|
Log in
Donate To Depression Forums
Latest Forum Discussions
on: Friday, 08 August 2008 13:13
on: Friday, 08 August 2008 12:57
on: Friday, 08 August 2008 12:43
on: Friday, 08 August 2008 11:39
on: Friday, 08 August 2008 11:11
Search
Member Testimonials
QUOTE(moviesign @ Jun 24 2007, 08:53 PM) *Hi there, lurker to the forum for a while, decided to finally introduce myself. This is a great place, keep up the good work.Mark
(-moviesign)
HOPELINE 1-800-SUICIDE
Depression & Mental Health FAQs
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated 40 million Americans living today will suffer from major depressive illness during their lives. Seasonal affective disorder is major depression that appears in the fall or winter and goes away in spring, thought to be caused by lack of sunlight.
Postpartum depression occurs within four weeks of a women giving childbirth. Most new mothers suffer from some form of the �baby blues.� Postpartum depression, by contrast, is major depression, thought to be triggered by changes in hormonal flows associated with childbirth. Catatonic depression is a rare form of major depression characterized by (at least two): Stupor, excessive motor activity, extreme negativism, peculiarities in voluntary movement, and repetition of other people's words or actions. - mcmanweb.com
Psychotic depression is a rare form of depression characterized by delusions or hallucinations, such as believing you are someone you are not and hearing voices.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately 18.8 million American adults, or about 9.5 percent of the US population age 18 and older in a given year, have a depressive disorder. Depression is a chronic illness that exacts a significant toll on
America's health and productivity. It affects more than 21 million
American children and adults annually and is the leading cause of
disability in the United States for individuals ages 15 to 44.
Lost productive time among U.S. workers due to depression is estimated
to be in excess of $31 billion per year. Depression frequently
co-occurs with a variety of medical illnesses such as heart disease,
cancer, and chronic pain and is associated with poorer health status
and prognosis. It is also the principal cause of the 30,000 suicides
in the U.S. each year. In 2004, suicide was the 11 th leading cause of death in the United States, third among individuals 15-24.
According to the World Health Organization, depression is presently on track to becoming the world's second-most disabling disease (after heart disease) by the year 2020. Depression is responsible for some $87 billion a year in lost productivity in the US (a conservative estimate), and according to Bank One, is responsible for most lost work days in its employees after pregnancy and childbirth. Additionally, one million people worldwide die by their own hand, most as a result of a mood disorder. Finally, the linkage between depression and a host of physical illnesses makes it arguably the world's greatest killer.
Research presented at the 56th Annual Conference of the Canadian
Psychiatric Association shows a marked link between bipolar disorder
and migraines. The odds of migraine in persons with bipolar disorder were 40% higher than the general population. Data
obtained from 36,984 people aged 15 and over, who screened positive for
manic or depressive episodes with migraine, were compared against those
who screened positive for mania but who didn�t suffer from migraines. Amongst
males, 14.9% of those with manic episodes were also diagnosed with
migraines compared with 5.8% of the general population. Amongst
females, 34.7% had both migraines and bipolar disorder compared with
14.7% who only had migraines.unquote.gif While the research was
skewed towards persons who were already diagnosed with bipolar
disorders, what does it mean for people who suffer from migraines but
who may have an undiagnosed bipolar disorder?
Migraines and headaches aren�t fully understood but the manifestations are very real and debilitating for their sufferers: Throbbing pain Nausea Heightened sensitivity to light or sound Seeing dots, wavy lines, flashing lights, or blind spots Difficulty with speech, sensation, or movement
An estimated 2.1 million
American adolescents have experienced major depression within the last
year, according to a new comprehensive government study. Researchers
surveyed more than 67,000 young people ages 12 to 17 and found that one
in 12 had suffered from serious depression in the previous year.Nearly
13 percent of girls had struggled with depression, compared to less
than 5 percent of boys. Odds of depression increased with age -- just 4
percent of 12-year-olds experienced depression but that climbed to 11
percent for older teens.
Our DF Members
|
Websites and Designers Face Prosecution in New French Anorexia Law
|
April 9, 2008
Charles Bremner and Marie Tourres, Paris
Websites and Designers Face Prosecution in New French Anorexia Law
Promoting
extreme thinness will become a criminal offence punishable with jail in
France under a government-backed law that was tabled today to combat
anorexia nervosa.
The world's first use of the law to tackle
eating disorders is broadly aimed at the media and fashion world, but
especially at the websites and blogs of the co-called pro-ana movement.
While many are support groups, others promote starvation as a
"life-style choice", with girls and young women posting their wasting
images as "thinspiration" for others.
Social networking sites
such as Facebook and MySpace have recently come under pressure in
Britain and other countries to ban their pro-ana entries.
Fines
of up to €30,000 and a two-year prison sentence will be imposed on
offenders who "provoke a person to seek excessive thinness by
encouraging prolonged restriction of nourishment" to the point of
risking of death or damage to health. The prison term is raised to
three years with a €45,000 fine if the person dies.
