Monday, November 26, 2007

Take care to your heart!

ႏွလံုးေရာဂါ ကာကြယ္နည္းငါးသြယ္
၁။ ေန႔စဥ္ ပံုမွန္ေလ့က်င့္ခန္းလုပ္ျခင္း
သင္ဟာ ေန႔စဥ္လန္းဆန္းတက္ၾကြတဲ့ ပုံမွန္ေလ့က်င့္ခန္းမ်ိဳးျပဳလုပ္ျခင္းမရွိပါက ႏွလံုးေရာဂါပိုမိုျဖစ္ပြားႏိုင္ပါတယ္။ ေန႔စဥ္ ပုံမွန္မိနစ္၂၀ခန္႔ လမ္းေလွ်ာက္ေပးျခင္းျဖင့္ ႏွလံုးေရာဂါကို ကာကြယ္ႏိုင္ေၾကာင္း Philipine Heart Association ကရွင္းလင္းေျပာၾကားခဲ့ပါတယ္။
၂။ ေဆးလိပ္ေသာက္ျခင္းကို ေရွာင္ၾကဥ္ျခင္း
"သင္သည္ ေဆးလိပ္ေသာက္ျခင္းကို ေရွာင္ၾကဥ္ရမည့္ အစားဆက္လက္ေသာက္သံုးေနပါက ပ်က္စီးျခင္းဟူေသာ ေလ်ာ္ေၾကးတစ္ခုကို ေပးဆပ္ရမည္။" ဟု ေဟာင္ေကာင္ တကၠသိုလ္မွ သုေတသနပညာရွင္မ်ားက ေျပာၾကားခဲ့ပါတယ္။ ေဆးလိပ္ေသာက္သံုးသူဟာ ေဆးလိပ္မွာပါတဲ့ ပါ၀င္ပစၥည္းေတြ ခႏၶာကိုယ္တြင္းကို လွ်င္ျမန္စြာ ၀င္ေရာက္တဲ့အခါ သင့္ရဲ႕ ႏွလံုးဟာ ေကာင္းေကာင္းမညႇစ္ႏိုင္ေတာ့ဘဲ ေသြးေၾကာ(Blood Vessels)ေတြ တင္းက်ပ္ႏိုင္ပါတယ္။ ႏွလံုးဟာ အနားမယူႏိုင္ဘဲ ေသြးေၾကာမ်ားတင္းက်ပ္လာတဲ့အတြက္ ေသြးခဲျခင္း( Blood Clotting)ျဖစ္လာႏိုင္ပါတယ္။
ဒါေၾကာင့္ ေဆးလိပ္ေသာက္သူဟာ ႏွလံုးေရာဂါကို ႏွစ္ဆပို၍ ျဖစ္ပြားႏိုင္ပါတယ္။ ေဆးလိပ္ေသာက္လို႔ ႏွလံုးေရာဂါျဖစ္ ေနသူဟာ ေဆးလိပ္ေသာက္သံုးျခင္းကို သံုးေလးႏွစ္ခန္႔ ေရွာင္ၾကဥ္ျပီးခ်ိန္မွာ မူလပံုမွန္နီးပါးျပန္ေကာင္းႏိုင္ေၾကာင္း ေတြ႔ရပါတယ္။
၃။ ၀ိုင္ႏွင့္ အရက္ေသစာ ေသာက္သံုးျခင္းကို ေရွာင္ၾကဥ္ျခင္း
"တန္ေဆး လြန္ေဘး" ဆိုတဲ့ဆို႐ုိးစကားအတိုင္း အရက္အလြန္အကြၽံေသာက္သံုးျခင္းကို ေရွာင္ၾကဥ္ႏိုင္မွသာ ႏွလံုးေရာဂါ ကို ကာကြယ္ႏိုင္မွာ ျဖစ္ပါတယ္။
၄။ စိတ္ဖိစီးမႈမ်ားကို မေတြးေတာျခင္း
စိတ္ဖိစီးမႈမ်ားေၾကာင့္ ျဖစ္ေပၚလာတဲ့ စိတ္ဖိစီးမႈေတြ၊ ကံမေကာင္း အေၾကာင္းမလွလို႔ ျဖစ္ေပၚလာတဲ့ ဘ၀ေပးျပႆနာမွ ရရွိလာတဲ့ စိတ္ဖိစီးမႈေတြေၾကာင့္ ႏွလံုးေရာဂါကို ပိုမိုျဖစ္ေပၚေစႏိုင္ပါတယ္။ ဒါ့အျပင္ စိတ္တိုလြယ္တဲ့သူ၊ ရန္လိုတတ္တဲ့သူ ေတြဟာ ႏွလံုးေရာဂါ ရႏိုင္ပါတယ္။
ဒါေၾကာင့္ စိတ္ဖိစီးမႈျဖစ္ေစႏိုင္တဲ့ အေၾကာင္းအရာေတြကို ေတြးေတာျခင္း မျပဳဘဲ စိတ္ကိုျငိမ္းခ်မ္းစြာထားျခင္းျဖင့္ ႏွလံုးေရာဂါကို ကာကြယ္ႏိုင္မွာ ျဖစ္ပါတယ္။
၅။ ဆီးခ်ိဳေရာဂါ မျဖစ္ေပၚေအာင္ေနထိုင္ျပဳမူျခင္း
ဆီးခ်ိဳေရာဂါေ၀ဒနာရွင္ဟာ ဆီးခ်ိဳေ၀ဒနာမရွိိသူထက္ ႏွလံုးေသြးေၾကာပိတ္ေရာဂါ (Coronary Heart Disease)ကိုေလးဆ ပိုမိုျဖစ္ေပၚႏိုင္ပါတယ္။ ေသြးတြင္းသၾကားဓာတ္မ်ားေနတဲ့ ဆီးခ်ိဳေ၀ဒနာရွင္ေတြဟာ ႏွလံုးေသြးေၾကာ ေရာဂါကို ကာကြယ္ကုသႏိုင္ဖို႔ ခက္ခဲလွပါတယ္။ ဆီးခ်ိဳေ၀ဒနာမရွိဘဲ ေသြးမဆံုးေသးတဲ့ အမ်ိဳးသမီးေတြမွာသာ ကုသႏိုင္ ေၾကာင္း သိရွိရပါတယ္။

