When the soul hurts: depression and its treatment

Why does mental pain occur? How to get rid of mental pain? What to do if your soul hurts? Mental illness, what is it? Our specialists will be able to help a person cope with such a situation without causing harm. This deep pain is associated with a disorder of higher nervous activity and it is not treated in conventional ways, which can only dull it or temporarily mask it. This will require both a lot of medical experience and quite a bit of your own life experience. Not all doctors can understand a person’s true experiences if they have not been in such situations themselves. Every person experiences mental pain, but at different times and, unfortunately, not everyone can cope with it on their own.

We know what mental pain is and can help you cope with it, continue to live in a new, more harmonious world of your inner experiences.

If a person feels mental pain for more than 15-20 days or these sensations are repeated with any frequency, then this indicates the formation or presence of a disease of the nervous system and to get rid of mental pain, it is necessary to consult a competent and conscientious psychotherapist.

Brain Clinic specialists will always be able to provide you or your loved ones with the necessary and sufficient medical care to relieve mental pain and restore the nervous system, and restore quality of life.

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We help in the most severe cases, even when previous treatment did not help!

How to Deal with Heartache

Emotional distress develops when an individual worries about a life event or worries greatly about a loved one. Mental pain is often inherent in a person when his personal ideas do not coincide with what is happening in reality. This is because significant experiences that lead to depression occur due to patterns formed in the human brain, and reality is not what the individual expects it to be. All these disappointments lead to emotional suffering.

A person can experience mental pain both openly and hidden, when a person suffers, but does not admit it to himself.

How to cope with mental pain? A person copes with mental pain in several ways. In one case, mental pain moves from the conscious sensation to the subconscious and the individual mistakenly believes that he is no longer suffering. What actually happens is that a person simply avoids pain and transfers it to the subconscious.

If an individual is inclined to demonstrate his actions and feelings, then this means that he is giving vent to his mental pain. In such cases, a person begins to consult with friends and acquaintances, looking for salvation in eliminating the root of the problem.

For example, if emotional pain is caused by relationships with parents, then a person looks for all possible ways to find a common language with them.

If a person has chosen the method of avoidance, then this method is expressed in not recognizing the problem; often the individual says that everything is fine with him and does not even admit to himself personal experiences. In this case, mental pain persists, passing into an implicit, subconscious form. This condition is very difficult to cope with, it is painful for a person, much more painful than open recognition, as well as speaking the problem out loud.

What is pain from the perspective of the body and psyche?

Pain can be thought of as a signal to the body of an unpleasant experience, which indicates that something is wrong. Security is also compromised, both in terms of physical and mental health. At the physiological level, these signals are identified by the human body as threatening life or health.

There may be a lot of pain, and at the same time there are not enough resources to survive it, then a psychological defense mechanism is activated, for example, as a way to avoid, not to feel what is happening now. Physical pain cannot be ignored without special medical means, but psychological pain is possible through the mechanisms of stopping, devaluing, protecting, suppressing, rationalizing and others.

How to get rid of mental pain

It is very difficult to get rid of hidden pain; it is characterized by a protracted course (for years!). At the same time, a person’s character and relationships with others change. A person with mental pain begins to attract negative people to himself, gradually changing the level of acquaintances, or completely abandons them, forever excluding communication with people.

Often, emotional suffering does not allow an individual to create or work; it torments him, and the person often does not understand what is happening to him. Certain situations can remind a person of those moments that caused pain in his soul many years ago. This is explained by the fact that emotions were driven into the subconscious many years ago, so a person cries and worries without fully understanding what is happening to him, for example, after watching a emotional scene from a film. In cases where you cannot cope with mental pain on your own, you need the help of a specialist or a loved one who is ready to listen to you.

If sad news is received...

The death of a loved one is an extraordinary event that affects many aspects of a person's life. There is such a thing as “extreme grief.” This is the state in which a grieving person remains for the first time after a loss. Typically, the period of extreme, or acute, grief lasts until the third to ninth day, sometimes a little longer. Shocked by what happened, we don’t know what to do, how to react, what to pay attention to. How to not let grief consume you? First of all, it is important to recognize that you need support. Try not to be alone with yourself and not to withdraw into yourself. Share your feelings with those you trust. Typically, people experiencing grief do not realize that they need help; they overestimate their physical and psychological state, believing that they can handle everything themselves. But such an overestimation of one’s capabilities is actually the result of an extremely stressful situation that distorts the real perception of reality.

You need help from your loved ones!

