Holistic activities to aid learning?

[blaurebell]

- Regular check-ups with medical staff; unlike what other people here may think, medical professionals are your best friends when it comes to dealing with health issues. You may be distrustful, but they have your best interests at heart, even though some of them may be incompetent or unaffordable if you live in a country with a terrible health care system such as the USA.

Meditation and such have never worked for me, and when my anxiety is sky-high it's impossible to do such things anyway. Time, rest and patience is all that you need to get through things. Medication has helped in my case.

Although I generally agree and think that everyone with severe mental issues should see a professional, I do have some reservations though. I have studied neuroscience at university and frankly, we still know way too little about the brain to be prescribing the medication that are commonly in use today. If your brain is in any way different from the norm, you can do more harm with that medication than anything else you could possibly take. The living proof of this is a very good friend who got a psychosis from Ritalin and was subsequently diagnosed with schizophrenia. If she had never messed with her brain chemistry in the first place, she would have saved herself a lot of pain and misery. Sure, this only happens in few cases, but if it does the consequences may be extreme. So, in general I'm all for therapy, but only if they allow you to choose whether you want to take medication or not. And in most cases they simply won't take you as a patient if you refuse medication. Everyone has to decide for themselves whether they want to take the risk.

[tarvos]

- Regular check-ups with medical staff; unlike what other people here may think, medical professionals are your best friends when it comes to dealing with health issues. You may be distrustful, but they have your best interests at heart, even though some of them may be incompetent or unaffordable if you live in a country with a terrible health care system such as the USA.

Meditation and such have never worked for me, and when my anxiety is sky-high it's impossible to do such things anyway. Time, rest and patience is all that you need to get through things. Medication has helped in my case.

Although I generally agree and think that everyone with severe mental issues should see a professional, I do have some reservations though. I have studied neuroscience at university and frankly, we still know way too little about the brain to be prescribing the medication that are commonly in use today. If your brain is in any way different from the norm, you can do more harm with that medication than anything else you could possibly take. The living proof of this is a very good friend who got a psychosis from Ritalin and was subsequently diagnosed with schizophrenia. If she had never messed with her brain chemistry in the first place, she would have saved herself a lot of pain and misery. Sure, this only happens in few cases, but if it does the consequences may be extreme. So, in general I'm all for therapy, but only if they allow you to choose whether you want to take medication or not. And in most cases they simply won't take you as a patient if you refuse medication. Everyone has to decide for themselves whether they want to take the risk.

There are certain medications that work badly under certain conditions (another example is penicillin if you're allergic). That, however, is a) hard to determine up front, and b) I think there's a case to be made for an informed consent model. That and the power of the pharmaceutical industry. But that's a discussion for another time and place.

My point is, if you feel you have mental problems, seeking help is always a better path than not seeking one. Even if it's just a counselor of some sort. And solving those issues you may have will lead to better holistic functioning in the long run - however you solve it.

[aokoye]

Thanks for sharing Tarvos. I think I may have given the wrong idea about being distrustful of people, it's just society in general I suppose; the negative connotations, broad generalizations (I'm sure due to our overall lack of understanding), and sometimes real world consequences that come with being officially diagnosed with any type of mental disorder or illness (these very vague terms themselves I feel embody our lack of understanding) no matter how mild, at least in the United States. If I was a truly severe case I would definitely seek medical help but I'm not.

So I'm going to be blunt here. Social stigma is not, in the end, a good reason to avoid being diagnosed with a mental illness. I am in no way trying to minimize said social stigma because trust me, I realize it's there. But avoiding being diagnosed does you (the general you - whomever is doing the avoiding) a real disservice.

This is one reason why I am so open about having depression. And yes, I'm pretty open about it in academic settings as well which - yeah it can be alienating but it can also be helpful to both me and other people who do and don't have mental illnesses. No I'm not going to share everything that goes on with me (my therapist is the only one that knows about almost everything that goes on with me actually), but saying, "yeah I have depression, it makes it hard to 'do school', and I have to work my ass off more than your average person in order to reach my potential" or "thinking about grad school is scary because it means finding a new therapist"/"I can only apply to grad schools in areas where finding a therapist who speaks native or near native English isn't difficult" works to lower the stigma of mental illness both in general and in academia (and let's not kid ourselves - academia is full of people who deal with anxiety, depression, and other similar issues).

I have a feeling you also might be overthinking this or constructing situations that likely wouldn't happen. HIPAA is a huge deal in the US and from my expierence privacy is taken more seriously among mental health care providers than it is among other health care providers. Do you think that people are going to somehow automatically find out that you have XYZ if you're diagnosed with it? I can assure you that won't happen unless you disclose to them.

