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Unleashing Inner Strength: Defeating Workplace Stress for a Happier You

Are You Frequently Battling Stress Throughout Your Day? In our fast-paced lives, it’s no surprise that stress creeps into our daily routines due to numerous commitments, looming deadlines, and little time for self-care. Stress, in all its forms, shares a common denominator – it induces malaise, fatigue, and irritability, making us susceptible to illness and less tolerant of others and everyday challenges. Remarkably, stress is … Continue reading Unleashing Inner Strength: Defeating Workplace Stress for a Happier You

This Series of Posts Concerning Depression’s Social-Environmental Causes, Solutions, and Johann Hari’s “Lost Connections”

This post (or page), which will continue to be updated, organizes links to my series of posts relating to depression’s causes, possible solutions, and Johann Hari’s “Lost Connections” Continue reading This Series of Posts Concerning Depression’s Social-Environmental Causes, Solutions, and Johann Hari’s “Lost Connections”

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The Surprising Benefits of Depression

No one talks about the benefits of depression, do they? No one talks about how depression might happen for a good reason.  Most people assume it’s nothing but a bad thing. A product of low courage. A cancer of the mind. And perhaps it is? When you examine depression on paper, it’s difficult to argue otherwise. I mean, I hardly need to outline the costs … Continue reading The Surprising Benefits of Depression

The Do-Something-for-Someone-Else Strategy: A Specific Anti-Depressant Re-Connection

In a recent post, I mentioned one specific non-pharmaceutical, anti-depressant strategy: This is, when you sense depression and anxiety beginning to grow, rather than attempting to cheer yourself up by doing something alone and directly for yourself, instead try to do something for someone else. … Today I’d like to reflect on that strategy. Let me start with some cautions, then move toward how get this strategy right, which has a lot to do with understanding it properly. Continue reading The Do-Something-for-Someone-Else Strategy: A Specific Anti-Depressant Re-Connection

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Three Ways to Better Manage Stress Daily – Mindfulness, Sophrology, Self-hypnosis

To better manage stress, the regular practice of mindfulness, sophrology or self-hypnosis can be of great help. These disciplines can also be useful in addition to medical follow-up in case of burn-out or depression. Mindfulness – focusing on the present moment Mindfulness can be defined as the gym of the mind that consists of intentionally paying attention to what you are experiencing / doing in … Continue reading Three Ways to Better Manage Stress Daily – Mindfulness, Sophrology, Self-hypnosis

Disconnection from Others and Loneliness: One Social-Environmental Cause of Depression

Today I want to talk about one major cause of depression and the prospect of counteracting or removing that cause. This cause is disconnection from others, or loneliness (more on that shortly). I’m basing this largely on Johann Hari’s investigation and discussion of these matters in his amazing book Lost Connections, which I wrote about in a previous post, explaining what the book is about … Continue reading Disconnection from Others and Loneliness: One Social-Environmental Cause of Depression

The Idea of a Non-Pharmaceutical Anti-Depressant

The idea of a non-pharmaceutical anti-depressant might be the single most important thing in Johann Hari’s amazing and fairly recent book: Lost Connections. It radically reframes the entire dominant way of thinking about the treatment and prevention of depression, and does this by radically expanding, in a hopeful, realistic, and evidence-based manner, the way we’ve come to assume depression will be treated. Continue reading The Idea of a Non-Pharmaceutical Anti-Depressant

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Stalling: Why Letting Go Is the Key to Regaining Lift

“The harder we try with the conscious will to do something, the less we shall succeed. Proficiency and results come only to those who have learned the paradoxical art of doing and not doing, or combining relaxation with activity.”  – Aldous Huxley Drown-Proofing  When it comes to our psychology what’s happened is this. Our hands and arms have been bound together, and we’ve been thrown … Continue reading Stalling: Why Letting Go Is the Key to Regaining Lift

Non-Pharmaceutical Anti-Depressants and Environmental Causes of Depression: Johann Hari’s Lost Connections

