₦airaland Forum

How to Prevent Slipping into Depression

Does your happiness depend on everything in your
life being just right? If you think you can't be happy
until all your circumstances are right, you will never
be happy. We all experience times in life when we
feel down for various reasons, but we can't allow our
circumstances to control our emotions. Satan seeks
to fill our minds with negative thoughts and
emotions that cause us to feel down. He is a
discourager, and he pulls us down emotionally,
spiritually, financially, and in every way he can. But
Jesus is our Encourager, and He came to lift us up.
He came to give us righteousness, peace and joy,
and all these things cause us to feel up!

Everyone experiences times of frustration and
distress over unfulfilled hopes and dreams. When
things don't go according to our plans, it is normal to
feel disappointment. But we must be careful how we
deal with that feeling, because disappointment is the
beginning stage of depression. If we remain in a
state of disappointment for too long, it can turn into
discouragement, despair, and finally depression.
Psalm 30:5 tells us that ...Weeping may endure
for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

Things
may make us feel sad temporarily, but we must not
stay sad. Just as we cannot afford to stay mad very
long, neither can we stay sad very long. If we do,
Satan takes advantage of the open door and pushes
his way further into our lives, bringing more serious
problems with him.

Don't Trust Your Thoughts and Feelings

Our number one enemy is emotions. We tend to be
led by how we feel, but we must realize that feelings
are fickle; they change from day to day! We should
be careful not to follow every thought that comes to
our mind because our thoughts and feelings don't
dictate truth to us. For many years of my life, I experienced regular depression. I would awaken
many mornings with a little voice in my head saying,
"I feel depressed." I believed this was my own
thought, not realizing that it was Satan making
suggestions to me through my mind. Later, when
God drew me into a closer walk with Him and I began seriously studying His Word, I learned that I didn't have to follow every feeling and thought that I had. I began to speak aloud and say, "I will not be
depressed." I learned to put on the garment of praise
spoken of in Isaiah 61:3 .

We may not always feel
like praising, but a victorious person does not have
the luxury of living by feelings.
I've learned that staying disappointed can cause me
to start feeling discouraged, which is a deeper
problem than disappointment. But I've also learned
that you can't be hopeful and discouraged at the
same time. So as soon as the devil attacks us with
disappointment and we start feeling discouraged, we
need to turn to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to fill
us with hope.

A brief period of discouragement may
not have a devastating effect, but long-term
discouragement can lead to depression—a very
serious problem.
Resist the Devil and Rejoice in the Lord!
Depression is defined in part as "a hollow; being in a
low state; a state of sadness; dejection." The real
cause of depression is not where we are, but our
attitude about where we find ourselves. It is possible
to learn to live on the other side of your feelings.
We
will always have feelings; they will never go away,
but we can make our feelings line up with our
decisions. That's why God gives us the fruit of self-
control. James 4:7 tells us to resist the devil, and
we must also resist depression, and anything that
resembles it, because it is of the devil.

Philippians
4:4 says, Rejoice in the Lord always [delight,
gladden yourselves in Him]; again I say, Rejoice! If
we stay filled with the right thing, the wrong thing
has no place.
If you don't let the devil impress you with what he
does, then he can't oppress you; and if he
can't oppress you, then he can't depress you. So
choose to be led by the Holy Spirit and you can have
victory over depression.

We can choose to keep a
hopeful attitude by renewing our minds with the
promises found in God's Word. We can claim the
promises as our own and stand in faith, believing
God to help us overcome our feelings and move
forward into better things. We can't control all of our
circumstances, but we don't have to let what
happens today ruin tomorrow. We can actually turn
things around by making a decision to let go of the
situations that caused the disappointment and
discouragement, and move toward the good things
God has planned for our future.


Many people are depressed because they can't face
truth, but the Holy Spirit came to reveal truth to us.
We can't get past depression until we quit making
excuses and blaming everyone else. We must face
the truth and take responsibility for our actions.
When we do that and ask God to help us, the spirit of
heaviness leaves us and we feel light and free. Jesus
tells us in Matthew 11:30 , ...My burden is light
and easy to be borne.

Being depressed about
circumstances does not change them, and it is a
total waste of time and a thief of joy. So we must
stop letting our feelings, mind, body, and past
experiences rule us and allow God to give us a fresh
plan, a new idea, a new goal! You can experience
victory over your emotions by being led, guided,
controlled, and ruled by the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus
sent to us as our Comforter, Counselor, Helper,
Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener and Standby to
remain with us forever (see John 14:16 ).