Death of a loved one The death of a loved one is always unexpected. Those close to you experience shock and deep grief. At the same time, they are faced with the need to quickly solve a lot of new problems for them - from sending the body of the deceased to the morgue to organizing a funeral. Where to go, in what order and what exactly to do? This brochure will help you find answers to these and other questions. Vera Foundation

End of life

Some advice for those who have lost a loved one*:

• After you have received sad news, you need to contact a person close to you (friend, acquaintance, relative) as soon as possible, inform him about the grief that has befallen you, ask him to come support you and, if necessary, help in organizing the funeral. Look for people who have the character qualities needed at the moment (decisiveness, activity, organizational skills). It’s good if someone monitors your physical condition.
• Notify other loved ones about what happened - relatives, acquaintances, friends . When talking to them on the phone, have a pen and paper ready to write down the day and time when who will arrive, who will bring what, etc. This will be needed later for better coordination in preparing the funeral and solving other organizational issues. Very often, a grieving person cannot remember even extremely necessary information, so it is better to write everything down.
• If your family has small children , you need to immediately think about who will look after and feed them in the coming days, where they will be and how to tell them the tragic news. Take care of their psychological state by asking your friends for help.
• Take part in organizing the funeral . These worries will keep you active and prevent you from sinking into grief. Take on a feasible task in accordance with your current psychological and physical state. Of course, if you are the person closest to the deceased, then the solution to the main organizational issues will most likely fall on you. If others are doing this, you can read the Psalter for the deceased, go to church. If you are unable to pray, entrust it to someone you know, preferably a believer.
• Cry, do not hold back your feelings (the exception is the presence of people who may be traumatized by this: small children, seriously ill people, etc.). Don’t listen to those who urge you not to cry, “to be courageous,” “to hold on.” Remember that feelings not shown in time can lead to big problems.

Childhood grief Childhood grief is an extremely difficult topic for adults. Is it possible to introduce children to the death of parents or other significant people - grandparents, brothers and sisters? Is it possible to invite children to the funeral ritual and farewell to the deceased? Oncology psychologist Pavel Sapozhnikov believes that it is possible and necessary. Pavel Sapozhnikov

Psychology

Heartache after a breakup

Psychological reactions to a break in a relationship with a loved one have much in common with the reaction to a physical loss, namely the death of a loved one. Mental pain after breaking up with a loved one can drag on for many months and years. During this period, a person is acutely worried. The experience includes stages of resentment, denial and pain.

Initially, a stage of denial arises, which manifests itself in a person’s subconscious refusal to take an objective view of the breakup and be aware of the end of the relationship.

The mental pain after a breakup is intensified by the understanding that the person you love is no longer there and will never be around again. The moment a person realizes and accepts reality, he will stop suffering. This understanding does not come overnight. The duration of this period depends on the continuation of contacts with the former lover. To get through this stage of mental suffering easier and faster, psychologists advise giving up all contacts, as well as getting rid of all objects reminiscent of past relationships.

The period of denial is replaced by a period of hatred and indignation, which is characterized by accusations of the former lover of all sins and the desire of the offended person to take revenge, especially if the cause of the breakup was treason.

Psychologically, this is understandable: blaming another person is much easier than admitting part of your guilt in such a situation. This stage is marked by the emergence of an emotional block: a fixation on negative experiences occurs, which significantly delays the period of psychological recovery. At the next stage of the life crisis, worries about lost time in relationships that were in vain develop. Such experiences are accompanied by the fear of loneliness, as well as the uncertainty of the future, the fear that it will not be possible to build new relationships.

Most psychologists are inclined to believe that tears, suffering and reflection in solitude are an obligatory and also necessary part in overcoming this life crisis. There is nothing wrong with wanting to cry. Allow yourself to suffer and cry - this will bring relief and lead to recovery.

If, nevertheless, a decision was made to break up, then you should not restore the lost relationship, and for this reason, give in to sad memories, call, and also meet. This will only slow down and make it more difficult to overcome emotional suffering.

Women often need more time than men to forget about their ex-partner, since for women, love for a man is the most important part of life. For a man, the priority in life is often work and career. In addition, it is usually easier for men to find a new partner.

Psychologists advise, if left alone, to engage in personal development. If, nevertheless, mental pain after separation bothers you for two years, then you need to consult a psychologist or psychotherapist who will help in solving this problem.

What if you freeze sensitivity (sensations)?

If sensitivity is blocked, the ability to adapt to the environment sharply decreases. Because in order to react to the world around you, you need to at least feel it.

If a person is faced with strong, unexperienced pain “there and then,” then it is important to note that the less he is in the “here and now.” This means that the ability to satisfy current needs is reduced.

A frozen experience requires effort to maintain. The point is that in order to freeze some feelings and states, strength is required. And our resources are finite.

Passions that destroy the soul

The Holy Fathers identify eight categories of passion: gluttony, fornication, love of money, anger, sadness, despondency, vanity and pride.
There are minor illnesses - runny nose, cough, caries, and there is oncology, AIDS. These eight passions destroy the soul like serious illnesses. It is extremely difficult to escape from their power. It’s like paralysis - you would like to raise your hand, you would like to come up, but you can’t. You get tired of these passions. When you have an excessive love for stamps, you constantly collect - ten, fifteen, twenty-five years, the collection grows, and you seem to be glad to get rid of them, but you can’t. Passion binds: remember how much effort was spent, how much money, how much energy. And the main thing is that passions do not bring a person any satisfaction! A money lover saves money: one million, another, ten, a hundred - but he wants more and more. The fornicator changes women and cannot stop.