Some
experts and fashion leaders oppose the Bill, which is expected to be
passed by Parliament within months. "You do not solve this kind of
problem with the law but with understanding," said Jean-Paul Gaultier,
the designer. Didier Grumbach, head of the French Couture Federation,
said that it was not up to the state to legislate on beauty and
aesthetic criteria,
The law, modelled on the offence of
abetting suicide, was tabled by Valérie Boyer, an MP from President
Sarkozy's Union for a Popular Movement. Roselyne Bachelot, the Health
Minister, gave it the Government's blessing at the unveiling of a code
for the media, advertising and fashion industry on "promoting healthy
body images" and fighting anorexia.
"The pro-ana movements
which spread their messages of death on the web must be the target for
special attention," Mrs Bachelot said as she presented Mrs Boyer's
draft Bill along with the voluntary code.
Up to 40,000 people
suffer from anorexia in France, the great majority of them girls and
young women. The 48-year-old elder daughter of Jacques Chirac, the last
President, has been incapacitated for two decades with the disease.
Mrs
Bachelot said that the "waif-like, diaphanous, transparent bodies on
the walls of our towns, in our magazines and on our computer screens
are exerting their power of harmful fascination on our society."
Anorexia was one of the most lethal of mental disorders, killing 20 per
cent of long-term sufferers, she said.
Mrs Boyer, who has two
teenage daughters, said that the new offence was necessary because "it
was not possible to deal with the pro-ana sites under the law against
provoking suicide or promoting cults." She added: "We do not know who
is hiding behind these sites, but there is real mental manipulation."
Her law was also aimed at magazines, she said.
It would
probably be left to judges to define "excessive thinness" but this
might be defined as a body mass index, she said. BMI rules have been
set by some model agencies and fashion houses since September 2006 when
the Madrid fashion show imposed a minimum index of 18 for catwalk
models. This translates as a minimum weight of 56 kilos (8.8 stone) for
a height of 1.75 metres (5 feet 9 ins).
France last year
banned a controversial Benetton advertisement featuring Isabelle Caro,
a French model-actress who has written a book on her continuing battle
with the disease.
The French voluntary code, which was drawn
up by a panel headed by two eminent psychiatrists, commits the fashion,
media and advertising world to raising acceptance of varied body
shapes. "We undertake the promotion of diversity in the representation
of the body, avoiding all stereotypes which could favour potentially
dangerous canons of beauty," said the signatories.
Marcel
Rufo, a celebrity child psychiatrist who headed the code panel, said
that he fully backed the use of the criminal law in fighting anorexia.
The disease remains a mystery but everything had to be done to prevent
vulnerable girls being encouraged to starve, he said. Among other new
rules, magazines should be forced to mention the fact that 60 percent
of their pictures are electronically retouched, he said.
Some
critics of the measures said that the Government was acting after the
event because the big fashion and cosmetics companies had already
changed their ways and stopped employing the sickly stick-figured
models that were in favour a few years ago.
Source: From Times Online
© Copyright 2008 Times Newspapers Ltd.
|
|
 |
|
 |
Comments 
|
This Month In Pictures
Members Online
193 Users Online:
178 Guests
1 Anonymous
14 Visible:
Gisele, bringeroflight, suburgatory, Stitch, jammy321, Coop, onlymakesmelaugh, ejgouin, scottybear, moonlightress, cissycz, Camilia, JCat, QNA, |
Medical News
Andertoon
A Potpourri of Mental Health Articles
Mental Health Parity News
Suicide Prevention Llifeline
Amazon Books
Our Soldiers & Veterans
edclogo
Depression & Mental Health FAQs 2
What is Clinical Depression? Clinical
depression can affect your body, mood, thoughts, and behavior. It can
change your eating habits, how you feel and think about things, your
ability to work and study, and how you interact with people. Clinical
depression is not a passing mood, a sign of personal weakness or a
condition that can be willed away. Clinically depressed people cannot
"pull themselves together" and get better. Depression can be
successfully treated by a mental health professional or certain health
care providers. With the right treatment, 80 percent of those who seek
help get better. And many people begin to feel better in just a few
weeks.
Depression a Big Factor in Poor Health World Health Organization Finds Depression Often Goes Untreated By Salynn Boyles WebMD Medical News Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD Sept.
6, 2007 -- Depression has a greater impact on overall health than
arthritis, diabetes, angina, and asthma, but it all too often goes
unrecognized and untreated, a report from the World Health Organization
(WHO) suggests. more... Depression a Big Factor in Poor Health
For Additional Information About Depression Write To: The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 8184, MSC 9663 Bethesda, MD 20892-9663
For free brochures on depression and its treatment call: 1-800-421-4211. or visit: http://www.nimh.nih.gov
Link To Us
Please use the image below and the code provided to link back to us 
|
The Food-Mood Solution
Soft Bipolar
Pass Through Panic
Self-Coaching
The Instinct to Heal
Anxiety & Depression Workbook For Du...