Thank
God, we don't have to be disappointed, discouraged,
despondent, depressed or in despair. Jesus is not
only the Way, but He is also the way out! Jesus is
our healer, our glory, and the lifter of our heads.

urhoboman: Mine was hell, not cooking though bt it was my first kitchen xperience. donno what she(grandma) put inside the pot and asked me to make sure itz properly DONE by always blowing the fire,(firewood) nd replaced dem wen burnt up. She went out, I was left ahome suffering my self till she came back laffing, i was like WTFz wrong? Mind u she ordered me not to open the pot till she comes back. Alas she opened it and there was noting in the pot, twas filled up with water. Just to keep me at home. Cnt 4get dat day.

If I hear say I no open that pot. Curiosity no go let me rest.

great664: like d ones I appointed out there, give urs? From Female perspective.

The male brain is characterized by systemizing
tendencies “Systemizing” is the drive to analyze, explore,and construct a system. The systemizer intuitively figures out how things work, or extracts the underlying rules that govern the behavior of a
system. The purpose of this is to understand and
predict the system, or to invent a new one.

In contrast, the female brain is characterized by
empathizing tendencies or mentalistic thinking “Empathizing” is the drive to identify another
person’s emotions and thoughts, and to respond to
them with an appropriate emotion. Empathizing
occurs when we feel an appropriate emotional
reaction in response to the other person’s emotions. The purpose of this is to understand another person, to predict his or her behavior, and to connect or resonate with him or her emotionally.

What I mean is d male brain is more logical while the female brain is more emotional.

I think Nigerians now vote for individuals, not party.

There's definitely a whole lot of difference.

Kids of nowadays aint just in for the cramming we did in our days. So funny kids.

This generation is in trouble. " The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2 Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron."

 The Spirit makes it clear that as time goes on, some are going to give up on the faith and chase after demonic illusions put forth by professional liars. These liars have lied so well and for so long that they've lost their capacity for truth. (The Message)

He who think he stands should take heed.

Well.....for me I believe reading the bible alone does not guarantee hearing from God because you can read out of context and use it to sooth yourself. A portion of the scriptures says the letter kills, its the Spirit of God that gives live. So many people have read the bible and gotten themselves more confused.
The Holy Spirit is the believer's link to God, 1 John 2: 26-27 " I've written to warn you about those who are trying to deceive you. But they're no match for what is embedded deeply within you—Christ's anointing, no less! You don't need any of their so-called teaching. Christ's anointing teaches you the truth on everything you need to know about yourself and him, uncontaminated by a single lie. Live deeply in what you were taught."

This anointing is referring to the presence of the Holy Spirit. Jesus told the disciples that the Holy Spirit will teach them all things.

We may read the bible and still not be able to hear God if we don't ve a personal communion with the Holy Spirit who explains the scriptures to us.
There is no magic or shortcut to hearing from God except we pray for the infilling of the Holy Spirit and also pray that our ears be opened to the voice of God. We must also spend time in fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
Each time God speaks to me or lays a burden in my heart, He always confirm it with His word and gives me peace. When this happens, then I'm convinced that God has spoken to me.
Sometimes when I'm confused about something I feel I ve heard God about, I take a lot of time to seek God in prayers for Him to give me another confirmation.

Fixing our eyes on Him, the Author of our faith
Casting aside every sin and every weight
Laying our burdens down
Letting the cares of this world all fade away

"One thing will I ask, this one thing will I seek
That I may dwell in the house of my king
All the days of my life, I want to gaze upon His
beauty, and seek Him in His holy place"

Feel free to ask questions about your unique experience of anger. Let's rub minds together on how you can improve on anger management.

Everyone gets angry and mild anger can sometimes
be useful to express strong feelings and deal with
situations. Anger is an emotional state that varies in
intensity from mild irritation to intense furry and
rage which can be caused by both external and
internal events. It is often associated with
frustration, disappointment, worry, embarrassment,
misunderstanding or disagreements.

