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on: Saturday, 07 November 2009 18:44
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on: Saturday, 07 November 2009 12:03
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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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How to Take an Antidepressant Part 1
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How to Take an Antidepressant Part 1 Evidence indicates that all of the available antidepressants on the market have a high efficacy rate. The only area where the drugs do differ, is in the side effects they create. Side effects have become a central consideration in the new approach to depression treatment. By:Hara Estroff Marano
Page 1 of 2
Years ago, Prozac launched a revolution. It rendered depression a disorder that was finally safely treatable. The torrent of prose hailing Prozac and its chemical kin eventually made the mental illness dinner-party discourse. Today, a much quieter revolution in treatment is taking place. It, too, has its origins in Prozac and its siblings, the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
Fifteen years of experience with reasonably safe treatments has given the mental health world a new understanding of the disorder and its true course: It's no longer enough to merely treat depression; it's necessary to banish it.
Increasingly, the aim of treatment is not to make patients better but to make them completely well. In the absence of full remission from an episode of depression, the disorder tends to recur. What's more, studies now show that the longer patients remain sick, the harder it is for them to recover completely.
"It became very clear over the past several years that people who don't achieve full remission are at high risk for relapse and for doing poorly," says Jonathan Alpert, M.D., Ph.D., associate director of the depression research program at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. "Even if they don't have a full relapse, they don't do well in social and occupational function."
There is no magic bullet; evidence indicates that the available antidepressants are equally effective. All of the drugs get 70 percent of people better within six to ten weeks, according to David Dunner, M.D., director of the Center for Anxiety and Depression at the University of Washington. However, "better" does not necessarily mean symptom-free. "There isn't any difference among the drugs regarding that."
Where the drugs do differ, however, is in the side effects they create, especially in the long haul. Side effects have become a central consideration in the new approach to depression treatment.
Long-term treatment is also critical. Data indicate that individuals should be treated for at least nine months following their first acute episode. If they have chronic depression—an episode lasting two years or more—they need to be treated for two years after remission. "And if they have recurrent depression marked by multiple episodes, perhaps forever," notes Dunner.
However, the average duration of a prescription is about 100 days. "It's a serious problem," Dunner points out. "We're not treating people nearly long enough."
Nor is treatment aggressive enough, according to Alpert: "Really pushing for remission may mean using two antidepressants at once or pushing the dose up higher than one would normally use."
Pick Your Pill
For many experts, the most sensible approach to selecting an antidepressant is to factor in the presence of associated or co-occurring conditions. Anxiety disorders, for example, commonly accompany depression. The selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have been well studied for the major anxiety disorders: panic, social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
"For someone who has depression and social phobia, it's reasonable to use a medication whose effectiveness has been well documented for both disorders," reports Alpert. The data also suggest that SSRIs are "reasonable first choices" for those with eating disorders.
But antidepressants don't work if people don't take them. Patients have to be willing to put up with side effects that range from drowsiness to seizures. As true as that is for short-term treatment, it's even more the case with long-term treatment. "The issue is, what can we do to get these patients to stay on the drugs for the length of time the evidence now suggests is best?" explains Dunner.
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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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