Avoiding Brain Fog with Provasil

Do you often find yourself in a state of confusion? Are you starting to forget little things - your grocery list, the title of a movie you have recently seen, or your car keys? Are you becoming increasingly fuzzy-headed, unable to think clearly? If you find yourself confused at times and lacking clarity and focus, then you must be suffering brain fog. Having a foggy brain can be frustrating - not to mention scary - which is why Cognetix Labs has come up with Provasil, a supplement that promotes mental agility.

The Foggy Brain

Brain fog is a general term that refers to mental confusion that can come in many forms: forgetfulness, inability to focus, lack of clarity and reduced mental acuity. Also known as mental fatigue, brain fog can refer to episodes of mental confusion that can range from the mild to the severe. The worst part is that brain fog strikes without warning. One moment you forget which part of the huge mall parking lot you left your car in; the next you completely fail to remember that you are not supposed to be in the mall because you have a scheduled appointment with your doctor.

While having mental lapses every now and then is normal, you should not take brain fog episodes sitting down. You must get to the root cause and address them before they start taking over your professional and personal life.

What causes brain fog?

There are many factors that contribute to having a foggy brain. Solving your brain fatigue issues starts with knowing exactly what causes it. Here are some of the most common causes:

1. Diet. To function optimally, the brain needs complex carbohydrates, proteins and healthy fats. However, most diets today emphasize low-fat diets with foodstuffs that are supposedly "healthy" but are, indeed, mostly processed and high in sugar. Processed food - full of preservatives like MSG - is the enemy of a healthy and happy brain because these additives contain neurotoxins that cause not just brain fog but also mood swings and anxiety. Brain fog can also be caused by some food allergies and intolerances, mainly from gluten, soy and dairy.

2. Sleep issues. Aside from adequate nutrition, the brain also needs enough sleep and rest to function properly. Not getting enough sleep causes low creativity, inattention and impaired judgment. People naturally lose brain cells every day, and uninterrupted sleep allows the creation of new brain cells. If you are feeling fuzzy and unable to focus, check your sleeping patterns. Your brain might not be getting the amount and quality of sleep it needs.

3. Stress. Stress put a strain on the brain, which in turn causes depression, anxiety, poor decision making, memory loss and even insomnia. High levels of stress can also lead to conditions like Alzheimer's diseases and dementia.

Avoiding Brain Fog with Provasil

Brain fog may be temporary, but it can also persist for years. The condition can be debilitating, so if you are experiencing more and more episodes of haziness, you need to see your doctor so he can rule out dementia and other brain-related illnesses.

You can avoid brain fog through exercise, enough sleep and proper nutrition. However, these alone might not be able to help clear your mind, especially if you are starting to age. Fortunately there's Provasil, a powerful blend of nutrients and herbal extracts that are proven to improve your focus, boost your memory and get your mental ability back in shape.

Who says you have to suffer? Lift that fog with the Provasil formulation and get back into the swing of things.

Is Depression a Disease or an Opportunity?

A depression diagnosis does not have to be a life sentence. Often, it is a sign that our lives are out of balance and that we’re stuck. It is a wake-up call and, potentially, the start of a journey that can help us become whole and happy, a journey that can change and transform our lives.

When a physician observes the signs and symptoms of “major depressive disorder” in someone—the difficulty sleeping and eating, the weight loss, the absence of interest in a world which once pleased her, the feelings of helplessness and hopelessness—he is likely to prescribe anti-depressant drugs. When a patient asks questions about the need for drugs, she (I use the feminine to remind us that more than twice as many women as men are diagnosed with depression) is often told, “Depression is a biochemical disorder like insulin-dependent diabetes. Diabetics need insulin because their pancreas doesn’t work properly. And you need the drugs, the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), like Paxil and Prozac, to raise your levels of serotonin.”

Boys are facing double the risk of depression, Hong Kong study shows

Chinese culture blamed, with families having higher expectations than for girls, expert says

 

Teenage boys are twice as likely to suffer from depression as girls, a survey shows.

The finding is opposite to that of similar surveys conducted in Western countries. One of the researchers says traditional Chinese culture is to blame.