TIPS TO CALMIN DOWN

TAKE A DEEP BREATH
Control your internal, physical responses to anger.
Likely, your heart rate is increased, your breathing
is rapid or your voice is raised. The first step to inner
control is to breathe deeply. Breathing deeply allows
your body to be filled with oxygen. This will stop the
adrenaline rush that floods your body when you are
angry. This extra oxygen flow will relax your body,
calm your breathing, slow your heart rate and allow
your brain to resume rational thought. While
breathing deeply, you may repeat a calm word or
phrase such as "relax" or "take it easy".

REALITY CHECK
When you start getting upset about something, take
a moment to think about the situation. Ask yourself:
Is it worth getting angry about?, Is it wort ruining
the rest of my day? Is my response appropriate to
the situation? Is taking action worth my time? By
the time you think over these questions, you would
have decided what the most appropriate response to
the provoking situation should be.

SLOWLY COUNT TO TEN
Distract yourself from the provoking situation and
focus your attention on counting from 1-10 to let
your rational mind catch up with your feelings. If
you still feel out of control by the time you reach 10,
start counting again.

LISTEN TO MUSIC
Music helps in the healing process. Each time you
sense that something is provoking you, to avoid
doing anything that you will later regret, you can
distract yourself from the situation with a soothing
music.

TAKE A WALK
If your anger is getting out of control, remove
yourself from the situation for some minutes or for
as long as it takes you to calm down. A trip to the
gym or a completely neutral environment should
help you calm down. During the time out, plan how
you are going to stay calm when you return.

IDENTIFY WHAT IS REALLY UPSETTING YOU
Have you ever gotten into an argument over
something silly? Big fights often happen over
something small but there is usually a bigger issue
behind it. If you find your irritations rapidly rising,
ask yourself " What am I really angry about?
Identifying the real source of frustration will help
you take constructive action and work towards a
resolution.

WRITE IT DOWN
Sometimes it can help to write things down. What's
happening in your life? Are you experiencing
frustrations? Frustration has been found to be a
major cause of aggression, people who are
frustrated tend to be more aggressive, even over
insignificant things. Writing about these issues can
sometimes help you give perspective and help you
understand your feelings. Work out some options for
changing your situation.

The emotion of anger is perfectly normal especially when you have been mistreated or wronged. The feeling is not a problem, its what you do with it that makes a difference. Anger becomes a problem when it harms you or others. Anger is not something you have to let out in an aggressive way in order to avoid blowing up. You cant always control the situation you are in or how it makes you feel, but you can control how you express your anger.
If you have a hot-temper, you may feel like its out of your hands and there is little you can do about it. Mastering the art of anger management takes work, but the more you practice, the easier it will get.

When a man is in love(lust), he is ready to die for it.

May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble;
May the name of the God of Jacob defend you;
 May He send you help from the sanctuary, And strengthen you out of Zion;
 May He remember all your offerings, And accept your burnt sacrifice.  
May He grant you according to your heart’s desire, And fulfill all your purpose.  We will rejoice in your salvation, And in the name of our God we will set up our banners!
May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.

Over the brown rusted roof.

So many times we make the mistake of thinking that when we "sin" it affects God and we conclude in our heart that after we have sinned we will just ask God for forgiveness and that will be all. The truth is that God doesn't have any problem with forgiving us even if we come back 10million times because forgiveness is His nature.
As human, we don't get tired of eating, talking or
doing whatever is in our nature to do, so it is with
God, He never gets tired of doing whatever is in His nature to do e.g loving, forgiving etc. This shows that the problem of sin does not lie in either God will forgive us or not because He always will. He cant stop being Himself.

The question is "WHO DOES SIN AFFECT?"

Sin affects the individual who commits it. When we
commit sin, we are malfunctioning, when we
malfunction, we self-destruct. The act of sin brings guilt and guilt affects the way we function as believers. the devil uses it as an opportunity to penetrate, he destroys what we are building in our spirit and steals some virtues away, he steals our confidence and makes us weak. When we fall over and over, we don't make much spiritual
progress, we delay our growth and fulfilment.

All the negative effect of sin is on us. Even though God will forgive us, some things would have been tampered with in our lives and some of the loses are irreparable. When Adam sinned, God didn't really lose anything. it was Adam that lost everything. God later forgave us, but
there are still so many negative results that still
persist till today and we have to live with it. God
forgives sin but we are the one who live with the damage (consequence) that it causes. LET US GUARD OUR LIVES.

When u don't have driving license or driving sense but drives confidently on the road.

Your car does not have papers, yet moves freely around.

