Soul Therapy

Creflo Dollar

Have you ever felt as though your problem, circumstance or personal pain, although a big deal to you, seemed too small for God to be concerned about? Quite the contrary is true. God is not only your Creator and Father, but He is also your Provider. He cares about every detail of your life. It is important that you believe that God wants only the best for your life. When you put your trust in Him you will find that no matter what kind of sickness you may be dealing with—spirit, mind or body—He is an expert at healing your hurts and pains and providing restoration.

Sometimes you can become physically and emotionally drained because of your circumstances. We have all experienced times where there is such a burden on our hearts, that the emotions we incur from suffering or worry paralyze us. At times, even your soul—your mind, will and emotions—needs healing.

Women and Islam

Simply put, women are treated as second-class citizens in most Muslim-majority nations. And this is not an anomaly of Islam: it fully follows from authoritative Islamic tradition. The example of Muhammad is paramount in this regard, and full justification for the poor treatment of women is found in all the main texts: the Koran, the hadith, and the sira.

But I have detailed all this elsewhere. See here for example:

www.billmuehlenberg.com/2006/11/02/islam-and-women/www.billmuehlenberg.com/2008/02/22/islam-and-women-2/
And it does not take a Westerner to point all this out. Many within Islam are aware of the problems, and many former Muslims are speaking against this. One such former Muslim is Ibn Warraq. He has written extensively on this particular issue, and the dangers of Islam in general.

Dreaming May Help Relieve a Bad Day

MyHealthNewsDaily Staff Writer

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A bad day may not seem quite so painful after we dream, a new study suggests.

The results show that during nighttime dreaming, also known as REM sleep, the brain processes emotional experiences in a "safe" environment, or one in which stress chemicals are low. This processing may take the emotional edge off of difficult memories, the researchers said.

"We wake up the next day, and those experiences have been softened in their emotional strength," said study researcher Matthew Walker, an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley."We feel better about them, we feel we can cope."

More Than 8 Million Americans Sleepwalk, Surprising Scientists

By Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience Senior Writer | LiveScience.com

Adult sleepwalkers are more common than previously realized, with upward of 8 million American adults prone to nighttime ambulation, a new study finds.

In fact, about 3.6 percent of U.S. adults have walked in their sleep at least once in the previous year, researchers report Monday (May 14) in the journal Neurology. One percent experienced at least two episodes of sleepwalking per month.

S t i g m a

By Lizzie Simon

I've always thought that stigma against people with mental illness came from ignorance. And when I'm confronted with someone who simply doesn't know much about mental health, I can explain myself, my story, and my viewpoints and stay pretty relaxed through the conversation. After all, there's plenty of stuff I'm ignorant about, and I generally like to give people the benefit of the doubt.

But what happens when the person expressing stigma is extremely intelligent? For me, it's far more complex and uneasy.

Her thesis was that mental illnesses didn't really existRecently at a party, I was introduced to a small group of people by someone who praised my book on mental illness. One of the women in the group asked me what it was about, and I told her that it was a cross country memoir in which I interviewed people who had been successfully treated for bipolar disorder. I had written the very book I needed to read when I was seventeen and diagnosed.

Successfully treated? She said, and she pulled me aside to talk further.

She was incredibly articulate and well educated, a university professor. And yet, her thesis was that mental illnesses didn't really exist. That wellness through medical treatment was a conjured fantasy by the marketers of medicine. In her view, the ways in which people are diagnosed and treated for mental illnesses are nothing more than shoddy methods devised by institutions with profit motives. These methods, she said, stripped individuals of their agency, their humanity and their money.

Mental Health Myths

"KIDS WILL BE KIDS" Myth: Teenagers don't suffer from "real" mental illnesses — they are just moody. Fact: One in five teens has some type of mental health problem in a given year. (National Institute of Mental Health/Harvard University Study June 2005) Myth: Talk about suicide is an idle threat that need not be taken seriously. Fact: Suicide is the third leading cause of death among high school students and the second leading cause of death in college students. Talk about suicide should always be taken seriously. (Jed Foundation) Myth: Childhood mental health problems are really the result of poor parenting. Fact: If someone in your family has a mental illness, then you may have a greater chance of developing the illness, but mental illness generally has little or nothing to do with parenting. One in four families is affected by a mental health problem(Surgeon General's Report on Mental Health)

A Fractured Mind The Pain of Mental Illness

By Anonymous

Thirteen years ago, my oldest son, Matthew, fell in love with a wonderful girl and asked her to be his wife. She was a classic beauty, tall and slender with long dark hair and amber eyes. We immediately bonded with this vibrant, lovely girl and welcomed her into our family. She said voices were telling her to kill me... It was a beautiful, traditional wedding and we had the joy of seeing our son, a handsome groom, stand with his bride under the chupah, the marriage canopy. It was a fairy tale wedding. It has been a nightmare marriage. Four months after the wedding my telephone rang at 3:00 a.m. Any mother will tell you that when your phone rings at that time in the morning, your heart skips a beat and you scramble to answer, praying all the while that the call is not bad news. It was Matt; he was at the emergency room with his bride. "What's wrong?" I asked. "I don't know Mom, she has been acting very strangely lately and then tonight she just flipped out. She said voices were telling her to kill me, she hit me in the face with an aluminum bat."

The Wake-Up Call My Battle with Depression

By Aliza Hausman

I couldn't make myself get out of bed for the morning megillah reading last Purim. Venturing out the evening before had sapped all my energy. I couldn't bear the scrutiny of the prying eyes of others. I was sure that everyone would read the emotions on my face. I didn't want to go on living. And I didn't want anyone to know.

