DEPRESSION COUNSELING

Psychotic depression

2012-01-26T23:44:00.001-08:00

Psychotic depression is a relatively common psychiatric condition that affects up to 20% of patients with major depression.

Psychosis in depression is not rare between 10 to 25 percent of patients hospitalized for serious depression, especially elderly patients, develop psychotic symptoms.

It is a serious illness during which a person suffers from the dangerous combination of depression mood and psychosis.

Symptoms of psychosis may include delusions (irrational beliefs that cannot be resolved with rational explanations) and hallucinations (seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting, or tasting or smelling things or people that are not present).

Psychotic depression is more commonly associated with feelings of guilt, worthlessness, and suicidal ideation in addition to and highly correlated with symptoms of psychosis.

Because psychotic individuals cannot distinguish reality from fantasy, their behavior is unpredictable, and cannot accurately assess of their safety.

Michael Shepherd, British psychopharmacology in 1959 pointed out that there were hospital depression and then there were ‘large group of loosely termed ‘neurotic’, ‘reactive’ or ‘exogenous’ depression often admixed with clinical manifestation of anxiety.

Psychotic depression

Major depression

2012-01-11T07:06:00.001-08:00

Major depression is one of the most prevalent, serious illnesses in the United States. It affects millions of people of all ages and all walks of life.

Major depression is also the leading cause do suicide in adults, particularly adults aged 65 and older and it is associated with increased morbidity and mortality when related to medical illness.

Major depression is the severest level of depression in terms of intensity. Yet there are degrees of severity within this condition: each symptom may more or less severe.

Symptoms of major depression comprise depressed mood and/or anhedonia and associated neurovegetarian, including significant weight loss/weight gain or decreased/increased appetite, insomnia or hypersomnia, psychomotor agitation or retardation, diminished ability to think or concentrate, feelings of worthlessness or excessive inappropriate guilt, and recurrent thoughts of death or suicide.

Some symptoms, such as guilt and diminished interest, are the same as those found in major depression; however, extremes of retardation or agitation and changes in appetite and weight are less likely.

Untreated major depression can last for a year or two or more. The symptoms might bother the patients for a long time, making it hard to keep up in school, have a fun with friends, get a long with family and enjoy life.

Major depression

The concept of depression

2011-11-22T18:25:00.001-08:00

The term depression is often used to designate a complex pattern of deviation in feelings, cognition and behavior that is not represented as a discrete psychiatric disorder.

A feeling of depression may be a reaction to things that occur in daily life. It also may refers to a potentially disabling illness that effects many but is understood by few.

Sufferers often do not realize the nature of their terrible malaise until they are so devastated that they can no longer help themselves, or they may recognize what they have been though only after they are on their way out of the shadows.

The cluster of signs and symptoms is sometimes conceptualized as a psychopathological dimension ranging in intensity from mild to severe.

Depression as a syndrome is less common than depression as a symptom. It may be brought on by certain types of life stress; exist concurrently with various medical problems; or occur in conjunctions with psychological and psychiatric disorders, such as disruptive behavior disorders, schizophrenia and anxiety disorder.

The syndrome of depression may at times appear as a concomitant of definite psychiatric disorder such as schizophrenic reaction; in such a case, the diagnosis would be “schizophrenic reaction with depression.”

It is important to separate depressive disorders from everyday blue mood or sadness, which are not depression.

People with the blues or normal grief may experience short-lived symptoms of depression but usually continue to function almost normally and soon recover without treatment.

Every episode of depression has certain symptoms that last at least 2 weeks, including:
*Extremely low moods
*Sadness
*Loss of interest
*Severe problems functioning at home, at work, or with relating to others
The concept of depression

Anaclitic depression

2011-11-16T16:35:00.001-08:00

Anaclitic depression term coined by Rene Spitz in 1946 for a syndrome that develops in infants who are separated from their mother after having had a normal relationship with her during at least the first six months of life.

Despite adequate food, warmth and diapering, these infants became seriously depressed and often died from these type of depression.

It is characterized by feelings of helplessness, weakness, depletion and being involved. The anaclitically depressed individual fears abandonment and struggles to maintain direct physical contact with a need gratifying object.

During the first year infants also may exhibits whining, withdrawal, weight loss, slowed growth, lowered immune system, dazed or immobile facial expression and intellectual decline.

Spitz considered the dynamic structure do analytic depression as fundamentally distinct from depression in adults.

Depression symptoms of school age children 6-12 years old more closely begin to resemble adult symptoms. School age children may exhibits all of the symptoms of a major depression episode.
Anaclitic depression

Clinical features of adjustment disorder

2011-10-04T20:39:00.000-07:00

Adjustment disorder is a residual diagnostic category for stress-related emotional and behavioral disturbances that do not meet criteria for more specific disorder.

Adjustment disorders are closely related in time to a stressful event.

Most people develop mild symptom so psychological distress following any difficult transition or even.

The clinical features including six subtypes:
Depressed mood
Mixed anxiety
Anxious mood
Disturbance of conduct
Mixed disturbance with mixed disturbance of emotions and conduct
Unspecified

While the disorder is associated with an increased risk of suicide behaviors, this risk appears to be substantially lower than that of other major psychiatric illnesses, such as major depressive disorder.

Common stressful event include divorce or the end of a close relationship, loss of job , mixing, starting college and medical illness.

The reactions may be depressive, anxious or behavioral in content and the latter are describe mainly in teenagers.

Physical symptoms such a spoor sleep or headaches are also common. Patients feel overwhelmed and unable to cope.
Clinical features of adjustment disorder

Gratification reduction

2011-08-26T03:42:00.000-07:00

The loss of gratification is such a pervasive process among depressives that many patients regard it as the central feature of their illness.

Loss of gratification in activities of daily living related to trying to live with a set of inflexible rules. When the reality of behavior falls short of standards the should and shouldn’t create self-blaming, shame and guilt.

It is related to his constant criticism of himself whenever he engages in professional, social or solitary activities.

The general loss of gratification is also reflected in a loss of interest in food and a decline in sexual drive.

92 percent of the severely depressed patients reported at least partial loss of satisfaction.

Loss of gratification appears to start with a few activities and as the depression progresses, spread to practically everything the patient does.

With severe depression, the symptoms are more extreme, and there may be a vegetative state as well, characterized by psychomotor retardation, sleeplessness and loss of appetite.

The initial loss of satisfaction from activities involving responsibility or obligation, such as those involved in the role of worker, stay at home spouse, or student, is often compensated for by increasing satisfaction from recreational activities.
Gratification reduction

Depression in History

2011-07-09T22:58:00.000-07:00

Depression has existed for thousands of year, perhaps from the time our ancestors first stood on two legs.

The earliest descriptions of depression that have come down to us may be those found in ancient Egyptian writings and later in the work of the inspired Greek physician, Hippocrates.

Egyptian understood that sleep disturbances add to the burden of depression and activity counteracts the inertia of depression.

The Egyptians saw that depression was serious, Their solution was dance, diet and travel.

Hippocrates suggested than an imbalance on the four humours and an excess of black bile predisposed people to melancholy. He also believed that such as imbalance could be induced by trauma.

In the Renaissance tradition, Saturn was the god of depression. Ancient astrologers imagined Saturn as the most remote planet, far out in cold and empty space and alchemists used Saturn as the symbol for lead.

Eighteenth century French physician Philippe Pinel saw that depression as the result of social and psychological stresses, heredity and physiological factors.

The idea that depression was a disease was also present in the Arab civilizations that developed in North Africa, Spain and the Middle East in the wake of the spread of Islam.
Depression in History

Adjustment Disorder

2011-05-25T08:48:00.001-07:00

Adjustment disorder is characterized by a psychological response to an identifiable stressor or stressors that result in clinically significant distress or functional impairment.

It is a diagnostic category characterized by an emotional response to a stressful event.

Though this diagnosis is common, it validity has been questioned and research is lacking.

Adjustment disorder was initially conceptualized as a transient personality disorder.

The symptom complex that develops may involve anxious or depressive affect or may present with disturbance or conduct.

It must develop within three months, after the onset of the stressor.

The clinical presentations of adjustment disorder can vary widely:
*Adjustment disorder with depressed mood.
*Adjustment disorder with anxiety.
*Adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood.
*Adjustment disorder with disturbance of conduct
*Adjustment disorder with mixed disturbance of emotions and conduct.
*Adjustment disorder unspecified.
Adjustment Disorder

Self negative feeling

2011-04-01T01:52:00.000-07:00

Astonishment with oneself refers to the feelings that one’s own cognitive qualities are unexpected and surprising.

This signals the beginning of the individual’s becoming an object of his of her own awareness.

Depressed patients often express negative feelings about themselves. These feelings may be related to the general dysphoric feelings just describe, but they are different in that they are specifically directed toward the self.

The patients appear to distinguish feeling of dislike for themselves from negative attitudes about themselves.

Many negative feelings may surface when a person is struggling to cope with a crisis. They might include anger, depression, or grief.

The frequency of self dislike ranges from 37 percent in the nondepressed group to 86 percent among the severely depressed.

Mild: Patients state that they feel disappointed in themselves.

Moderate: The feeling of self dislike is stronger and may progress to a feeling of disgust with oneself.

Severe: The feeling may progress to the point where patients hate themselves.

Feeling of inferiority towards oneself refers to the negative emotions one experiences as a result of increased awareness of the discrepancies between where one is and the higher level to which he or she aspires.

Negative feelings are very powerful and can lead people to do something as drastic as trying to take their own lives.

Emotions are divided into feelings and attitudes. The basic feelings are the positive feeling of joy and the negative feeling of sorrow, while the primary attitudes are love and hate.

Negative emotions can result in not taking care of themselves.
Self negative feeling

Depression and you

2011-01-09T21:40:00.001-08:00

Depression is a psychological condition that changes how you think and feel, and also affects your social behavior and sense of physical well-being.

The term depression is often used to designate a complex pattern in deviation in feelings, cognition and behavior that is not represented as a discrete psychiatric disorder.

It can apply to a transient mood, a sustained change in mood, a symptom or a disorder.

We have all felt sad at one time or another, but that is not depression. Sometimes we feel tired from working hard, or discouraged when faced with serious problems.

This too, is not depression. These feelings usually pass within a few days or weeks, once we adjust to the stress.

But, if these feelings longer, intensify, and begin to interfere with work, school or family responsibilities, it may be depression.

The general rule is that people with depression should seek medical evaluation.

Depression may be defined in terms of the following attributes:
*A specific alteration in mood: sadness, loneliness, apathy.
*A negative self concept associated with self-reproaches and inappropriate guilt.
*Regressive and self punitive wished: desires to escape, hide or die.
*Vegetative changes: anorexia, insomnia, loss of libido.
*Change in activity level: retardation or agitation.
*Feeling of worthlessness, self reproach.

More often depression presents as an overlapping syndrome of depression, anxiety and somatization forms such as bodily aches and pain, persistent backache or genitourinary complaints.

Almost everyone experiences depression at some time in his or her life. It can be painful and it sis dangerous. Once identified, most people diagnosed with depression are successfully treated.

Unfortunately, depression is not always diagnosed, because many of the symptoms mimic physical illness, such as sleep and appetite disturbances. Recognizing depression is the first step in treating it.
Depression and you

Bipolar Depression

2011-01-08T18:04:00.000-08:00

Bipolar Depression
Bipolar disorder is a serious disorder of the brain often confuse with depression alone.

Bipolar disorder was formerly called manic-depressive disorder. It is a type of depression, and it characterized by the presence of mood swings, especially "manic highs" that often result in high risk, self-damaging behavior.

