Longer Treatment Found to be More Effective in Depressed Teens

A new study shows that the longer depressed teens are treated, the more likely they are to go into remission. The rate of remission for teens who were treated for 36 weeks was more than double that of those who were treated for 12 weeks, regardless of whether the teens were treated with antidepressants, cognitive behavioral therapy, or both.

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New Study Argues Against Single Depression Gene Theory

While many studies argue that a single gene helps to determine one’s risk of depression in response to a serious reversal in the person’s life – a lost job, divorce or other event – when the theory was tested through scientific scrutiny, it did not prove to be valid.

According to a piece in the New York Times, when the original finding emerged, it created a sensation as it provided a plausible explanation for why some people are able to bounce back from adversity while others never seem to recover.

The new report is not trying to suggest that the interactions between genes and life experiences have no meaning. It instead argues that nailing down those factors more precisely is much more difficult than scientists were led to believe just a few years ago.

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More Sleep Could Help in Fighting Postpartum Depression

Postpartum depression is a part of new baby reality for many parents as they try to adjust to the major changes in life due to creating a new one. While many a new mommy has taken specific drugs designed to address postpartum depression, a new study finds that the she might just be tired.

The Gant Daily News examined a study by Canadian doctors that pointed to the simple remedy of more sleep to help cut postpartum depression. Dr. Meir Steiner had various patient conversations with those who were fighting the mood disorder after giving birth. Many of these women expressed fear that they would have another bout due to tiredness from their previous pregnancy.

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Do Tumors in Cancer Patients Produce Depression?

It isn’t out of the realm of understanding to hear that a person fighting cancer would have some mental reaction to their condition, such as depression. Depending upon the individual’s prognosis, a teetering between life and death can greatly impact the person’s outlook on life.

Now it seems that depression associated with cancer patients is being generated by the cancer itself. The Times of India reported on findings produced by researchers at the University of Chicago. The research team determined that tumors produce chemicals, which can then produce negative mood swings.

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Crohn’s Disease Puts Young People at Higher Risk for Depression

An individual struggling with a disease is understandably more prone to depression. Perhaps they are struggling with their illness or even with facing their own mortality. For many years, physicians believed that this was a mental state of dealing with an illness. For others, it is their struggle that makes them more susceptible.

For young people dealing with Crohn’s disease, there is a significantly increased risk for depression and anxiety, according to research done at the Mayo Clinic. This information was shared on the MedPageToday website which shared information about the Digestive Disease Week conference.

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Withdrawal from Antidepressants

When looking to remove yourself from antidepressants like Paxil, Lexapro, or Prozac, you should never quit “cold turkey.” To safely remove yourself from antidepressants, it is important to slowly wean yourself off of them by using smaller and smaller doses. Summer Beretsky wrote a piece for the World of Psychology blog on PsychCentral.com that suggests six ways to successfully prepare for withdrawal from antidepressants.

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Antidepressant Therapy Combined with Pain Self-Management Improves Patient Outlook

Pain is the most common reason that an adult will visit a primary care physician. Depression is the most common mental complaint that requires a doctor’s appointment. For as many as half of patients, these often occur together at the same time.

Science Daily recently published a release examining a report from researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine and the Regenstrief Institute. In this report, researchers shared that a closely monitored antidepressant therapy combined with pain self-management could produce significant improvements in both depression and pain.

“Treating depression these days is like treating high blood pressure. There are many effective drugs out there. To control high blood pressure, the physician closely monitors the patient to determine the most appropriate drug and the proper dosage,” said the study’s principal investigator, Kurt Kroenke, M.D., professor of medicine at the IU School of Medicine and a Regenstrief investigator.

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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Can Reduce Risk of Depression and Anxiety in Children

Research shows that children of parents with depression and anxiety disorders are up to seven times more likely than others to develop depression and anxiety themselves. But USA Today reported that two new studies suggest that cognitive behavioral therapy can reduce the risk of mental health problems in children and teens. In cognitive behavioral therapy, patients learn how to change the way they think about and react to depressing or upsetting events.

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COPD Patients at Higher Risk for Depression

Time and again, research points to a definite link between an individual’s mental well-being and their physical well-being. According to a Reuters Health piece, those patients who struggle with the chronic breathing disorder COPD appear to be at significantly higher risk for becoming clinically depressed than healthy individuals.

“The relationship between depression and COPD was described before, but what this study adds is that we found a temporal relationship. In other words, COPD did lead to a higher risk for a diagnosis of depression,” said Lisette van den Bemt in the Reuters piece.

Lisette van den Bemt is from Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, The Netherlands and noted that the increased risk of depression is not the result of having a chronic disease in general, but is specific for COPD.

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Gender Plays a Role in Perception of Depression

There are many elements that can play into whether or not a person will suffer from mental-health problems such as depression. Genetics and environment have long been known to be major contributors. Now, scientists are looking at the role that gender plays in this illness, how it contributes to the way it is treated, and how the public reacts.

According to a recent Science Daily release, it is assumed that women are much more likely to be caricatured as depressed than men. As depression is considered to be a stereotype of mental illness, psychologists James Wirth of Purdue and Galen Bodenhausen of Northwestern set out to determine if stereotypes play into the public’s reaction to those with mental-health problems.

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