The Soul In Depression, Stress and Balance, and a glimpse of The Pain Body

"As a society, we're increasingly aware of the many faces of depression, and we've become conversant in the language of psychological analysis of depression and medical treatment for it."

"One in ten Americans, and even more dramatically, about one in four women, will experience clinical depression at some point in their lives. We take an intimate look at the spiritual dimensions of this illness and its aftermath."

These quotes are from the introduction for last weeks show on Speaking of Faith, with Krista Tippet titled, The Soul In Depression. I found that last night i listened to several of the sites pod casts in a row and thought that this information would be useful to any of my friends and loved ones dealing with depression in their lives. These interviews give many insights into the variety of experience and and methods of understanding of several people who have moved through this 'dark night of the soul'.

The website has much more on this topic, especially the SOF Observed blogs about each of these shows. Each show also has a website with more information, unedited interviews and additional material and links to books, music, poetry etc.


The pod casts are:


The Soul In Depression
Listen Now (real Audio 53:09)
http://publicradio.org/tools/media/player/speakingoffaith/20090226_depression



Stress And The Balance Within
Listen Now (real Audio 53:00)
http://publicradio.org/tools/media/player/speakingoffaith/20070712_stress

Speaking of Faith says about this show:
"The American experience of stress has spawned a multi-billion dollar self-help industry. Wary of this, Sternberg says that, until recently, modern science did not have the tools or the inclination to take emotional stress seriously. She shares fascinating new scientific insight into the molecular level of the mind-body connection."


Another show i found helpful was this one with Eckhart Tolle, especially the part where he talks about his idea of "the pain body" which is this almost separate entity which arises in an individual and seems to be the accumulation of years of painful memories and emotions which influences how we react to the events in the present moment.



The Power of Eckhart Tolle's Now
Listen now (Real Audio 53:09)
http://publicradio.org/tools/media/player/speakingoffaith/20080814_tolle

Of this show, Speaking of Faith's website says:
"Host Krista Tippett creates a certain kind of space in her interviews, and this conversation is no exception. Tolle shares his youthful experience of depression and despair — suffering that led him to his own spiritual breakthrough, and ultimately, freedom and peace of mind. He also explicates his view of what he calls "the pain body" — the accumulated emotional pain that may influence us and our relationships in negative ways. And Tolle talks about spirit and God, and what those concepts mean to him."

Listening to these shows back to back really gave me a picture and a feeling of hope and understanding about the issues and challenges facing many people in my life. I would be remiss if i didn't share these with you. I find that this information goes beyond a clinical doctors statement or a pharmaceutical commercial about depression and instead gives the personal insights of very well spoken, contemporary spiritual people about the experience and challenge as well as the meaning and healing that can be found through this experience of human soul.