support. You’ve heard it said that two heads are better than one so share your goals with others. Being accountable to others curbs the temptation to quit. Who can support you? Friends, can you find a diet buddy? Join a support group (diet group/health club etc). Or get the help of a professional such as a Dietician, Counsellor or Life Coach.

This week set up a plan of success. Work out what obstacles will get in your way of succeeding and how you will combat these. Above all set yourself up for success and limit the temptation to quit!

What is Depressive Disorder and How Does it Affect the Quality of Life?

Some types of depression run in families, indicating that a biological vulnerability to depression can be inherited. .This seems to be the case especially with bipolar disorder. Studies have been done of families in which members of each generation develop bipolar disorder. The investigators found that those with the illness have a somewhat different genetic makeup than those who do not become ill. However, the reverse is not true. That is, not everybody with the genetic makeup that causes vulnerability to bipolar disorder has the illness. Apparently, additional factors, possibly a stressful environment, are involved in its onset.

Major depression also seems to occur in generation after generation in some families, although not as strongly as in Bipolar I or II. Indeed, major depression can also occur in people who have no family history of depression.

An external event often seems to initiate an episode of depression. Thus, a serious loss, chronic illness, difficult relationship, financial problem, or any unwelcome change in life patterns can trigger a depressive episode. Very often, a combination of genetic, psychological, and environmental factors is involved in the onset of a depressive disorder.

Nothing in the universe is as complex and fascinating as the human brain. The over 100 chemicals that circulate in the brain are known as neurochemicals or neurotransmitters. Much of our research and knowledge, however, has focused on four of these neurochemical systems: norepinephrine, serotonin, dopamine, and acetycholine. In the new millennium, after new discoveries are made, it is possible that these four neurochemicals will be viewed as the “black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood” of the twentieth century.

Different neuropsychiatric illnesses seem to be associated with an over-abundance or a lack of some of these neurochemicals in certain parts of the brain. For example, a lack of dopamine at the base of the brain causes Parkinson disease. Alzheimer dementia seems to be related to lower acetylcholine levels in the brain. The addictive disorders are under the influence of the neurochemical dopamine. That is to say, drugs and alcohol work by releasing dopamine in the brain. The dopamine causes euphoria, which is a pleasant sensation. Repeated use of drugs or alcohol, however, desensitizes the dopamine system, which means that the system gets used to the drugs and alcohol. Therefore, a person needs more drugs or alcohol to achieve the same high feeling. Thus, the addicted person takes more and more to feel less and less high.

The different types of schizophrenia are associated with an imbalance of dopamine (too much) and serotonin (poorly regulated) in certain areas of the brain. Finally, the depressive disorders appear to be associated with altered brain serotonin and norepinephrine systems. Both of these neurochemicals are lower in depressed people. Please note that I specified, “associated with” instead of, “caused by.” I made this distinction because we really don’t know whether low levels of neurochemicals in the brain cause depression or whether depression causes low levels of neurochemicals in the brain.

What we do know is certain medications that alter the levels of norepinephrine or serotonin can alleviate the symptoms of depression. Some medicines that affect both of these neurochemical systems appear to perform even better or faster. Other medications that treat depression primarily affect the other neurochemical systems. The most powerful treatment for depression, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), is certainly not specific to any particular neurotransmitter system. Rather, ECT, by causing a seizure, produces a generalized brain activity that probably releases massive amounts of all of the neurochemicals.

Women are twice as likely to become depressed as men. However, scientists do not know the reason for this difference. Psychological factors also contribute to a person’s vulnerability to depression. Thus, persistent deprivation in infancy, physical or sexual abuse, clusters of certain personality traits, and inadequate ways of coping (maladaptive coping mechanisms) all can increase the frequency and severity of depressive disorders, with or without inherited vulnerability.

Charles Donovan was a patient in the FDA investigational trial of vagus nerve stimulation as a treatment for chronic or recurrent treatment-resistant depression. He was implanted with the vagus nerve stimulator in April of 2001. He chronicles his journey from the grips of depression thanks to vagus nerve stimulation therapy in his book:

Out of the Black Hole: The Patient’s Guide to Vagus Nerve Stimulation and Depression

His all inclusive book prepares depression sufferers to make an informed decision about this ninety-minute out-patient procedure. It is a “must read” before you discuss this treatment with your psychiatrist. A prescription for the procedure is required from an M.D. and it is covered by most insurance plans.

He is the founder of the http://www.VagusNerveStimulation.com Web Site and Bulletin.

I wrote you about four years ago, when my eight year marriage was ending in divorce. At that time you gave me some great advice about beginning again. After reading the recent letter from Linda and how she “settled” for the wrong man, I felt I had to write an update letter.

I can look back now and realize in too many ways, I “settled” in my first marriage. I reaped the results eight years later with a broken heart. After that marriage ended, I chose to live my life to the fullest, to take every opportunity to enjoy life and my friendships, and within reason, to never settle in anything.

I wanted children, a family with which to grow old together, and the white picket fence. But I couldn’t focus on what I didn’t have. I could only focus on what I did have, which was a lot of time and some great friends. Sure there were women who came and went during that time (mostly went), but I never settled.

Amazingly, I did meet a fantastic woman who is in every way my other half, as I am for her. We’ve been married now a little over a year and are happier now than when we were courting. We can’t imagine life without the other now.

My point is not that I met my other half, but instead I want to mention the positive outlook on life and love we both originally had. Being the right person for the other would not have helped either of us if my wife and I had a “wrong” attitude when we met. We would have simply walked right past the other.

Having the right attitude towards life, we ended up being like a huge magnet attracting steel. Anyway, thanks for the great advice and continue the great work! I never miss a week.

Scott

Scott, sometimes we get things right only after we have made a mistake. Sometimes we get things right when someone shows us the way. And sometimes we need a wake-up call to get things right.

In the book “Life Lessons” David Kessler wrote about Caroline, a woman with “the most genuine smile you will ever see.” Not only was she happy, but to him she seemed to be one of those people who live a charmed life. When he told Caroline he thought she was lucky in love, she told him her story.

When she was in her early 40s, Caroline found a lump in her breast the doctors called suspicious. She waited three agonizing days to learn if cancer was spreading throughout her body. It wasn’t. The lump was benign.

But Caroline resolved not to let those three days mean nothing. She had been single and desperately lonely. When she went to a party or event, she would quickly scan the room for Mr. Right. If he wasn’t there, she’d go somewhere else searching for him, and always she went home more desperate than before.

Caroline decided to change her approach to life. Even if Mr. Right wasn’t around her, other people were. She would talk with them and enjoy them, no matter what. At the end of each day she no longer felt lonely for she truly talked and smiled and laughed with others. The more she did this the more wonderful people she met and the closer she grew to her friends. She stopped being a desperately searching person.

She didn’t meet Mr. Right the first year. Or the second. She met him four years later, and two years after that, they married. Being “lucky in love” has a lot to do with being ourselves and being fully engaged in life.

David Kessler wrote, “In our hearts we know we are destined to live fully, to love fully, and to have great adventures in life.” Our task is figuring out how to do it.

Wayne & Tamara

Direct Answers - Column for the week of October 4, 2004

About The Author

Authors and columnists Wayne and Tamara Mitchell can be reached at www.WayneAndTamara.com.

Send letters to: Direct Answers, PO Box 964, Springfield, MO 65801 or email: DirectAnswers@WayneAndTamara.com.