Posts for 'DEPRESSION ' Category

It's not just mothers who get the baby blues, scientists say. One in five fathers suffers too. According to their research, by the time their first child is 12, some 21 per cent of fathers will have suffered at least one bout of depression. The findings have led to calls for the NHS to assess the mental state of expectant fathers in the same way that it does for mothers to be.For their study, researchers looked at almost 87,000 families who received medical care between 1993 and 2007 and identified those who had been diagnosed with depression or prescribed antidepressants.

Within a year of having their first child, 3 per cent of fathers were found to have suffered from depression. This rose to 10 per cent by the time their first child was four, 16 per cent by eight and 21 per cent by 12. Meanwhile, some 13 per cent of women suffered from depression by the time their first child was a year old – a figure that rose to 24 per cent by four, 33 per cent by eight and 39 per cent by the time their first child was 12, the study, funded by the Medical Research Council found.

Read the complete story

People off work due to injury are likely to suffer high rates of depression and suicide, new research suggests. The report on the relationship between work and health, to be presented at an Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine policy meeting in Auckland this week, also found injured workers could have a shorter lifespan.

Long-term absence from work could equal the damage caused by smoking 10 packets of cigarettes a day, and could be as dangerous as working in high-risk industries such as construction and oil drilling, the report said.

Read the complete story

Want to fight depression? A new study suggests to stay away from processed and fatty foods.  Researchers at University College London say a diet loaded with fish, fresh veggies and fruit can prevent people from getting depressed, while people who have lots of fats and processed foods on the menu could be in trouble.  Doctors say it's because fruits and vegetables are packed with protective antioxidants, and fish contains polyunsaturated fatty acids that stimulate brain activity.

Human nature varies throughout the world. How an individual perceive and understand situation rely on diverse issues encompassing personal, social, economical or environmental. Childhood grooming demands positive, encouraging and congenial family and social atmosphere.

This not only motivates and inculcates confidence but also provides ability to grasp and tackle stress and related issues intelligently. In this competitive epoch and demanding life, stress cannot be evaded. We do not come across tough situations every day, it happens occasionally when situation turn out to be beyond our control.The situation becomes tough when major transitions are taking place in particular, when a student joins college, a shift from a nurturing family and home security to outer world.

Read the complete story

In 1998, Bev Aisbett created and facilitated the 'WORKING WITH IT' recovery program for sufferers of anxiety - since this time the program has been run as both a five week and a double weekend workshop. Her programs have steered hundreds of people towards greater freedom and recovery from this crippling condition. Bev will now be presenting a new, condensed version of her program to be run over one day - the program is called 'WORKING IT OUT'.

In this talk, Bev will be talking about what it's like to experience anxiety and depression, and what to do about it, based on her own experiences and that of the many people who she has met through her recovery programs.

Read the complete story

People, who suffer from anhedonia, a key symptom of depression, are less likely to pursue rewards if there is any need to put an effort to obtain them, according to new study. 

The research has indicated that decreased cravings for pleasure may be at the root of a core symptom of major depressive disorder.

The research, led by Vanderbilt psychologists Mic For the study, the researchers devised the Effort-Expenditure for Rewards Task, or EEfRT, to explore the role of reduced desire and motivation in individuals reporting symptoms of anhedonia.

EEfRT involved having individuals play a simple video game that gave them a chance to choose between two different tasks, one hard, one difficult, to obtain monetary rewards. Participants were eligible but not guaranteed to receive money each time they completed a task successfully.

Read the complete story

Doctor often advise people with heart disease to exercise. But cardiac patients are known to be at higher risk for depression, and some people with depression can't motivate themselves to get up and move.

That Catch-22 may be a major reason why so many cardiac patients do not follow the routine advice to become more physically active after being treated for a heart attack or other cardiac event, according to a study published in the journal General Hospital Psychiatry.

Researchers analyzed 11 studies with a total of 20,000 patients. Eight of the studies found that the development of depression after a heart attack was a significant factor for adopting a sedentary lifestyle or poor adherence to an exercise program. One study found that among heart attack survivors who said they had depression or anxiety, 59% had a significant decrease in exercise after three months compared with 31% of patients who were not depressed.

Read the complete story

The overview of studies involving more than 50,000 patients found substantial numbers were missed or wrongly identified as having depression. In fact, depression was more commonly misdiagnosed than correctly spotted following an initial consultation.

The University of Leicester study, featured in the Lancet, suggests closer patient assessment is essential.The researchers, who examined a total of 41 trials, found GPs were able to recognise only about half of people who had clinical depression.For a typical GP trying to spot depression in an urban practice and seeing 100 cases over two days, there would be 20 true cases of depression.

Read the complete story

A woman is suing two individuals who she says caused her depression after she was involved in a multi-car collision.

Denise Macon filed a lawsuit June 12 in St. Clair County Circuit Court against Aslie E. Tew and Jason T. DeLong.

Macon says she was stopped at a red light, facing east on Frank Scott Parkway at its intersection with DePaul, when the incident occurred on June 19, 2007, at about 3:30 p.m.

Read the complete story

The National Institute of Mental Health completed a major study of the most effective treatments for teen depression and found that a combination of antidepressants and talk therapy work best.

“Combination therapy” is defined as a two-pronged approach to deal with depression, using both antidepressants and talk therapy. It’s especially useful for people resistant to either medication or therapy because they’re more likely to stick with combination therapy until the depression is under control.

“Depression in teens is a serious illness that can and should be treated aggressively,” said Dr Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health. “[This study] provides compelling evidence for families and clinicians that the most effective way to treat depression in teens is with a two-pronged approach. It reassures us that antidepressant medication combined with psychotherapy is an effective and safe way to help teens recover from this disabling illness.”