Friday, November 16, 2007

Layer Jelly..so delicious...

စပ်စ္ေက်ာက္ေက်ာ (Grape Layer Jelly)
 
- ေျခာက္ေသြ႔ေသာ ဗန္းတစ္ခုထဲတြင္ သၾကား ၂၅က်ပ္သားႏွင့္ လူ႐ုိင္းေခါင္းေက်ာက္ေက်ာမႈန္႔ တစ္ထုပ္ကို အေျခာက္ေရာ၍ သမေအာင္ေမႊျပီး တစ္၀က္စီခြဲထားပါ။ ျပီးလွ်င္ စပ်စ္သီး (၁၀)က်ပ္သားခန္႔ကို ပါးပါးလီွးထားပါ။
- ပထမအလႊာအတြက္ ေရႏွင့္ စပ်စ္ရည္ေပါင္းျပီး (ေရသန္႔ ၁လီတာဘူးတစ္ဘူး၏ ေလးပံုသံုးပံု)ကိုေရာ၍ ပြက္သည္အထိ က်ိဳထားပါ။ ပြက္လာလွ်င္ ေက်ာက္ေက်ာမႈန္႔နွင့္ သၾကားေရာထားေသာ အမႈန္႔တစ္၀က္ကို ျဖည္းညႇင္းစြာ ေလာင္းထည့္၍ ေမႊပါ။ပြက္လာလွ်င္ ဗန္းထဲသို႔ေလာင္းထည့္၍ (၅)မိနစ္ခန္႔ အေအးခံထားပါ။
- ဒုတိယအလႊာအတြက္ ေနာက္ထပ္ေရႏွင့္ စပ်စ္ရည္ေပါင္းျပီး(ေရသန္႔ ၁လီတာဘူးတစ္ဘူး၏ ေလးပံုသံုးပံု)ကိုေရာ၍ ပြက္သည္အထိ က်ိဳထားပါ။ ထိုေရပြက္လာလွ်င္ က်န္ေသာအမႈန္႔တစ္၀က္ကို ႏို႔မႈန္႔ (ထမင္းစားစတီးဇြန္း ၁ဇြန္းခန္႔)ႏွင့္ ထပ္ေရာျပီး ေလာင္းေမႊပါ။ ပြက္လာလွ်င္ ပါးပါးလီွးထားေသာ စပ်စ္သီးမ်ားကိုထည့္၍ေမႊျပီး ပထမအေအးခံထားေသာ အလႊာေပၚသို႔ ျဖည္းညႇင္းစြာေလာင္းထည့္၍ (၁၀)မိနစ္ခန္႔ အေအးခံပါ။
သင္းထံုေသာ ေမႊးရနံ႔ ႏွင့္ ထူးကဲေသာ အရသာရွိတဲ့ စပ်စ္လႊာေက်ာက္ေက်ာကို လွ်င္ျမန္လြယ္ကူစြာ စားသံုးႏိုင္ပါသည္။