Most individuals with bipolar disorder have both depressive episodes and hypomanic episodes.

The first to describe mania and melancholia as a bipolar disorder was the Greek physician Aretaeus of Cappadocia in the first century AD. He considered melancholia and mania as two manifestations of one and the same disease.

Almost 70 percent of all those with bipolar disorder are depressed at any one time. People who cycle spend three times as much time being depressed as being maniac.

When bipolar is insufficiently treated, people spend an average of four months of the year in depression.

In bipolar depression people are likely to sleep more, rather than less. Normally people with bipolar depression are more likely to have an earlier onset of symptoms and a greater number of depression episodes.
Bipolar Depression

The Impact of Depression

2011-01-07T04:11:00.000-08:00

Depression is characterized by melancholy, diminished interest or pleasure in most or all activities, sleep disorders and feelings of worthlessness.

What the Impact of Depression:
*Causes tremendous emotional pain

*Disrupts the lives of millions of people
Depression is most debilitating, and most expensive mental health disorders, contributing to unemployment and work impairment in large number of adult.

*Adversely affects the lives of families and friends
Depression has long been noted by clinical to have important impact the lives of families and friends by making the whole environment feel guilty, provoking others to withdraw support at a time when depressed individual most needs it.

Depression not only is cause the rate of divorce higher among depress than among nondepressed individuals, but also the children of depressed parents have themselves found to be at elevated risk for psychopathology.

*Reduces work productivity and absenteeism
Mental health may affect an individuals ability to respond to adverse health events.

*Has a significant negative impact on the economy, costing an estimated $44 billion a year.
Evidence suggests that this mental disorders negatively affect labor market activity both men and women.
The Impact of Depression

Suicide and Depression

2011-01-06T18:21:00.001-08:00

The disease of depression, which is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, distorts logic, crushed self esteem, and robs a person energy and resilience.

The deeper the depression, the more the personality is distorted. According to the research depression has increased 10 fold in the United States since World War II.

Approximately 1 of 10 American experiences a major depression in the lifetime and 15% of those who go untreated attempt suicide.

Suicide intent defined as the intensity of the wish to die at the time of the act.

Every 17.3 minutes someone commits suicide in the United States. More American die of suicide than are victim of homicide.

Although most people who become depressed do no commit suicide, depression can be lethal illness.

The suicide risk in people with severe depression ranges between 15 and 30 percent, with approximately seven suicide attempts for every successful suicide.

Across cultures, the suicide rate for men is four times higher than for women during younger adulthood and it is even greater after the age of 75 years.

Common methods of suicide include gunshot wound to the head or chest, overdose of over the counter or prescription medication, overdose of street drugs, laceration of neck or wrists with a sharp object such as razor blade or a knife or broken glass, asphyxiation by hanging or from the breathing of toxic gas such as a natural gas or carbon monoxide.

In most countries ,men have a higher rate of completed suicide whereas women have a higher rate of attempted suicide.
Suicide and Depression

What is cyclothymia?

2010-08-15T22:54:00.000-07:00

What is cyclothymia?
The cyclothymic temperament is marked by episodes of erratic behavior - e.g. promiscuity, changes of residence or job, brief religion/cult affiliations followed by disillusion and episodic drug use (stimulants and sedatives).

Patient often talk in terms of their highs (typically lasting a few days) when they may have energy and creative spurts, sleep less and feel confident and their lows when they become “slothful”, lose confidence and self esteem, withdraw socially and feel guilty irritable and nervous.

There was a suggestion that their “tempestuous” life styles often create interpersonal havoc. These patients are often oven personality disorder diagnoses such as borderline, passive-aggressive histrionic or antisocial.

However with only an in depth phenomenology study and prospective follow up did it become clear that their personality maladjustments reflected underlying phasic affective dysregulation.

There is an underlying affective instability which gives rose to a “tempestuous” life style and this life style is instrumental in bringing about the life events which exasperate the mood disorder (e.g., broken relationships, loss of job, etc).

Historical accounts indicate that many cases cyclothymia were familial and many relatives manifested similar symptoms. Recent studies confirmed a genetic relationship between cyclothymic disorder and bipolar disorder, although other nonbipolar affective disorders are also found in these families did not find an increase familial prevalence of cyclothymia in unipolar probands compared with medical and control subjects, suggesting that the genetic aspects of cyclothymia are more specifically associated with bipolar, rather than unipolar, pedigrees.
What is cyclothymia?

Biography of Aaron Beck

2010-07-04T10:16:00.000-07:00

Biography of Aaron Beck
Aaron T Beck is the founder of cognitive therapy, arguably the most widely practiced psychotherapy in the world.

Many psychologists and psychiatrists argue that he is the most influential figure ever in the field of depression.

John Rush, a well known depression researcher and professor of psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, is quoted in the Philadelphia Inquirer as saying, “His work changed the paradigm – how do we do things how we think about things ..............Somebody like him comes along every 50, 100 years.”

Beck was born in 1921 in Rhode Island and received his undergraduate degree from Brown University and his MD from Yale University. He was trained as a neurologist but began to pursue a career in psychiatry, partly in response to the enormous mental health needs of veterans returning from World War II.

Like most psychiatrist of the time, Beck pursued psychoanalysis as a way to treat patients.

Dissatisfied by the lack of efficacy of traditional psychoanalysis, Beck began to consider alternative ways of conceptualizing disorders, eventually recognizing the importance of the cognitive construction that individuals place on life events.

This recognition led to the development , which suggested that events were not responsible for the emotional turmoil that leads to depression as much as the way that individual interpret these events.

This idea now reflects the core foundation for the understanding of not just depression, but of the other psychopathological states as well.

Beck’s 1967 book proposed the first modern cognitive theory of depression and his 1987 book, coauthored with Rush, Shaw, and Emery, introduced cognitive therapy to a wide audience.

Both books are considered landmarks and the 1987 book remains the predominant manual today for the conduct of cognitive therapy.
Biography of Aaron Beck

Dejected Mood

2010-05-30T01:47:00.000-07:00

Dejected Mood
The characteristics depression in mood is described differently by various clinically depressed patients. Whatever term the patients uses to describe her or his subjective feelings should be further explored by the examiner.

If the patient uses the word “depressed,” for instance, the examiner should not take the word at its face value but should try to determine its connotation for the patient.

Persons who are in no way clinically depressed may use this adjective to designate transient feelings of loneliness, boredom or discouragement.

Some time the feeling is expressed predominantly in somatic terms, such as “a lump in my throat,” or “I have an empty feeling in my stomach,” or “I have a sad, heavy feeling in my chest.”

On further investigation, these feelings generally are found to be similar to the feelings expressed by other patients in terms of adjectives such as sad, unhappy lonely or bored.

The intensity of the mood deviation must be gauged by the examiner. Some of the rough criteria of the degree of depression are the relative degree or morbidity implied by the adjective chosen, the qualification by adverbs such as “slightly” or “very,” and the degree of tolerance the patient expresses for the feeling.

Among the adjectives used by depressed patients in answer to the question “How do you feel?” are the following: miserable hopeless, blue, sad, lonely, unhappy, downhearted, humiliated, ashamed, worried useless, guilty.

Eighty percent of the severely depressed patients reported some degree of sadness or unhappiness as compared with 23 percent of the nondepressed patients.

Mild
The patient indicates feeling blue or sad. The unpleasant tends to fluctuate considerably during the day and at times may be absent, and the patient may even feel cheerful.

Also the dysphoric feeling can be relieved partially or completely by outside stimuli, such as compliment, a joke, or a favorable event. With little effort or ingenuity the examiner can usually evoke positive response. Patients at this level generally react with genuine amusement to jokes or humorous anecdotes.

Moderate
The dysphoria tends to be more pronounced and more persistent. The patient’s feeling is less likely to be influenced y other people’s attempts to cheer him or her up, and may relieve of this nature is temporary.

Also a diurnal variation is frequently present: The dysphoria is often worse in the morning and tends to be alleviated as the day progresses.

Severe
In cases of severe depression, patients are apt to state that they feel “hopeless” or “miserable.” Agitated patients frequently state that they are “worried.” About 70 percent of the severely depressed patients indicated that they were sad all the tine and “could not snap out of it”; that they were so sad that it was very painful or that they were so sad they could not stand it.
Dejected Mood

Physical Symptom of Depression

2010-05-03T05:23:00.000-07:00

Physical Symptom of Depression
Physical symptoms associated with depression can occur in any part of the body and can include:
*Pain (headache, backache)

*Gastrointestinal problems (nausea, stomach pain, diarrhea, constipation)

*Neurologic complaints (dizziness, numbness, memory problems)

*Sexual disorder (lack of desire, failure of orgasm)

*General complaints of feeling unwell and heavy, as of one’s feet are stuck in mud.

The physical complaints of depressed patients cannot be overlooked because many studies indicate an increased risk of real physical illness in people who have severe forms of depression.

The reason for this are unclear.
Physical Symptom of Depression

Dysthymia and Dysthymic States

2010-04-05T00:04:00.000-07:00

Dysthymia and Dysthymic States
In the latter years of the eighties dysthymic disorders have stimulated increasing research.

The DSM-111 category of depressive neurosis has become dysthymia in the DSM-111-R.

This is however, regarded as distinct from mild major depression. Dysthymia (or depression neurosis) includes depressed mood for most days at least two years plus two of the following:

Poor appetite or overeating
Insomnia or hyposomnia
Low energy or fatigue
Low self esteem
Poor concentration of difficulty making decisions
Feeling of hopelessness

The criteria of; insidious onset with origin often in childhood or adolescence; persistent or intermittent course; concurrent “character” pathology; ambulatory disorder compatible with “stable” social functioning.

The idea that there are cycles in neurasthenia has been for some centuries. There are suggestion three forms of cyclical disorder.

These are

Hyperthymic disorder, where the individual cycles in and out of hypomanic episodes many of whom may nor present for treatment
Cyclothymic disorder, where the individual cycles into both hypomania and depression
Subaffective dysthymic disorder where the cycle is only into depression, although tricyclic anti depressants may trigger hypomania.

Dysthymia and Dysthymic States

Emotional Manifestations

2010-03-07T02:08:00.000-08:00

Emotional Manifestations
The term emotional manifestation refers to the changes in the patient’s feelings or overt behavior directly attributable to his or her feeling states.

In assessing emotional manifestations, it is important to take into account the individual’s premorbid mood level and behavior, as well as what the examiner might consider the normal range in the patient’s particular age, sex, and social group.

The occurrence of frequent crying spells in a patient who rarely or never cried before becoming depressed might indicate a greater level of depression that it would in a patient who habitually cried whether depressed or not.
Emotional Manifestations

Changes in Body Functions

2010-02-23T21:59:00.000-08:00

Changes in Body Functions
Depression is more than a mental illness It is a total body illness. People suffering from moderate to severe depression experience changes in the body functions.

Their energy levels fall and they fatigue more easily.

Insomnia is common and takes many forms depressed individuals may have difficulty going to sleep or experience early morning awakenings.

A subgroup of depressed patients feel an excessive need for sleep.

Depressives consistently complain that their sleep is not restful and that they feel just as tired in the morning when they awake as they did when they went to bed the evening before.

Some may be troubled by dreams that carry the depressive tone into sleeping hours, causing abrupt awakenings due to distress.

Appetite changes are common. Most depressive experience decreased or total loss of appetite, with associated weight loss resulting in lower energy levels.

The same individuals who oversleep when depressed also tend to overeat. They gain weight from combination of increased caloric intake and decreased activity level, which compounds their problems through increased frustration and lowered self-esteem.

