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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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What to do when you feel a panic attack coming
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Notice: The following is presented for informational purposes only. Assessment and treatment should always be directed through one-on-one consultation with a trained professional.
This is one of my favourite questions and obviously one of the most important ones for people who are trying to gain mastery over panic.
There are basically two options for what to do when you feel a panic attack coming on. The first is to use a coping technique. The second is to do an exposure. And yes, I will explain what coping techniques and exposures are! But first, let’s start off with my favourite analogy:
The Demon Analogy
Panic disorder can be thought of as a demon. There are two ways to fight this particular demon. The first way is to use your shield -- Using your shield means using medications (such as Xanax), leaving the situation for a while to calm down, using relaxation techniques, and/or talking back to your anxious thoughts to quiet them down. Below I will describe these coping techniques in detail including their pros and cons. But apart from your shield, there is also a second way to fight this particular demon – it turns out that every time you face the demon head on, he gets weaker. Each time you challenge him, he gets smaller. That is where exposures come in to play. Exposures involve turning the tables on the demon by jumping him, challenging him, and saying “Bring it on. Is that all you’ve got?”
Initially, most coping techniques alone are actually not strong enough to stop a panic attack . For example, you may try relaxation to stop a panic attack but it’s just not working. The demon is so large, that he just swipes your “shield” aside. However, usually after one to two months of starting to face the demon (i.e. doing exposures), the demon become so small that the shield techniques finally start working! And after several months of exposures, the demon typically becomes so tiny that he stops coming around at all and eventually dies.
These combined tactics of using your shield and periodically facing the demon head on will help you gain mastery over panic once and for all. If you learn these techniques (in a type of therapy known as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) it is very likely that you can eventually enjoy going out with your friends, driving your car, flying overseas, and enjoying a sunny day at the beach without having to worry about panic any more.
The Shield (i.e. Coping Techiqnues):
Benzodiazepines (ie Xanax, Ativan, Klonopin, Valium): These are usually the most immediately powerful of all of the coping techniques. It usually takes about 20 minutes for benzodiazepines to kick in, and they strong enough to stop and even full blown panic attack. The main drawbacks of these medications are that if you take too much, they can make you tired, and if you take them everyday, you might get used to them after 1-3 months (i.e. they might stop working). In addition, people with a history of addiction problems can get addicted to these medications (although in general, they produce a pretty weak high, so it’s exceedingly rare for a non-addict to become addicted to these drugs). I prescribe benzodiazepines to my patients while they are learning the other coping techniques and starting the exposures. I typically recommend using benzodiazepines on an emergency basis to stop panic attacks, and occasionally I even recommend using benzodiazepines on a regular daily basis for people who are in a chronic state of panic / high anxiety. Although benzodiazepines will not cure panic disorder, they can provide relief while you are engaged in a more definitive treatment (such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy).
Leaving the Situation: This is one of the strongest coping techniques, but also can eventually lead to problems. Leaving a crowd, pulling over on the side of the road while driving, or avoiding vigorous exercise are examples of leaving the situation. These are effective coping techniques because they can frequently avert a panic attack. However, these techniques have the obvious drawback of encouraging agoraphobia (i.e. the avoidance of activities because of a fear of panic). I would say that leaving a situation is useful, but only if you are also engaging in a definitive treatment to help you complete control over panic disorder.
Relaxation Techniques: It’s hard to stop thinking about something “cold turkey.” It’s easier to stop thinking about something if you replace your thoughts with something else. Relaxation and meditation techniques aim at getting you to stop thinking by giving you an effective distraction to replace your thoughts with. For example, many Buddhist forms of meditation replace your thoughts with a focus on repeated sounds and/or breathing. In addition, various visualization exercises replace your thoughts with vivid imagery. The relaxation techniques I have found to be most effective for panic attacks are 11-muscle relaxation with Abdominal Breathing, Sensation Focusing, and Permission Breath Counting. These are all cognitive-behavioral techniques and they can be found at Panic Mastery. I never teach patients just one coping technique because different techniques seem to work for different people. Relaxation techniques initially may not be strong enough to stop a panic attack, but they become much more effective once you have started doing exposures.
Thought Restructuring: This coping technique teaches you ways to stop your anxiety by talking back to it. Thought restructuring is a type of journaling done on paper for 10 minutes a day for 1-2 weeks. After 1-2 weeks, I usually encourage my patients to stop talking back to their thoughts on paper and start doing it in their heads. Much like relaxation techniques, this is a cognitive behavioral therapy technique, it gets better with practice, and it becomes much more effective once you have started exposures.
Thoughts restructuring along with Relaxation Techniques eventually form the two most healthy and permanent parts of your “shield” because they can be used extensively without having the drawbacks of avoiding situations or relying on medications. However, these “shield” techniques are usually not strong enough alone to completely cure panic disorder, most patient need to do exposures.
Facing the demon (i.e. Exposures)
Exposures involve voluntarily bringing on a mild to moderate level of anxiety In other words, exposures show you ways to face the demon, challenge him head on, and kill him once and for all. There are two keys to exposures: 1. They have to be voluntary (which means that you can’t do them all the time, because you won’t always be in the mood) and 2. If you imagine your anxiety from a 0-8 (with 0 being calm and 8 being a panic attack), you want to hit a 4 during any given exposure (because if you go above a 4, the anxiety might get ahead of you and no longer be voluntary and under your control). Exposures are used to gain mastery over any phobia. They work for panic disorder because the core of panic disorder is usually phobia as well: A phobia to certain physical sensations. Whether it’s a racing heart, dizziness, nausea, a choking sensation, or a certain pain, every panic disorder patient has at least one or two physical symptoms that trigger their panic cycle. Exposures show you how to experience these sensations in such a way that you finally stop being triggered by them. After 1-2 months of exposures, most patients find that coping techniques begin to be effective (i.e. the shield actually starts working). Once patient are good at exposures, they can often use them to actually stop a panic attack that is coming on. In other words, once the demon appears, they can turn the tables on the demon, challenge it, and get it to run scared with it’s tale between it’s legs. After several months of exposures, most of my patients become completely panic free (and can usually be taken off on any panic-related medications they have started). Exposures are at the heart of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and they are by far the most useful techniques for killing the Demon and gaining mastery over panic once and for all.
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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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