 

 

ေကာ္ဖီႏို႔ေက်ာက္ေက်ာ (Coffee milk layer jelly)
- ေျခာက္ေသြ႔ေသာ ဗန္းတစ္ခုထဲတြင္ သၾကား ၂၅က်ပ္သားႏွင့္ လူ႐ုိင္းေခါင္းေက်ာက္ေက်ာမႈန္႔ တစ္ထုပ္ကို အေျခာက္ေရာ၍ သမေအာင္ေမႊျပီး တစ္၀က္စီခြဲထားပါ။ Pure ေကာ္ဖီမႈန္႔(ထမင္းစားစတီးဇြန္း ၁ဇြန္းခန္႔)ကိုႏွပ္၍ စစ္ထားပါ။
- ပထမအလႊာအတြက္ ေရႏွင့္ အရည္စစ္ထားေသာ ေကာ္ဖီရည္ေပါင္းျပီး(ေရသန္႔ ၁လီတာဘူးတစ္ဘူး၏ ေလးပံုသံုးပံု)ကို ေရာ၍ ပြက္သည္အထိ က်ိဳထားပါ။ ထိုေရပြက္လာလွ်င္ေက်ာက္ေက်ာမႈန္႔ႏွင့္ သၾကားေရာထားေသာ အမႈန္႔တစ္၀က္ကို ျဖည္းညႇင္းစြာထည့္၍ ေမႊပါ။ပြက္လာလွ်င္ ဗန္းထဲသို႔ ေလာင္းထည့္၍ (၅)မိနစ္ခန္႔ အေအးခံထားပါ။
- ဒုတိယ အလႊာအတြက္ ေနာက္ထပ္ေရႏွင့္ ႏို႔စိမ္းေပါင္းျပီး (ေရသန္႔ ၁လီတာဘူးတစ္ဘူး၏ ေလးပံုသံုးပံု)ကို ေရာ၍ ပြက္သည္အထိက်ိဳထားပါ။ ထိုေရပြက္လာလွ်င္ က်န္ေသာအမႈန္႔တစ္၀က္ကို ေလာင္းထည့္၍ေမႊပါ။ ပြက္လာလွ်င္ ပထမ အေအးခံထားေသာ ေကာ္ဖီအလႊာေပၚသို႔ညင္သာစြာ ေလာင္းခ်၍ ၁၀မိနစ္ခန္႔ အေအးခံထားပါ။
ေကာင္းမြန္ေသာ အနံ႔အရသာရွိသည့္ ေကာ္ဖီႏို႔ေက်ာက္ေက်ာကို ရရွိမည္ျဖစ္ပါသည္။
*လူ႐ုိင္းေခါင္းေက်ာက္ေက်ာမႈန္႔ (AGAR AGAR POWDER)

Health and Beauty tips

ေဆးဆိုင္က အလြယ္တကူ၀ယ္လို႔ရတဲ့ ေဆးအသံုးျပဳမယ္ဆိုရင္
- ေဆးပုလင္းနဲ႔ ေဆးဘူးထဲမွာရွိတဲ့ အညႊန္းကို ေသေသခ်ာခ်ာဖတ္ပါ။ သတ္မွတ္ထားတဲ့ေဆးပမာဏထက္ပိုမေသာက္ပါနဲ႔။
- အရင္တုန္းက ေဆးနဲ႔ပတ္သက္ျပီး ဓာတ္မတည့္မႈရွိရင္ မေသာက္ပါနဲ႔။
- သင့္ကိုေရွာင္ဖို႔အရင္က ေျပာထားတဲ့ ေဆးရွိရင္ ၊အဲဒီေဆးမသံုးခင္ ဆရာ၀န္နဲ႔ျပပါ။
- သင္ ကိုယ္၀န္ေဆာင္ထားရရင္ ဆရာ၀န္ညႊန္ၾကားခ်က္မပါဘဲ ဘာေဆးမွ မသံုးပါနဲ႔။
- အသက္ ၂၀ေအာက္ ငယ္ရြယ္သူ ကေလးငယ္ေတြကို ဆရာ၀န္မညႊန္ၾကားဘဲ အက္စပရင္ မတိုက္ပါနဲ႕။