Whether the appetite increases or decreases, the end result is a vicious cycle of physical symptoms aggravating the depression.

Physical complaints are common and may or may not have a physical basis. Many seriously depressed people, in fact, first to their physicians with physical complaints.

The depressed mood many not be recognized initially by these patients, especially if they are men. Men, in general, are less apt to look inward when they “feel bad”, attempting instead to locate the problem in their environment.
Changes in Body Functions

How is high blood pressure measured?

2010-02-06T15:38:00.000-08:00

How is high blood pressure measured?
Accurate blood pressure measurement is important for diagnosis.

Raised blood pressure is a symptomless condition that, if left untreated, contributes to substantial risk of heart disease and stroke.

Clinical trials of blood pressure lowering drugs have shown that reducing blood pressure the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Blood pressure can be measured in several ways: by means of an electronic, mercury or aneroid sphygmomanometer.

Electronic monitors are being increasingly used in GP’s surgeries.

Provided that machine is selected that has been shown to be accurate and reliable, electronic monitoring offers several advantages over the older mercury sphygmomanometers.

Aneroid sphygmomanometers are unreliable and ar not recommended.
How is high blood pressure measured?

Neurotic Depression

2010-01-18T00:15:00.000-08:00

Neurotic Depression
Man have noted that neurotic depression appears to be a heterogenous disorder that best conceptualized dimensionally.

Core symptoms are listed below:
Pervasive loss of pleasure
Non-reactivity on mood
Distinct quality of mood
Excessive guilt
Major psychomotor change (agitation or retardation)
Reduced vegetative activity

It arises from reaction to life events and premorbid personality.

There is rather less work in the area of sub-classifying neurotic depression (as opposed to distinguishing it from endogenous depression) and the general impression has been that this is a milder or less serious disorder than psychotic and endogenous depression.

Recent work suggests that neurotic or non endogenous depression can have quite poor long term outcome.

In a long term, scientists found that compared to endogenous depressives, neurotics tended to be “younger had shorter index admissions and were less likely to be readmitted to hospital.

In the longer term however they were equally likely to experience further episodes and to commit suicide”.

Clinical symptoms generated four factors
-Negative cognition (with low self esteem, guilt, self criticism and lowered mood)
-Lack of drive (with loss of libido, energia, emptiness, anhedonia)
-Anxiety (insomnia, crying, tachycardia, hypochondria)
-Arousal (appetite loss, weight loss, tiredness, mood worse in the morning)

These factors seem close to those suggested as being core symptoms of depression from cross –cultural studies.
Neurotic Depression

Chief Complaint

2010-01-02T17:03:00.000-08:00

Chief Complaint
The chief complaint presented by depressed patients often pints immediately to the diagnosis of depression; although it sometimes suggest a physical disturbance.

Skillful questioning can generally determine whether the basic symptomatology is present.

The chief complaint may take a variety of forms:
*an unpleasant emotional state
*a changed attitude toward life
*somatic symptoms of a specifically depressive nature
*somatic symptoms not typical of depression

Although depression is generally considered an affective disorder, it should be emphasized that a subjective change on mood is not reported by all depressed patients.

As in many other disorders, the absence of a significant clinical feature does not rule out the diagnosis of that disorder. Only 53 percent of the mildly depressed patients acknowledges feeling sad or unhappy.
Chief Complaint

Symptoms of Depression II

2009-12-01T09:14:00.000-08:00

Symptoms of Depression II
People with psychoses may develop paranoia, believing that they are being manipulated by known or unknown people or forces that there is a conspiracy against them, or that they are in danger.

No amount of rational explanation changes the delusional belief.

Others may be convinced that they have committed an unpardonable sin against loved ones or against their God and deserve punishment, even death.

Some sufferers become so firmly convinced of their own worthlessness that they begin to view themselves as a burden to their families and choose to kill themselves.

Occasionally, severe depression may result in hallucinations in which the depressed person hears or sees things on people that are not present; other types of hallucinations, such as smelling or feeling that are not present, are less common in severe depression than in some other brain disorders.

The changes occurring with depression understandably result on alteration in behavior,

Most individuals with moderate to severe depression will experience decreased activity levels and appear withdrawn and less talkative, although some severely depressed individuals show agitation and restless behavior, such as pacing the floor wringing their hands and gripping and massaging their foreheads.

Given a choice most begin to avoid people and activities, yet others will be most uncomfortable when alone or not distracted.

In general, the severely depressed become less productive, although they may successfully mask the decline in performance of they have been highly productive in the past.

In the workplace, depression may result in morale problems, absenteeism, decreased productivity, increased accidents, frequent complaints of fatigue, references to unexplained aches and pains, and alcohol and drug abuse.

Severely depressed individual have been known to work their regular schedule during the day, interact with their coworkers in a routine way, and then go home and kill themselves.
Symptoms of Depression II

Exercise Reduce Stress

2009-11-02T16:44:00.000-08:00

Exercise Reduce Stress
Exercise returns your body to its normal equilibrium by releasing natural chemicals that build up during the stress response.

Exercise can improve your resilience to stress in various ways. Some of its benefits are listed below. Exercise performs the following functions:

Releases endorphins into your bloodstream creating a sense of well being.
Decrease muscle tension caused by emotional stress and produces a relaxation response in your mind a well as in your body.
Increases alpha-wave activity in the brain, thus allowing you to clear your mind so you can focus and concentrate more easily.
Rids your body of toxins.
Improves your overall flexibility and posture, thus decreasing any spinal stiffness or pain caused by stress.
Relieves indigestion and chronic constipation caused by stress.
Lessens fatigue and improve overall energy level.
Combats insomnia caused by stress and produces more restful sleep.
Provides natural outlets for your daily pressures and enables you to better cope with the stress of modern day busy life.
Strengthens your heart and lungs, thus improving your overall physical fitness level and health.
Increases your resting metabolism or energy expenditure and help you to lose weight thus, you both look and feel good and can shed a negative self image caused by stress.
Helps you realize that if you can change your attitude and behavior toward exercise, then you can change you ability to manage the stress in your life.
Improves blood flow to the brain that nourishes it with needed oxygen and helps eliminates waste products.

Exercise Reduce Stress

DSM-111-R Criteria for Melancholia

2009-10-19T17:36:00.000-07:00

DSM-111-R Criteria for Melancholia
The presence of at least five of the following:

Loss of the interest or pleasure in all or almost all activities.
Lack of reactivity to usually pleasurable stimuli (does not feel much better even temporarily, when something good happens).
Depression regularly worse in the morning.
Early morning awaking (at least two hours before usually time).
Psychomotor retardation or agitation (not merely subjective complaints).
Significant anorexia or weight lost (e.g., more than 5% of body weight in a month).
No significant personally disturbance before fist major depressive episode.
One or more previous major depressives episodes followed by a complete, or early complete recovery.
Previous good response to specific and adequate somatic antidepressant therapy.

DSM-111-R Criteria for Melancholia

Endogenous/Melancholic Depression

2009-10-08T23:25:00.001-07:00

Endogenous/Melancholic Depression
Within the heterogenous profile of depression, it has always been assumed that endogenous depression was likely to be closest to a disease entity.

Consequently, the investigation of endogenous/melancholic depression and its distinction from other sub-types have been a main focus for studies of symptom variation.

While neurotic depressions are often regarded as milder states of heterogenous nature and course, it has been assumed that endogenous depression is somehow one thing or (core) entity and that careful description associated with a variety of statistical and other techniques will illuminate it.

An early set of criteria for identifying endogenous depression was developed by the Newcastle group and other research criteria.

The Newcastle scale assigns various weights to different symptoms due to the idea that these symptoms were associated with good outcome.

Since the advent of the Newcastle scale, other classifications have appeared. The most well known being the DSM-111-R criteria for melancholia.

Unlike the Newcastle endogenous depression scale, symptoms of melancholia (DSM-111-R) are not given weights.

Thus the idea of a hierarchy of symptoms (i.e. some symptoms are more keys or core) is not found here.
Endogenous/Melancholic Depression

Symptomatology of Depression

2009-09-14T04:08:00.000-07:00

Symptomatology of Depression
There has been remarkable consistency in the descriptions of depression since ancient times.

The core sings and symptoms such as low mood, pessimism, self-criticism and retardation or agitation seem to have been universally accepted.

Other signs and symptoms that have been regarded as intrinsic to the depressive syndrome include autonomic symptoms, constipation, difficulty in concentrating, slow thinking and anxiety.

In 1953, Campbell listed 29 medical manifestations of autonomic disturbance, among which the most common in manic depressives were hot flashes, tachycardia, dyspnea, weakness, head pains, coldness and numbness of the extremities, frontal headaches and dizziness.

Vey few systematic studies have been designed to delineate the characteristics sign and symptoms of depression.

Among symptoms that the were endorsed significantly are often by those in the psychiatric group were anorexia sleep disturbance, low mood, suicidal thoughts, crying, irritability, fear for losing the mind, poor concentration and delusions.

Campbell reported a high frequency of medical symptoms, generally attributed to autonomic imbalance, among manic depresses.

Cassidy’s study, however found that most of these medical symptoms occurred at least as frequently among the medically ill patients as among the manic depressive patients.

Moreover, many of these symptoms were found in a group of healthy control patients. Headaches, for instances, were reported by 49 percent of the manic depressive patients, 36 percent of the medically sock controls and 25 percent of the healthy controls.

When the symptoms of manic depressives, anxiety neurotics an hysteria patients were compared, it was found that autonomic symptoms occurred at least as frequently in the latter two groups as they did in the manic depressive group.
Symptomatology of Depression

Depression in Infancy II

2009-08-31T05:14:00.000-07:00

Depression in Infancy II
Some years ago, Rene Spitz identified a syndrome among infants in institutions that he called anaclitic depression, or depression associated with the loss of an attachment figure.

Infants suffering from this syndrome - always in response to being separated from their mothers in the second half of their first year of life – often had sad faces and were weepy, underweight, listless, unresponsive and withdrawn.

Moreover their development was delayed in almost every way.

And we will see, infants who are 6 months of age and older also display many depression like symptoms when they are permanently separated from a parent who dies.

In addition infants who are neglected, abused, separated from attachment figures, or otherwise raised in a stressful unaffectionate manner sometimes develop a related condition called failure to thrive.

They failed to grow normal, lose weight, and become seriously underweight for their age.

In some cases, an organic or biological cause such as an illness or heart defect can be found.

More intriguing are those cases in which the cause seems to be emotional rather than physical.

Infants who fail to thrive also often show many of the symptoms of depression, as well as delays in their cognitive and social development and bizarre such as drinking from toilets.
Depression in Infancy II

Treatment

2009-07-27T00:12:00.000-07:00

Treatment
Treatment strategies are often difficult because hypertension is an asymptomatic disease.

Patients are not always happy about being told they have a medical problem that could lead to a life-ending event.

Many go through a period of denial and are resistant to education and the best efforts of physicians, but it is important for patients to know early on why they need to be treated and what the appropriate treatment goals should be.

It is critical that patients understand why certain blood pressure goals are chosen and what is necessary to achieve them.

Lifestyle modification should always be utilized to achieve better blood pressure control even when pharmacotherapy is also required.

Patients should be told that most medications only reduce blood pressure by about 10 mm Hg, which is why they may need more than one medication to control their blood pressure.

At the same time, the clinician can also evaluate which pharmacotherapies are appropriate for the individual patient.

Blood pressure medications that are well tolerated and effective make an important difference in risk for cardiovascular events, and frequent use of medicine combinations in single tablets may help facilitate patient compliance.