Associate professor Sylvia Kwok Lai Yuk-ching, of City University, said: "Chinese families have higher expectations of boys than girls. That's why boys may experience more stress from their parents to deliver better academic performances."

As the stress accumulated, Kwok said, boys were more prone to getting depressed because men - unlike women - tend to bottle up their feelings instead of confiding in others.

The survey, commissioned by social welfare organisation St James' Settlement, was conducted between October and March and involved 1,033 secondary school pupils aged between 11 and 18 at four schools in Eastern District and Sham Shui Po, one of the city's biggest working class areas.

Researchers from the university's department of applied social studies found that overall, 32.7 per cent of the pupils had a tendency to slip into depression.

But the proportion of boys likely to be diagnosed as depressed was 14.5 per cent, compared with only 7.1 per cent for girls, they found.

Florence Lau Kam-ching, school social work service manager of St James' Settlement, said: "Whenever we see teenage boys diagnosed with depression, their level of seriousness is higher than the girls' as they've probably been harbouring negative emotions for a long time without relief."

The researchers also said pupils who came from single-parent families, whose mothers had low education, or who lived on monthly household incomes of less than HK$10,000, were more prone to emotional disorders such as anxiety and depression.

To help the children beat the blues, St James' Settlement undertook a programme at the four schools - the "Positive Life Ambassador Project". It taught pupils how to think positively and to be thankful for what they have.

Depression is the world's fourth most common illness, and the World Health Organisation believes it will become the most common by 2020.

This article first appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition on May 05, 2013 as Boys are facing double the risk of depression

The Cognitive Symptoms of Depression

The cognitive symptoms of depression tend to receive less attention than other symptoms of this difficult illness. Namely, symptoms such as sinking mood, fatigue and loss of interest garner more recognition.

Yet cognitive symptoms are quite common. "[They] are actually significantly prominent in depression," said Deborah Serani, Psy.D, a clinical psychologist and author of the book Living with Depression.

And these symptoms are incredibly debilitating. "In my opinion, when cognitive symptoms of depression hit, they are more of a pressing concern than physical symptoms."

Cognitive symptoms can interfere with all areas of a person’s life, including work, school and their relationships. Problem-solving and higher thinking, according to Serani, are greatly diminished. "This can leave a person feeling helpless and without a plan of action to defeat depression."

Poor concentration can cause problems with communication, and indecisiveness may strain relationships, according to William Marchand, M.D., a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Utah School of Medicine and author of the book Depression and Bipolar Disorder: Your Guide to Recovery.

The cognitive symptoms of depression also may get confused with other conditions, complicating diagnosis. Here’s a specific list of symptoms along with similar disorders.

Cognitive Symptoms of Depression

"Cognitive symptoms can be subtle and often go unrecognized," according to Dr. Marchand. Fortunately, psychotherapy can help individuals become more aware of these symptoms, such as distorted thinking, he said.

Marchand and Serani shared these cognitive symptoms of depression:

* Negative or distorted thinking
* Difficulty concentrating
* Distractibility
* Forgetfulness
* Reduced reaction time
* Memory loss
* Indecisiveness

Disorders That Mimic Depression

"The cognitive aspects of depression usually involve a person’s thinking being sluggish, negative or distorted in quality," Serani said. However, there are many other disorders that share these similar symptoms, because they, too, inhibit cognitive function. Unfortunately, this means that the "risk for misdiagnosis is high," she said.

For instance, Serani mentioned attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (the inattentive type), post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse.

Co-occurring disorders can add to the confusion. "In many cases there are comorbid conditions such as dementia (in elderly individuals), adult ADHD and generalized anxiety disorder, and it can be difficult to sort out which condition is causing the cognitive symptoms," Marchand said.

It’s critical to receive a proper and comprehensive evaluation to make sure that you have depression or another condition. Again, psychotherapy and medication can improve cognitive symptoms along with other symptoms of depression. Also, there are many strategies you can try on your own to reduce symptoms and feel better (which are explored in another article).