Diseases of the soul

Diseases of the soul in church asceticism are called passions. Passion is excessive attachment to something that is not God. I'll try to explain. I know a person from a highly educated large family, where a sister and three brothers are candidates of science. Their mother became paralyzed (she was completely paralyzed, but was conscious and spoke), and they decided not to hire anyone, but to take turns taking time off and sitting with her. When it was time for his older brother, they had to give him a stamp on the train; he was a passionate collector. He knew that in the seventh carriage the conductor was bringing him this stamp. And he said: “Mom, I’ll come in an hour. I’ll meet the train and come.” But at the entrance to the platform the train broke down, we had to wait. He waited an hour, two, he understood that if he left, the stamp might be lost, the conductor would leave and that’s all. Three hours, instead of dropping everything and going to see my sick mother. A stamp - a simple piece of paper - was higher than love for a loved one. That's what passion is! What about the paralyzed mother? She saw the time: instead of an hour, it was three hours. What was she worried about, what was she thinking?! Here is a clear example of passion. This is attachment to everything that is not God.

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When the soul hurts: depression and its treatment

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December 23, 2021

The Arabs say: “If you don’t feel the beauty of flowers, if you don’t value friendship and if songs don’t make you happy, you’re sick, you need to be treated.” This condition is characteristic of depression, an illness that affects many modern people. They see no meaning in life, feel helpless and unnecessary. Lost interest in everyone and everything, the future is absolutely hopeless. Depression distorts reality, and the longer it lasts, the stronger the distortion. Fearing the opinions of others, a person does not always agree with the diagnosis, because admitting depression means entering the circle of people with a mental disorder. However, first you need to make sure that this particular disease occurs. Stress or depression?

The word "depression" can be considered in several contexts.
At the everyday level, it is understood as temporary depression and bad mood. Psychologists talk about the existence of seasonal depression, when performance decreases at certain times of the year. Thus, cases of autumn, winter and even spring mental disorder have been described. Summer depression practically never occurs. Doctors strictly distinguish between the concepts of “bad mood” and “depression.” The latter, in their opinion, is a serious disease with clear clinical manifestations. It affects people regardless of the time of year. Depression joins the group of “affective disorders,” defined as “mood disorders.” What are the symptoms?
Although all people are different, the presence of depression makes them similar due to the unity of symptoms.
So, the following signs of depression are distinguished: 1) persistently bad mood: depression, depression, melancholy; 2) loss of taste for life, interests; what used to bring pleasure becomes indifferent; 3) decreased performance, fatigue. In addition to these, there are additional symptoms that help in drawing up a complete picture of the disease: - deterioration of attention; - a complete lack of self-confidence, a sharp decrease in self-esteem; - pessimistic view of the future; - self-accusation; - thoughts of harming oneself, death; - sleep problems in the form of insomnia; — partial or complete impotence due to mental disorder; - excessive fussiness or lethargy; - worsening of the severity of the condition in the morning, slight improvement in the evening. To be diagnosed with depression, these symptoms must last for at least two weeks and occur throughout the day. Is it possible to get out of depression on your own?
Depression is a widespread illness, as statistics show.
Few people manage to avoid it. If the disease is mild, a person feels depressed, loses interest in once-loved things and activities, and experiences irritation and fatigue. Strong personalities, as a rule, solve the problem on their own, mobilizing and stimulating internal capabilities. After a short time, they successfully emerge from depression. If the level is average, depression occurs more intensely and vividly, affecting eating and sleeping patterns. To put it simply, the above symptoms are supplemented by disturbances in appetite (exacerbation of hunger or loss of cravings for food), as well as changes in sleep (rest is either shortened or extended). The third stage of depressive disorder is characterized by a loss of control over one’s emotions, a tendency to self-harm, and the emergence of severe suicidal tendencies. Some patients turn to a wild lifestyle, others begin to use drugs, others lock themselves in the house and cause physical harm to themselves. Depression in this form is treated with medication. In the case of depressive disorder, psychotherapeutic and psychological assistance plays an important role. Only a specialist can identify a real threat to mental health and prescribe an adequate course of treatment. Easing the depressed state is possible by living and talking through existing problems and identifying internal discomfort. Isolation only makes the situation worse for the patient. Together with the doctor, he must overcome the illness, while simultaneously using antidepressants and other medications. It is important not only to get rid of the main and additional symptoms, but also to eliminate the true cause. How to behave when you are depressed?
When you are depressed, there is no desire to do anything, but treatment is necessary. 1. You need to do something that gives you pleasure and inspires confidence. 2. You should avoid pessimistic thoughts, self-blame, and forbid yourself to focus on feelings of guilt and negative thoughts. 3. Refuse to make important decisions until improvement occurs. 4. Analyze the current internal state, problems, provoking factors. 5. Plan specific actions that will help you get out of your current state. 6. Turn to active or relaxation activities (sports, yoga) in order to improve your mood and alleviate your condition. 7. After recovery, think over an action plan in case depression returns. If the disorder appears in loved ones, you should immediately seek help from a psychotherapist, clinical psychologist or psychiatrist. Leaving a problem unattended increases the risk of suicide.