မ်က္ကြင္းညိဳေနသူမ်ား အတြက္ Beauty Tips
- အနားယူပါ။အိပ္ေရး၀ေအာင္အိပ္ပါ။ မ်က္ကြင္းညိဳေနတဲ့အခ်ိန္မွာ ပံုမွန္ထက္နည္းနည္းပိုေစာျပီး အိပ္ရာ၀င္ပါ။
- ေန႔တိုင္း ေနေရာင္ကာလိမ္းေဆးလိမ္းျပီးမွ အျပင္ထြက္ပါ။
- ဗီတာမင္ ေက နဲ႔ Aloe Vera ပါ၀င္တဲ့ Eye Creamမ်ိဳးလိမ္းေပးပါ။
- ေရမ်ားမ်ားေသာက္ပါ။
- လတ္ဆတ္တဲ့ သစ္သီးနဲ႔ ဟင္းသီးဟင္းရြက္မ်ားမ်ားစားပါ။
- ေရေအးေအးေလးနဲ႔ မ်က္ႏွာသစ္ေပးပါ။
- ေဆးလိပ္ေသာက္ရင္ ေဆးလိပ္ျဖတ္ပါ။ ေဆးလိပ္ေသာက္တဲ့ သူေတြအနားမွာလည္း မေနပါနဲ႔။
- သံဓာတ္ခ်ိဳ႕တဲ့ရင္လည္း မ်က္ကြင္းညိဳတတ္တဲ့အတြက္ အသား၊ပဲအမ်ိဳးမ်ိဳး၊ ၾကက္ဥ၊ အစိမ္းရင့္ေရာင္ရွိတဲ့ ဟင္းသီးဟင္းရြက္ေတြနဲ႔ စပ်စ္သီးေျခာက္ေတြကို စားေပးပါ။ မ်က္စိကို မပြတ္ပါနဲ႔။

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Mother's Defination

M = is for the millions things she gives us.
O = means only that she's growing old.
T = is for tears she to save us.
H = is for her heart of purest gold.
E = is for eyes , with love sight.
R = means right she'll always be.

အေမက.... ကြၽႏု္ပ္တို႔ကို ေပးခဲ့တဲ့ သန္းေပါင္းမ်ားစြာေသာ အရာေတြ။
သားသမီးေတြအတြက္ေပးဆပ္ရင္း အိုမင္း သြားတဲ့ အေမ။
သားသမီးေတြ အတြက္ အေမက်ခဲ့တဲ့ မ်က္ရည္ေတြ။
အေမရဲ႕ ေရႊစင္ႏွလံုးသား။
ေမတၲာ ၾကင္နာျခင္း အျပည့္အ၀ႏွင့္ ေစာင့္ေရွာက္ ၾကည့္႐ႈခဲ့တဲ့ အေမ။
အျမဲတမ္း မွန္ကန္ေသာ အေမ့ ဆံုးမစကားမ်ား။

Parting Rain

လမ္းခြဲမိုး
အဲဒီညေနခင္းက
မိုးေတြ အျပိဳင္းအ႐ိုင္း ရြာခဲ့ပါတယ္။
ေလွ်ာက္ေနက် လမ္းေဟာင္းေလး
မိုးေတြ စိုေနတဲ့အခါ
ငါ့ႏွလံုးသားကလည္း ရႊဲရႊဲစိုလို႔...။

တကယ္ဆို
မင္းနဲ႕ တို႔ၾကား
နံရံေတြ ျခားသြားဖို႔ ဆိုတာ
ဘယ္သူမွ ေတြးမိၾကမွာ မဟုတ္ဘူး..။
ဒါေပမယ့္ တခ်ိဳ႕ျဖစ္စဥ္ေတြဟာ
ပံုျပင္ထက္ ဆန္းတယ္...။
အနာဂတ္ကို
လွလွပပ စာစီေနတုန္း
ေမွ်ာ္လင့္ခ်က္ မိုးတိမ္ေတြကို ႐ႈံးနိမ့္ ျပိဳက်
ဒါနဲ႔ပဲ
ေနာက္ဆံုး လက္က်န္ အသက္ေငြ႔ေငြ႕ေလးနဲ႔
ငါ့မွာ မိုးစက္ေတြကို ေငးေနခဲ့ရတယ္...။
ဒါေပမယ့္
မိုးေတြၾကားထဲ လမ္းခြဲၾကရတဲ့ အခါ
မင္းေရာ ငါပါ စက္စက္က် ရႊဲနစ္လို႔...။ ။
ေအးေအးထြန္း (B.A Eng.)ေခ်ာက္

