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This forum has been great. I understand myself better now and realize I'm not alone. (Maedhros @ Sep 23 2008, 05:11 PM)
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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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Acting Up is Not “Acting-Out”
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Acting Up is Not “Acting-Out”
By Dr George Simon, PhD | 21 October 2008
True “acting-out” is an
outward manifestation of an emotional conflict that can’t be
consciously recognized by an individual. Acting-up is NOT acting-out.
It is truly appalling how often people use the term acting out to refer to someone who’s simply exhibiting undesirable or problematic behavior.
Acting-up, (i.e., conscious, deliberate misbehaving) is NOT acting-out. It is truly appalling how often people use the term acting out to refer to someone who’s simply exhibiting undesirable or problematic behavior.
I hear TV commercials by behavioral therapists offering remedies that
will “fix your child’s ‘acting-out’ behaviors at home and at school,”
and see rules in psychiatric hospitals and residential centers
forbidding “sexual acting-out” or other inappropriate conduct. One
online psychiatric glossary even gave two definitions for acting-out
— one correct, the other being the mistaken notion that has so deeply
crept into the popular lexicon that it’s made a correct understanding
of the concept almost impossible.
The real danger in misusing this term is that one can make a
disastrous presumption that every time someone acts in an inappropriate
manner, they’re necessarily playing out some kind of unconscious inner
conflict (i.e., unresolved “issues”), when in fact they may be simply
engaging in immature, irresponsible behavior about which they’re fully
aware and which is completely within their ability to control.
Misperceiving the nature of circumstances is a major way people end up
being abused by irresponsible characters. It’s also how clinicians
inadvertently enable irresponsible behavior instead of fostering real change. Words mean things.
As behavioral scientists, professionals can’t communicate effectively
with one another or even frame problems correctly unless they use terms
appropriately. To do that, we have to know what the words actually mean
and then use them to label a situation accurately.
Although acting-out definitely tops the list, it is not the only misused psychological term
Although acting-out definitely tops the list, it is not the only misused psychological term, and professionals aren’t the only ones who misuse it. Denial,
which I posted about earlier, is another of the more frequently misused
terms. A good example of why it’s so important to use terms correctly
is illustrated by research recently done on “denial” and its possible
role in predicting the effectiveness of therapy. Some studies have
shown that addressing issues of denial doesn’t appear to be crucial to
effecting a positive therapeutic outcome. These results are
counterintuitive. It’s been long assumed that a person can’t really
begin to address and resolve a problem unless they are willing to admit
they have it. It would be a big deal to have this assumption disproved
experimentally. The problem with the research on “denial,” however, is
that it didn’t bother to differentiate what really is or isn’t true
denial. Rather, it lumped together all of the various types of
behaviors often mislabeled as denial, and then got ambiguous results. A
saying used in computer science — “Garbage in, Garbage out!” — attests
to the fact that regardless of the elaborateness of the methodology or
the sophistication of the statistical analyses, if you put ambiguous
data into a study, you’ll get unreliable findings. We can never be
clear about our scientific data unless we define our terms correctly
and succinctly. As a psychologist,
I’ve literally read thousands of studies over the years. The
psychological abstracts alone are among the most hefty compilations
you’ll ever find in libraries. Yet, the number of principles we know
with certainty about human behavior would fill only a small book. Why?
It is in large measure because even though our statistical and other
data analysis methods are among the most sophisticated there are, the logic is flawed in the construction of our research, and the logic of our interpretations
of the results is equally flawed much of the time. It’s really
frustrating sometimes. But it should serve as a caution for all
professionals to be much more careful about how accurate we are when we
use terms or interpret data.
There are ten terms commonly used in mental health that are all too
frequently misused. This post, and the next several to follow, will
deal with the top 5 of these misused terms.
http://counsellingresource.com/features/2008/10/21/acting-up-is-not-acting-out/
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Depression Forums would like to hear from you!
Depression Forums would like to hear from you!
Mental illness affects one in seventeen Americans. We
would like to invite you to share your story about
your Depression, as breaking the silence will help us to break open the
stigma surrounding mental health that keeps people from getting the
care that continues misunderstandings about those affected by mental
health disorders.
Stories with a positive outlook are most welcome. There is nothing better than to speak out, tell your story and get the word out!
There is hope! Together, we can help ourselves and others. Please PM Forum Admin for more information to submit your story. Warm Regards, ~Lindsay and The Depression Forums Administration Staff
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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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