Depression is quite common. In fact, depressed mood is the fourth most common symptom that patients complain of when they see their primary care physician. About 10% to 25% of women will have have major depression at some point during their lifetime and they will be especially vulnerable during their reproductive years. Mood disorders like depression worsen the morbidity and mortality rates of other medical disorders. In addition,
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If you haven’t, this blog will help you to understand how your thinking can affect your mood. The thoughts in your head can affect the way you feel, which can affect your behaviors.
For example, say you are talking with a group of other people. Your mood is good and you have been experiencing a positive day overall. The subject turns to a complaining session regarding work. Others chime in about how awful their job is, how they’re
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In an article entitled “You Are What You Think” I wrote about a form of psychotherapy called cognitive therapy. The premise of cognitive therapy is that our thoughts are quite powerful and if we habitually think in a negative way our mood will follow our thoughts causing feelings of depression. Defeating depression thus becomes a matter of recognizing these faulty thoughts and replacing them with more truthful, positive thoughts.
So you’ve decided you need to see someone for your depression. Now what?
Your first visit should be to your family doctor for a thorough checkup. There are several medical conditions that can cause depression symptoms, such as vitamin and mineral deficiencies, female hormonal changes and thyroid conditions. In addition, several medications may have depression as a side-effect. If your doctor does not find any of these factors as a
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This is a scary time for everyone. Unemployment continues to climb, and many people wonder if their job is secure. People have to make difficult choices for their families in these tough economic times. We are definitely in a financial crisis.
We don’t know when things will improve, so this aspect is out of our control. How can you make the best out of this distressing situation? For starters, think about the things that you
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Behavioral therapy is a type of psychotherapy that focuses on changing and gaining control over unwanted behaviors. It is based upon the principles of classical conditioning developed by Ivan Pavlov and operant conditioning developed by B. F. Skinner. It is effective for the treatment of health problems which require some sort of behavior change, such as quitting smoking or losing weight. It is also effective for anxiety disorders and phobias.
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Depression may begin with symptoms of anxiety (such as excessive worrying) or symptoms such as sadness or lack of energy that last for days or months before the onset of full-blown depression. You may have trouble concentrating or remembering, experience a loss of pleasure in things you used to enjoy, feel hopeless, and have low energy and changes in sleeping and eating patterns. You may withdraw socially from others and lose interest
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When Missouri teen Megan Meier committed suicide after receiving taunting messages on MySpace from an adult woman masquerading as a boy who liked her, it brought home the fact that Internet roleplaying isn’t all fun and fantasy. The games people play can have real consequences, especially for those with depression and mental illness. Just like in the real world, bullies can use harsh words and intimidation tactics to push their victims around
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If you had unlimited finances, access to every possible pharmacologic compound-including experimental ones in clinical trials, or even “drugs” that are otherwise illegal-as well as a highly motivated patient who would be willing to do anything to get better, what treatment for depression would you choose?
Assume, however, that you have to get better as soon as possible; that your job cannot suffer because of your symptoms; and that
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There’s an interesting news article making the rounds.
Amy Philo is a new mom who, like many others with postpartum depression, had feelings to harm her child and others around her. She even thought to throw the baby down the stairs. While thoughts to harm the child are not common in postpartum depression, when they are, this is, surprisingly, one of the more common ones. Since her experience, she has become something of an activist
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