[aokoye]

- Regular check-ups with medical staff; unlike what other people here may think, medical professionals are your best friends when it comes to dealing with health issues. You may be distrustful, but they have your best interests at heart, even though some of them may be incompetent or unaffordable if you live in a country with a terrible health care system such as the USA.

Meditation and such have never worked for me, and when my anxiety is sky-high it's impossible to do such things anyway. Time, rest and patience is all that you need to get through things. Medication has helped in my case.

Although I generally agree and think that everyone with severe mental issues should see a professional, I do have some reservations though. I have studied neuroscience at university and frankly, we still know way too little about the brain to be prescribing the medication that are commonly in use today. If your brain is in any way different from the norm, you can do more harm with that medication than anything else you could possibly take. The living proof of this is a very good friend who got a psychosis from Ritalin and was subsequently diagnosed with schizophrenia. If she had never messed with her brain chemistry in the first place, she would have saved herself a lot of pain and misery. Sure, this only happens in few cases, but if it does the consequences may be extreme. So, in general I'm all for therapy, but only if they allow you to choose whether you want to take medication or not. And in most cases they simply won't take you as a patient if you refuse medication. Everyone has to decide for themselves whether they want to take the risk.

In the US, where the OP appears to live it's actually very easy to be seen by a therapist who doesn't dispense meds. Most psychologists can not, by law, prescribe medications. Some municipalities allow it after the therapist has undergone additional training but it isn't the norm. Psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, and GPs (though I seriously wouldn't suggest getting psychotropic meds from a GP) - yes. Psychologists (which I generally call "therapists") no. Additionally in the US it seems as though most psychiatrists don't actually do talk therapy so, again, it's easy to find a therapist who isn't pushing their client to get on meds.

In terms of meds themselves - I am pretty agnostic. They don't work for me, likely because of the nature of my depression and I've been on a lot of them (13 or something crazy like that), but I don't think they are by and large bad. From what I can tell from the research I've done on the various meds I've been on, from trying to figure out what might work for people ewith treatment resistant depression (which involved looking at various studies), as well as from talking to a good friend who is a pediatric psychiatric nurse practitioner your friend is not the norm at all. There will sadly always be outliers. As Tarvos said - you can be seriously injured if you're allergic to penicillin. Meanwhile one of my friends would have likely attempted suicide as a very young child had she not been in one of the first pediatric trials of prozac. We all have to weigh the risks and benefits. I agree that we don't know a lot about who psychotropic drugs actually work, however I don't think at this point that's a reason not to responsibly prescribe them.

No one in this thread is actually pushing psychotropic meds. That said there was someone who suggested supplements which, unlike any drug that would be prescribed, are unregulated in the US.

[JaraM]

I suffer from depression/anxiety and the best way for me to focus is to get rid of everything causing me stress. It means that you should really target what you're doing. Honestly, though, really, only a therapist or a doctor can help you with such things - same with medication. I think that to improve holistic functioning you should generally do things that improve your general well-being as whole. This includes, but isn't limited to, the following:

- Regular exercise
- Good nutritional habits
- Enough sleep
- Enough time off in order to recharge your batteries
- Regular check-ups with medical staff; unlike what other people here may think, medical professionals are your best friends when it comes to dealing with health issues. You may be distrustful, but they have your best interests at heart, even though some of them may be incompetent or unaffordable if you live in a country with a terrible health care system such as the USA.

Meditation and such have never worked for me, and when my anxiety is sky-high it's impossible to do such things anyway. Time, rest and patience is all that you need to get through things. Medication has helped in my case.

That's definitely great comment! I feel that I really two things in my life: enough sleep and enough time off in order to recharge your batteries... The problem is how fight with it?

[Jar-Ptitsa]

I won't write about my expereince or situation, I don't online any more, but I wanted to reply to blaurebell's comments.

Although I generally agree and think that everyone with severe mental issues should see a professional, I do have some reservations though. I have studied neuroscience at university and frankly, we still know way too little about the brain to be prescribing the medication that are commonly in use today. If your brain is in any way different from the norm, you can do more harm with that medication than anything else you could possibly take. The living proof of this is a very good friend who got a psychosis from Ritalin and was subsequently diagnosed with schizophrenia.

1) Ritalin is not prescribed for severe mental illness.

