Not sure where to put this. Don't you think there should be a subforum for depression. It is Cambodia after all.

Is everything you think you know about depression wrong?

This new evidence forces us to seek out a very different kind of solution to our despair crisis. One person in particular helped me to unlock how to think about this. In the early days of the 21st century, a South African psychiatrist named Derek Summerfeld went to Cambodia, at a time when antidepressants were first being introduced there. He began to explain the concept to the doctors he met. They listened patiently and then told him they didn’t need these new antidepressants, because they already had anti-depressants that work. He assumed they were talking about some kind of herbal remedy.

He asked them to explain, and they told him about a rice farmer they knew whose left leg was blown off by a landmine. He was fitted with a new limb, but he felt constantly anxious about the future, and was filled with despair. The doctors sat with him, and talked through his troubles. They realised that even with his new artificial limb, his old job—working in the rice paddies—was leaving him constantly stressed and in physical pain, and that was making him want to just stop living. So they had an idea. They believed that if he became a dairy farmer, he could live differently. So they bought him a cow. In the months and years that followed, his life changed. His depression—which had been profound—went away. “You see, doctor,” they told him, the cow was an “antidepressant”.

To them, finding an antidepressant didn’t mean finding a way to change your brain chemistry. It meant finding a way to solve the problem that was causing the depression in the first place. We can do the same. Some of these solutions are things we can do as individuals, in our private lives. Some require bigger social shifts, which we can only achieve together, as citizens. But all of them require us to change our understanding of what depression and anxiety really are.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... onnections

Good, however many have depression because of their natural brain chemistry so there isn't an underlying problem to cure.

This could be the reason many ''bargirls '' act strangely depressed. They need [ another ] water buffalo .

0ahUKEwj78tX1s8rYAhWPQpQKHSAVDlgQ4lYINCgA

Takmav wrote: ↑Tue Jan 09, 2018 2:59 pm 0ahUKEwj78tX1s8rYAhWPQpQKHSAVDlgQ4lYINCgA

Shit, that's one secure password !

Depression is a very interesting topic. Much like alcoholism, we can "have it" but not have a problem with it. Much like some can become sad, and recover, some can drink, and not be a drunk. Mental health is so big right now.

What do you do to improve your mental health? I see many improving their financial or physical health. But their mental health? Don't see many actively improving their mental health.

Good for Mental Health:
- support groups (formal or informal, with love and care)
- communicating about your problem to other sufferers
- good, professional psychiatric care that works
- small furry animals or nice kids
- activities, active lifestyle
- healthy release valve(s), like writing, exercise, playing music, sports, work, etc.
- forgiving after accepting any wrongs
- sunshine, fresh air, freedom
- a healthy and stable environment
- making new friends / meeting new people
- staying current
- help others

Bad for Mental Health:
- rollercoaster relationships (unstable), loss of friends
- large sudden changes: loss of job, house, health
- big loss (dog, wife, family) or money, but money can be replaced
- too much idleness, too much time on the hands
- an unchallenging life
- overly quiet or loud places
- sudden changes in environment (old places shuttered, new places opening <-- I have this here in PP)
- worrying, resenting, dwelling on the past, not forgiving or asking for forgiveness
- self-pity
- to avoid people / isolate
- not making new friends

There's more, that's just off the top of my head. Some unconsciously help themselves by talking to family and friends. Others isolate and wallow in their self-pity.

If any are feeling bad, really bad, just get help. Call or contact a professional organization you trust or a very good, smart friend NOW. Many can be anonymous contacts.

Help someone, and strangely, your own depression lifts as well. That's two birds with one stone, my friend.

"If any are feeling bad, really bad, just get help. Call or contact a professional organization you trust..."

Whom would you suggest in Cambodia, especially one who is fluent in both Khmer and English?

Jamie?

charlie

taabarang wrote: ↑Tue Jan 09, 2018 5:37 pm "If any are feeling bad, really bad, just get help. Call or contact a professional organization you trust..."

Whom would you suggest in Cambodia, especially one who is fluent in both Khmer and English?

I have always found talking to a brick wall helps, but that is only because I dont have a dog to talk to.

i am sure my depression would be cured by winning the euro lottery, but the doctor will not write me a prescription for the ticket so i cannot afford to play