Renin-angiotensin system blocking drugs as part of a multidrug regimen uniformly reduce risk in patients with heart or kidney disease.

Blood pressure must always be met: in preventing or treating cardiovascular events no drugs are so good that the need for controlled blood pressure is eliminated.

Substantial controversy surrounds pharmacotherapy for blood pressure control. There is even debate about appropriate blood pressure in individual patients and how blood pressure should be lowered.

From an epidemiologic standpoint blood pressures below 120/80 mm Hg are least likely o be associated with cardiovascular events.

Yet it is unknown whether it is appropriate to lower everyone’s blood pressure to this level.
Treatment

Symptoms of Depression I

2009-06-20T19:37:00.000-07:00

Symptoms of Depression I
There is no blood test for depression. The diagnosis is based on the reports of sufferers about how they feel and on observations of how they look and behave made by doctors and by people who know them well.

The symptoms of depression fall into four categories: mood, cognitive, behavioral and physical.

In other words, depression affects how individual fell, think, and behave as well as how their bodies work.

People with depression ma experience symptoms in any or all of the categories, depending on personal characteristic and the severity and type of depression.

Depressed people generally describe their mood as sad, depressed, anxious, or flat.

Victims of depression often report additional feelings of emptiness, hopelessness, pessimism, uselessness, worthlessness, helplessness, unreasonable guilt, and profound apathy.

Their self esteem is usually low and they may feel overwhelmed, restless or irritable.

Lost of interest in activities previously enjoyed is common and is usually accompanied by a diminished ability to fell pleasure, even in sexual activity.

As the illness worsens, the cognitive ability of the brain is affected. Slowed thinking, difficulty with concentration, memory lapses and problems with decision making become obvious.

Those losses lead to frustration and further aggravate the person’s mounting sense of being overwhelmed.

In its most severe forms, depression causes major abnormalities in the way sufferers see the world around them. They may become psychotic, believing things that are not true or seeing and hearing imaginary people or objects.

Psychosis in depression is not rare between 10 to 25 percent of patients hospitalized for serious depression, especially elderly patients, develop psychotic symptoms.

Symptoms of psychosis may include delusions (irrational beliefs that cannot be resolved with rational explanations) and hallucinations (seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting, or tasting or smelling things or people that are not present).
Symptoms of Depression I

Major Depression

2009-05-24T17:51:00.000-07:00

Major Depression
The category of Major Depression represents a superordinate class. Hence, within major depression are a number of sub-classifications.

Cases can be described as:
a. In partial or complete
b. Mild, moderate or severe
c. With melancholia (the American equivalent to endogenous)
d. With psychotic features

Psychotic features may be subdivided into mood congruent psychotic (e.g., delusions of guilt, poverty, disease) and mood incongruent psychotic features (e.g., persecutory, thought insertion).

There is a list of nine possible symptoms of which the patient should have at least five.

1. Depressed mood (or can be irritable mood in children and adolescents) most of the day, nearly every day, as indicated by subjective account or observation by others

2. Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day (as indicated by either account or observation by other of apathy most of the time.)

3. Significant weight loss or weight gain when not dieting (e.g., more than 5% of body weight in a month), or decrease or increase in appetite nearly every day (in children, consider failure to make expected weight gains)

4. Insomnia or hypersomnia nearly every day

5. Psychomotor agitation or retardation nearly very day (observable by other, not merely subjective feelings of restless or being slowed down)

6. Fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day

7. Feelings or worthlessness or excessive or inappropriate guilt (which may be delusional) nearly every day (not merely self-reproach or guilt about being sick)

8. Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day (either by subjective account or as observed by others)

9. Recurrent thoughts of death (not just fear of dying), recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for committing suicide
Major Depression

Depression and Normal Moods

2009-04-23T04:41:00.000-07:00

Depression and Normal Moods
There is little agreement among authorities regarding the relationship of depression to the changes in mood experienced by normal individuals.

The term mood is generally applied to a spectrum of feelings extending from elation and happiness at one extreme, to sadness and unhappiness at the other.

The particular feelings encompassed by this term, consequently, are directly related to either happiness or sadness.

Subjective states, such as anxiety or anger, that do not fit into the happiness-sadness categories ate not generally included.

The episodes of low mood or of feeling blue experienced by normal individuals are similar in a number of ways to the clinical states of depression.

First, there is a similarity between the description of the subjective experience of normal low mood and of depression.

The words used to describe normal low mood tend to be the same used by depressives to describe their feelings – blue, sad, unhappy, empty, low, lonely.

It is possible, however, that this resemblance may be due to depressed patients’ drawing on familiar vocabulary to describe a pathological state for which they have no available words.

Some patients, in fact, state that their feelings during their depression are quite distinct from any feelings they have ever experienced when not in a clinical depression.

Second, the behavior of the depressed patient resembles that of a person who is sad or unhappy, particularly in the mournful facial expression and the lowered voice.

Third, some of the vegetative and physical manifestation characteristics of depression are occasionally seen in individually who are feeling sad but who would not be considered clinically depressed.

A person who has failed an examination, lost job, or been jilted may not only feel discouraged and forlorn, but also experience anorexia, insomnia and fatigability.

Finally, many individuals experience blue states that seem to oscillate in a consistent or rhythmic fashion, independently of external stimuli, suggestive of the rhythmic variations on the intensity of depression.
Depression and Normal Moods

Semantics of Depression

2009-04-05T21:25:00.000-07:00

Semantics of Depression
One of the difficulties in conceptualization depression is essentially semantic, namely, that the term has been variously applied to designate a particularly type of feeling or symptom; a symptom-complex (or syndrome); and a well defined disease entity.

Not infrequently, normal people say they are depressed when they observed any lowering of their mood below their baseline level.

A person experiencing a transient sadness or loneliness may state that he or she is depressed.

Whether this normal mood is synonymous with, or even related to, the feeling experienced in the abnormal condition of depression is open to question.

In any event, when a person complains of feeling inordinately dejected, hopeless, or unhappy, the term depressed is often used to label this subjective state.

The term depression is often used to designate a complex pattern of deviation in feelings, cognition and behavior that is not represented as a discrete psychiatric disorder.

The cluster of signs and symptoms is sometimes conceptualized as a psychopathological dimension ranging in intensity from mild to severe.

The syndrome of depression may at times appear as a concomitant of definite psychiatric disorder such as schizophrenic reaction; in such a case, the diagnosis would be “schizophrenic reaction with depression.”

At times, the syndrome may be secondary to, or a manifestation of, organic disease of the brain such as general paresis or cerebral artereosclerosis.

Finally, the term depression has been used to designate a discrete nosological entity.

The term has generally been qualified by some adjective to indicate a particularly type or form, as for example: reaction depression, agitated depression, or psychotic depression reaction.

When conceptualized as a specific clinical identity, depression is assumed to have certain consistent attributes in addition to the characteristics signs and symptoms; these attributes include a specifiable type of onset, course, duration and outcome.

The depressive disorders include major depressive disorder and dysthymic disorder.

Major depressive disorder is defined by one or more major depression episodes.

Such episodes include 2 weeks of depressed mood or loss of interest, along with a minimum of four additional depression symptoms.

Dysthymic disorder is defined in part by at least 2 years of low-level depressed mood, where the person is depressed for more days than not.
Semantics of Depression

Depression in Infancy I

2009-03-03T16:32:00.001-08:00

Depression in Infancy
Can infants be depressed? It certainly seem impossible for infants to experience the sorts of cognition that are common among depressed adults – feeling of low esteem, guilt, worthlessness, hopelessness and so on.

After all young infants have not yet acquired the capacity for symbolic thought that would allow them to reflect on their experience.

Yet infants can exhibit some of the behavioral and somatic (or bodily) symptoms of depression – for example, loss of interest in activities, loss of weight, or disruption of normal sleep patterns.

Researchers dispute whether true depressive disorder can occur in infancy, but infants can and do experience depression-like states and symptoms.

These symptoms are most likely to be observed in infants who lack a secure attachment relationship or who experience a disruption of their all-important emotional bonds.
Depression in Infancy

What is Depression?

2009-02-09T00:36:00.000-08:00

What is Depression?
The innocuous-sounding word “depression” refers a potentially disabling illness that affects many but is understood by few.

Sufferers often do not realize the nature of their terrible malaise until they are so devastated that they can no longer help themselves or they may recognize what they have been through only after they are on their way out of the shadows.

The reason is simple. Depression is a sneak thief, slipping into a life gradually and robbing it of meaning, one loss at a time.

The losses are imperceptible at first, but eventually weigh so heavily that the person’s life becomes empty.

Once begun, the course of depression varies with the individual and with the form of the illness. Untreated, it can last weeks, months or even years.

In general population, as many as one in five individuals may eventually suffer a significant depressive illness, although most will not seek treatment.

During any year, one in ten people experience the sluggishness of mind, body, and spirit we know as depression. The risk is about the same in pre pubertal boys and girls, but the ratio alters in adulthood, with females twice as likely as males to become depressed.

This two to one ration exists regardless of racial ethnic or economic background and has been reported in several countries.

Although depression can occur in very young children, even in those under five years of age, it is more likely to occur for the first time during teenage years or in early adulthood. Depression can also occur for the first time in midlife or later.
What is Depression?

The Symptoms of Depression

2009-01-12T19:06:00.000-08:00

The Symptoms of Depression
The core signs and symptoms such as know mood, pessimism, self-criticism, and retardation or agitation seem to have been universally accepted. Other signs and symptoms that have been regarded as intrinsic to the depressive syndrome include autonomic symptoms, constipation, difficulty in concentration, slow thinking, and anxiety.

In 1953, expert listed 29 medical manifestations of autonomic disturbance, among which then most common in manic depression were hot flashes, tachycardia, dyspnea, weakness, head pains, coldness and numbness of the extremities, frontal headaches and dizziness.

There was reported a high frequency of medical symptoms, generally attributed to autonomic imbalance, among manic depressives.

Normally there were four different forms of complaints from patients:

An unpleasant emotional state
A changed attitude towards life
Somatic symptoms of a specifically depressive nature
Somatic symptoms not typical of depression

Although depression is generally considered an affective disorder, it should be emphasized that a subjective change in mood is not reported by all depressed patients. As in many other disorders, the absence of a significant clinical feature does not rule out the diagnosis of that disorder.
The Symptoms of Depression

Types of Depression

2008-12-30T20:02:00.000-08:00

Types of Depression
Anyone coming to study depression and trying to make sense of the differences can be easily overwhelmed by the different terms and descriptions given to depression.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) the American system provide criteria for the diagnosis of:

Major depression
Major depressive disorder (single episode or recurrent)
Major depression melancholic type

Bipolar disorder
Mixed
Depressed
Seasonal pattern
Cyclothymia

Dysthymia
Depressive neurosis

Depressive disorder not otherwise specified
Types of Depression

Normal Moods and Depression

2008-12-21T06:51:00.000-08:00

Normal Moods and Depression
There is little agreement among authorities regarding the relationship of depression to the changes in mood experienced by normal individuals. The term, mood, or generally applied to a spectrum of feelings extending from elation and happiness at one extreme, to sadness and unhappiness at the other. The particular feelings encompassed by this term, consequently, are directly related to either happiness or sadness Subjective states, such as anxiety or anger, that do not fit into the happiness sadness categories are not generally included.

Some authors believe that all individuals have mood swings and that normal individuals may have “blue” hours or “blue” days. This belief has been supported by systematic studies of oscillations in mood in normal subjects.

The episodes of low mood or of feeling blue experienced by normal individuals are similar in a number of ways to the clinical states of depression.