Milk & Egg Pudding

ႏို႔ၾကက္ဥ ပူတင္း
လိုအပ္ေသာပစၥည္းမ်ား
ၾကက္ဥ - ၃လံုး
သၾကား - ထမင္းစားဇြန္း တစ္ဇြန္း (အခ်ိဳၾကိဳက္ပါက ပို၍ထည့္ႏိုင္သည္)
ႏြားႏို႔ - ၂၅ က်ပ္သား
ရနံ႕ ႏွစ္သက္ပါက တစ္စက္ခန္႔ထည့္ႏိုင္ပါသည္။ ဗနီလာ အနံ႔သည္ အေကာင္းဆံုးျဖစ္ပါသည္။
ျပင္ဆင္ခ်က္ျပဳတ္ပံုံု
ၾကက္ဥကို နာနာေခါက္၍ ပြလာပါက သၾကား၊ႏြားႏို႔ႏွင့္ ရနံ႕တစ္စက္တို႕ကိုထည့္ျပီး ဆက္လက္၍ေခါက္ပါ။ ထို႔ေနာက္ အဖံုးပါေသာ ခ်ိဳင့္တစ္လံုးတြင္ ေဖ်ာ္စပ္ထားေသာအရည္တို႔ကို ထည့္ပါ။ဒန္အိုးတစ္လံုးတြင္ ေရတစ္၀က္ခန္႔ထည့္ျပီး ခ်ိဳင့္ကို ဒန္အိုးတြင္ထည့္ကာ ဆူေ၀ေအာင္တည္ပါ။ ခ်ိဳင့္မရွိပါက ခြက္ကိုအေပၚမွာ အဖံုးဖံုးေပးျပီး အေလးတစ္ခုခုျဖင့္ ဖိထားကာ အိုးတြင္ထည့္၍ တည္ႏိုင္ပါသည္။ ႏွစ္ထပ္ေပါင္းအိုးျဖင့္လည္း ျပဳလုပ္ႏိုင္ပါသည္။

Are U Lonely tonight?

