Recurrent Depression

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Depression may increase exacerbations, hospitalizations in COPD
2008-10-26 08:32:00
It is well known that patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) frequently suffer from depression and anxiety, but according to new research, depression and anxiety may actually cause increased hospitalizations and exacerbations. ?This is an important and revealing finding, indicating that for COPD patients, depression and anxiety must be treated as potential clinically important risk factors, rather than simple comorbidities that are caused by COPD,? said principle investigator of the paper, Jean Bourbeau, M.D., director of the Respiratory Epidemiology and Clinical Research Unit of McGill University, in Montreal. The research, published in the first issue for November of the American Thoracic Society?s clinical research journal, the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, is the first study to indicate a causal relationship between depression and exacerbations and hospitalizations for COPD.
More About: Depression

US suicide rate increasing
2008-10-21 15:56:00
The rate of suicide in the United States is increasing for the first time in a decade, according to a new report from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health?s Center for Injury Research and Policy. The increase in the overall suicide rate between 1999 and 2005 was due primarily to an increase in suicides among whites aged 40-64, with white middle-aged women experiencing the largest annual increase. Whereas the overall suicide rate rose 0.7 percent during this time period, the rate among middle-aged white men rose 2.7 percent annually and 3.9 percent among middle-aged women. By contrast, suicide in blacks decreased significantly over the study?s time period, and remained stable among Asian and Native Americans. The results are published online at the website of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine and will be published in the December print edition of the journal. The researchers also conducted a detailed analysis of suicide methods across specific population gr...
More About: Suicide , Rate

Some depressed patients opt for assisted suicide
2008-10-09 16:47:00
The results of a survey in Oregon suggest that the Death with Dignity Act enacted in the state in 1997 does not always prevent patients with depression, a treatable condition, from receiving a prescription for a lethal drug. The findings indicate that ?most people in Oregon who request physician aid in dying do not have clinical depression,? but yet there are ?small number of patients with clinical depression who are able to access lethal medications,? lead investigator Dr. Linda Ganzini, from Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, told Reuters Health. ?The Oregon law,? she explained, ?requires that if the prescribing physician is concerned that the patient might have depression influencing their judgment, that they be evaluated by a psychiatrist or psychologist. The proportion of requesting patients who are evaluated by a mental health professional has been dropping over the last decade and last year no mental health assessments occurred among the 46 people who died by physi...
More About: Suicide , Patients , Assisted Suicide , Depressed

Learning how not to be afraid
2008-10-08 17:47:00
Why do some people have the ability to remain calm and relaxed even in the most stressful situations? New experiments in mice by Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers are providing insight into how the brain changes when the animals learn to feel safe and secure in situations that would normally make them anxious. HHMI investigator Eric R. Kandel and Daniela D. Pollak conducted experiments in which they conditioned mice to feel safe in stressful situations. Their experiments showed that the mice developed a conditioned inhibition of fear, which Kandel calls ?learned safety.? The behavioral changes observed in the mice squelched anxiety as effectively as antidepressant drugs such as Prozac, said Kandel, who is at Columbia University. ?It?s a little bit like psychotherapy,? he noted. ?This shows that behavioral intervention works.?
More About: Learning

Depressed Women Have More Sex
2008-10-07 10:13:00
Looking for a hot babe? Then go directly to the sad girl at the party. The sexual tigress lurks inside her. A new research published in the British Medical Journal shows that women who experience from mild to moderate depressions have with up to 30% more sex than women with a more balanced psyche. The study was made on 107 female subjects, depressed and non-depressed. Depressed women had more sex no matter if they were in a committed relationship, from kissing and affective displays to foreplay and intercourse. ?The results may indicate that the women use sex as a treatment for the depression. When people are depressed they feel more insecure about their relationships and concerned that their partner may not care about them or find them valuable. Having sex helps depressed women find the sense of closeness and security they seek,? said co-author Dr. Sabura Allen, from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. 
More About: Women

Rural mental health
2008-09-30 20:03:00
A significant proportion of people live and work in rural areas, and rural mental health is important wherever psychiatry is practised. There are inherent difficulties in conducting rural research, due in part to the lack of an agreed definition of rurality. Mental health is probably better in rural areas, with the exception of suicide, which remains highest in male rural residents. A number of aspects of rural life (such as the rural community, social networks, problems with access, and social exclusion) may all have particular implications for people with mental health problems. Further issues such as the effect of rural culture on help-seeking for mental illness, anonymity in small rural communities and stigma may further affect the recognition, treatment and maintenance of mental health problems for people in rural areas. Providing mental health services to remote and rural locations may be challenging. Rural culture and countryside form a significant part of our society. A la...
More About: Health , Mental Health