Johann Hari’s book Lost Connections: Why You’re Depressed and How to Find Hope, is one of the very best things I read in 2022. It’s one of those unusual gems you find, that make you want to tell everyone about it, but because it’s so rich and deep, it’s very difficult to convey, in a couple sentences, what it’s about and why it’s so amazing. … Continue reading Non-Pharmaceutical Anti-Depressants and Environmental Causes of Depression: Johann Hari’s Lost Connections

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Stalling: The Aerodynamics of Life

The Four Forces of Flight There’s an analogy I want to imprint on your mind today. It’s one I intend to come back to repeatedly as I go about writing my high-flying book. It concerns something known in aviation as the four forces of flight. To give you a quick lesson in aerodynamics, those are thrust, lift, weight and drag. Thrust counteracts drag, whereas lift … Continue reading Stalling: The Aerodynamics of Life

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How Do You Deal with Anxiety?

Have you been lucky enough to have never dealt with anxiety disorders? Or, even worse, depression? If this is the case, you may not understand what it means to be in such a situation of psychological distress. Nevertheless, if you experienced anxiety, you may have faced some difficulties with your relatives, or also circle of friends.  Out of fear or ignorance of what anxiety and … Continue reading How Do You Deal with Anxiety?

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The Elephant in the Cockpit

I’m going to stick my neck out today. I’m going to talk about something I’ve been avoiding for certain political and professional reasons for some time now. A topic that is close to my heart. As it turns out, aircrew are extremely reluctant to talk about mental health. On the rare occasions I’ve brought it up, I’ve seen Captains visibly squirm in their seats. They … Continue reading The Elephant in the Cockpit

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Neuroticism: The Cost of Consciousness

The Cost of Consciousness Neuroticism is the trait associated with negative emotions. It can be broken down into the following two aspects: Volatility and Withdrawal.  Those high in withdrawal may be described as anxious, self-conscious, depressive and easily overwhelmed. Whereas those high in volatility may be described as touchy, irritable and unstable. In contrast, those low in both may be described as calm, happy, easy-going … Continue reading Neuroticism: The Cost of Consciousness

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Fear of Imperfection, AKA Atelophobia

The etymology of “atelophobia” comes from the Greek atelophobia, a word composed of atelés (meaning imperfect, incomplete) and phóbos (or fear, phobia) and it means fear of imperfection.  A large number of people suffer from atelophobia, a constant feeling of imperfection and inadequacy. Discontent with one’s own aesthetic appearance, search for a perfection that does not exist, fear of never being up to it. For … Continue reading Fear of Imperfection, AKA Atelophobia

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Would More Money Make You Happier?

Would more money make you happier? Let me tell you a story. Markus Persson, a Swedish 36-year-old business man, spends his time on Twitter, where he talks about his life and that of his company. One day, he twitted something that will change his life. Markus created in 2009 the video game called Minecraft, a kind of virtual Lego game that has become a social … Continue reading Would More Money Make You Happier?

Maintaining The Best Mental Health: A Simple Guide

 Please note this is a partnered post and may contain affiliate links. Maintaining great mental health in the modern day is becoming more and more difficult. There are so many things that can cause extreme stress and anxiety, and it’s far too easy to get swept into the tide of chaos and confusion. Thankfully, it’s more than possible to escape the mental anguish in order … Continue reading Maintaining The Best Mental Health: A Simple Guide

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Stuck in the Clouds: An Aviator’s Guide to Pointless Overthinking

I have a love-hate relationship with thinking. Sometimes, I get in these kinds of flow states where I follow my train of thought – connecting the dots along the way. When I follow my thoughts in this way, I find it euphoric. I often derive my best writing doing so.   This is all well and good when my thought train takes me on a pleasant … Continue reading Stuck in the Clouds: An Aviator’s Guide to Pointless Overthinking

Escaping the Emotional Rabbit Hole

The Parable of the Second Arrow According to the Buddha, any time we suffer misfortune, two arrows fly our way. The first arrow is the bad event itself, which certainly can (and often does) cause pain. The second arrow is our reaction to the bad event, the suffering we attach to our pain. This secondary pain, he tells us, is always self-inflicted.  What you might not have been told, however, … Continue reading Escaping the Emotional Rabbit Hole