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Welcome to the Worry and Sadness Program! Congratulations on having the courage to improve
your emotional health and wellbeing
explain some of the techniques involved in learning to manage sadness, low mood and worry. Of
course, your own experience will be very personal, but you may find that you relate to some aspects of
their stories.
This program involves four lessons to be completed over a four week period. Here is an overview of
the four lessons in this Program:
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
We have prepared a lesson summary (like this one) for each of the three lessons in the course, which
includes the key information taught in the lesson, and exercises that can help you put the skills into
practice in your daily life. By practicing the skills, you will get the most benefit out of the program.
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Along with more general goals, write down any other specific goals you want to achieve
during this Program below.
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Happy
Afraid
Normal
Upset
Sad
Emotions
Angry
Anxious
Excited
Guilty
Too intense
Difficult to control
Long-lasting
Feelings of sadness, numbness or low mood that last for most of the day for at least 2 weeks
Lack of interest or difficulty experiencing pleasure or enjoyment for at least 2 weeks
Low energy, feelings of fatigue and exhaustion
Sleeping problems (either sleeping too much or too little)
Feelings of worthlessness, and hopelessness about the future
Suicidal thoughts
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There are also different types of anxiety that people experience. We have provided a list for you to
explain what these labels mean.
Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD): People with GAD usually experience excessive worry
that is persistent, usually out of proportion (or about lots of everyday things), and difficult to control.
They also experience irritability, fatigue, muscle tension, insomnia and other problems.
Social Phobia: People with social phobia fear social situations (e.g., being the centre of attention,
public speaking, meeting new people) because they are afraid that they will be evaluated negatively
by other people. This often causes them to avoid many social interactions or experience high levels of
anxiety in social situations.
Panic Disorder: People with panic disorder fear having panic attacks. They often develop
Agoraphobia, which is the avoidance of situations where they believe they will be unable to escape,
should a panic attack occur.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): People with PTSD usually experience recurrent
and distressing memories, flashbacks and/or nightmares of traumatic events that they have witnessed
or experienced. They often avoid reminders of the traumatic event, and experience other problems
(e.g., irritability, numbness, insomnia).
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD): People with OCD experience distressing intrusive
thoughts or images, and also experience compulsive behaviours (e.g., checking).
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When people experience low mood and anxiety, their thoughts, behaviours and physical symptoms
not only affect one another, they are also important in maintaining the problem (that is, they keep the
low mood and anxiety going).
are linked. As you
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Another example:
thought
which led her to feel very anxious, experience heart racing and sweating (physical symptoms) and
also meant that she checked whether he was ok again and again by calling his mobile (behaviour).
The more she checked her phone and tried calling him, the less confident she felt, and the more her
attention was focused on her fears, and the more anxious she felt!
When my heart raced, I thought Im
having a heart attack, and theres
something seriously wrong with me
As you can see in these examples, low mood and anxiety involve a vicious cycle that can be hard to
break. All of the different parts (thoughts, physical symptoms and behaviours) interact with one
another as illustrated in the diagram above. You may relate to these examples, or may find that your
thoughts, feelings, behaviours and physical symptoms are slightly different, yet all interact with each
other.
The good news is that if you make any small changes and improvements on any one of these parts of
your experience, it will have a positive impact on the others (because each one affects the others).
That is why this educational course is so important it helps you to dismantle the cycle so that the
physical symptoms, thought and behavioural symptoms improve.
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Despite all of these advantages to exercise, we know that it is not easy to become more active,
especially if you are feeling sad or worried a lot of the time. This is because you may feel too drained to
exercise into your day. It is also because unhelpful thoughts stand in your way. When you are sad and
you are faced with something you would normally do before being sad, like going for a walk, you may
do less and
less. This means:
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In this lesson, you learnt about the fight or flight response. When our brain detects possible danger or
threat, our body reacts with an automatic biological response called the fight or flight reaction. The
fight or flight response is a series of normal biological reactions that are designed to keep you
physically safe in the face of possible danger.
The brain becomes focused
on danger
. causing you to concentrate
on your distressing feelings,
making it hard to concentrate
on other things
Breathing speeds up
. causing dizziness, feeling
unwell, or lightheaded
Saliva decreases
so your mouth becomes
dry
A number of things happen to our body when this reaction is triggered. These include:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Our breathing rate and heart rate increases to get more oxygen to our muscles
Blood is diverted from non-essential organs (e.g. stomach) to more essential muscles
Our muscles tense up in preparation for activity
Our bodies start to sweat to cool us down
Our brain focuses on any potential dangers (making it hard to concentrate)
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7. Controlled Breathing
As well as engaging in regular exercise, another way of improving your emotional
health and wellbeing and to reduce stress is to regularly use controlled
breathing. Controlled breathing can be useful to reduce the symptoms caused by
the fight or flight response. The aim is that once you get good at being able to do
controlled breathing you can use it at times during the day when you notice you
are starting to feel worried.
It is important to practice, practice and practice the controlled breathing task
and then practice some more!
SUMMARY: The controlled breathing exercise can be done at different times throughout the day.
At first you may need to find a quiet, relaxing place. With practice, it becomes easier and you can use it
whenever and wherever you need to.
The more practice you d
that it takes time to master this skill,
technique at least 3 times per day every day.
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8. Your Checklist
Your tasks to do following this lesson are:
Review lesson 1 again
Print out and re-read this lesson summary
Get active! Schedule light physical exercise at least 3 times per week for at least 30 minutes
Practice controlled breathing at least 3 times per day, each day
Reward yourself for completing lesson 1!
9. Summary
Congratulations on completing Lesson 1.
copy it.
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