ကြၽန္ေတာ္က ဘာလို႔ သတိရခံခ်င္ေနရတာလဲ။
ျပႆနာက ဒါပဲျဖစ္သည္။
ကြၽန္ေတာ္က ဘာလို႔ သူမ်ားေတြရဲ႕ သတိရတာကို ခံခ်င္ေနရတာလဲ။
"သတိရတယ္" ဟူေသာ စကားေလးတစ္ခြန္းသည္ လူသားဘ၀ကို ခ်ဳပ္ကိုင္ထားသည္မွာ အံ့ၾသဖို႔ေတာ့ေကာင္းေလသည္။ တကယ္ေတာ့ "သတိရတယ္"ဆိုျခင္းမွာ သိမွတ္စိတ္ကေလးတစ္ခုမွ်သာျဖစ္သည္။
ကြၽန္ေတာ္တို႔သည္ ကိုယ့္ကို မိဘေတြက သတိရသည္ဆိုလွ်င္ စိတ္လံုျခံဳမႈကို ခံစားရသည္။ သူငယ္ခ်င္းေတြက သတိရသည္ ဆိုလွ်င္ ေပ်ာ္ရႊင္ၾကည္ႏူးမႈကို ခံစားရသည္။ တျခားလူအမ်ားၾကီးက သတိရသည္ဆိုလွ်င္ ပီတိျဖစ္ကာ မသိမသာ ဂုဏ္ယူတတ္ၾကသည္။
တကယ္ေတာ့ အဲဒီသိမွတ္စိတ္ေတြဟာ တစ္ခ်ိန္ခ်ိန္မွာ ဘယ္ကိုမ်ားေရာက္သြားၾကမွာပါလိမ့္။
ေနာက္ဆံုး ကြၽန္ေတာ္တို႔ ေသဆံုးသြားၾကတဲ့ အခါမွာ ျဖစ္ျဖစ္ေပါ့။
ေဟာသည့္ ေလာကၾကီးတစ္ခုလံုးမွာ သင့္ကို သတိရတဲ့သူ တစ္ေယာက္မွ မရွိေတာ့ဘူးဆိုရင္ေရာ.....သင္ဘယ္လိုခံစားရမလဲ...အရမ္းကို အထီးက်န္သြားမွာပဲ မဟုတ္ဘူးလား။
တကယ္ေတာ့ ကြၽန္ေတာ္တို႔သည္ သူမ်ားက ကိုယ့္ကို သတိရေနေစခ်င္သည္ဆိုျခင္းမွာ မိမိကိုယ္တိုင္ အထီးက်န္ရမည္ကို ေၾကာက္ရြံ႕ျခင္းေၾကာင့္သာျဖစ္၏။
အထီးက်န္ မျဖစ္ခ်င္သူေတြက ကိုယ့္မိသားစုကို အတင္းဖက္တြယ္တားၾကသည္။ သူငယ္ခ်င္းေတြကို အတင္းဖက္တြယ္ ထားၾကသည္။ နာမည္ေက်ာ္ၾကားမႈေတြ အသိုင္းအ၀ိုင္း ေတြႏွင့္ကိုယ့္ကိုယ္ကို ေႏွာင္ဖြဲ႕ပစ္လိုက္ၾကသည္။
ဒါပါပဲ။
တကယ္ေတာ့ လူေတြဟာ ေမြးကတည္းက အထီးက်န္ေနမွန္း ကိုယ့္ကိုယ္ကို ဘယ္သူမွ မသိၾကတာပါ။
ေသသြားျပီးတဲ့ေနာက္မွာေရာ ကိုယ့္နာမည္ကို လူဘယ္ေလာက္မ်ားမ်ားက သတိရေနေစခ်င္တာလဲ။
(တခ်ိဳ႕ကေတာ့ စိတ္ကူးယဥ္အေတြးထဲမွာေတာင္မွ ေသျပီးတဲ့ေနာက္အထိ အထီးက်န္ျဖစ္မွာကို ေၾကာက္ၾကတုန္းပဲေလ။ သူရဲေကာင္းဆိုတဲ့လူေတြေတာင္ ဒါကိုေတာ့ေၾကာက္တတ္ၾကတယ္မဟုတ္လား။)
တကယ္ေတာ့ ေသျပီးျပီဆိုလွ်င္ အထီးက်န္ျဖစ္ရမွာကို ဘာေၾကာက္စရာလိုေနေသးလို႔လဲ။
သတိရသူေရာ သတိရျခင္းခံရသူေရာ ႏွစ္ေယာက္စလံုးဟာ တစ္ခ်ိန္ခ်ိန္က်ရင္ အေမ့ေလ်ာ့ခံလိုက္ရမယ့္ လူေတြခ်ည္းပဲ မဟုတ္လား။

Monday, November 5, 2007

Recovering From Depression

Healing Friendships During Depression Recovery
Depression is very hard to beat on your own. You need the help and support of the people around you -- especially your family and friends -- when you are recovering from depression.
Here are some things you can do.
- Create a support team. In the early stages of recovery, you might want to seek out a few close friends or family members whom you can really rely on. Don't choose only one person, since that can be overwhelming for the person. Talk to all of them about your depression and your own experience. Let them know that it's fine to check in on you once in a while to make sure you're doing OK. Or they can help with your treatment by reminding you to take your medicine or driving you to health care appointments.Your support team can also help you watch for any signs that your depression might be coming back. They should also have a clear idea of what to do during an emergency.
- Join a support group. Although they mean well, your family and friends may just not understand what you've been through. They may not be able to give you the support you need. If that's the case, think about joining an organized support group. That way, you can meet and talk to people who have experienced depression and recovery from depression, just as you have. Depression can make you feel alone. Being part of a support group helps you see that you aren't.Ask your doctor or therapist for the names of support groups in your area. Or get in touch with organizations like the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) or the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA).
- Consider talking to your co-workers. Deciding whether to talk to co-workers -- or to your boss -- about your depression is complicated. It's your choice. Legally you do not have to tell them anything you don't want to. But sometimes, people with depression find that telling some people at work can be a relief. Your co-workers or employer may have been confused or concerned by your behavior when you were depressed. If you feel comfortable explaining the situation to them, you might put them at ease. Knowing that you have the support of your co-workers may make you feel a lot better.
- Get involved. Now is a great time to meet some new people and get more active. Volunteer for a charity or a political campaign. Join an exercise class. Sign up for a book club. Just don't take on anything too demanding at first. Also, keep in mind that you don't need to tell any new friends about what you've been through. You'll just find that meeting new people, and being a part of some new activities, can help your recovery.