2) They know that Ritalin can have side effects like make the person psychotic

3) you can get psychosis wihtout taking any medication before at all, or drugs or anything, and you can be diagnosed with schizophrenia without taking Ritalin, or any other med in all your life etc

4) your freind was diagnosed with schizophrenia, not with the Ritalin side effect's psychosis or other types of psychosis eg drug-induced, bipolar, thyroid, depression, after your baby, dementia etc. In my expereince the doctors differentiate.

in general I'm all for therapy, but only if they allow you to choose whether you want to take medication or not. And in most cases they simply won't take you as a patient if you refuse medication. Everyone has to decide for themselves whether they want to take the risk.

Do you mean psychologists won't if you refuse medication?

In the countries where I have lived (belgium and England) the psychiatrist prescribes the meds, not the psychologist, or nurses, or others. Your GP can prescribe after the specialist has decided, and the GP does the things like the blood tests etc.

Yes, they hate it if a person refuses, but they don't say you can't have therapy, but they say things like therapy can't be successful or helpful if you are unmedicated.

For some people, like aokoye wrote, they wouldn't be alive without the meds. Personally, I am fed up that I'm so drugged up (ok I will say this), but at the same time, the meds do some things which make my life possible.

you can do more harm with that medication than anything else that you could possibly take

which medication? Ritalin or an antipsychotic (many different ones) ?

[Tillumadoguenirurm]

- Regular exercise
- Good nutritional habits
- Enough sleep
- Enough time off in order to recharge your batteries
- Regular check-ups with medical staff; unlike what other people here may think, medical professionals are your best friends when it comes to dealing with health issues.

This X10. It's ridiculously easy to underestimate the importance of eating and sleeping right, and it's also ridiculously easy to develop bad habits when you're struggling with your mental health. It doesn't make things disappear, but personally I find that I'm better equipped for handling them when my body is "happy" (sorry for the hippy term).

I would advice you to get your blood and thyroids checked at least, if you haven't already done so. Too little or too much of some vitamins or hormones really messes up the system and can make you feel more depressed or anxious.

[Ingaræð]

This is probably off the beaten path for this forum, and an area I'm completely uneducated about, but I've been thinking more about maybe giving some activities like meditation, for example, a try.

I really only go to the doctor when forced for insurance reasons (I'm just distrustful of people in general) and for routine preventative care so I'm not diagnosed or anything, but I've always felt like I battle with depression and anxiety which is maybe (I don't know these could all be completely separate issues) connected to why sometimes I have a very hard time focusing on whatever it is I'm attempting to get into. I know some people medicate and/or seek therapy for this type of thing, I'm not minimizing that at all, I just have my reasons for not wanting to go down that path.

So I'm curious if there are some approachable practices that other language learners' have successfully used to get in the zone before their dedicated language study/practice time.

Appreciate any contributions,
Thanks.

Actually, I think this is a really pertinent question for this forum (or any other forum dedicated to learning): you're essentially asking, "How can I get my brain firing on all cylinders?" (with some extra specifics), and I'd say that's just as important as, "Which is the best learning method/program?". So I'll make this post (hopefully) helpful for anyone, but particularly useful for anyone struggling with 'mental health' problems (I've put that in apostrophes because I dispute that specific term, not the existence of the illnesses).

Disclaimer: I don't have a very high opinion of the NHS/Big Pharma due to both my own experience of 10 years of misdiagnoses and the 'med-go-round', and the experiences of family members for un-/related health issues. I have no medical qualifications, but I'm very scientifically-minded when it comes to looking at research, clinical trials, anecdotal evidence and pseudo-scientific rubbish on the internet.

I don't do anything specifically to 'get in the zone', because language-learning is in itself a relaxing, positive thing for me. I do have to be in a quiet, distraction-free, appropriately-lit environment, and like most people, some times of day are better than others. If I'm having a bad day, then I'll have to get myself feeling better before I can do anything.

I'd rather be 'in the zone' as much as possible, and my experience is that taking a holistic approach to improving well-being will also aid learning, particularly when it comes to stress. Humans still have the same physiological response to stress/anxiety as when we were cavemen. So when your dreaded credit card bill arrives, your body is reacting as if it was actually a lion: your muscles are primed for 'fight or flight', your digestive system tries to get rid of anything in it, and your IQ can drop 10 points. Not exactly conducive to learning (or taking an exam)!

Find the cause of the problem
In my opinion, depression and anxiety are not illnesses: they are either symptoms of a physical problem (hormones, stress, vitamin/mineral deficiencies, thyroid, neurology, auto-immune issues, medication side-effects), or an inner-caveman sign that part of your life is less than great and you should change it. If you can't fix the cause, at least you've identified it and can try to make the rest of your life more positive.