Just two years earlier, I was all smiles at the public high school where I taught English. As I teased my 11th grade students mercilessly, they groaned in response. I had finally found a career that challenged me. I pictured myself retiring in twenty years with countless stories under my belt. I was already a hit at every Shabbat table where I delighted the hosts and guests with stories from my colorful classroom.

You Make Me Laugh : Things It Takes Most Of Us 50 Years To Learn

1. The badness of a movie is directly proportional to the number of helicopters in it. 2. You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment. 3. The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above-average drivers. 4. There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness." 5. People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them. 6. If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings." 7. The main accomplishment of almost all organized protests is to annoy people who are not in them. 8. You should not confuse your career with your life. 9. A person who is nice to you, but rude to the waiter/janitor, is not a nice person. 10. When trouble arises and things look bad, there is always one individual who perceives a solution and is willing to take command. Very often, that individual is crazy.

*Thanks to Pastor Tim for this joke!* cybersalt.org/cleanlaugh http://www.crosswalkmail.com/ViewMessage.do?

Postpartum Depression : What is postpartum depression? Are the "baby blues" the same thing as postpartum depression?

Why do women get postpartum depression?Having a baby can be one of the biggest and happiest events in a woman's life. While life with a new baby can be thrilling and rewarding, it can also be hard and stressful at times. Many physical and emotional changes can happen to a woman when she is pregnant and after she gives birth. These changes can leave new mothers feeling sad, anxious, afraid, or confused. For many women, these feelings (called the baby blues) go away quickly. But when these feelings do not go away or get worse, a woman may have postpartum depression. This is a serious condition that requires quick treatment from a health care provider. 

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What is postpartum depression? Are the "baby blues" the same thing as postpartum depression?Postpartum depression (PPD) is a condition that describes a range of physical and emotional changes that many mothers can have after having a baby. PPD can be treated with medication and counseling. Talk with your health care provider right away if you think you have PPD.
There are three types of PPD women can have after giving birth:

Depression in Children

Is anything so agonizing in divorce as seeing the effect it has on your child? Children react in so many negative ways to divorce, but perhaps the most painful is the depression that children sometimes experience during or after divorce.

• How Common Is It?
• Signs to Watch For
• What Can I Do?
• Other Resources

How Common Is It?

Our best estimates are that about 2.5% of children about about 8% of adolescents suffer from depression. A person who struggles with depression as a child or as a teenager is at substantially higher risk for depression (and other illnesses) as an adult. Depression in children and teenagers often comes side by side with other forms of mental illness, with substance abuse, with anxiety, and/or with diabetes. For obvious reasons, children and adolescents who suffer from depression are at materially higher risk for suicide.

Depression appears to be gender-neutral for children. In adolescents, however, girls are about twice as likely as boys to be affected.

Depression in children does not have a high correlation with a family history of depression. Among adolescents, however, there is a high rate of correlation.

Signs To Watch For

Clinically speaking, the symptoms of depression in children are identical to those for adults. Five or more of the following, persisting for more than two weeks, indicates the presence of "major depression."

• Persistent sad or irritable mood 
• Loss of interest in activities once enjoyed 
• Significant change in weight or appetite
• Difficulty sleeping, or sleeping too much
• Unusual agitation or retardation 
• Loss of energy 
• Feelings of worthlessness or inappropriate guilt 
• Difficulty concentrating 
• Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide

More specifically to children, however, parents and other adults often have difficulty spotting the symptoms of depression in children and teenagers. One study showed that parents were actually less effective than the children themselves in recognizing and dealing with depression. Here are some of the signs:

• Physical complaints, such as headache, nausea, or sore muscles
• Recurrent thoughts of running away from home, or actually running away
• Alcohol or substance abuse
• Frequent absences from school
• Poor performance in school
• Frequent outbursts of shouting, crying, or irritability
• Lack of interests in friends
• Reckless behavior
• Difficulty with relationships
• Fear of death, or fascination with death
• Social isolation

Please understand that I raised two children, and I know how much the list above looks like a list of what every teenager goes through. Obviously, then, it's easy to see why parents and other adults often miss the presence of depression

What Can I Do?

It's interesting that we know so much about the incidence and diagnosis of depression in children and so little about how to treat it. As with adults, most treatment involves a combination of medication and therapy, although with children, the use of psychoactive drugs is more controversial than with adults.

Ask about Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), which has been helpful to some children and teenagers. The idea of CBT is that children and adolescents with depression often have a distorted view of themselves and of the world around them. CBT focuses on identifying and correcting those distortions.

When it comes to medication, there's every reason to use a psychiatrist who specializes in treating children. That's because we are gathering new information every day about which medications are most effective with selective populations. Ask about Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI's), which have been shown to be effective in treating depression in children and adolescents.

The most important thing you can do is to stay thoroughly informed about your child's interests, habits, activities, and performance. Please know that your first reaction when confronted with the signs of depression will be to attribute them to something else. This is one of those areas where your judgment will be clouded, however. If you have any inkling that your child is struggling with depression, ask to visit with his or her guidance counselor, or make an appointment with a qualified mental health professional who can help you think through a thorough diagnosis and a review of your options.

Other Resources

You can (and probably should) start with Deborah Deren's excellent introduction to depression in children on her Wings of Madness site.

http://www.divorceinfo.com/depressioninchildren.htm