Positive thinking through metacognitive therapy can cure depression, study shows

Photo by Anthony Tran on Unsplash

A break-through study is showing scientists that a new kind of metacognitive treatment can help treat people with depression more effectively. With over 300 million people affected by depression worldwide, this can offer alternative relief to methods that do not work as well.

In the U.S. alone over 40 million people are affected by one of several types of depression. This includes huge successes like Lady Gaga, which just goes to show that even the best of us are vulnerable to it.

The effects of depression can be far reaching in a person's life. It can prevent a person from doing everyday things like paying their bills, and it can lead to constant feelings of guilt and shame. Aside from the emotional effects, there can be physical pain like upset stomach, fatigue, and loss of immunity to certain viruses.

Sadly, a lot of people don't even know that they're suffering from the depression, they just think that's the way life is – something like 42% of people who have depression aren't getting treatment.

RELATED: Kristen Bell advises those with depression: 'Don't be fooled' by Instagram

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The other side of that viral classroom 'baggage activity'—it's not as feel-good as it seems

A cautionary tale.

Karen Wunderlich Loewe/Facebook (left), Addison Duane/Instagram (right)

Sometimes we can get caught up in a seemingly feel-good story and miss that it might have a dark side. An article I wrote recently praising a middle school teacher's "baggage activity" is a perfect, personal example of this. I saw that the post had been shared widely, looked at the activity through my own lens as a former teacher and current parent of teens, and missed the red flags that those trained in trauma saw in it.

The viral post, shared by a veteran teacher, explained how she had her students write down the emotional baggage they were carrying around, wad up the papers, and toss them across the room. Each student then picked up a random paper and read it to the class. Students could share if they wrote it or remain anonymous. The teacher described how the students were moved by the activity, and how she felt it helped them develop empathy for one another. The bag of wadded papers hangs by the door to remind students "they are not alone, they are loved, and we have each other's back."

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You can have a life after surviving sex trafficking. Here's how it starts.

When someone is first escaping sex trafficking, it can feel difficult and overwhelming to imagine what's waiting on the other side.

This is especially true for children and minor youth, who make up a sizable percentage of those who are exploited in the United States. While the exact number is not known because many instances of exploitation go unreported, the National Human Trafficking Hotline and BeFree Textline report that roughly 25% of the calls they receive are from minors.

Some have never known life outside their abuse, so picturing a different life can feel impossible. But, no matter how hard it can feel at first, the other side of surviving sex trafficking is more than worth the journey it takes to get there. Because there is always hope and people that are there to help you along the journey — and no one knows this better than the survivor-leaders who've gone on to help other survivors find their strength again.

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It's not easy making friends as an adult. Here's how you can get better at it.

A lot of things about being an adult are hard, but one of the hardest is making new friends.

It's not like back in school where you were practically forced into social situations every day. It was much easier to make a friend just by hanging out at recess or eating at the same lunch table complaining over last night's homework.

Photo via iStock.

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