Intense Pressure Often Drives Law Students to Depression
2008-09-24 07:43:00
Higher education is a stressful venture for most students. A new survey has found law students to be more stressed and depressed than their counterparts in other disciplines. The survey was conducted by researchers from Brain and Mind Research Institute, in New South Wales, Australia. It involved 738 law students, 751 barristers and 924 solicitors. The researchers compared the stress levels of the law students with their counterparts in medical school. Presenting the findings at the third annual Tristan Jepson Memorial Oration, lead researcher Prof Ian Hickie said more than 40 percent of law students had symptoms of moderate to severe depression. Furthermore 16 percent of practicing lawyers had mood disorders.
More About: Depression , Students

Finger length tied to enthusiasm for exercise
2008-09-23 22:28:00
Finger length may help differentiate the couch potatoes from the exercise junkies, if new animal research is any indication. A number of human studies have linked finger length ratio?specifically, the length of the index finger in relation to the ring finger?to certain behaviors and traits, including aggression, athletic ability and academic skills. Generally speaking, men tend to have a shorter index finger relative to the ring finger, whereas the two tend to be more equal in length in women. Studies have the linked the ?male? pattern?whether it?s in men or women?to higher aggression levels and greater athletic prowess, for example, whereas the ?female? pattern has been associated with sharper verbal skills.
More About: Exercise , Finger , Enthusiasm

One in Five ICU Survivors Experiences PTSD Symptoms
2008-09-17 07:04:00
Thanks to advances in critical care medicine, patients admitted to the intensive care unit today are more likely than ever to survive their stay. Yet outliving the physical trauma or illness that required ICU treatment often leaves long-lasting psychological scars, a new review finds. ?The prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and PTSD in patients following ICU hospitalization is high ? about 20 percent,? said Dimitry Davydow, M.D., the review?s lead author. ?Considering that about 4 million people visit the ICU every year in the United States alone, it?s a significant public health issue.? Davydow is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. The review appears in the September-October issue of the journal General Hospital Psychiatry.
More About: Experiences , Symptoms , Survivors

Depressed, abused moms more likely to spank kids
2008-09-16 09:55:00
Mothers who are depressed and in an abusive relationship are more likely than other moms to spank their children, a new study shows. Researchers found that among nearly 13,000 U.S. mothers of kindergarteners, those who were both depressed and tended to have violent arguments with their partner were more than twice as likely as other moms to use spanking as a form of punishment. This, the study found, was regardless of whether their children had any chronic behavioral problems, as assessed through interviews with teachers.
More About: Kids , Moms , Abused , Depressed

Coating improves electrical stimulation therapy used for Parkinson?s, depre
2008-09-16 09:51:00
Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have designed a way to improve electrical stimulation of nerves by outfitting electrodes with the latest in chemically engineered fashion: a coating of basic black, formed from carbon nanotubes. The nanotube sheathing improves the signals received and transmitted by electrodes, which researchers say is a potentially critical step for advancing electrical nerve stimulation therapy. This type of therapy increasingly shows promise for diseases ranging from epilepsy to depression to chronic leg and back pain. By implanting electronic nerve stimulators, doctors elsewhere have provided a quadriplegic patient with the ability to move a computer cursor at will, and monkeys have been able to move objects in a virtual world with mere mind power. For individuals who lose an arm or leg and rely on prosthetics, implanted stimulators offer promise in restoring feelings of sensation.
More About: Parkinson , Therapy , Electrical

Children who are concerned about parents arguing are prone to school proble
2008-09-16 09:45:00
Children who worry about how their parents get along with each other are more likely than other children to have psychological problems. Now a new study says that children who worry a lot about conflicts between their parents are more likely to have problems in school because they have more difficulty paying attention to the tasks before them. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Rochester, Syracuse University, and the University of Notre Dame, is one of the first to chart how children?s concerns about their parents? relationship may increase their vulnerability to later adjustment problems. It appears in the September/October 2008 issue of the journal Child Development. The study looked at a group of 216 predominantly White 6-year-olds, their parents, and their teachers annually over a three-year period. Children were evaluated to determine their negative thoughts and worries about how their parents got along, based on how they completed unfinished stories a...
More About: Children , Concerned , School , Parents