First, there is similarity between the descriptions of the subjective experience of normal low mood and of depression. The word used to describe normal low mood tend to be the same used by depressive to describe their feelings – blue, sad, unhappy, empty, low, lonely. It is possible, however, that this resemblance may be due to the depressed patient’s drawing on his familiar vocabulary to describe a pathological state for which he has no available words. Some patients, in fact state that their feelings during their depression are quite distinct from any feelings they have ever experienced when not in a clinical depression.

Second the behavior of the depressed patient resembles that of a person who is sad or unhappy, particularly in the mournful facial expression and the lowering of the voice.

Third, some of the vegetative and physical manifestations characteristics of depression are occasionally seen in individuals who are feelings sad but who would not be considered clinically depressed. A person who has fail an examination, lost a job, or even jilted, may not only feel discouraged and forlorn, but may experience anorexia, insomnia, and fatigability.

Finally many individuals experience blue states that seem to oscillate in a consistent or rhythmic fashion, independently or external stimuli, suggestive of the rhythmic variations in the intensity of depression.
Normal Moods and Depression

Treating Severe Depression

2008-12-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

Treating Severe Depression
At its worst, depression is severe depression. Until it's so severe that months or even years of treatment are required, most people do nothing about it. Each year over 15 million people in America suffer from some form of depression. Unfortunately 2/3 of these people never seek medical treatments. Historic stereotypes of the wild eyed insane hermit wandering the streets motivate people to try to cover up their problem. The problem is that Severe Depression will not be whisked away. Those who suffer this disease have no control over it and the condition will only get worse with time.

Many people are too ashamed to admit they are afflicted. There is no reflection on you as a person because of severe depression. You're still a full person. Depression is a real medical condition. Medical aid is required. When depression reaches the severe level it simply means that all of the normal symptoms of the disease are magnified. The intensity kicks up many notches. Social situations and work become more difficult. You'll be pulled deeper into yourself by feelings of hopelessness. This illness cannot be prevented. However, it can be treated. Attacking it in its early stage is a key.

Diagnosis and treatment require an expert eye to notice the signs of depression. That's because depression has a lot of effects. The victim will begin to pull out of the world around them. They find it hard to deal with those around them. They cannot overcome their feelings of guilt, hopelessness and uselessness. They always seem angry and short tempered. In the severest of cases those suffering from this disease may feel that they hear voices or believe they have received visits from the devil. Severe depression sufferers often turn to suicide to stop their ordeal. Those affected by this illness need the support of those around them and treatment that will give them confidence once again.

Severe depression is terrible. Normal life is no longer possible. Losing the ability to control your own life is terrible. Treatment is the only option. Typically, anti-depressants and 'talk therapy' are prescribed to treat depression. Support groups can also help. The path to better living begins with the sufferer looking for help. They can once again gain the self-control they once had. But first the illness must be admitted and treatment sought.
Treating Severe Depression
About author:
Chokyi Ooi runs a Depression information site and hopes this site can help us to understand more about Depression. To learn about Severe Depression, feel free to drop by http://depression.chokyi.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chokyi_Ooi

Understand the Depression

2008-11-02T09:46:00.000-08:00

Understand the Depression
There are two major type of depression. In the first depression or unipolar depression, the patient’s mood varies between being either normal or depressed; he or she never becomes excessively elated. In the second, manic-depression or bipolar illness, the patient’s mood varies between being depresses and being “high” or “euphoric.” In the past manic-depression was sometimes called manic-depression psychosis. Psychosis is another word for “insanity,” including symptoms such as delusions (false beliefs) and hallucinations. The mostly people with manic depression are never psychotic.

Dysthymia refers to a state of mild chronic depression. Cyclothymia refers to a condition in which the person’s moods swing up and down for days, weeks, or moths at a time, with symptoms that are not as severe as those in manic depression.

There is also much confusion about whether these illnesses are produced by psychological experiences or by malfunctioning within the brain (a chemical imbalance). The major point is that depression, manic depression, dysthymic disorder, and cyclothymic disorder are disease, the product of abnormal biological functioning.
Understand the Depression

Meaning of Depression

2008-10-19T23:35:00.000-07:00

Meaning of Depression
One of the difficulties in conceptualizing depression is essentially semantic, that term has been variously applied to designate: a particular type of feeling or symptom; a symptom complex (or syndrome); and a well defined disease entity.

Not infrequently, normal people say they are depressed when they observe any lowering of their mood below their baseline level. A person experiencing a transient sadness or loneliness may state that he is depressed. Whether this normal mood is synonymous with, or even related to, the feeling experienced in the abnormal condition of depression is open to question. In any event, when a person complains of feeling inordinately dejected, hopeless or unhappy, the term depressed is often used to label this subjective state.

The term depression is often used to designate a complex pattern of deviations in feelings, cognition and behavior that is not represented as a discrete psychiatric disorder. In such instances it is regarded as syndrome, or symptoms –complex. The cluster of signs and symptoms is sometime conceptualized as a psychopathological dimension ranging in intensity from mild to severe. The syndrome of depression may at times appear as a concomitant of a definite psychiatric disorder such as schizophrenic reaction; in such a case, the diagnosis would be “schizophrenic reaction with depression.” At times, the syndrome may be secondary to or a manifestation of organic disease of the brain such as general paresis or cerebral arteriosclerosis.

Finally the term depression has been used to designate a discrete nosological entity. The term is generally qualified by some adjective to indicate a particular type or form as, for example: reactive depression, agitated depression or psychotic depressive reactive. When conceptualized as a specific clinical entity, depression is assumed to have certain consistent attributes in addition to the characteristics signs and symptoms; these attributes include specifiable type of onset, course, duration and outcome.
Meaning of Depression

Description of Depression

2008-10-06T08:26:00.000-07:00

Description of Depression
The condition that today we label depression has been described by a number of ancient writers under classification of “melancholia.” The first clinical description of melancholia was made by Hippocrates in the 4th century B.C. He also referred to swings similar to mania and depression.

Aretaeus, physician living in the 2nd century, A.D described the melancholic patient as “sad, dismayed, sleepless…They become this by their agitation and loss of refreshing sleep…At more advanced stage, they complain of a thousand futilities and desire death.” It is noteworthy that Aretaeus specifically delineated the manic-depressive cycle. Some authorities believe that he anticipated the Kraepelinian synthesis of manic depressive psychosis.

Pinel at the beginning of the nineteenth century described melancholia as follows:
“The symptoms generally comprehend by the term melancholia are taciturnity, a thoughtful pensive air, gloomy suspicious and a love of solitude. Those traits, indeed, appear to distinguish the characters of some men otherwise in good health, and frequently in prosperous circumstances. Nothing, however, can be more hideous than the figure of a melancholic brooding over his imaginary misfortune. If moreover possessed of power, and endowed with a perverse disposition and a sanguinary heart, and image is rendered still more repulsive.”

Because the disturbed feelings are generally a striking feature of depression, it has become customary in recent years to regard this condition as a “primary mood disorder” or as an “affective disorder.” The central importance ascribed to the feeling component of depression is exemplified by the practice of utilizing affective adjective check lists to define and measure depression. The representation of depression as an affective disorder is a misleading as it would be to designate scarlet fever as a “disorder of the skin” or as a “primary febrile disorder.” There are many components to depression other than mood deviation.

Depression may now be defined in terms of the following attributes:

A specific alteration in mood: sadness, loneliness, apathy
A negative self concept associated with self-reproaches and self blame.
Regressive and self punitive wishes: desires to escape, hide or die.
Vegetative changes: anorexia, insomnia, loss of libido
Change in activity level: retardation or agitation.

Description of Depression

Symptoms of a Major Depressive Episode

2008-09-11T01:55:00.000-07:00

Symptoms of a Major Depressive Episode
Major depressive episode can be defined by the criteria listed below. At least five of the symptoms, including one or the other of the first two, must be present during the same two-week period for major depression to be diagnosed.

Depressed mood (or can be irritable mood in children and adolescents) most of the day, nearly every day, as indicated either by the subjective account or observation by others.

Markedly diminished interest or pleasure in all day, or almost all, activities most of the day, nearly every day (as indicated either by subjective account or observation by others of apathy most of the time)

Significant weight loss or weight gain when no dieting (e.g. more than 5% of body weight in a month), or decrease or increase in appetite nearly every day (in children, consider failure to make expected weight gains).

Insomnia or hypersomnia nearly every day

Psychomotor agitation or retardation nearly every day (observation by others, not merely subjective feelings of restlessness or being showed down)

Fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day

Feelings of worthlessness or excessive of inappropriate guilt which may be delusional nearly every day (not merely self reproach or guilt about being sick)

Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness, nearly every day (either by subjective account or as observed by others)

Recurrent thoughts of death (not just fear of dying), recurrent suicidal ideation without a specific plan, or a suicide attempt or a specific plan for committing suicide

Symptoms of a Major Depressive Episode

Definition of Depression

2008-08-31T17:32:00.000-07:00

Definition of Depression
Depression can be defined – a familiar psychological disorder as a variety of distinct affective or mood disorders, some relatively mild and some severe. One of the common is major depression, which is defined as at least one episode or feeling profoundly depressed, sad, and hopeless, and/or losing interest in and the ability to derive pleasure from all activities, for at least two weeks.

A young man suffering from major depression might, for example, feel extremely discouraged and “down in the dumps”, no longer seem to care about his job or even about sexual relations with his wife; losing weight or have difficulty sleeping; speak and move very slowly, as though lacking the energy to perform even the simplest actions; have trouble paying attention to his work or making simple decision; dwell on how guilty he feels about his many failings; and even begin to think he would be better off dead. Note that major depression would no be diagnosed if this young man were going through the normal grieving process after the death of a loved one.

This definition of major depression is intended to be applied to individuals of all ages. In other words the depression in a child is basically similar to depression in a young adult or in an elderly adult, even though it is acknowledged that children may express their depression somewhat differently than adults do.
Definition of Depression

Is adolescence really a Period of Storm and Stress?

2008-08-07T19:47:00.000-07:00

Is adolescence really a Period of Storm and Stress?
Are adolescents really more likely to experience psychological problems than either children or adults? The conclusion is that adolescents have a far worse reputation than they deserve. It is simply not true that most adolescents are emotionally disturbed or that most develop significant problems such as drug abuse and chronic delinquency. Instead, significant psychopathology characterizes only in a minority of adolescents, and many of them were maladjusted before they reached puberty and continue to be maladjusted during adulthood. In a comprehensive survey of mental health researchers discovered that about 10% of a sample of 14 year olds appeared to have serious psychological disorders and another 10% could be described as very miserable and negative about themselves. Rates of diagnosed psychological disorder were slightly higher in this population of 14 year olds than among a group of 10 year olds or among the parent of the youngsters studied.

Yet adolescence is a period of heightened vulnerability to some forms of psychological disorder. After all, adolescents must cope with physical maturation, the emergence of new cognitive abilities, dating, changes in family dynamics, moves to new and more complex school setting societal demands to become more responsible and to assume adult roles, and more . Most adolescents seem to cope with these challenges remarkable well and undergo impressive psychological growth, although it is not unusual for them to feel depressed, anxious, and irritable now and then. For a minority, the stresses of adolescent can precipitate serious psychological disorders.
Is adolescence really a Period of Storm and Stress?

What do you know about Depression?

2008-07-19T16:51:00.000-07:00

What do you know about Depression?
The most common symptom of depression and one which most people think is the only one is having a persistent empty or 'sad' mood. This is not what can sometimes be referred to as feeling 'down in the dumps'. The mood will last from several weeks at least. At which point should see a psychiatrist or doctor. A feeling of pessimism, hopelessness or helplessness and being critical of oneself for never being good enough at anything no matter what we do. Depression can lead to a lack of interest in pursuits someone usually enjoys. Feeling lethargic or having no energy or drive, even for sex, is another symptom of depression that can slowly be re-enforced over time.

