Lifeline was founded in 1963 by the late Reverend Dr Sir Alan Walker, after he received a call by a distressed man, who three days later took his own life. Determined not to let loneliness, isolation or anxiety be the cause of other deaths, Sir Alan launched a crisis line, which operated out of the Methodist Central Mission in Sydney.

Just a few days after it was first established, Lifeline received over one hundred calls for help.

Today, somewhere in Australia, there is a new call to Lifeline every minute and an average of over 450,000 calls are answered each year. We have also expanded our operations to include a number of programs that promote mental health, wellbeing and help seeking behaviours.

Lifeline’s services now operate from 60 locations nationally, with a presence in every State and Territory within Australia.

Lifeline is part of an international network, and through its affiliation with LifeLine International has Centres in nineteen countries. Lifeline is also a member of theVolunteer Emotional Support Helplines (VESH) network. This network of Volunteer Helplines provides services in 61 countries around the world.

Find out more at  http://www.lifeline.org.au

In order to learn to manage or change your moods, it is helpful to be able to identify the moods you are experiencing. Moods can be difficult to identify. You may feel tired all the time and not recognize you are depressed. Or you might feel nervous and out of control and not recognize that you are anxious. Along with depression and anxiety, anger, shame, and guilt are very common moods that are problematic for people.

Identifying Moods

The list below shows a variety of moods you might have during a day. This is not comprehensive list: You can write additional moods on the blank lines. This list helps you pin down your moods more specifically than simply “bad” or “good. Notice that moods are usually described by one word. By identifying specific moods, you will be able to set goals for emotional change and track your progress toward those goals. Learning to distinguish between moods will enable you to choose actions designed to alleviate particular moods. For example, certain breathing techniques help nervousness but not depression.

Mood List
Depressed Anxious Angry Guilty Ashamed
Sad Embarrassed Excited Frightened Irritated
Insecure Proud Mad Panicky Frustrated
Nervous Disgusted Hurt Cheerful Disappointed
Enraged Scared Happy Loving Humiliated
Other Moods: ______________ _____________ _____________ _____________

 By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Changes in the location of a single protein in the brain could be used to tell whether a person with depression is responding to an antidepressant within days of taking the drug, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.

People with depression now must wait weeks before they learn whether the drug they are taking will bring relief.

But researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have discovered that a single protein in the brain changes its location within a cell membrane when an antidepressant is working, and this change could be identified with a simple blood test.

"The possibility there, is if we look at blood from a patient on day zero and day four or five, we'll know whether the antidepressant would be effective," said UIC's Dr. Mark Rasenick, whose study appears in the Journal of Neuroscience.

His team compared brain samples from depressed people who had committed suicide with those from people who had no history of psychiatric disorders.

What they found was a key difference in the location of a signaling protein known as Gs alpha -- which is important for the action of neurotransmitters or message-carrying chemicals such as serotonin.

In people with depression, this protein is trapped in what Rasenick called a "lipid raft" inside the cell membrane. While stuck in this thick, gluey area of the cell, the signaling protein seemed less effective at directing the action of message-carrying chemicals.

In tests on rats and in cell cultures done in Rasenick's lab, antidepressants helped move the Gs alpha protein into an area of the cell where it could be more effective.

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN1162359920080311