Here’s a somewhat humorous description of what happens when I meditate…

http://www.herbietown.com/blog/2012/01/26/sometimes-my-brain-attacks-me/

Our nervous systems are very complex – under stress and long term hardship cortisol takes it’s toll. Cortisol is responsible for our fight or flight responses – a natural stress hormone secreted by the adrenal gland. Cortisol can affect how we sleep (which in turn encourages more cortisol release) it can affect our immunity, short term memory and the capacity to talk.

Some people try to deal with stress purely from an emotional or mind over matter focus. Granted it can work in some instances, tackling core sources of conflict (internal and external), understanding our reactions to stressful situations and people, supporting ourselves and helping ourselves to improve our lives are important also.

If under stress our bodies use up reserves of vital nutrients – some vitamins and minerals cannot be stored (unlike fat) in our bodies and so our bodies may have increased requirements at certain times. A mega vitamin B complex can help to increase energy levels, support the nervous system in times of stress. There may be many other natural products which can be taken to help us deal with the effect of stress more efficiently (to support our body perspective). In reality, information can be empowering.

Ways to decrease cortisol levels include massage (my favourite), of course meditation (my chosen line relates to spiritual connection to higher power), music (vibrational therapy is one line of thought – soul music is what I like), dancing… etc.

Try not to be so hard on yourself, always look to learn from our experiences and forgive yourself if you make mistakes.

I thought I would share several pages from my book of life. I hope this helps.

Link to cortisol information follows: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortisol

Link to my website follows. http://heartlandprc.vpweb.com.au/

I am a massage therapist but also work with Spirit (psychic – which is a label to describe an experience – not the only label by far). This could be described as meditation or self hypnosis which I use for guidance and healing purposes. Everyone has the ability to tap into source. Anyway, I’m jabberin on…

By leaving no stone unturned you may suddenly find a gem of most beauty.

I’m sorry to hear about the distress you’re experiencing. Donald is right in saying that you should follow up with your psychiatrist if you have worries about your medication. You should also talk to him/her about meditation as well. If he/she thinks this a good idea, then I’d suggest starting with mindfulness of breathing. In theory, the development of lovingkindness would be beneficial too, but this can be a challenging meditation for people who are depressed and anxious. I’d stick with mindfulness of breathing for a while, at least.

All the best,
Bodhipaksa

If you wife seems happy, balanced, and sane, then I’d say encourage her. The only times I’ve known meditation to be unhelpful are where the person has had a mental illness, in which case meditating can intensify the disconnect from external reality.

All the best,
Bodhipaksa

She is up every morning at 5AM doing meditation. I think she does meditation several hours a day now. I’m at work so am not sure exactly.

Should I encourage/discourage her to continue or stay on the sidelines?

Regards,

Jimmy

I can imagine that anxiety — which is often tangled up with depression — could cause you to be more sensitized to sounds around you. When we’re anxious we’re more on the lookout for threats. And one of the things that depression does is to assume bad things from limited information, so I can see how a creepy sound, picked up in an anxious state, could be interpreted as something supernatural.

I’d suggest that when you hear something that your mind interprets as creepy, you recognize that this is just anxiety talking, and smile.