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QUOTE(keren_za @ Sep 2 2007, 01:04 PM) *FRIENDS, I thank you all. I love you. I love you for being who you are.Silly me, Now I'm crying...IT IS NOT EASY FOR ANY OF US.being part of this amazing community-I find it so very comforting.You represent a piece of Trueness and beauty in a world which can (often) be very frightening.keren.
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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 11th 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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Depression more harmful than angina, says study

By Forum Admin

Depression more harmful than angina, says study = Friday September 7 2007

Depression can do more physical damage to a person's health than several long-term diseases, according to a study.

Saba Moussavi of the World Health Organisation led the largest population-based study on the physical effects of several illnesses by analysing data from more than 245,000 people in 60 countries. His results, published today in the Lancet, showed that depression had more impact on sufferers than angina, arthritis, asthma, and diabetes.

"On the basis of our results, addressing the further exacerbation of disability due to depression needs to be a priority of health systems worldwide," wrote Dr Moussavi. "Primary care providers must be taught not to ignore the presence of depression when patients present with a chronic physical condition."

He said that this would only be achieved by reducing the stigma around mental illness and alerting doctors and the public at large that depression was a disease at least on a par with physical chronic diseases in damaging health.

Depression was the fourth leading cause of "disease burden" in 2000, a measure of the number of years of full health lost due to an illness. Projections by scientists at the Harvard School of public health suggest that, by 2020, depression will rise to become second only to heart disease in terms of disease burden.

On a scale of 0 to 100, with 0 indicating worst health and 100 indicating best health, sufferers of depression had an average score of 72.9 in Dr Moussavi's study. This compared with 80.3 for asthmatics, 79.6 for angina sufferers, 79.3 for arthritis sufferers and 78.9 for those with diabetes. "Our main findings show that depression impairs health state to a substantially greater degree than the other diseases," Dr Moussavi said.

In addition, suffering from depression along with another chronic disease produced significantly worse health than having one or more of the chronic diseases alone. "The need for timely diagnosis and treatment of depressive disorders to reduce the burden on public health is imperative," wrote Dr Moussavi. "In many primary care settings patients presenting with multiple disorders that include depression often don't get diagnosed, and if they do often treatment is focused towards the other chronic diseases."

In an accompanying article in the Lancet, Gavin Andrews, of the University of New South Wales, said: "In Australia less than 30% of patients receive good treatment with antidepressants, cognitive behavioural therapy, and proactive maintenance care. By contrast, 80% of patients with arthritis and 90% of patients with asthma receive an acceptable standard of care."

Dr Moussavi said mental disorders often came hand-in-hand with other chronic illnesses and would become more common as the world's population lived longer.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2007

Comments

Depression Forums would like to hear from you!
Mental illness affects one in seventeen Americans. However, in this country alone, funding for mental health
facilities is dropping drastically and the care for the mentally disabled.
When the people who need those facilities have no where to go, they end up overcrowding emergency rooms.
Depression Forums would like to hear from you!
We would like to invite you to PM Forum Admin to share your story about your Depression or Mental Health issues 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.
There is nothing better than to speak out, tell your story get the word out!
Together, we can help ourselves and others. Your stories would appear right here on DF's Portal.
Please PM Forum Admin for more information or to submit your story.
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Youth In Rwanda That Head Households Commonly Depressed
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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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