To What Extent is Negative Media & Media Bias Responsible for Depression? Ecotrain Question of the Week

Environment is everything. A flower can't bloom with poor soil, can it? Surround a person with negative media and media bias and they will become depressed, right?

My greatest teacher is always my garden. Whenever I am faced with deep philosophical challenges and the seeming contradictions of life, I grab a drink (iced moringa tea, strong organic coffee, neat whiskey over ice or excellent red wine, as the mood, budget and time of day dictate :) ) and I wander. I observe, I look, I inhale deeply, I try NOT to think. I try to open my wiser, witchy, intuitive self to the inherent wisdom of Mother Earth. I try to let the answer come to me.

And so today, this late afternoon here in Chiang Mai after a rain shower, I wandered and found my self gazing at this.

A simple lotus. Yes, they are everywhere here in Thailand. In pots, in normal Thai gardens like mine. They love the intense sun, the early monsoonal storms and are incredibly resilient. They grow, flourish and bloom in literal sludge and filth. And so my response to QOTW was gifted today, rather than mentally crafted.

The murky negativity and bias of the media can EASILY be transformed by "good bacteria" in my world: spirituality, knowledge, focus, purpose, understanding, love, intent. At which point it simply becomes food - something to help feed the blooms which reach to the sun. My lotus sits in mud and filth, and yet that mud is teeming with life which nourishes and transforms it for her. And she primarily draws her food from the sun through photosynthesis. I can sit in, listen to and engage with all the negativity and bias of the media, but the other "bacterial" influences I encourage can cause it to become my teacher, my contrast, my launch-pad for change. It is also my choice to draw my mental and spiritual sustenance elsewhere. To open myself to other primary nourishing influences.

Depression is far more complex than our idea of depressed mood by something we watch or listen to. It is a physiological imbalance of brain chemistry which results in mood changes. Can that be affected by mental inputs? ABSOLUTELY! There are definite studies to show that. But only if we choose to expose ourselves to those mental inputs for extended periods of time.

The media can only trigger an inherent brain chemistry imbalance if we tune in, turn it on, engage it endlessly, whilst also failing to choose, include and enjoy those other "bacterial" influences which balance, enrich and transform.

Negative media and media bias aren't responsible for depression. WE are responsible for the balance of our mental inputs, and if the total of those inputs trigger underlying brain chemistry imbalances, then adjustments are possible.

Depression is a serious, and real, chemical imbalance in the brain. There is much professional help available in the natural healing world. There are many effective herbal treatments; diet and exercise have also been clinically proven to be pivotal, front-line treatments . I offer this reflective piece in Loving Memory of Christopher Owen Bock, my former lover and the man who enticed me to come and live with him here in Thailand. He took his own life in 2004 during a serious bout of depression."