Posted by: Uticopa in Untagged on
Oct 05, 2008
Someone once said that the way to differentiate between great sadness and depression is that sadness relates to ‘real’ events, whereby depression is an overwhelming pressure pushing down on the top of your head. There is no doubt, however, that identifying depression in a loved one can be challenging because your loved one may not even be willing to acknowledge his or her symptoms of depression. It's important to recognise the early warning signs because this can lead to earlier diagnosis and treatment, with a greater chance of success. Once a person has sunk into a deep depression, suicidal thoughts may be more evident and it can be a lot harder effectively to treat the depression.
What changes should we look out for?
Some changes can be subtle but others will more clearly indicate your loved one has depression. Energy levels are a good indicator. These can change markedly when depression is present. Your loved one may be highly excitable and restless or may be quiet and sluggish.
Posted by: Uticopa in Untagged on
Oct 05, 2008
There are distinct categories of Depression which can exhibit marked differences in symptoms and behaviour. Below are 9 major types.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
People who live in cold, northern climates or areas of the world where long periods of darkness are the norm will recognise this SAD syndrome only too well. But, equally, there are patients everywhere who suffer from SAD each time the sun goes down, but feel better in daylight. Typical symptoms: altered sleep patterns, with overall increased amount of sleep, difficulty getting out of bed in the morning, increased lethargy and fatigue, apathy, sadness and/or irritability, increased appetite, carbohydrate craving and weight gain, and decreased physical activity.
Winter's reduction in daylight hours, or the normal blackness of night, desynchronizes the body clock and disturbs the circadian rhythms. It is usually treated by morning exposure to bright artificial light. By providing appropriately timed light exposure, the body's circadian rhythms become resynchronized and the symptoms of SAD resolve.
Posted by: Uticopa in Untagged on
Oct 05, 2008
Give truthful answers to the following, scoring: 0 (not at all); 1 (sometimes); 2 (a lot of the time); 3 (yes, all the time).
1. I have no energy and constantly feel tired
2. I have trouble sleeping / or I stay in bed all the time
3. I don’t feel like doing very much or have no pleasure in doing things
4. I am very down and miserable
5. I lost my appetite or I am eating a lot more than normal
6. I am feeling quite low and lacking motivation – I feel like I am a failure
7. I can’t keep my attention on anything for long, can’t concentrate on reading or even watching TV.
8. I am visibly more lethargic and / or I am noticeably more restless and agitated than normal.
How did you get on?
If you scored 0 – 8
This is low. Your score indicates that you have no symptoms linked with depression, so you can cross this off your worry-list! However, it’s always good to know how to reduce the risk of becoming depressed.
Posted by: Uticopa in Untagged on
Oct 05, 2008
A new series begins today on the subject of Depression. Find out all you need to know by following our exclusive articles, each tackling one aspect.
Much has been written in the media lately about the increasing incidence of depression – surely a sign of the stresses and strains of modern life. But, how do we know if we actually have it?
One of the biggest challenges facing mental health specialists in addressing depression is accurately diagnosing it in the first place. This is because depression can present vague and confusing symptoms so it is easy to see why a diagnosis can be missed. A depressed person might present a variety of non-specific physical and emotional symptoms and a doctor must be very thorough to determine a correct diagnosis of depression. In addition, the difficulty in accurate diagnosis is further compounded by the fact that many medical problems share the same symptoms of depression and in fact, some of these may directly be causing the depression.
In a recent speech at The Guardian Public Services Summit, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg underlined his belief that the Government was failing the public by putting too much emphasis on medication and not enough on mental health options. He said "Britain has become the true Prozac Nation. I believe this trend has gone too far. This was in response to research his party had carried out that revealed that, for some psychotherapy and counselling services, patients currently have to wait up to two years before they are seen.
Mr Clegg blames the lack of an adequate mental health service offering as one of the major contributions towards the rise in the number of prescription medications being sold in Britain today. A startling 31 million prescription drugs such as Prozac were issued in England alone in 2006. Whilst Mr Clegg acknowledges the role medication plays in alleviating the symptoms of many conditions, he feels that this should not become the default medical solution to all conditions. He vowed to invest in mental health services to reduce long waiting times that could put some people off the treatment and make others wait for an uncomfortable amount of time for care that could change their lives dramatically.
A Department of Health spokesperson said that that over the next three years the Government would be investing and additional £170m into psychological therapies to help those who need it most. Such a long wait to meet with a mental health professional is not only dangerous for some patients and conditions, but as many mental health issues are progressive, by the time they are seen they will require a far longer period of therapy to achieve the same results.
Posted by: Uticopa in mental health, depression on
Jul 22, 2008
For the first time ever, consistent global research has suggested that it is during our mid-life years that we are most vulnerable to depression. The University of Warwick in the UK and Dartmouth College in the US surveyed two million people from eighty countries in a recent study, and a clear pattern emerged to suggest that the age at which we are most likely to become depressed is 44 years old
This shows very different results to previous studies, which suggested that depression was not age-related and had an even chance of happening at any time in our lives. This latest study clearly shows a marked increase in probability of the condition whilst in your mid 40s. The other fact of note is that depression does not care where you live, whether you are rich or poor, married or single, with or without children Depression can affect us all.
Though we understand very little about why some people bounce back and others sink into a depression, the researchers have a few theories. One such theory is that whilst in our 40s we subconsciously re-evaluate our lives and shed any long-held dreams of potential that we can no longer see as a possibility at this time in our lives, and this loss of dreams and aspirations could trigger strong emotions in us.
The Daily Telegraph has reported that the mother might be at a higher risk of having a postnatal depression if she is having a boy.