Trouble with sleeping and eating is a symptom that most people would not usually associate with depression. Sleeping disorders are often dismissed as having developed a mild case of insomnia that will surely go away over time. Some people wake early in the morning and are unable to fall back asleep. Eating disturbances to, especially in women, can hide the depression, because the first thing that will come to mind is anorexia or bulimia. This is true, but we also need to place these symptoms in context, which is why it is so important to know the facts and symptoms of depression so that we can see the bigger picture.
What do you know about Depression?

Diagnostic Criteria for Depression

2008-06-16T18:07:00.000-07:00

Diagnostic Criteria for Depression
Psychologists and psychiatrists would not be able to diagnose and treat psychological disorders without more specific diagnostic criteria. DSM-lll defines depression – a very familiar psychological disorder – as a variety of distinct affective or mood disorders, some relatively mild and some severe. One of the common is major depression, which is define as at least one episode of feeling in and the ability to derive pleasure from almost all activities, for at least two weeks. More specifically, a major depressive episode cannot be diagnosed unless the individual meets the criteria listed below.

1. Depressed mood most of the day.
2. Markedly diminished interest
3. Significant weight loss
4. Insomnia
5. Psychomotor agitation
6. Loss of energy
7. Feeling worthlessness
8. Diminished ability to think
9. Recurrent thoughts of deaths

Diagnostic Criteria for Depression

Specific Standard of Behavior

2008-05-17T08:51:00.000-07:00

Specific Standard of Behavior
To define psychological disorder more precisely, we must consider more specific standards of behavior – namely social norms and age norms.

Social norms
Behaviors are considered abnormal or normal only in some social context. Social norms are the expectations about how to behave that prevail in a particular social context, whether it is a culture, subculture, or everyday setting. Thus, hearing the “spirit” speak or seeing visions is defined as abnormal in the mainstream culture of North America, but among the plain Indian these “symptoms” have been defined as valued skills. Similarly, a child’s screaming and shouting may be viewed as a quite appropriate on the playground or in the backyard may be raised eyebrow when it is inappropriate in context – for example, when it occurs in the classroom or at church. Definitions of abnormal behavior vary from culture , from subculture to subculture, and from one historical period to another. In a very real sense, then, abnormality is in the eve of a particular group of beholders.

Age norms
Age norms is particularly important from a lifespan developmental perspective – abnormal behavior must be defined in relation to age norms, or societal expectations about what behavior is appropriate or normal at various ages. The 4-year-old boy, who frequently cries, acts impulsively, wets his bed, and talks to his imaginary friend may be perceived as – and may be perfectly normal. The 40 year old who does the same things has a problem. We simply cannot define abnormal behavior and development without having a solid grasp of normal behavior and development.
Specific Standard of Behavior

Depression study

2008-04-13T07:53:00.000-07:00

Depression study
Market studies on women, men and depression estimate that over 100,000 Americans each year are treated with electro convulsive therapy (ECT) for their depression. Roughly 15% of all people with severe depression that require hospitalization commit suicide.
Disorders related to men and depressions are also very expensive. Depression is ranked as the second leading cause of disability worldwide in 1990. Depression costs in the U.S. alone are estimated to exceed $50 billion annually, including over $12 billion in direct treatment costs. The total market in the U.S. for anti-depressants is estimated to exceed $6 billion.

Several general factors may be linked to women, men and depression but the exact causes of depressive disorders are unknown, although both biological abnormalities and psychological factors are thought to precipitate this disease. Diminished synaptic concentrations of neurotransmitters, especially serotonin and norepinephrine, are implicated in the pathogenesis of depression. Most current standard therapies regarding men and depression are thought to affect either one or both of these neurotransmitter systems (1) SSRI drugs (serotonin-specific reuptake inhibitors) or (2) MAOI drugs (monoamine oxidase inhibitors) that decrease the breakdown of norepinephrine and serotonin. It is of interest to note that several antiepileptic compounds, such as carbamazepine, valproate and lamotrigine, are used as mood stabilizers and that lamotrigine and gabapentin are also used as antidepressants.
Depression study

Abnormal behavior

2008-02-29T01:43:00.000-08:00

It is the rare human being who makes it through the life span without having at least some difficulties adapting to the challenges of living. Each phase of the life span has own unique challenges, and some of us inevitably run into trouble mastering them. Criteria for diagnosing Psychological disorders.

Three broad criteria are often applied in diagnosing psychological disorders:

1. Statistical deviance
This is criterion used when individual are identified as mentally retarded, partly on the basis of their subaverage IQ scores. In other situations, a disorder is said to exist when otherwise normal behavior occur with great frequency, severity or persistence. Thus a mild and temporary case of would not be diagnosed as clinical depression because it is so statistically common, but more enduring and severe case might be.

2. Maladaptiveness
Two men might have the same thirst for a few beers after work, but one might be able to perform his job effectively and maintain close social relationship, whereas the other might repeatedly lose jobs and alienate family members because of his drinking. Maladaptive behavior also includes endangering others by behaving aggressively, as well as endangering oneself by attempting suicide.

3. Personal distress
Many common psychological disorders- for example, depression, anxiety disorders, and phobias – clearly involve a good deal of personal suffering. There are of concern for that reason alone.

Although these guidelines are a start at defining abnormal behavior, we may have noticed that they are not very specific. That is, they do not tell us precisely where the dividing line between normal and abnormal behavior can be found. What’s more, we must ask which forms of statistical deviation, which failures of adaptation, or which kind of personal distress are most significance. To define psychological disorder, we must consider more specific standards of behavior.

Simple healing foods to prevent and treat depression

2007-12-15T16:41:00.000-08:00

A new study published in the February 15, 2005 issue of Biological Psychiatry shows that certain foods are better at treating depression than antidepressant drugs. The study found that omega-3 fatty acids and foods high in a compound called uridine were able to reduce the symptoms of depression as well as or better than three different antidepressant drugs that were tested. This research was conducted at the McLean Hospital, which is affiliated with Harvard. It's very exciting to see this kind of study, because it shows yet more scientific evidence for the healing effects of food as well as the relative uselessness of prescription drugs.

Based on the results of this study, it seems silly that anyone would continue to use antidepressant drugs to try to treat depression when there are simple healing foods available that do a better job. This is especially true when considering the potentially dangerous side effects of antidepressant drugs that are now coming to light, including increased risk of suicides, violent behavior, and other similar acts of aggression. But what healing foods in particular are we talking about in this study? In addition to the omega-3 fatty acids, these health enhancing substances are found in walnuts, molasses, and fish, according to researchers. They're also found in many other foods.

It's especially interesting to note that molasses is included in this list, because molasses is produced as a waste product from the sugar refining industry. When you refine sugar beets or whole grains in order to make refined white sugar or white flour, you remove as much as 98% of the nutrition from those natural foods, leaving only a white, super sweet, highly concentrated refined sugar, and that's what ultimately gets fed to human beings. The waste product from this is a thick, brown, syrupy liquid -- that's molasses. Molasses contains most of the nutrition of the original food, including the vitamins, minerals, and various compounds such as uridine. It is this molasses that's normally sent off to be used in livestock feed, and yet what we're finding here with this research is that this molasses can help prevent depression. Eating molasses is part of a food strategy that's just as good as antidepressant drugs.

All of this also goes to show why people who pursue healthy diets tend to have such a positive outlook and outstanding mental health -- it's the foods, stupid, because the food greatly affects your mental state, and if you eat healing foods, and foods rich in vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients, then you're going to have healthy mental function and will probably never experience depression, especially if you combine these foods with natural sunlight. But if you eat processed foods and manufactured foods, as are generally consumed by most Americans, then of course you're going to be depressed, because you're not giving your brain the nutrients it needs to achieve a healthy mental state.

What else is exciting here is that we're seeing yet more benefits of omega-3 fatty acids. These omega-3 oils are almost miracle-class healing nutrients. They enhance heart health, they reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, they boost brain function and nerve system function, and now we're seeing they even function as effective antidepressants. Clearly, omega-3 fatty acids are one of the most exciting nutrients in foods that are available to American consumers, and you can get these in everyday foods, or as nutritional supplements in things like salmon oil or flax seed oil. You can also eat chia seeds if you'd like to get some good, healthy omega-3's.

By the way, the news of the healing potential of these foods and the fact that these foods can treat depression better than antidepressant drugs may be new to the general public and conventional medical doctors, but it's old news to those in the fields of holistic nutrition and natural health. This has been known for a very long time. We know that eating nuts and molasses and getting good nutrition greatly affects mental health. And we know that most of those who are depressed in this country are only depressed because of a lack of nutrition, whether it's through a lack of nutritionally balanced food, or a lack of what I call vibrational nutrition, which is natural sunlight. In fact, virtually every common disease today can be treated if not entirely prevented through foods and lifestyle changes. Even those diseases that sound mysterious and seem to have some weird genetic origin, such as fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome, are really just names placed on patterns of symptoms that are more often than not caused by nutritional deficiencies in the first place.
source:newstarget.com

Depression in children

2007-10-13T06:26:00.000-07:00

Depression is a disorder that affects thoughts, moods, feelings, behavior and physical health. The main types of depression include major depression, dysthymia, adjustments disorders, bipolar disorder and seasonal affective disorder. According to experts, major depression, dysthymic and bipolar disorders are the most frequently diagnosed mood disorders in children and adolescents. Studies show that 10 to 15 percent of children and adolescents have some symptoms of depression, according to United States Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration.

There is no single cause of depression in children, but experts say the illness often runs in the family. Other factors that may trigger depression include stressful life events, long-term use of some medications and chronic illnesses.

Depression is often difficult to diagnose in children, experts say, because some of the behaviors associated with depression can be normal patterns of behavior in a growing child. Researchers say some of the signs of depression in adolescents and children include sadness that won't go away and a decreased interest in playing or involvement in favorite activities. If your child is moody, irritable or has suicidal thoughts, those are serious signs that you should pay close attention to--especially if those types of behavior last for long periods.

Depression Behavior in Adolescence

2007-05-07T07:01:00.000-07:00

The Depression
Although adolescents are quite a bit more vulnerable to depression than children are, we cannot be sure why this is so. It may that adults fail to recognize many cases of depression in childhood. Or it could be that diagnosable depression is more likely to occur once the adolescent has developed advance cognitive abilities and is more self reflective. Or perhaps adolescents experience more stressful life events than children do.

In one study, about 9% pf junior and senior high school students were depress enough to be diagnose as suffering from major depression which a rate fairly similar to the rate among adults.
The Depression

Women and Depression Fast Facts

2007-04-14T22:44:00.000-07:00

The Depression
The facts provided by National Mnetal Information Center

1.One in four women will experience severe depression at some point in life.

2.Depression affects twice as many women as men, regardless of racial and ethnic background or income.

2.Depression is the number one cause of disability in women.

3.In general, married women experience more depression than single women do, and depression is common among young mothers who stay at home full-time with small children.

4.Women who are victims of sexual and physical abuse are at much greater risk for depression.

5.At least 90 percent of all cases of eating disorders occur in women, and there is a strong relationship between eating disorders and depression.

6.Depression can put women at risk for suicide. While more men than women die from suicide, women attempt suicide about twice as often as men do.

7.Only about one-fifth of all women who suffer from depression seek treatment.