Gender differences seen in brain connections
2008-09-11 04:21:00
Human brains appear to come in at least two flavours: male and female. Now variations in the density of the synapses that connect neurons may help to explain differences in how men and women think. Even when intelligence levels are equal, women and men excel at different cognitive tasks. But although brain size and neuron density differ between the sexes, these don?t seem to correlate with cognitive differences. So, Javier DeFelipe at Complutense University in Madrid, Spain, and colleagues counted the number of synapses instead. The brain tissue they analysed came from the left temporal cortex, a region of the brain involved in emotional and social processing, of four women and four men with epilepsy. The tissue itself was healthy, having been removed to allow doctors to access underlying damaged areas.
More About: Gender , Differences , Gender Differences , Brain , Connections

National study finds post-traumatic stress disorder common among injured pa
2008-09-11 04:12:00
Suffering a traumatic injury can have serious and long-lasting implications for a patient?s mental health, according to the largest-ever U.S. study evaluating the impact of traumatic injury. Researchers from the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center, the University of Washington, and the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that post-traumatic stress disorder and depression were very common among patients assessed one year after suffering a serious injury. They also found that injured patients diagnosed with PTSD or depression were six times more likely to not have returned to work in the year following the injury. The study followed 2707 injured patients from 69 hospitals across the country, and found 20.7% had post-traumatic stress disorder and 6.6% had depression one year after the injury. Both disorders were independently associated with significant impairments across all functional outcomes: activities of daily living, health status, and the return ...
More About: National , Study , Post , Common , Stress

Immaturity of the brain may cause schizophrenia
2008-09-11 04:11:00
The underdevelopment of a specific region in the brain may lead to schizophrenia in individuals. According to research published today in BioMed Central?s open access journal Molecular Brain , dentate gyrus, which is located in the hippocampus in the brain and thought to be responsible for working memory and mood regulation, remained immature in an animal model of schizophrenia. Professor Tsuyoshi Miyakawa of Fujita Health University, National Institute for Physiological Sciences (NIPS), and Kyoto University led a research team in Japan, with support from the CREST program of Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). First, the team investigated behaviors by conducting a systematic and well-defined behavioral test battery with alpha-CaMKII mutant mice, an animal model of schizophrenia.. These mice showed abnormal behaviors similar to those of schizophrenic patients. Next, the team found the dentate gyrus neurons in hippocampus of the brain of these mice were not matured morphol...
More About: The Brain , Schizophrenia

Exercise May Help Improve Memory Problems
2008-09-03 14:57:00
Adults with memory problems who participated in a home-based physical activity program experienced a modest improvement in cognitive function, compared to those who did not participate in the program, according to a study in the September 3 issue of JAMA. As the world population ages, the number of older adults living with Alzheimer disease (AD) is estimated to increase from the current 26.6 million to 106.2 million by 2050. ?If illness onset could be delayed by 12 months, 9.2 million fewer cases of AD would occur worldwide. For this reason, attempts have been made to identify individuals who are at increased risk of AD and to test interventions that might delay the progression of prodromal symptoms [early non-specific symptom, or set of symptoms] to full-blown dementia,? the authors write. Nicola T. Lautenschlager, M.D., of the University of Melbourne, Australia, and colleagues conducted a randomized controlled trial to test whether a physical activity intervention would reduce...
More About: Exercise , Memory , Problems , Improve

Participating in religion may make adolescents from certain races more depr
2008-09-03 14:49:00
One of the few studies to look at the effects of religious participation on the mental health of minorities suggests that for some of them, religion may actually be contributing to adolescent depression. Previous research has shown that teens who are active in religious services are depressed less often because it provides these adolescents with social support and a sense of belonging. But new research has found that this does not hold true for all adolescents, particularly for minorities and some females. The study found that white and African-American adolescents generally had fewer symptoms of depressive at high levels of religious participation. But for some Latino and Asian-American adolescents, attending church more often was actually affecting their mood in a negative way. 
More About: Religion , Make , Races

Researchers Piece Together Gene ?Network? Linked to Schizophrenia
2008-09-03 14:37:00
Reporting this week in the Archives of Gene ral Psychiatry, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have uncovered for the first time molecular circuitry associated with schizophrenia that links three previously known, yet unrelated proteins. ?This is very exciting because until now the many known genetic factors implicated in this condition were not connected in any way,? says Akira Sawa, M.D., Ph.D., director of the program in molecular psychiatry and associate professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at Hopkins. ?Now, through a cross-disciplinary and cross-departmental collaboration, we not only have figured out how these three proteins interact with each other, we also have found patients who carry mutations. These results give us a really good foundation to dig deeper into such an elusive condition.? Sawa?s team previously had characterized the DISC1 gene and protein which are required for proper nervous system development, and when disrupted, signific...
More About: Network , Piece , Schizophrenia

