Depression
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
By Leslie Thompson
The leaves are falling and the brisk, cool air of fall is permeating the streets. Winter is just around the corner, but instead of embracing the seasonal change, you’re feeling a bit down, a little moodier, or even depressed. If this sounds like you, know that you’re not alone: Many people suffer from these same symptoms once the temperature drops. Although many brush it off as simply a case of the winter blues, seasonal affective disorder (also known as SAD) is a type of depression that occurs annually—most often during the fall and winter months.
Insecure Relationships can Lead to Pain and Depression in Teens
Researchers from the Université de Montréal, Sainte-Justine University Hospital Center, and McGill University have discovered that insecure adolescents experience more intense pain in the form of frequent headaches, abdominal pain, and joint pain. According to the study, published in the Journal of Pain, these teens are also more likely to be depressed than peers with secure attachments.
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New Study Suggests Elderly Fight Depression by Staying Current on Family Matters
Such events as a small promotion at work, a backyard landscaping project, or a new milestone met by a great-grandchild may warrant a phone call to an elderly family member. Though these occasions may not call for a party or even a greeting card, new research shows that keeping current on family events may help an elderly family member keep depression from encroaching on their retirement.
Researchers at the University of Michigan and Kyungpook National University studied the effects of stress and depression on participants over the age of 85. Changes in positive life events, such as the ones described above, were associated with changes in levels of depression.
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Culture Can Play an Effective Role in Treatment for Depression
Research and doctors tell us there are a number of things that can lead to depression. One of the most obvious links is genetics as where we come from can play a large part in where we are going. According to a new Northwestern University study, this genetic tendency is much less likely to be realized in a culture centered on collectivistic rather than individualistic values.
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Diet Can Lead to Depression
The everyday diet can make a tremendous impact on a person’s well-being. Sure, the food a person chooses to ingest can play a part in their physical health, but new research is showing it also plays a role in their mental health as well.
According to a piece in Psych Central, a well-rounded, healthy diet may protect against depression in middle-aged people. This finding is part of a study conducted by researchers at the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London (UCL), UK and the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), University of Montpellier, France.
Turn the Lights Out!
Those whose chosen method of relaxation is late-night TV may want to turn in their remotes. Recent research shows that too much light at night can lead to symptoms of depression.
The research was presented October 21 at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Chicago and will appear in the December 28 edition of the journal of Behavioural Brain Research.
The researchers found that mice exposed to light 24 hours a day showed more depressive symptoms than mice with a normal light-dark cycle. Mice that lived in constant light but that had the ability to escape to a dark opaque tube showed less evidence of depressive symptoms.
Study Finds Use of Antidepressants with ECT Reduces Memory Loss
Severe depression is an issue that affects millions of people, whether they have the disease or love someone who is suffering from it. As a result, scientists continue to dedicate time to studying the impact that depression has on its victims and how best to treat it.
According to a recent Science Daily report the combination of antidepressant drugs and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) produces better results in trying to reduce symptoms of severe depression than using ECT alone. At the same time, this method also causes less memory loss.
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Depression as Deadly as Smoking, New Study Finds
A study has found that depression is as much of a risk factor for mortality as smoking, according to researchers at the University of Bergen, Norway, and the Institute of Psychiatry (IoP) at King’s College London.
Utilizing a unique link between a survey of more than 60,000 people and a comprehensive mortality database, the researchers found that over the four years following the survey, the mortality risk was increased to a similar extent in people who were depressed as in people who were smokers.
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Easing Nightmares Can Help Treat Depression and Other Maladies
Some psychology experts say that treating disturbing nightmares directly can help relieve symptoms of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, insomnia, and other mental health problems.
Kim Painter of USA Today writes that when Yael Levy went to the Sleep-Wake Disorders Center at Montefiore Medical Center two years ago for help with her insomnia, she found that her nightmares were also treatable. Levy knew she had conquered her life-long nightmares the night she was able to turn a circle of sharks into a ring of dolphins. “I was able to change my nightmare while it was happening,” said the 29-year-old New York City graduate student. “I had control over my dreams.”
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New Magnetic Stimulation Offers Noninvasive Treatment for Major Depression
Rush University Medical Center has opened the Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Clinic to offer patients a safe, effective, non-drug treatment for major depression. TMS therapy is the first FDA-approved, non-invasive antidepressant device-based treatment clinically proven for treatment of depression.
Science Daily reports that psychiatrists at Rush University Medical Center were among the first to test the technique. Dr. Philip Janicak, professor of psychiatry and lead investigator at Rush for the clinical trials of TMS, helped develop the therapy.
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