Depression Worsens Over Time for High-Risk Women

Researchers at the University of Michigan’s Health System have released the latest developments of their ongoing longitudinal study on women in their 30s and early 40s who are considered to be at high-risk for alcohol abuse, antisocial behavior, and depression.

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Depression Plays a Role in Ability to Overcome Addiction

Can depression play a part in a person’s ability to overcome an addiction? According to this recent Science Daily release, it definitely can. A new study suggests that while depressed smokers want to quit the habit just as much as smokers without a depression problem, depression can actually affect the success the individual can experience in their attempt to overcome their addiction.

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Depression has a Negative Impact on Your Social Life

For those suffering from depression, the basics in life, like having a simple conversation, can be difficult. It’s a catch 22: you’re depressed so you don’t feel like making the effort to put yourself out there and be social. But, being introverted and anti-social can make you feel closed-off and rejected, which fuels your depression. How does a person escape this vicious downward cycle?

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Seasonal Affective Disorder Common This Time of Year

Alcohol consumption is known to increase around the holidays, but it may not have as much to do with the increase in social opportunities as it does with the onset of seasonal affective disorder.

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Gene Variations May Indicate Individuals Predisposed to Major Depression

Are certain individuals predisposed to depression? If so, can these individuals do anything to prevent the onset, or must they simply wait for the disorder to take hold and alter their lives?

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New Hope Discovered for Those Suffering from Depression

Depression is a debilitating illness that affects millions of people a year. The World Health Organization reports that, despite the availability of treatment, only 30% of global cases receive adequate care. In the United States and Canada alone, nearly one in ten people suffers from depression. Many have problems functioning at work or at home, and those suffering from depression are at higher risk for committing suicide. Traditionally, one of the most popular methods for treating depression has been anti-depressant medications.

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Depression with Psychotic Symptoms More Difficult to Treat

Major depressive disorder (MDD) can be difficult to treat, requiring the patient to test out a variety of treatment options over a period of time before finding a prescription that works. MDD that results in poor treatment outcomes after following traditional antidepressant therapy is commonly thought of as being a sign of undetected bipolar disorder or bipolar spectrum features. Yet a new study is indicating that depression of this sort may rather be untreatable due to psychotic symptoms.

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Computer System Could Help with Understanding, Treatment of Depression

Researchers in Australia are examining whether information technology can be used to improve the diagnosis and treatment of depression. Maja Hadzic, Fedja Hadzic, and Tharam Dillon of the Digital Ecosystems and Business Intelligence Institute, at Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Australia, write that the World Health Organization predicts that depression will be the world’s leading cause of disability by 2020. They noted that there is a world-wide spread of depression, but that unlike other epidemics such as H1N1, there is no pathogen associated with depression.

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Females at Higher Risk of Relapsing After Major Depressive Episode, Study Finds

A new study of adolescents with major depressive disorder found that almost all the participants recovered from their depressive episode after treatment, but nearly half of them relapsed within five years. Females were at a much higher risk of having another major depressive episode, according to the study by researchers at Duke University Medical Center.

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Gene Could Be Underlying Cause of Depression, Study Finds

A gene called MKP-1 appears to play an important role in the development of depression, and could be a target for a new class of anti-depressants, according to researchers from Yale University. Ronald S. Duman, senior author of the study and professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at Yale, said that the gene could be a primary cause or contributing factor to abnormalities that lead to depression.

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