You are what you eat
When I stopped meds my treatment-resistant depression disappeared, but I still had a persistent 'brain fog', and study was all but impossible. I'd given up reading for pleasure because I'd have to re-read each page 5 times. By chance I discovered I was probably lacking B-vitamins, and after trying an A-Z multivitamin the difference was huge: fog gone, memory back, decent concentration. I could even remember my age! (Seriously. I was late '20s, early '30s, and I had to do the maths whenever anyone asked me.) In hindsight it was probably also a magnesium deficiency. Most deficiencies will cause cognitive difficulties. Now, I eat B-vitamin-rich vegetables every day, and I take magnesium, vitamin C/bioflavonoid and ashwagandha (that has been clinincally trialled) supplements (which are working wonders). They've also normalised my sleep pattern (I'd become almost nocturnal for several years).

Also, to follow on from blaurebell's post, it's not just about putting good stuff in, you have to stop putting bad stuff in too. I cut out gluten and I definitely felt different - good different. A few months later I cut out dairy. If I eat dairy or gluten now, I'll get stressed out really easily and my brain feels like I've taken a bunch of meds. I now have a 'Paleo' diet, and I think my body and brain are better for it. I think there was a study done recently in a Mental Health Unit on in-patients with schizophrenia/psychosis: half were kept on a normal diet, the other half gluten-free. All the gluten-free patients recovered and were discharged more quickly than the others! I think gluten is probably not good for a lot of people, and the neurotoxic pesticides used in agriculture (and therefore in our food chain) aren't helping either.

You are how you move
Yes, I've stolen that from Katy Bowman. Exercise and talking therapies are clinically proven to be more effective in treating mild to moderate depression than anti-depressants. Walking is the best exercise you can do, and it's also great for anxiety as it helps out your over-worked adrenal glands. I don't go outside much at the moment, but it seems that how you move during the day may be even more important for our bodies than what we call 'exercise' (I'll refer you back to Katy Bowman for that, as she's the expert biomechanist!). I also do tai chi, which is essentially moving meditation. I find it really relaxing, and it was the first martial art that Bruce Lee learnt, so it has bonus coolness-points. I tried 'traditional' meditation and Mindfulness years ago, but my brain wouldn't switch off. There's also a study showing that Mindfulness can increase the creation of false memories. A long time ago a psychology-student friend did a test on me where your brain creates false memories. It freaked me out a bit, so I personally won't be doing any Mindfulness again. Counselling was less than helpful for me. Cognitive behavioural therapy can be very useful, though. Acupressure can be very calming, and you can do it yourself (I think 'tapping' basically uses acupressure points?).

You're still a caveman
We may have invented a lot of machinery and technology, but physically we're still the same cavemen. Screens with moving images (e.g. TV) and artificial lighting are bad for us. Whatever you're watching on TV, your brain thinks is actually happening in front of you, and prepares your body accordingly. Action thriller = adrenaline/testosterone; news = anger/sadness; comedy = feel-good chemicals. The same applies to dreams. Be mindful of the balance of 'emotional' input you're giving your brain.

Fluorescent lighting (pretty much everywhere) induces a stress response in humans. Too much artificial light during hours of darkness will mess with your circadian rhythm and cortisol levels, meaning less and poorer quality sleep. I cannot emphasise enough how important sleep is for our minds and bodies. Try and be in bed and asleep by 10 pm (yes, I know that's not easy). Use programs like Redshift or f.lux on your computer/tablet/phone to minimise blue light (your eyes will also thank you). Incandescent bulbs are the 'best'.

Finally (because this post is already too long - sorry ): do not decide to follow/not follow a treatment just because someone says so, whether that person is a medical professional, a fellow sufferer or an anonymous person on the internet. Gather as much information as you can and make a decision based on your personal circumstances/beliefs. Just because someone has your best interests at heart does not mean that they are right. A recent survey in the UK revealed that doctors would not always choose for themselves the treatment they recommend to a patient. New guidance from professional bodies on treatment options and blood test values takes years to filter down to clinical practice, if at all. Psychiatry is a highly subjective discipline. A very good resource for clinical information on psychiatric/neurological drugs is Crazy Meds (warning: it also uses a lot of black humour).

EDIT: Fixed dead links.

[Ingaræð]

4) your freind was diagnosed with schizophrenia, not with the Ritalin side effect's psychosis or other types of psychosis eg drug-induced, bipolar, thyroid, depression, after your baby, dementia etc. In my expereince the doctors differentiate.

