Depression

Depression, also known as depressive disorders or unipolar depression, is a mental illness characterized by a profound and persistent feeling of sadness or despair and/or a loss of interest in things that once were pleasurable. Disturbance in sleep, appetite, and mental processes are a common accompaniment.

Antidepressant and psychotherapy work for depressed teens

Antidepressant and psychotherapy work for depressed teens

Teens with treatment-resistant depression more likely to get better with switch to combination therapy – antidepressant and psychotherapy. – Teens with difficult-to-treat depression who do not respond to a first antidepressant medication are more likely to get well if they switch to another antidepressant medication and add psychotherapy rather than just switching to another antidepressant, according to a large, multi-site trial funded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

Antidepressants only benefit severely depressed patients

Antidepressant medications appear to help only severely depressed people, a new analysis has found. – Who benefits from antidepressant drugs? A new study from from the University of Hull published today in PLoS Medicine suggests that antidepressant medicines only benefit some, very severely depressed patients.

Majority of troops avoid couch talk

Mental health in the military: Majority of troops avoid couch talk; First Canadian study to examine mental health among armed forces and barriers to help. – Mental disorders ranging from depression to alcoholism need to be de-stigmatized among military personnel to encourage troops to seek support when needed, according to a national investigation published in the February edition of the research journal, Medical Care.

Depression risk high in middle aged worldwide

Miserable middle age is a global phenomenon, according to an analysis of depression and happiness among 2m people in 80 countries. – Using data on 2 million people, from 80 nations, researchers from the University of Warwick and Dartmouth College in the US have found an extraordinarily consistent international pattern in depression and happiness levels that leaves us most miserable in middle age.

Depression and anxiety can double heart disease risk

Anxiety and depression are associated with mechanisms that promote atherosclerosis. Most recent studies of emotional disturbances in coronary artery disease (CAD) have focused on depression only. Anxiety and depression predict greater MACE (Major adverse cardiac events) risk in patients with stable CAD (Coronary Artery Disease). – Matters of the mind can affect matters of the heart. A new study from Universit? de Montr?al and McGill University researchers has found that major anxiety and/or depression, can double a coronary artery disease patient’s chances of repeated heart ailments. This is one of the first studies to focus on patients with stable coronary artery disease ? not those who were hospitalized for events such as a heart attack.

NEJM Antidepressant’s Publication study may discourage depressed people

Mental Health America response to New England Journal of Medicine Study, “Selective Publication of Antidepressant Trials and Its Influence on Apparent Efficacy”. – Mental Health America notifies the potential harm of the NEJM’s Selective Publication of Antidepressant Trials study that it may discourage people with depression from seeking appropriate care and evidence-based treatments that work for them. Mental Health America is one of America’s leading mental health advocacy groups.

Selective reporting of antidepressant trials may have adverse consequences

Evidence-based medicine is valuable to the extent that the evidence base is complete and unbiased. Selective publication of clinical trials ? and the outcomes within those trials ? can lead to unrealistic estimates of drug effectiveness and alter the apparent risk?benefit ratio. – Selective publication in reporting results of antidepressant trials exaggerates the effectiveness of the drugs, and may have adverse consequences for researchers, study participants, health care professionals, and patients, revealed in a new study.

Exercise reduces menopausal anxiety, stress and depression

Brisk walking routine can reduce a variety of psychological symptoms such as anxiety, stress and depression in menopause women. – With more menopausal women seeking natural therapies to ease symptoms, a new study has found that simply adding a brisk walking routine can reduce a variety of psychological symptoms such as anxiety, stress and depression.

Bright light therapy eases bipolar depression

Bright light therapy can ease bipolar depression in some patients, according to a study published in the journal Bipolar Disorders. – Bright light therapy can ease bipolar depression in some patients, according to a study published in the journal Bipolar Disorders. Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine’s Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic studied nine women with bipolar disorder to examine the effects of light therapy in the morning or at midday on mood symptoms.

Depressed girls can’t smell the roses

New Tel Aviv University (TAU) research links depression to loss of the sense of smell, suggesting that the blues may have biological roots. – Can’t smell the roses? Maybe you’re depressed. Smell too much like a rose yourself? Maybe you’ve got the same problem. Scientists from Tel Aviv University recently linked depression to a biological mechanism that affects the olfactory glands. It might explain why some women, without realizing it, wear too much perfume.