Depression Recovery: an Over view

Depression Recovery: An Overview
Recovering from depression isn't easy. One of the hardest things is that you just don't know what to expect.
It's not like healing from an injury. If you broke your arm, your doctor could give you specifics about your recovery. He or she could tell you -- at least roughly -- how many weeks you would need a cast and when you will be healed.
Unfortunately, depression isn't like that. Each person's recovery is different. Some recover in a few weeks or months. But for others, depression is a long-term illness. In about 20% to 30% of people who have an episode of depression, the symptoms don't entirely go away.
You may also have trouble figuring out how you feel. If you were depressed for a long time before you got treatment, you may not remember what feeling normal is like.
You need to know that you're not alone. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, about 19 million Americans are living with depression right now. And treatment works. The National Mental Health Association says that more than 80% of people who get treatment say it helps. If you stick with it, the odds are very good that you will feel better.
Be Aware of the Risk of Relapse
While some people become depressed only once in their lives, others face depression multiple times. According to the American Psychological Association, at least 60% of people who have an episode of major depression will go on to have a second. And 70% of people who have two episodes will have a third.
These may seem like scary statistics. Right now, you may not feel like you can go through depression again.
But depression doesn't have to overshadow the rest of your life. You just have to be aware. Now that you're recovering from depression, you have valuable information. You know the signs of depression. You know the times in your life when you might be more vulnerable. Next time, you can get help sooner and get better faster.
Demand to Feel Well Again
If you went through a severe depression, you may be relieved to just feel OK again. You might not be happy, but you're grateful that you can get out of bed and go to work.
But that isn't enough. It isn't enough to just feel less miserable. You deserve to feel well again, to feel as good as you once did. If your current treatment isn't allowing that, then you need to improve it. There are many different ways of treating depression -- therapy, medicines, and lifestyle changes -- that can help.
So don't settle for feeling just OK. You and your health care provider need to work together. With some effort and good treatment, you can feel truly well again.

Recovering From Depression

A Depression Recovery Lifestyle
Depression can make you feel powerless. But there are many things you can do for yourself to improve your mood, help your recovery, and stay healthy.
Don't be a passive patient. You don't have to leave your treatment entirely in the hands of your health care providers. Depression robs you of a feeling of control. Taking responsibility for your own health can give that feeling back.
Here are some things you can do.
- Exercise. Many studies have established that regular physical activity can help you feel better when you are recovering from depression. The type of physical activity really doesn't matter. Just choose something that you enjoy. Start slowly, perhaps with walks around the neighborhood. Try exercising with a friend or relative, or sign up for a class. Sharing the activity with someone may help you stick to a new exercise regimen.
- Get some sunlight. You might find that getting some sun can put you in a better mood. Some people have seasonal affective disorder (SAD), depression that typically recurs during the fall and winter, when sunlight is scarce. If you have SAD, ask your doctor if light therapy -- exposure to artificial sunlight with a special lamp -- might help.
- Get enough sleep -- but not too much. Depression, and sometimes the treatment for it, can interfere with your sleep. Some people with depression sleep too much. Others have insomnia -- they can't fall asleep at night or they wake up too early in the morning.Not getting enough sleep can have a huge impact on your mood. So you need to get into some good sleep habits. Stay on a regular schedule: go to bed and get up at the same time each day. Don't nap. Physical activity during the day may help you sleep, but don't exercise too close to bedtime. That is stimulating. Before getting into bed, unwind with a good book or soothing music. However, avoid reading or watching TV in bed. That will help you maintain good sleep habits.
- Eat a healthy diet. Despite what you might read, there is no diet that will cure or prevent depression. But a common sense eating plan will provide the nutrients you need and keep you feelinghealthy and energetic. Don't buy into fad diets that sharply restrict what you can eat. Instead, focus on the basics. Watch your calories, eat lots of vegetables, grains, and fruits, and limit fat and sugar.
- Do things you enjoy. When you're recovering from depression, you may not feel like getting out and having a good time. But you should push yourself a little. Set aside time to do things that you used to enjoy doing. Make a plan to go out to dinner or a movie with friends. Or return to a hobby that you used to pursue. Try expressing yourself creatively.
- Avoid alcohol and drugs. Alcohol and many illicit drugs can contribute to depression and make it worse. In fact, substance abuse often goes hand in hand with depression. Alcohol and drugs may also affect how well antidepressants work. If you think you have a substance abuse problem, you need to get help now. Addiction or abuse can prevent you from fully recovering from your depression.
Considering Alternative Treatments
You might be thinking about trying alternative medicines or therapies. However, you should check with your health care provider before trying any herbs or supplements. There is no firm evidence that any alternative medicines work. Some can cause serious side effects or interact with other drugs. Just because something is natural doesn't mean it's safe.
But some other alternative therapies, while unproven, are widely considered safe. You might try relaxation techniques, meditation, hypnosis, massage, or acupuncture.

