Showing posts with label Preventing Depression. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Preventing Depression. Show all posts

Friday, August 17, 2007

Feeling Depressed?

I have no idea why the Lady Lydia Speaks section, which I write for http://www.ladiesagainstfeminism.org/ (Jennie Chancey and I met online many years ago
on an Edwardian/Victorian message board), evokes so many questions about depression! When we first began, we divided up the section into several subjects:
Manners
Hospitality
Feminine Dress
Art/Literature/Music
Homemaking
Letter Writing
Even after all that, the one subject that I get the most emails about is depression. I can not help thinking there might be a connection in the lack of these interests in life, (and the lack of many other things) and depression.
Because of several recent emails on the subject, I will address just a portion of this subject. One that I should have included in the Lady Lydia Speaks section, should have been "Good Health," because lack of good health can depress the emotions considerably. In spite of this, there were many people in the past, and many people today who can raise their minds above their infirmities and pursue life in a happy way. I am thinking of people like Robert Louis Stevenson, who write his books and poetry as a bed-ridden invalid, and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, whose ill health did not deter her from writing poetry. People today like Joni, paint pictures and do many other things in spite of severe handicaps. Therefore, perfect health does not insure perfect moods and poor health does not necessarily mean depression.
However, health is a consideration in alleviating depression, and for that reason, I want to address the avenue of sleep, as one way to create more optimism and ambition. Granted, there are certainly many other things such as our words and thoughts, our view, our habits, food, weather, debt, relationships, disappointments, living conditions, which add to anxiety, but for time's sake, right now I'll only address this one.
Sleep: We have fallen far away from the original purpose of sleep and have abused our health and ultimately our minds by our careless sleeping habits. Improper sleep can contribute to lack of motivation and to emotional problems such as short tempers and bad judgements, which then go on to ruin good relationships within the family. This can put a person at risk in other areas of health. The stress of temper problems coming from lack of sleep, resulting in relationship problems, can then cause digestive problems.
To improve sleep, here are some practical ideas:
*Clean up your bedroom and make it spacious, and open windows to get fresh air.
*Use the most natural fibres you can find for your sheets and blankets and pillows. Man-made fibres are things like nylon and acrylic. Natural fibres consist of: cotton, wool, flax (linen), silk, bamboo, or hemp. Find pillows and mattresses that are stuffed with something other than acrylic fibre-fill. The chemicals from the artificial materials could add to health problems.
*Use a natural hand-made soap instead of a commercial soap, when bathing before you go to bed. Instead of taking a shower, take a bath. Baths are more relaxing. Commercial soaps sometimes have more chemicals in them than soap. You might think that a bar of natural hand made soap is expensive, but it lasts sometimes months longer than a bar of commercial soap. When you buy good soap, you are supporting the people who have home businesses and are making a living for their families.
*After 6 p.m., slow down rather than speed up. Wind down, not up. Lower the lights in the house with indirect, not over-head lights. In my home, I allowed the overhead light bulbs to go out and never replaced them. It keeps us from flipping on a switch and bringing on sudden harsh light into someone's eyes. Now, we turn on the little lamps that give an indirect light that is not as irritating.
*Read before you sleep.
*Pray for everyone you can possibly think of, before you go to sleep.
*Wear natural clothing to bed, and even in summer, gowns with sleeves on them are better than sleeveless bed clothes.
*Do not start a controversial conversation or talk about bad news before you go to bed. Avoid the television--it is full of bad news, which eventually interferes with sleep and adds to feelings of depression.
*Do not use alarms or alarm clocks. Go to be when it gets dark and get up when it gets light. When you get used to this you will find you automatically go to sleep and wake up after you have enough sleep.

Swans in the Park by Wilhelm Menzler (1846-1926)

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