Brain imaging links chronic insomnia to reversible cognitive deficits witho
2008-09-01 18:51:00
A neuroimaging study in the Sept. 1 issue of the journal Sleep is the first to find that cognitive processes related to verbal fluency are compromised in people with insomnia despite the absence of a behavioral deficit. These specific brain function alterations can be reversed, however, through non-pharmacological treatment with sleep therapy. Results of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning during verbal fluency tasks show that people with insomnia have less activation than controls in the left medial prefrontal cortex and the left interior frontal gyrus, two fluency-specific brain regions. However, participants with insomnia generated more words than controls on both the category fluency task (46.4 words compared with 38.7 words) and the letter fluency task (40.1 words compared with 32.7 words). ?It was surprising to see that the patients performed at a higher level than the control group, but showed reduced brain activation in their fMRI results,? said princip...
More About: Links , Brain , Imaging , Insomnia , Deficits

Children of older fathers more likely to have bipolar disorder
2008-09-01 18:45:00
Older age among fathers may be associated with an increased risk for bipolar disorder in their offspring, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Bipolar disorder is a common, severe mood disorder involving episodes of mania and depression, according to background information in the article. Other than a family history of psychotic disorders, few risk factors for the condition have been identified. Older paternal age has previously been associated with a higher risk of complex neurodevelopmental disorders, including schizophrenia and autism. Emma M. Frans, M.Med.Sc., of the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, and colleagues identified 13,428 patients in Swedish registers with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. For each one, they randomly selected from the registers five controls who were the same sex and born the same year but did not have bipolar disorder.
More About: Children , Fathers , Bipolar Disorder

Study examines relationship between low birth weight and psychiatric proble
2008-09-01 18:44:00
Low-birth-weight children appear to be at higher risk for psychiatric disturbances from childhood through high school than normal-birth-weight children, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. In addition, low-birth-weight children from urban communities may be more likely to have attention problems than suburban low-birth-weight children. ?Advances in neonatal medicine have raised the survivorship of low-birth-weight infants (2,500 grams [about 5.5 pounds] or less), especially very low-birth-weight infants (1,500 grams [about 3.3 pounds] or less) and extremely low-birth-weight infants (1,000 grams [2.2 pounds] or less),? according to background information in the article. Previous studies have reported that low-birth-weight children appear to have an increased risk of internalizing, externalizing and attention problems. Kipling M. Bohnert, B.A., and Naomi Breslau, Ph.D., of Michigan State University, Eas...
More About: Weight , Study , Relationship , Birth

Series targets family of the mentally ill
2008-08-29 18:06:00
The Fond du Lac Chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill will sponsor the NAMI Family -to-Family Education Program for families of persons diagnosed with a serious mental illness. The 12-week series of classes will start from 6:30 to 9 p.m. Monday, Sept. 8, at Friendship Corner, 27 Third St., Fond du Lac. It will continue for 12 consecutive Mondays, concluding Nov. 24. Those planning to attend should enter from the parking lot off Second Street behind the building.
More About: Series , Mentally ill

Antidepressants in suicide prevention
2008-08-29 18:03:00
Antidepressants are the cornerstone of treatment of depressive disorders in health care. Their efficacy in treating depression is undisputable, although it leaves room for improvement. However, recent reports also suggest that antidepressants might, in some rare cases, actually worsen suicidal tendencies instead of alleviating them. As a consequence, research has intensified to clarify this issue, and regulatory authorities in many countries have reconsidered their cost-benefit ratio. While there is no doubt that such potential side-effects of antidepressant therapy are a very serious issue, it is important to obtain a balanced view of all the clinical and epidemiological facts pertaining the effect of antidepressant therapy in relation to suicidal behaviour. Depression and risk of suicidal behaviour Suicide is a significant public health issue. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that annually about one million people worldwide complete suicide. Thus, worldwide signif...
More About: Prevention , Antidepressants