8.Depression can - and should - be treated.
The Depression

Sleep and Depression

2007-04-11T06:30:00.000-07:00

The Depression
There is definitely a connection between sleep problems—particularly insomnia—and depression. We frequently find insomnia in patients diagnosed with clinical depression; in fact, sleep disturbance is one of the core symptoms of clinical depression. However, people with insomnia are more likely to develop depressive and anxiety disorders.

People with depression often have severe sleep disturbance, and they respond more slowly to treatment than other patients with sleep disorders. They also have an increased risk of recurrence of depression, and there is some evidence that people with depression also experience suicidal thoughts.

Oversleeping is less common in cases of depression—it occurs in about 15% of patients with depression, mostly among younger adults, particularly those with bipolar affective disorder (manic depression). Excessive sleepiness can be a symptom of depression, but most patients with depression have insomnia.

Depression is often associated with disturbances in vegetative functions—the things the body does to keep itself alive, such as eating and sleeping. Depression is usually associated with loss of appetite and weight loss, but it can also result in increased appetite and weight gain.

There aren't many well-controlled studies on the effectiveness of different treatments for concurrent depression and insomnia. In general, medication treatments take four different approaches:

The common anti-depressants (called selective seratonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs) such as Prozac, Zoloft, and Celexa are usually well tolerated and effective. Many people report improvement in sleep as well as a general improvement in overall mood. However, in some patients, the SSRIs can inhibit sleep.

The older anti-depressants (called tricyclics) such as Pamelor, Elavil, and Doxepin may be somewhat sedating, but they have more serious side effects then the SSRIs, such as increases in blood pressure. They can be lethal in overdose.

Some physicians use an SSRI in combination with a low dose of a sedating antidepressant (such as Trazodone) or a short acting hypnotic (such as Ambien, Sonata, or Temazepam). The advantage of this approach as that the combination of medications used to treat the depression can also address the sleep problem, and the physician has the option of discontinuing the sleep drug while continuing to treat the depression.

A fourth approach is to use either an SSRI or psychotherapy for depression with behavioral treatment for insomnia. There are studies that also show behavioral treatments for insomnia can be helpful in treating depression and minor sleep complaints.
The approach varies with the type of depression and the nature of the sleep disturbance.
The Depression

Depression

2007-04-09T07:25:00.001-07:00

The Depression

Initial treatment
Treatment of depression may include antidepressant medication, professional counseling such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, or a combination of the two.
Professional counseling may be all that you need for mild to moderate depression.

If your early symptoms are severe, your initial treatment most likely will include both antidepressants and professional counseling.

Hospitalization may be necessary if you show warning signs of suicide, such as thoughts or plans about harming yourself or another person, detachment from reality (psychosis), or excessive use of alcohol or drugs.

Depression can lead to suicide. The warning signs of suicide change with age.

Warning signs of suicide in children and teens may include preoccupation with death or suicide or a recent breakup of a relationship.

Warning signs of suicide in adults may include alcohol or substance abuse, recent job loss, or divorce.

Warning signs of suicide in older adults may include the recent death of a partner or diagnosis of a life-limiting illness.Depression usually can be successfully treated with medication, professional counseling, or a combination of the two. However, it sometimes takes several attempts to find the medication and type of counseling that work best for you. It can take 4 to 12 weeks for medications to take effect, although they often work more quickly. You and your health professional will work together to find the right treatment.

The depression

What is Depression?

2007-04-03T06:58:00.000-07:00

The Depression
The Common Cold of Mental Health
Depression has been called "The Common Cold of Mental Health." We all know that everybody feels "down," "blue," "bummed," hopeless, or pessimistic from time to time. That's normal.
Many people wonder "When does 'feeling down' cross the line into depression?" That's a tough question, because it's not always an "Either-Or" kind of thing.
In considering whether you need help with depression, it might be useful to consider the following three dimensions: Frequency, Severity and Duration.

What Causes Depression?
Some of you may feel like you know exactly why you're depressed.
*Your partner just broke up with you . . .
*A loved one or a pet died . . .
*You lost your job . . .
*You didn't get accepted into that professional school . . .
Other times, however, the reasons for our depression are not quite as clear; that is, there may not be just one "cause," but a variety of contributing factors that accumulate over time and lead us to that feeling of being defeated, demoralized, hopeless, helpless, depressed. And sometimes, with factors like low self-esteem or anxiety, it may be almost impossible to say which causes which.
The Depression

Sleep difficulties due to overstress

2007-04-01T05:36:00.000-07:00

Depression
If you suffer from overstress, you have disrupted the function of your Body Clock. Re-setting your Body Clock is vital if you are to feel well, sleep soundly, and awake refreshed. Give yourself a definite wake up and sleep time. This sets a frame of reference for your Body Clock. It will take two or three weeks to synchronize your Body Clock to your schedule. So, stick to your schedule!

But what if you try to go to sleep at 10 p.m. and can’t fall asleep? Or what if I fall asleep but keep waking up during the night?

Sleep difficulty is the hallmark of overstress. When your Body Clock stops working, you may have trouble falling asleep and staying asleep. Or conversely, you may feel sleepy all the time. Either symptom may be produced when the Body Clock stops working. It all depends on which "position" the Clock was in when it stops: wakefulness, or sleepiness.

So, do not expect to have your sleep problems go away until your Body Clock is working again. Go ahead and set yourself a reasonable wake up time and bed time. Do the best you can to stick to these times. As you lower your stress levels, your Body Clock will begin to work. It will then match its cycle of wakefulness and sleep to the times that you have set for it. Remember, this process will take at least three weeks, so stick firmly to your time schedule.

But what if you put yourself to bed at bed time, and you just lie there without falling asleep?
If, after 45 minutes, you have not fallen asleep, get up and read a book or do something around the house. Sooner or later, you will feel sleepy and fall asleep. Keep putting yourself to bed at your bed time every night. As you reduce your stress levels, your Body Clock will begin working. Your Body Clock will gradually match your chosen sleep schedule. In the meantime, be patient and work to reduce your stress levels as much as possible.
Depression

Headaches

2007-03-30T17:24:00.000-07:00

The Depression
Many women suffer from headaches. Headaches have myriad causes and there are many varieties of headache types, which is why they are one of the great challenges in medicine. Why do some people have them, and others do not? Why do some people suffer so severely, while others can take an aspirin and bounce right back?

Despite their complex origins, we have found there are simple measures that you can put in place to bring real, permanent headache relief without drugs.

The abiding concern with headaches is whether a serious problem in the brain may be the cause. Fortunately, that is rarely the case. But if you suddenly suffer severe headaches unlike ever before, it warrants immediate medical evaluation for sure — even an emergency room visit.

If you have been a long-time headache sufferer, it is wise to discuss your headaches with your primary care provider so you can get properly diagnosed and fully understand the type of headaches you have.

There are many types of headaches, such as tension, cluster, migraine, and several subtypes of each as well. Knowing what type you have will help you identify your triggers and point you toward better solutions!
The Depression

To recognize Depression

2007-03-24T08:17:00.000-07:00

The Depression

Suffering from depression or mental health problems, is something that most people feel ashamed to admit. Who wouldn't, with comments like those above aimed right at you. If you have suffered from major depression or have had an episode of depression that has contributed significantly to a change in your daily life, facing up to comments like those above is something that you will have to accept sooner or later.

What about those people who don't suffer a major depression or severe episode, whether life-threatening or not? Those of us who definitely don't have depression and definitely don't need to see a shrink to confirm what we already know: that we are not depressed! This brings me to the core of this article: How do you recognize depression?

It is so very important to be vigilant. To be aware of the warning signs, and the earlier they are spotted, the better. Why? Because being depressed leads to behavior that is not helpful. Behavior that over time, is reinforced day after day, month after month. Slowly but surely getting a firm grip on your life. It is much harder to spot a change in behavior if it occurs and develops gradually over time. But what are these signs and behavior that we should look out for?

The most common symptom of depression and one which most people think is the only one is having a persistent empty or 'sad' mood. This is not what can sometimes be referred to as feeling 'down in the dumps'. The mood will last from several weeks at least. At which point you should see a psychiatrist or doctor. A feeling of pessimism, hopelessness or helplessness and being critical of oneself for never being good enough at anything no matter what we do. Depression can lead to a lack of interest in pursuits someone usually enjoys. Feeling lethargic or having no energy or drive, even for sex, is another symptom of depression that can slowly be re-enforced over time. Trouble with sleeping and eating is a symptom that most people would not usually associate with depression. Sleeping disorders are often dismissed as having developed a mild case of insomnia that will surely go away over time. Some people wake early in the morning and are unable to fall back asleep. Eating disturbances to, especially in women, can hide the depression, because the first thing that will come to mind is anorexia or bulimia. This is true, but we also need to place these symptoms in context, which is why it is so important to know the facts and symptoms of depression so that we can see the bigger picture.

Depression often goes hand in hand with anxiety. Anxiety can also cause sleeping disturbances, as well as a feeling of dread, increased heart rate and more severely, panic attacks. Depression and anxiety can easily knock our confidence levels as both can lead to difficulty concentrating and remembering or making decisions. These symptoms can climax with devastating effect. Within the workplace they can lead to a complete nervous breakdown where the person no longer knows, or can't remember how to do their job or how they even got there. Nothing makes sense and it can be very frightening when you are faced with a situation like this where you no longer know what is happening around you, or much less, why you are feeling this way.

Depression can also manifest itself through persistent physical symptoms or pains that do not seem to respond to treatment. Irritable and losing ones temper are also symptoms of depression, seen more often in males than females. Thoughts of suicide, attempts and plans are never to be taken lightly. Often, suicide attempts are a cry for help. Sometimes they are not. A person can be diagnosed with depression if four or more of the symptoms above have been present in a two week period or more. Not everyone will have the same symptoms so it is important to be aware and look for signs of all symptoms of depression. Remember, only a doctor or psychiatrist can diagnose depression.
The Depression

Mood Disorders

2007-03-05T06:51:00.000-08:00

The Depression
Definition
The person felt sad, or melancholy, from time to time. But there is a point where the ache of sadness becomes chronic and insufferable, a mountain of pain to its victim. Mood disorders, predominantly Depression and Bi-polar syndromes, are said to strike one in seven of the population.

Mood Disorders in Children and Adolescents
The two principal classifications for mood disorders are bi-polar (also known as manic-depression) and depression alone. Bi-polarity is characterized by wild mood swings ranging from deep sadness and depression to euphoric and manic type behavior. Depression is defined as a deep overriding sadness and feelings of despair. These feelings are all pervasive and don't disappear in time.

Children and adults who suffer from mood disorders cannot cope well in society. When depressed, they experience a loss of interest and lack of enjoyment in life. For a person with bi-polar disorder, the manic swings can create a disruptive influence on all aspects of their life and the lives of everyone around them.

Bi-polar disorder is classified in two categories: Bi-polar I and Bi-Polar II. Bipolar I Disorder is considered the classic form of manic depression, with full Manic Episodes and Major Depressive Episodes. Bipolar II Disorder involves Major Depressive Episodes and Hypomanic (non-full-blown Mania) Episodes. Since a significant portion of those suffering with manic depression do not have full manic episodes, the classification was divided into Bipolar I and Bipolar II. However, Bipolar II is often a first step to Bipolar I.

Bi-polar disorder appears to run in families, and there is some evidence that a biological vulnerability towards bi-polarity could be inherited. However, not everyone with this genetic vulnerability has the illness. Major depression also seems to appear generationally, but it too can occur in persons with no family history of the disease. An important factor that the research has uncovered is that major depressive disorder is associated with a neuro-chemical imbalance in the brain.
The Depression

Symptoms of Major Depression

2007-02-28T08:28:00.000-08:00

Depression
A depressed person may gain or lose weight, eat more or less than usual, have difficulty concentrating, and have trouble sleeping or sleep more than usual. He or she may feel tired and have no energy for work or play. The person can appear slowed down or agitated and restless. The symptoms can be quite noticeable to others.

