IN THIS ISSUE:

1. Notes from the Coach - A Process Model of Depression
2. Depression Antidote No. 15 - Play some Energising Music
3. Resources
4. Spread the Word
5. Just for Fun - Cat Toast

1. Notes from the Coach

I read an announcement in a newsletter today, which said I'd decided to relaunch Depression Antidotes. I've no idea how it got there but it reminded me that on December 6th I did indeed relaunch Depression Antidotes.

My lack of communication since then has been due to Christmas approaching, relatives visiting, Christmas itself, my birthday, New Years Eve, my mothers 70th birthday and the dreaded, dreadful Depression!

Last time I wrote, I was wondering how I was going to find meaningful things to say since I was no longer depressed. Ha! - that'll teach me! Days in bed, misery and tears and two weeks ago I was poised to re-new my antidepressants prescription. But this latest trip down the hellhole has now passed and I'm feeling more balanced, if somewhat shell-shocked. This got me wondering whether or not I'll ever be completely free of depression and, more importantly, whether or not it really matters.

A friend once remarked I was a wonderful model of how to have a great life despite suffering from depression. At the time, I was unable to see the value in that. Since, the ultimate goal is to be depression free, isn't it?
Well now I'm not so sure. Given that 75% of depression sufferers recycle back into the pit it makes more sense to learn to enjoy your life despite depression rather than waiting for this wonderful time when you are no longer depressed.

My old view of depression was based on an overly simplistic 2-stage model where I'm either depressed - Phase I or not depressed - Phase II.

The ultimate aim was to get from I to II and stay there. Then I could live happily ever after. A major problem with this type of thinking, however, is how would I know when it was time to live happily ever after, i.e how would I know when I was completely free of depression?

In early December I thought I was there. The previous January I'd stop taking antidepressants and I'd had no major episodes since then. It seemed reasonable to assume I was now depression free. But the next few weeks were to prove this was not so.

The reality is we can never guarantee that we are or ever will be completely depression free. Given this, I've revised my strategy based on the following 3-stage model.

Phase I = Depressed
Phase II = Post Depression
Phase III = Depression Free

At first sight this might appear discouraging. The thought of living your whole life with the spectre of depression is not a happy one. But I believe that the 3-stage model actually increases your chances of becoming Depression free. And, even if you never get there, you can still have a great life in phase II.

Finding yourself at phase I is a backward experience if you're living according to the 2-stage model. While you are depression free you feel successful and positive. Slipping back into depression makes you feel you've failed again.

However, if you're living according to the 3-stage model then finding yourself at Phase I (depressed)is just another step on the journey or your life. You have an opportunity to learn some more and move another step closer to being depression free in phase III. You don't need to feel a failure or that things/you will never change. You're living proof that overall your life is improving

Model 1 is Outcome driven. Model 2 is process driven. And that difference is important. The key is to enjoy the process of your life as your work towards the outcome of being depression free. You don't need to wait for the outcome BEFORE you can enjoy the process.

Depression Antidotes speaks particularly to Phase II of the 3-stage model. This is where the foundations for living a great life are laid.

So, switch your focus from outcome to process.

Based on my own experience and on more formal learning there is a coaching programme designed to support you in building the perfect Phase II foundation for your life.

It's called:

2. Depression Antidote No. 15

Play some loud music. Feel the reverberations bring energy to your body. Preferably, choose something with words. Dance around and sing using your hairbrush as an imaginary microphone.  This is doubly effective if you can do this in front of a mirror and laugh at yourself at the same time!

3. Resources

**http://www.ContactDetails.com/**

If you move around a lot and your friends and family have a hard time keeping up with how to keep in touch with you, take a look at this site. Here you can choose any word for your ID and share it with the people you want to keep in touch with while you're traveling. They can then go to the website and, using your ID, access your up-to-date contact information (address, telephone number, and e-mail address), no matter where you are.

4. Just for Fun

An American magazine held a competition, inviting its readers to submit new scientific theories on ANY subject.

This is the winner:       Subject - Perpetual Motion

"When a cat is dropped, it always lands on its feet, and when toast is dropped, it always lands buttered side down. Therefore, if a slice of toast is strapped to a cat's back, buttered side up, and the animal is then dropped, the two opposing forces will cause it to hover, spinning inches above the ground. If enough toast-laden felines were used, they could form the basis of a high-speed monorail system."

This idea got this reply from one of the readers:

I've been thinking about this cat/toast business for a while. In the buttered toast case, it's the butter that causes it to land buttered side down - it doesn't have to be toast, the theory works equally well with Jacob's crackers. So to save money I think you just miss out the toast - and butter the cats. Also, should there be an imbalance between the effects of cat and butter, there are other substances that have a stronger affinity for carpet.

Consider that the probability of carpet impact is determined by the following simple formula:
P = S * t(t)/tc

where P is the probability of carpet impact; S is the "stain" value of the toast-covering substance (an indicator of the effectiveness of the topping in permanently staining the carpet - chicken tikka masala, for example, has a very high S value, while the S value of water is zero); tc and t(t) indicate the tone of the carpet and topping respectively - the value of P being strongly related to the relationship between the colour of the carpet and topping, as even chicken tikka masala won't cause a permanent and obvious stain if the carpet is the same colour.

So it is clear that the probability of carpet impact is maximised if you use chicken tikka masala and a white carpet - in fact this combination gives a P value of one, which is the same as the probability of a cat landing on its feet. Therefore a cat with chicken tikka masala plastered on its back will be certain to hover in mid air.

Contrastingly, there could be problems with buttered toast as the toast may fall off the cat, causing a terrible monorail crash resulting in nauseating images of members of the royal family visiting accident victims in hospital, and politicians saying it wouldn't have happened if their party was in power as there would have been more investment in cat-toast glue research. Therefore it is in the interests not only of public safety but also public sanity if the buttered toast on cats idea is scrapped, to be replaced by a monorail powered by cats smeared with chicken tikka masala floating above a rail made from white wool shag pile carpet.

Have a wonder-filled week

Nancy

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