Depression in Men

Is Depression in Men Different Than in Women?
The symptoms of male depression are not commonly recognized. Every year, depression affects more that 19 million Americans, but men account for only about one in 10 diagnosed cases. Because of this, depression was once considered a "woman's disease," linked to hormones and premenstrual syndrome. The lingering stereotype of depression being a female condition may prevent some men from recognizing its symptoms and seeking appropriate treatment.
In reality, depression affects both sexes, disrupting relationships and interfering with work and daily activities. The symptoms of depression are similar for both men and women, but they tend to be expressed differently. The most common
symptoms of depression include low self-esteem, suicidal thoughts, loss of interest in usually pleasurable activities, fatigue, changes in appetite, sleep disturbances, apathy and sexual problems, including reduced sex drive.
There are several reasons why the symptoms of depression in men are not commonly recognized:
- Men tend to deny having problems because they are supposed to "be strong."
- American culture suggests that expressing emotion is largely a feminine trait. As a result, men who are depressed are more likely to talk about the physical symptoms of their depression, such as feeling tired, rather than those related to emotions.
- Depression can affect
sexual desire and performance. Men often are unwilling to admit to problems with their sexuality -- mistakenly feeling that the problems are related to their manhood, when in fact they are caused by a medical problem such as depression.
- The observable symptoms of male depression are not as well understood as those in women. Men are less likely to show "typical" signs of depression, such as crying, sadness, loss of interest in previously enjoyable activities, or verbally expressing thoughts of suicide. Instead, men are more likely to keep their feelings hidden, but may become more irritable and aggressive.
For these reasons, many men -- as well as doctors and other healthcare professionals -- fail to recognize the problem as depression. Some mental healthcare professionals suggest that if the symptoms of depression were expanded to include anger, blame, lashing out and abuse of alcohol, more men might be diagnosed with depression and treated appropriately.
Depression in men can have devastating consequences. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that men in the U.S. are about four times more likely than women to commit suicide. A staggering 75-80% of all people who commit suicide in the U.S. are men. Though more women attempt suicide, more men are successful at actually ending their lives. This may be due to the fact that men tend to use more lethal methods of committing suicide, for example using a gun rather than taking an overdose.

Why is Depression Different in Men?
Understanding how men in our society are brought up to behave is particularly important in identifying and treating their depression. Depression in men often can be traced to cultural expectations. Men are supposed to be successful. They should restrain their emotions. They must be in control. These cultural expectations can mask some of the true symptoms of depression, forcing men to express aggression and anger (viewed as more acceptable "tough guy" behavior) instead.
In addition, men generally have a harder time dealing with the stigma of depression. They tend to deal with their symptoms with a macho attitude or by drinking alcohol. This attitude still pervades many male-dominated institutions, such as the military and athletics, where men are taught that "toughness" means putting up with physical pain and admitting to emotional distress is taboo. Rather than seek help, which means admitting to what they perceive as a weakness, men are more likely to deal with their depression by drinking heavily or committing suicide.
Special Consideration -- Bereavement
Men also tend to deal with the loss of a loved one differently than women. This may also be related to their belief that men must be strong in the face of adversity, and that showing emotion is a sign of weakness. Men tend to assume full responsibility for their bereavement and suppress their grief. Studies show that this suppression can increase the time it takes to grieve and lead to complications such as escalating anger, aggressiveness and substance abuse. Physical symptoms may include increased cholesterol levels, ulcers, high blood pressure, and pain.
Because they feel unable to openly express their feelings, many men deal with grief by taking on more activities -- such as working overtime or going on business trips -- to occupy their time. They may become involved in risk-taking behavior, such as dangerous sports or compulsive sexual activity. Some addictive behaviors, such as over consumption of alcohol or other drug abuse, can escalate as the result of suppressed grief.
Can Depression in Men Be Treated?
More than 80% of people with depression -- both men and women -- can be treated successfully with antidepressant medication, psychotherapy or a combination of both.
Reviewed by the doctors at The Cleveland Clinic Department of Psychiatry and Psychology.