Perhaps the most painful and dangerous symptom of this illness is an unshakable feeling of worthlessness and guilt. The person may feel guilty about a specific life experience or may feel general guilt not related to anything specific.

Small burdens or obstacles may appear impossible to manage. If pain and self-criticism become great enough, they can lead to feelings of hopelessness, self-destructive behavior, or thoughts of death and suicide. The vast majority of people who suffer severe depression do not attempt or commit suicide, but they are more likely to do so than people who are not depressed.

People with major depression often have distorted thinking. For example, they are likely to be pessimistic out of proportion with the reality of their situation. Sometimes, the thinking of a depressed person becomes psychotic; that is, the person has great difficulty recognizing reality. Sometimes, depressed people develop delusions (false beliefs) or hallucinations (false perceptions).

Symptoms of major depression include:
· Distinctly depressed or irritable mood
· Loss of interest or pleasure
· Decreased or increased weight or appetite
· Increased or decreased sleep
· Appearing slowed or agitated
· Fatigue and loss of energy
· Feeling worthless or guilty
· Poor concentration
· Indecisiveness
· Thoughts of death, suicide attempts or plans
Depression

How to Tell if Your Depression Is Psychological or Biochemical

2007-02-13T01:19:00.000-08:00

Depression
Biochemical depression has certain symptoms that distinguish it from the depression stemming from negative life events. You have reason to suspect that you are biochemically depressed if any of the markers listed below describes your depression:
·You have been depressed for a long time despite changes in your life
·Talk therapy has little or no effect; in fact, psychological probing-- questions like "Why do you hate your father?"--leave you as confused as Alice at the Mad Hatter's tea party
·You don't react to good news
·You awaken very early in the morning and can't get back to sleep
·You cannot trace the onset of your depression to any event in your life
·Your moods may swing between depression and elation over a period of months in a regular rhythm (this suggests bipolar, or manic-depressive, disorder) Heavy drinking makes your depression worse.
Depression

Happiness

2007-01-15T06:26:00.000-08:00

Depression
Happiness is an emotion. So is sadness, love, hate, curiosity, revulsion, excitement, jealousy, contentment, depression, anxiety, fear, guilt and anger. All emotions have causes, causes which can be understood and controlled.

The emotion of happiness is not caused simply by entertaining your whims. (Whims are an obstacle to happiness.) Happiness is not merely a life lived by accumulating moments of pleasure. On the contrary, happiness is a long lasting enduring enjoyment of life, it is being in love with living. It is your reward for achieving a good character and personal rational values in life. Some important values are a productive career, romance, friendship and hobbies.

Achieving these values requires rationality and takes effort and skill. Two types of skills you can use are thinking skills and valuing skills.

Once you learn to have confidence in your own mind and once you discover the virtues that make it possible for you to achieve your values and that make your life worth living, then you will experience the result - an earned pride and a genuine self-esteem. And of course happiness.
Depression

Depression Is One Of The Strong Emotions Associated With Overeating

2006-12-10T05:07:00.000-08:00

Depression
Anyone can be an emotional eater. After a failed marriage, one woman found she had gained 60 pounds. Yes, some could be linked to the medicine she was on, but a great deal was associated with emotional eating. Experts have started paying more attention to emotional eating in both sexes. They even go so far as to suggest in Women Today that most gains in weight are linked to emotional eating because 75% of overindulging is connected to stuffing the emotions.

Depression is one of the strong emotions associated with overeating. In a depressed mood, most will feel hopeless, tired, and uninterested in activities they used to love. Attempting to cheer themselves up, these people will often turn to food to deal with these feelings. Unfortunately, that overeating causes the pounds to pack on. This weight gain can deepen the depression even further.

Many people overeat out of boredom. With nothing else to do, they rummage through the cupboards to fill the time. Often they sit in front of the TV or computer mindlessly munching on snacks without ever being hungry. Instead of determining why they are bored, or finding something constructive to fill that boredom, these overeaters stuff the time, and their stomachs, with unnecessary fattening foods.

How can you tell if you eat emotionally? You can evaluate your eating habits by asking how it is connected to your emotions. When you are scared, worried, or sad, do you start snacking? Does that snacking or overeating make you feel better, even if it is temporary? When you are angry or disappointed, do you handle those feelings by binging on your favorite comfort food? Have you noticed that after a major change in your life you have started eating more to deal with those feelings? If you answered, “yes” to any of these you could be an emotional eater.

What should you do if you are an emotional eater? First, you can try distracting yourself from the overeating by choosing to do something else instead. When you are bored and start to grab that bag of chips, take the dog for a walk instead. Sign up for dancing class to keep you busy. The alternative activity doesn’t even have to be physical. You could read a book, take up crocheting, or learn a new language. With practice, you can overcome that emotional urge to overeat.

To get to the root of the issue, you can determine what triggers you to eat emotionally. Is there a certain time that it hits? Is there a certain activity such as watching TV that sets off that urge? If you have a certain time and place that triggers your urge to overeat, you can redirect that energy by doing something different, and less fattening, at that time or place.

Networking with others can also offer you support that is needed to beat that overeating urge. You could enlist family members to help you identify when you are overeating and support your efforts to do something else. You could join a support group of other overeaters that is geared to help people that eat emotionally. These often offer someone for you call when you get that urge so that you can talk through the emotion instead of overeating.

If the emotions that are causing you to overeat continue, you may want to consider therapy to deal with them in a healthy way. Often a psychotherapist can help you find ways to cope with the feelings in a more constructive manner. Many times talking to someone other than family is easier and allows a much needed release for those emotions.
Depression

Major Depression

2006-11-19T01:43:00.000-08:00

Depression
The escalation in the problem, as well as the facts relating to recurring episodes of depression show that while the first line treatment of depression by antidepressants may sometimes control the symptoms, it usually does little to give sufferers depression-free lives.

More than ever, we need to look at alternatives to drugs that will equip us to deal effectively with the triggers that allow depression to take hold again and again. This is where drug treatments fail.

Facts on major depression
First and foremost, clinical or major depression is growing at an incredible rate.
· People of all ages, backgrounds, lifestyles, and nationalities suffer from major depression, with a few exceptions.
· Up to 20% of people experience symptoms of depression.
· 10 times more people suffer from major depression now than in 1945
· The average age of first onset of major depression is 25-29

A few key areas of society remain where major depression is not seen. Also, the huge increase in cases of major depression show that it can't be a disease.There is 10 times more major depression in people born after 1945 than in those born before. This clearly shows that the root cause of most depression is not a chemical imbalance.
Human genes do not change that fast.

Yet, it is estimated 35 to 40 million Americans living today will suffer from major depression at some time during their lives, with about half of this amount suffering from recurring depression symptoms.

This isn't due to more people telling their doctor. In fact, a major issue when considering the effect of major depression on society as a whole is the amount of misdiagnosis, or cases where major depression goes undiagnosed.

Major depression and suicide
* About a quarter of suicides in the US are felt to be due to undiagnosed, or misdiagnosed major depression.
* Up to 80% of suicide deaths are in sufferers of major depression.

Given that suicide is the 8th largest cause of death in the US, it's no wonder that major depression is classed as "the nation's leading mental health problem"
Even these horrific numbers may not reveal the true picture, given that many suicides will be disguised as accidental death.

Why the sudden increase?
Societies that breed depression and societies that don't
It is a fact that we all have basic emotional needs that must be met for us to thrive and enjoy life. After the primary human needs for food, water and shelter come commonly shared emotional and physical needs. Without exception we find depressed people are not getting these needs met.

Traditional communities naturally meet many 'basic needs' for emotional support. In the traditional Amish society in the US major depression is almost unknown, as it is in the equally traditional Kaluli tribe of New Guinea. In these societies individual concerns are group concerns and vise-versa. You know that if you have a problem other people will help you and you are expected to help out when others need support. We know we are meant to do these things but it's not a 'built in feature' of modern society in the same way.

These days we are much more 'self-focused'. The idea of considering the wider community to be more important than the self is almost impossible to understand for most people.Major depression is 4th most disabling condition in the world, and 2nd most in the developed world.
As well as the human cost, the burden on society is incredible. Much of the research on this site about effective treatments for depression has been controlled by the US government, in order to try and find the best way to overcome depression. The cost to society is real, and we need to find the best way at beating depression for good.
Depression

How To Spot Major Depression

2006-11-07T21:14:00.000-08:00

Depression
Thousands of people suffer from depression and don’t even know it. Often their symptoms are only mild to moderate in severity over time, individuals learn to adapt to an unnecessary struggle with depression.
These symptoms most likely won’t just go away and they can only get worse. If you find yourself identifying with several of these traits then I suggest you see your physician or better yet a psychiatrist as soon as possible. Here are the more common symptoms of depression:
• Depressed Mood

• Increased Anxiety

• Increased Irritability

• Low Energy Level

• Restlessness

• Lack of Interest in Previously Enjoyed Activities

• Sleep Disturbance
o Initial Insomnia
o Frequent awakenings
o Increased need for sleep
o Feeling tired upon awakening

• Decreased or Increased Appetite

• Feelings of Worthlessness

• Difficulty Concentrating

• Racing Thoughts

• Intrusive Thoughts

• Feelings of Hopelessness and/or Helplessness

• Active or Passive Thoughts of Hurting Yourself and/or Someone Else

• Crying Spells

• Isolation from family and friends

If you identify with these symptoms and they have existed for over a month, you need to consider this an urgent matter. Do not let pride interfere with you getting the help you need. Symptoms of depression are usually progressive in nature. If you wait too long the symptoms can be quite overwhelming. Denying yourself treatment is a form of self abuse/neglect.

The proper treatment can typically provide fast relief. It is common to see improvement in two weeks and sometimes sooner. Why would you want to keep suffering with depression when relief can be right around the corner?

Call and make yourself an appointment now. Make sure your family physician is comfortable treating your depression. If not, they can refer you to a colleague they trust that is trained to treat depression.

While you are at it, I suggest you seek out a therapist to help as well. You will want to choose a therapist who is experienced in treating depression. Ask the receptionist any qualifying questions you may have. Often the therapist will call you back if you request. This can save you time and money. Some therapists work best with children while others are more proficient with adults.

A therapist who is effective in treating depression can be a huge resource. They not only can teach you skills to combat the depression, they can also teach you how to prevent a reoccurrence of symptoms. The encouragement and support they provide is worth the effort of seeking a therapist.
Depression

What is Depression?

2006-10-16T22:50:00.000-07:00

What is Depression?
Depression is one of the most common psychological problems, affecting nearly everyone through either personal experience or through depression in a family member.

The term of depression is often used to designate a complex pattern of deviation in feeling, cognition and behavior that is not represented as a discrete psychiatric.

More human suffering has resulted from depression than from any other single disease affecting humankind.

The label of depression that has been described by ancient writer under classification of “melancholia.”

The first clinical description of melancholia was made by Hippocrates in fourth century BC.

Each year over 17 million American adults experience a period of clinical depression.

One of the greatest challenges of depression is that it is so frequent, afflicting large segments of the population.

The cost in human suffering cannot be estimated. Depression can interfere with normal functioning, and frequently causes problems with work, social and family adjustment.

It causes pain and suffering not only to those who have a disorder, but also to those who care about them. Serious depression can destroy family life as well as the life of the depressed person.

What is Depression?