Posted by: Uticopa in depression on
Oct 31, 2008
You can't pick up a newspaper, switch on the TV or radio, or even go online without hearing or seeing more bad news about the credit crunch. Thousands of people are losing jobs, and many more are bogged down in debts they are finding it hard to pay off. After years of banks and financial institutions throwing money at us, we are finally paying the price. And it is making a lot of us very unhappy.
Only yesterday, a new thread was started on our forum discussing the difficulties people are coping with unemployment and mounting debts in this time of crisis. The worries and stresses of not having a job or being unable to pay bills can quickly lead to depression and other mental health problems. With no end in sight for this period of recession, are we in danger of becoming a nations of depressives?
I certainly hope not, and the whole purpose of this website is to help people all over the UK who are dealing with issues that effect their mental health. If you are having difficulty coping with financial problems or job loss, there is help available. It is easy to let pride take over and try to shoulder all of your burden alone, but this is very unhealthy in the long term. Discussing your situation with friends and family can help but, as much as they care for you, they also have their own interests at heart. Sometimes it is more effective to speak to an unbiased and objective person who is prepared to listen to your problems and help you through them with no agenda of their own. If you feel you would benefit from discussing your worries with someone like this, we can help you to find a therapist in your local area.
In a
ground-breaking legal case in the UK, a judge has ruled that a mother should not stand trial for the attempted murder of her baby, as the woman was suffering from severe post-natal depression at the time of the incident.
The mother of four had suffered from post-natal depression after the birth of each of her children, with the condition becoming steadily worse each time. After the birth of her fourth child, she had become so ill that she threw the six-week-old baby from a first floor hospital window.
On Monday, a judge decided that the mother had been too ill to realise what she was doing. This is an important case that shows how serious a problem post-natal depression can become.
Many mothers find it difficult to cope with the birth of a child, and the hard work and sleepless nights that follow. But post -natal depression is a serious mental illness, and one in ten mothers in the UK are affected by this condition to some degree. In some cases it has been classed as a form of post-traumatic stress disorder. But for many years the condition has been called the ‘baby blues' and been dismissed as a symptom of tiredness or a difficulty adjusting to the new responsibilities of parenthood.
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.
Posted by: Uticopa in depression on
Jun 01, 2008
In the recent research conducted by Dr Michael Lutter and his colleagues from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre, it has been discovered that restricting food intake over period of 10 days makes the ghrelin levels (also known as the ‘hunger hormone’) rise and has a positive effect on the mental state – a similar effect to that of the antidepressants. It showed a reduction in signs of anxiety and depression.