Some doctors do, some don't. In my (similar) experience they haven't, so I'm stuck with a misdiagnosis. I suspect it differs between both doctors and countries.

In the countries where I have lived (belgium and England) the psychiatrist prescribes the meds, not the psychologist, or nurses, or others. Your GP can prescribe after the specialist has decided, and the GP does the things like the blood tests etc.

This isn't strictly the case in the UK. GPs can prescribe a drug that is not classed as a 'hospital drug', i.e. virtually any anti-depressant. Dentists can prescribe anti-depressants that have subsequently been approved for treating pain, e.g. amitriptyline. 'Mood stabilisers', anti-psychotics and lithium are classed as 'hospital drugs' and can only be initially prescribed by a doctor in secondary care, i.e. a hospital or Community Mental Health Team.

For some people, like aokoye wrote, they wouldn't be alive without the meds. Personally, I am fed up that I'm so drugged up (ok I will say this), but at the same time, the meds do some things which make my life possible.

I'm glad they're helping someone here!

[blaurebell]

I didn't really want to start a discussion about biases in mental health diagnosis and treatment, sorry about that. I've sat through entire university courses on that and it's really an endless topic. I just wanted to explain why I think medication should be a last resort, not the first, that's all. If you can't live a normal life or are in danger of killing yourself or others, medication and professional help is clearly the only option. If you have problems as severe as that go see a professional and consider medication, preferably right now!

However, such severe cases are not what the most frequent kinds of mental health medications are prescribed for normally though. I know people who took antidepressants because they were sad about a breakup or because their job sucked. I know people who put their kids on Ritalin instead of reducing the sugar in their diet. Neither Ritalin nor antidepressants are regularly prescribed for severe cases, which is why statistics for their side-effects are biased towards the "norm", namely people who really don't have anything wrong with them beyond the garden variety ennui, midlife crisis or just being an obnoxious child. Real cases of clinical depression or severe behavioural disorders often associated with different forms of autism are the exception to the norm, which means that it's likely that their brains are special in some way, like it is the case with my friend with the Ritalin psychosis. Being different from the norm increases the likelihood of severe side-effects, which means that these kinds of medications can possibly be more dangerous to those with real mental health issues and there are no statistics on that since too many "normal" people take these medications too without a real need. The only way to get real statistics would be to exclude "normal" people from pharmaceutical trials or even restrict access to such medication altogether. Neither doctors nor pharmaceutical companies would want that because they wouldn't make any money anymore. That doesn't mean that every severe case will have side-effects, just that we don't really know how high the risk of side-effects really is upfront, as tarvos said. It's something to keep in mind *before* taking such medication and this is precisely why I consider them as a last resort. If you're as good as dead without them, take them, you have nothing to lose and could gain a much better life with their help. Otherwise think about it very carefully.

After my own odyssey with the health systems of two different countries in the attempt to diagnose and treat two different chronic diseases, as well as experiences with 25+ doctors my advice is to always question what a doctor tells you and read everything they give you very very carefully, especially consent forms and medication leaflets. If push comes to shove, you are the one who has to live with your body when they screw up. And they screw up a lot more often than they care to admit! Also, if I had listened to my doctors I would still be so ill that I wouldn't be able to leave the house. Instead I solved 90% of the health problems my doctors called "untreatable" and "therapy refractory" with the help of the internet! I'm not really healthy even now, but thanks to my own initiative I'm healthy enough to have travelled halfway around the planet in the last two years. The solution was a specific type of paleo diet - like Ingaræð - and that was what got rid of most of my health issues. Hooray for the internet and caveman living

Luckily I myself know enough about mental health, psychology and neuroscience to stay as far away as possible from any type of medication for mental health issues, since I already know that my own brain chemistry is far from ordinary. Even my doctors by now agree that I should never even take any opioid based painkillers let alone antidepressants, which actually sucks since I'm a chronic pain patient and lots of those antidepressants can be really useful when dealing with pain. The pain is the only thing I haven't managed to solve completely yet. Acupuncture helps, but well, there are good days and bad days. And with the pain concentration is sometimes rather difficult, although never as difficult as during my times of depression.

By the way, I find it pretty inspiring that you guys manage to do so much despite all these challenges you are facing! That's great! I remember what it was like for me and I had a really tough time doing anything sensible at all while I was depressed. Even showing up to school and university was already a huge struggle most of the time. I only managed any real language learning beyond English after I was diagnosed with celiac and my depression lifted.