Tag Archives: Depression

Modern Depression Is A Symptom of Our Society

Depression, or Major Depressive Disorder, is the number one cause of disability in the world for people aged 5 years or older. Approximately 1 in 8 children suffer from depression in the United States, and a total of about 14.8 million American adults have been diagnosed with the disorder. That’s a lot of people, and the number is frighteningly high when you consider depression is the main contributor to suicide, which claims more than a million lives per year.

Depression takes the most basic things we find joy in, and hides them away behind the shadows of sadness. Sleep, energy, focus, memory, and even libido are stolen from us. The loss of these simple necessities can destroy a person’s desire to love, play, work, and most notably, their will to live.dealing-with-distress-discouragement-and-spiritual-depression091911

In a recent TED Talk, Stephen Ilardi said, “Depression lights up the pain circuitry of the brain- to such an extent that it’s torment, it’s agony, it’s torture. And many begin to look to death, as a welcome means of escape.”

Ilardi, author of The Depression Cure, explains further to help us to understand what depression really is, what is really causing it, and how to make it really disappear.

Similar to our flight-or-flight response, the brain has what Ilardi refers to as a “runaway stress response.” He believes depression to be the result of prolonged exposure to this specific response. See, when our ancestors were faced with vicious predators or life-threatening dangers, the fight-or-flight response evolved to assist them with these situations. When the fight-or-flight response was answered with a feeling of safety, or security, the brain and body reverted to a state of reduced-stress. This reversion could only take place after the runaway stress response triggered intense physical activity, which could last for a few seconds or a few hours.

“The problem is for many people throughout the Western world, the stress response goes on for weeks, months and even years at a time, and when it does that, it’s incredibly toxic to the body and the brain,” Ilardi said.

The conditions in which we live today are extremely stressful, and this contributes to society’s rapid decline in health. Modern-day life disrupts our brain’s helpful chemicals, like dopamine and serotonin, which can cause sleep deprivation, brain damage, inhibited immune response, and inflammation. This finding led Ilardi to another fascinating discovery: “Depression is a disease of civilization.”sad-man-with-umbrella-walking-in-a-lonely-street-digital-art-artw_preview_e2cd

Just like diabetes, cancer, allergies, and asthma, depression is considered a disease of civilization. Have you ever wondered why these diseases are so pervasive nowadays but were unheard of within indigenous cultures and tribes? It’s because we weren’t meant to live our lives like this- flooding our stress-receptors with trivialities while consuming poisoned food after a long work-day behind a computer screen. Continue reading

Panic to Freedom Launch Week!

Latest Video: Freedom Interview: Brian (The Big Glow/Panic to Freedom) – An Interview with Panic to Freedom’s own and beautiful co-creator Brian Piergrossi, author of the Big Glow and The Wow of Now!

Previous Video: Freedom Interview: Elevate (Be Brave) – An Interview with a fantastic crew of people going out in the world to make a documentary like no other.

For the past 2 months there have been sporadic postings through Spirit Science about a program called Panic to Freedom, with a number of “Principle” videos emerging explaining very simple methods of moving from Panic and into Freedom, from Anxiety and into Inner Peace.

Well, the entire program is just about done, and I’ve been working around the clock for the past few weeks with Ray (the awesome guy in the PTF videos) trying to get everything ready. Were nearing completion, and planning to launch the full program at the end of the week!

On top of that, i’ve started a new Q+A series (Inspired by Teal) which i’ve been talking about doing. It just so happens that the first question I got was very related TO panic to freedom, so here is a video for you going over what the 4 principles are.

What is Panic to Freedom?

Panic to Freedom is a full blown online training course for working with Anxiety, Panic Attacks, and even Depression. The program was inspired by Brian and Ray, who came together and shared some amazing conversations and ideas. In this, they realized they wanted to share this with everyone in a simple, concise way – and Panic to Freedom was born.

They then contacted me (Jordan), I was good friends with them from a number of Spirit Science gatherings we did, and said they were missing a key element of the whole program, the director, and that i was the perfect man for the job :)

I accepted, and the program manifested over the past 2 months, in between all sorts of other projects and on-goings.

Principle 1: The Breath and the Body


Stay tuned! I’m super excited to finally be able to share this with everyone :)

And don’t forget to check out the Panic to Freedom Website!

Lots of Love,

Jordan