Creator
Dancing away the Depression: Discovering your unique Talents
The creative art of dancing is a beautiful way of self expression and is just one of the many ways we were gifted by the Creator of the Universe with different talents.
In Exodus 31:3, The Lord spoke to Moses saying,
“And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of workmanship”
In the same way God has placed amazing talents within each of us, but it is our responsibility to discover them.
The last hundred years have seen dance become an increasingly integral element of popular culture. From ballroom dancing to breakdancing.
Dance is a beautiful way to communicate and gives way to self-expression. It’s also good for the mind, soul and body.
Now you know you can’t talk about dancing without mentioning Michael Jackson!
In 1983 he was asked to perform alongside his brothers for a TV show to celebrate 25 years of Motown and it was in front of one of the largest TV audiences ever for a variety show, Michael Jackson unveiled a dance routine in which he appeared to move across the stage without lifting his feet from the floor.
Later known as the moonwalk, it became his trademark. Cool!
I love dancing, it’s in my blood! It runs through my veins and circulates through my arteries and pumps life, hope and beautiful possibilities of creativity in my life.
As a born Jamaican I am naturally very gifted in this area.
JAMAICA
Jamaica is a beautiful country with a rich history and public celebrations are still common occurrences.
Olaudah Equiano, the Ibo ex-slave, wrote in 1789,
“We are almost a nation of dancers, musicians, and poets. Thus, every great event, such as a triumphant return from battle or other causes of public rejoicing, is celebrated in public dances, which are accompanied with songs and music suited to the occasion”.
His statement is still very much true in Jamaica’s culture today.
BRITAIN
I also learnt that there was such a thing called the rave and club culture in Britain and it was quite a phenomenon.
According to my most recent findings, the first raves were in warehouses around the outskirts of Britain’s industrialized towns and cities or at secret open-air venues.
These parties were attracting thousands of dancers in the 1988.
The rave was more than a simple dance party, it was seeking to lift the audience into an altered physical and mental state.
The mixture of a sensual location, powerful sound systems, theatrical lightening in addition to the recreational use of the drug ecstasy lead dancers into something approaching a trance-like state.
Unfortunately, many drugs such as ecstasy, LSD, PCP and certain mushrooms are known to cause delusion and hallucinations.
These mind-altering substances produce temporary psychotic symptoms, either during intoxication or withdrawal.
As much as I believe dancing is great for depression, I strongly suggest no one add any of the above substances to the experience.
Research states that there are four major triggers of human depression- the loss of a loved one, a stress hat can’t be handled, a loss of status, or a feeling of guilt.
When depressed, you are likely to have delusions of unreasonable worthlessness and guilt, delusions of hopelessness and perhaps suicidal tendencies.
Also, sometimes being in an unhealthy relationship can cause depression and other abnormal behaviors.
See my previous article: Smooth Criminal/Love the way you Lie: Traumatic Bonding
Depression is a serious mental illness and should not be taken lightly and can even be coupled with psychotic features.
For example, a shy eighteen -year-old student from a small town begins his freshman year at a large state university and is increasingly overwhelmed by the workload in his grueling prelaw courses.
Prior to his first set of midterms, he becomes extremely distraught and agitated, develops the delusion that his roommates are plotting to murder him in his sleep, and is fond running naked in the streets to escape them.
Guess what else I found out, childbirth is also another important stressor that can trigger a brief psychotic disorder.
It has been estimated that one or two deliveries out of every thousand are complicated by postpartum psychoses.
See my other article “Discover the Yello or “Blues” in You: Post-Pregnancy/ Happy Mother's Day where I touched a little on the complications of Postpartum Depression.
Your mental health is just as important as the health of your body and with the latest technology becoming available, hopefully more and more people will be able to afford better health care.
So what is this technology I am referring to you may ask? The Blockchain Technology of course!
Blockchain in Health Care♥
John D. Halamka, MD- The academic portfolio’s editor-in-chief, International Healthcare Innovation Professor, Harvard Medical School
John Halamka is Chief Information Officer of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, a Harvard University teaching hospital, a position that he has held since 1998.
He has also held the position of CIO for Harvard Medical School from 2001 through 2012.
John D. Halamka is a medical doctor. He specializes in the adoption of electronic health records and the secure sharing of healthcare data for care coordination, population health, and quality improvement.
Mr. Halamka recently assumed responsibility as Editor-in-Chief of the new academic journal, Blockchain in Healthcare Today.
In the August 2018 issue of the Forbes Magazine, it was stated that blockchain is ideal for ensuring data integrity where control is decentralized.
Mr. Halamka also cited three prominent opportunities:
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Medical Records. When a medical record is generated and signed, it can be written to the blockchain, which will provide absolute proof and confidence that a medical record cannot be changed. The integrity of the medical record is ensured. The same concept can be applied to clinical trials. This has impact in legal cases as well where the integrity of the medical record is pivotal.
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Consent management. In the current healthcare environment where every state has different privacy and consent regulations, blockchain could be used to record patient consent for purposes of data sharing. Any party seeking to exchange medical data about a patient could check the blockchain for permission to do so.
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Micropayments. The idea that patients might be incented is gaining traction. If a patient follows a care plan, keeps their appointments and stays healthy, there might be rewards offered through the blockchain. Similarly, patients might be rewarded for contributing their data to clinical trials and clinical research using the same approach.
So let’s get back to my initial health question, “Are you depressed?” Dancing can help!