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QUOTE07-14-07I've been a forum mod/admin before, but this board is much different, and thankfully much nicer. [You all are doing a wonderful job. I haven't seen any of the usual trolls, spammers or rude members who need spanking/banning].butterflyfree:
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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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Everything you wanted to know about stress but were too busy to ask
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In a nutshell stress is the response we feel when things that are happening exceed our ability to cope.
Stress is often confused with every day pressure. In fact we actually need pressure to perform at our best. Think of an actor or an athlete – the pressure they feel before they perform helps them give a good performance and this is the same for any of us.
Problems, however, arise when the amount of pressure we experience becomes too great. This may be due to one major event such as a bereavement, or an accumulation of many smaller hassles one after the other without enabling time to recover. The curve illustrates what happens.
As pressure increases so does our performance (A) until we eventually reach our peak (B). Give us more and more pressure beyond or peak and we think we carry on being more and more productive (C).
However, in actual fact we do not. At first we may just be irritable or snappy; make silly mistakes and be unable think clearly. However, If the pressure continues this becomes worse, our performance drops and we can start to exhibit a variety of physical symptoms (D). We can also show mental symptoms such as anxiety and eventually depression.
Stress is therefore not itself a medical condition, but if it is prolonged or not corrected then illness can arise. This is why it is important to recognise stress and to have some simple tools for dealing with the issues that can create it.
We are all different (thank goodness!), and there is much variation in our capacity to cope with the very many different things that happen to us in daily life. We therefore need to be aware that stress is not a sign of weakness but simply reflects overload at a given time.
The signs of stress may be anywhere in the body from head to toe and vary from one person to the next. Headaches, palpitations, upset stomach, sweating, strange behaviour and many others symptoms can occur when stress arises and many consultations with doctors complaining of aches or pains or other ailments are the physical manifestations of the brain complaining it can’t cope!
If a computer gets overloaded – ultimately it may ‘lock’ or ‘crash’, people are the same, and a serious stress related illness can be thought of as the human version of an overloaded processor!
Why does too much pressure turn to stress?
The stress response evolved to help our ancestors cope with physical threats such as being chased by a woolly mammoth. This response, often termed the ‘fight or flight’ response, includes changes in our body that result in both mental and physical alertness. The stress response is mainly caused by the release of adrenalin and noradrenalin which alongside other changes in the body result in the common symptoms of dry mouth, sweaty palms, elevated heart rate, butterflies in the tummy. You may recognise these symptoms as ‘nerves’ before a job interview or an examination.
The major changes during the stress response are:
* Increase in sensitivity of nervous system – increases speed with which we may react to a threat.
* Muscles tense ready for action.
* Breathing rate increases – to take in more oxygen into the lungs. This is then carried by the blood to the muscles where it combines with glucose to make energy.
* More glucose is released from the liver and into the blood stream – used for increased energy.
* Heart rate and blood pressure increase – blood carrying oxygen and sugar is pumped to the muscles to make energy.
* Sweating increases – to cool body down during running or fighting.
* Digestive system slows down – if fighting for survival don’t need to be digesting food, energy is therefore conserved.
* Reproductive system slows down – also not necessary if you are fighting for survival!
* Another hormone, cortisol, is released.
What is cortisol?
One of the main functions of cortisol is to regulate the metabolism. During stress it enables the body to produce more glucose to keep it going longer. A by product of this is the production of fatty acids which can result in increased production of cholesterol. Increased cholesterol affects the cardiovascular system.
Cortisol also dampens down the immune system so over time we become more susceptible to infections.
What’s the problem with the stress response today?
While the stress response is still useful for occasional modern day physical threats, most of our modern day pressures are not physical and therefore do not need a physical response.
Many are also generated from work: the difficult boss, too much work, hundreds of E-mails and angry customers.
We cannot respond to these by running away or fighting so we sit and bottle it up. We therefore do not do what the stress response is gearing us up to do. Added to this is the fact that one pressure comes immediately after another. We do not have time to get the physiological changes out of our system before the next pressure comes along.
We can cause our own stress by our thoughts and fears. We are afraid of not being good enough or looking stupid. Job insecurity is now also very common. Pressures like these never really go away, but are constantly generating the response. Instead of being helpful, the changes taking place in our body start to work against us and we start to suffer from stress symptoms.
So what should we do to reduce the effects of stress?
If it happens, takes some exercise – this is what the caveman did. Through exercise you are doing exactly what the stress response geared you up to do: get physical.
However, you can also stop it happening in the first place by:
* Identifying causes – only then can you tackle the issues.
* Changing your behaviour to reduce the onset of the stress response, eg avoid unnecessary conflict; learn to be more assertive; don’t procrastinate; attend a stress management course. If the stress is work related, raise the issue with your manager. Employers now have a legal duty of care to do what is reasonably practicable to ensure staff do not suffer from work related stress. If your manager knows you have a work related problem they must try to help reduce it.
* Changing perceptions – look at different ways you can see things. You are not indispensable, things do not have to always be perfect. Talk things over with a friend or colleague: this will often help you change your perceptions
* Taking regular breaks to allow your body time to recover between pressures.
* Learning to relax – relaxation helps reduce the stress response and hence the detrimental effect.
Most of all you must realise that stress is not a weakness. Given the right combination of events, stress can happen to anybody.
If you experience stress take action to reduce it before it gets too serious. Managing stress is about taking responsibility for yourself. Nobody else can do it for you. The stress triangle below may help.
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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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