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on: Friday, 29 August 2008 17:20
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QUOTE (Sundown @ Nov 1 2007, 09:32 PM) *((hugs)) for the admin/moderators for doing a good job on this website, its greathugs.gifand (((hugs))) for everyone else cause you all deserve it, your all great
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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.
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Stigma Keeps Troops From PTSD Help
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Stigma Keeps Troops From PTSD Help
Thursday, May. 01, 2008
More attention has been paid to the mental health of American troops in
Iraq and Afghanistan than in any previous war. Yet shame remains a
significant barrier to military personnel and their families getting
the psychiatric treatment they need, a report released Wednesday says.
The good news is nearly three-quarters of the 200 military men and
women interviewed by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) said
that it was very or somewhat easy for them to seek out mental health
care. But 60% still feared that doing so could have negative
consequences on their career. More than half reported they believe
others would think less of them if they sought out counseling, and most
surveyed said they have rarely or never spoken even to family and
friends about mental health issues. These numbers show "there's still a
long way to go towards reducing the stigma surrounding care," says APA
board member Dr. Mary Helen Davis.
The APA's findings echo previous studies on the mental health toll
faced by the more than 1.6 million U.S. troops deployed to Iraq and
Afghanistan. In a comprehensive survey released this month by the think
tank Rand Corporation, researchers concluded that nearly 20% of
returning military personnel from these two fronts — about 300,000
service members — suffer symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Left untreated, PTSD
and depression could cost the nation as much as $6.2 billion in medical
care and indirect costs during the two years that follow deployment,
the Rand researchers estimated. "We need to remove the institutional
cultural barriers that discourage soldiers from seeking care," says
Terri Tanielian, one of the report's authors. "It's going to take
system-level changes to improve treatments for these illnesses."
Both the APA and the Rand study call upon the Pentagon to do more to
promote better mental health care among its troops. On Thursday,
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is expected to announce a policy
shift to no longer require military personnel applying for security
clearance to disclose psychiatric counseling. Currently applicants are
asked whether they've undergone therapy within the last seven years.
The most recent data showed less than 1% of some 800,000 people
investigated in 2006 were denied solely due to their mental health
profiles, according to the Associated Press. Still, the new change
seeks to ease the stigma throughout the military regarding mental
health problems.
Nonetheless, service members often find it easier to seek therapy
outside the military setting than within it, the APA study also
concluded. Nearly half of those surveyed said that they didn't know the
warning signs of mental illness, and one-quarter knew nothing at all
about effective treatments. Republican Senator Kit Bond of Missouri
hopes to improve that. He plans to introduce legislation Thursday that
would dramatically expand care options for active-duty troops. Right
now they can seek therapy on military bases and national facilities
such as Maryland-based Walter Reed Hospital. If passed, Bond's bill
will give them access to Veteran Administration treatment centers as
well. It will also increase the number of military mental health care
professionals and extend survivor benefits to the families of service
members who committed suicide.
Also within its report, the APA presented one of the first pictures
of the effects of war on the mental health of military spouses.
Predictably, about 70% of those surveyed said they worried that their
loved ones would be harmed or killed in battle. But nearly two-thirds
also reported that handling domestic issues alone or being a single
parent was a major source of stress. About 12% said that they feared
their spouse would resent them if they sought out mental health
treatment. So reluctance to get help for PTSD
affects more than the soldiers themselves, Davis says. "Whole
communities will have to deal with the consequences," she says. "It
will be a tremendous public health problem for all of society." by KATHLEEN KINGSBURY time.com
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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
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