Sleeping, Enough or Too Little?
2008-07-29 20:40:00
Getting an adequate amount of sleep each night is very important to your health. It is as important as a good diet and exercise. Poor sleep leads to depression, health problems, and accidents. The basic sleeping problems are is that it is difficult to fall or stay asleep. These are caused stress, traveling to a different time zone, and worrying over a major decision. When you are asleep, you have four different stages that you go through. The first one is drowsiness. You wake up easily in this five to ten minute stage. Light sleep is the second stage. Your heart rate slows, body temperature decreases, and your eye motion stops. The third and last stage is deep sleep. If you awake from deep sleep you normally feel groggy. Deep sleep restores your energy and immune system function. Rapid eye movement (REM) happens seventy-ninety minutes after you enter your sleep cycle. REM helps you relieve stress, process emotions, retain memories, and boosts your mood. In REM, your heart rate is ...
More About: Sleeping

Bipolar disorder in late life: clinical characteristics in a sample of olde
2008-07-29 20:36:00
Bipolar disorder in late life: clinical characteristics in a sample of older adults admitted for manic episode Although manic episodes in older adults are not rare, little published data exist on late-life manic episodes. Resistance to treatment and concomitant neurological lesions are frequent correlates of elderly mania. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of hospitalizations due to mania in patients older than 64 years through a period of 5 years in an Italian public psychiatric ward. Moreover, we aimed at describing clinical presentation of elderly manic episodes. Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted in order to describe clinical presentation of 20 elderly patients hospitalized for manic episode; moreover, we compared age at onset, the presence of family history for mood disorders, psychosis and irritability between the elderly group and a matched group of 20 younger manic inpatients.
More About: Life , Bipolar , Late , Sample , Bipolar Disorder

Health problems increase conflict
2007-03-05 05:51:02
People with health problems, including substance abuse and addiction, tend to report higher levels of conflict in their personal and professional lives, a recent report has found. Researchers from the University of Calgary, Canada, surveyed 4,553 working men and women, and asked them seven questions to assess work and family conflict. They also interviewed them to determine if they had experienced any mental disorders in the previous month.
More About: Health , Problems , Conflict , Problem , Ease

Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Neurology Explained
2007-03-02 05:49:02
"Neuropsychiatry” has become a popular term that has been appropriated by large numbers of psychiatrists who have in common the belief that the brain is the organ of behavior. Neuropsychiatrists share the theory that biological processes, including cognition, mood, memory, speech, and language, underlie consciousness. This is distinct from behavioral neurology, which appeared historically as a lesion-oriented field, distinct from psychiatry.
More About: Euro , Behavior , Plain , Psychiatry , Psych

Negative Symptoms and HIV/AIDS Risk-Behavior Knowledge in Schizophrenia
2007-03-02 05:49:02
Schizophrenia sufferers have been demonstrated to have relatively poor HIV/AIDS risk-behavior knowledge and, as a group, are found to be particularly vulnerable to contracting HIV. The authors asked whether an association could be demonstrated between specific symptoms and differing levels of knowledge. A structured clinical interview and HIV/AIDS Risk Questionnaires were administered to 102 subjects, and a principal-component analysis was performed for global and individual items, followed by comparisons between factors. Three factors (negative, positive, and global thought-disorder) emerged as significant between poor HIV/AIDS risk-behavior knowledge and higher negative-symptom scores. Findings support the notion that existing educational programs should be adapted to target specific areas of deficit. 
More About: Behavior , Knowledge , Know , Edge

Depressive Symptoms, Smoking, Drinking, and Quality of Life Among Head and
2007-03-02 05:49:02
The authors examined the relationship between depressive symptoms, smoking, problem drinking, and quality of life among 973 head and neck cancer patients who were surveyed and had their charts audited. Forty-six percent screened positive for depressive symptoms, 30% smoked, and 16% screened positive for problem drinking. Controlling for clinical and demographic variables, linear-regression analyses showed that depressive symptoms had a strong negative association with all 12 quality-of-life scales; smoking had a negative association on all but one of the quality-of-life scales; and problem drinking was not associated with any of the quality-of-life scales. Interventions targeting depression, smoking, and problem drinking need to be integrated into oncology clinics.
More About: Life , Drink , Press , Quality of Life , Smoking

Psychopathy and Antisocial Personality Disorder: A Case of Diagnostic Confu
2007-02-27 05:47:01
A Secret Service agent recently asked if I was familiar with a 1992 FBI report that almost half of the killers of law enforcement officers met the criteria for antisocial personality. I replied that I had not seen the report but that the finding did not seem surprising or noteworthy to me. My comment was based on the assumption that the report had used antisocial personality as a synonym for antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), a category listed in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) and applicable to the majority of criminals.
More About: Personal , Social , Psycho , Agnostic , Soci