Raging thunder

Survival Run

Frontline Commando

Surbway Surf

I think English, Biology and 2 other subjects.

rildwanullahi: ar u stil serving in abia,if so which local govt. are u

Umuahia North LG

Dancing..........I ve seen d lady with the red top, but mehn, my eyeball almost pop out.

4 Easy Stress Management Strategies
By Dan Buettner

Stress is often referred to as the silent killer and
causes many harmful, often overlooked effects,
which can introduce pain and strain into your daily
activities. It can affect your work, school,
friendships, relationships and even sleep habits. It
can result in physical suffering as well and can
manifest as a headache, upset stomach or back pain.
Stress can reduce the ability of your immune system to fight off colds and other illnesses the body would normally be able to fend off. In fact, Dr. DavidDanskin from Kansas State University estimates that 85% of doctor visits are due to stress-related causes.
It’s important to learn how to effectively identify and manage stress in your life to increase your longevity and become a happier, healthier person.

The first step in managing stress is identifying the
cause. This may be a major life event that has
recently occurred. A recent job change, marriage,
increased workload or new baby can all lead to
increased personal stress. Sometimes the causes are not obvious, such as poor time management skills, excessive worrying and ineffective coping
strategies. Here are a few strategies you can use to
combat the stress in your life.

Tip 1: Keep a daily stress journal. This will help
identify how much stress you are under, potential
stress triggers and ways to reduce stress in your
life. Take 15 minutes a day to describe any event
that caused you to become stressed and any
resulting emotional or physical response. Over time, you will be able to identify patterns, which will help you develop healthy management strategies. Label your entries with the date and time and use adjectives! Take your stress journal to your doctor if you need additional advice.

Tip 2: Learn to say “no” when you have too many
activities in your schedule. Saying no when you are
reaching your limit can be very empowering! People will respect your boundaries and be more
appreciative of your time when you do agree to take on a favor or additional responsibility. Be firm but polite. Practice saying “no” in the mirror to gain confidence!

Tip 3: Drink water. This may surprise you, but
keeping your body hydrated will help you feel better, improve your mood and ensure your body is getting the nutrients it needs! Your body produces the hormone, cortisol, in response to stress.
Dehydration, even by levels as low as 17 oz (just
over two glasses) increases cortisol levels in your
body.

Tip 4: Eat well. In addition to drinking water, pay
attention to what you eat. Diets high in fiber and low in saturated fat have a positive effect on overall
mood. Diane M Becker, MPH, ScD and Director of
the Center for Health Promotion at the Johns
Hopkins School of Medicine, warns people against
high-fat, high-glycemic loads meals, which “can
make you physically feel dysfunction afterwards.” B vitamins, especially folic acid (folate) and vitamin
B12 are known to help prevent mood disorders,
including depression. These vitamins are found in
spinach, romaine lettuce, lean chicken breasts,
meats, fish, poultry and dairy products.

Yeah, thanks. I don't know y anything related to Psychology excites me so much. The funny thing is I was skeptical abt taking the course at first, only to find out that it's one of the best things that ever happened to me. I don't know if u guys share d same view. Let me ask, did u guys originally put in for it or u just found urself in it like me?

Excited to find this thread. Good day great behaviourists. I'm a graduate of Psychology from AAUA 2012 set.

Excited to find this thread. Good day colleagues. I'm a graduate of Psychology from AAUA 2012 set.

With regards to the things u need for camp, I don't think u need as much photocopy, I was misled by this list only to get to Abia camp and didn't use any of the photocopies. According to the call up letter, u only need 8 passports, at most 12.

Time is the true test of love because time will introduce changes, remember its for better for worse, maybe this is one of the worse sides. Ur ability to handle this season in ur marriage is a test of ur love and maturity. It's only a season.

Arguing with a woman is like getting arrested, everything u say can and will be used against u, so use ur right to remain silent. This is the reason y some don't listen.

Na Abia state sure pass. God's own state. Let's hook up.
3282F343

Wow, I expected this. Who else could it ve bn. Congrats

I rebuke, renounce, reject, refuse ds in my dish. Nauseating

Nice write up.

At least if some of our respected preachers preach scriptures out of context, some of 'us' believers will not stop speaking the truth in love. 1 Timothy 4:1-6 already points it out that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons, such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences ve bn seared as with a hot iron..........

6. If u point these out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truth of the faith and of the good teachings that u ve followed.