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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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Augmenting SSRIs With Exposure and Ritual Prevention Helps OCD Patients

By kstours

By Jill Stein

ST. LOUIS, MO -- April 4, 2007-- Augmentation of serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs) with exposure and ritual (EX/RP) prevention is an effective strategy for managing obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), researchers announced here at the 27th Annual Conference of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA).

Exposure and ritual prevention is an established cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) for OCD.

Helen Blair Simpson, MD, director, Anxiety Disorders Clinic, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, New York, United States, and colleagues studied the effects of adding EX/RP to SRI therapy in 108 patients diagnosed with OCD.

"Both CBT involving EX/RP and pharmacotherapy with SRIs have been found effective in multicentre, randomised, controlled trials," Dr. Simpson pointed out in a presentation on March 31st. "Serotonin reuptake inhibitors are used more frequently than EX/RP in clinical practice, however SRIs typically yield only a 20% to 40% decrease in OCD symptoms, which means that many SRI responders continue to have clinically significant symptoms."

While several medications have been studied for their potential efficacy in augmenting SRI response, the only SRI augmentation strategy with documented efficacy in multiple, randomised, placebo-controlled trials involves antipsychotics, she continued. However, antipsychotic medications have 2 notable drawbacks. "Only about half of patients respond when response is defined as a decrease in OCD severity of at least 25%," she said. "Also, antipsychotics can cause significant adverse effects."

The trial included adult outpatients with primary OCD and a total score on the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BCOS) of 16 or greater despite having been on a therapeutic dose of SRI for at least 12 weeks prior to enrolling in the trial.

In the study, patients received 17 sessions of twice-weekly EX/RP or stress management therapy (SMT) while continuing their SRI treatment.

Exposure and ritual prevention consisted of 2 introductory sessions and 15 EX/RP sessions. SMT consisted of 2 introductory sessions and 15 sessions of relaxation training, assertiveness training, and problem solving.

The primary efficacy measure was Y-BOCS total score.

Results showed that EX/RP was better than SMT at decreasing OCD symptoms (P <.001).

At week 8, significantly more EX/RP than CBT patients had a Y-BOCS decrease of at least 25% (74% vs 22% for the 2 groups, respectively, P < .001). In addition, significantly more EX/RP patients had achieved remission, defined as a Y-BOCS score of 12 or less (33% vs 4%, P < .001).

While EX/RP augmentation is effective for reducing OCD symptoms, 15 exposure sessions is usually not enough to help SRI-resistant patients achieve remission, Dr. Simpson commented.

Finally, she said that while EX/RP seems to be at least as effective as antipsychotic augmentation, a head-to-head comparison is needed to determine which approach leads to superior and more prolonged favourable outcomes.

Copyright (c) 1995-2007 Doctor's Guide Publishing Limited

SOURCE: DGDispatch




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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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