This article is from Margarita Tartakovsky - M.S. is an Associate Editor at Psych Central and blogs regularly about eating and self-image issues on her own blog, Weightless.

APA Reference

Tartakovsky, M. (2013). The Cognitive Symptoms of Depression. Psych Central. Retrieved on May 6, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/lib/2013/the-cognitive-symptoms-of-depression/

Risk of Depression Influenced by Quality of Relationships

The mantra that quality is more important than quantity is true when considering how social relationships influence depression, say U-M researchers in a new study.

After analyzing data from nearly 5,000 American adults, the researchers found that the quality of a person's relationships with a spouse, family and friends predicted the likelihood of major depression disorder in the future, regardless of how frequently their social interactions took place.

Individuals with strained and unsupportive spouses were significantly more likely to develop depression, whereas those without a spouse were at no increased risk. And those with the lowest quality relationships had more than double the risk of depression than those with the best relationships.

The study, which was published online today in PLOS ONE, assessed the quality of social relationships on depression over a 10-year period, and is one of the first to examine the issue in a large, broad population over such a long time period.

Nearly 16 percent of Americans experience major depression disorder at some point in their lives, and the condition can increase the risk for and worsen conditions like coronary artery disease, stroke and cancer.

"Our study shows that the quality of social relationships is a significant risk factor for major depression," says psychiatrist Alan Teo, M.D., M.S., a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar at U-M and the study's lead author. "This is the first time that a study has identified this link in the general population."

Digging deeper into the results, the researchers found that certain positive and negative aspects of relationships also predicted depression. Social strain and a lack of support -- especially in spousal relationships and to some extent with family members -- were both risk factors for developing depression later.

"These results tell us that health care providers need to remember that patients' relationships with their loved ones likely play a central role in their medical care," Teo says. "They also suggest that the broader use of couples therapy might be considered, both as a treatment for depression and as a preventative measure."

While the results confirmed the researchers' assumptions about relationship quality, they did not find a correlation between the frequency of social interactions and the prevalence of depression as predicted. Even if participants were socially isolated, having few interactions with family and friends, it did not predict depression risk. Teo says this finding should also translate to mental health treatment considerations.

"Asking a patient how she rates her relationship with her husband, rather than simply asking whether she has one, should be a priority," Teo says.

The researchers say that the study's significant effect size -- one in seven adults with the lowest-quality relationships will develop depression, as opposed to just one in 15 with the highest quality relationships -- indicates the potential for substantial change in the general population.

"The magnitude of these results is similar to the well-established relationship between biological risk factors and cardiovascular disease," Teo says. "What that means is that if we can teach people how to improve the quality of their relationships, we may be able to prevent or reduce the devastating effects of clinical depression."

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Michigan Health System.

Journal Reference:

Alan R. Teo, HwaJung Choi, Marcia Valenstein. Social Relationships and Depression: Ten-Year Follow-Up from a Nationally Representative Study. PLOS ONE, 30 Apr 2013 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0062396
 

Late-life depression may boost dementia risk

U. PITTSBURGH (US) — Late-life depression is associated with an increased risk for all-cause dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and, most predominantly, vascular dementia, a new study shows.

Previous research has shown a link between depression and Alzheimer’s disease, but this is the first meta-analysis that specifically addresses the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia in older adults with late-life depression.

The study is also the first to show that late-life depression increases the risk of vascular dementia and that the risk of vascular dementia is greater than the risk of Alzheimer’s disease for older adults with depression.

"All-cause dementia" refers to all dementia syndromes, the most common of which is Alzheimer’s disease, accounting for 60 to 80 percent of all dementia cases.

Alzheimer’s disease is associated with memory problems and apathy in early stages, and impaired judgment, confusion, disorientation, behavior changes, and difficulty speaking in later stages.

Vascular dementia is the second most common cause of dementia, and is associated with impaired judgment or ability to plan and complete tasks, as opposed to memory loss that is common in early stages of Alzheimer’s.

"An understanding of how late-life depression increases the risk of dementia could lead to better prediction and prevention mechanisms," says Meryl Butters, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and corresponding author of the study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

"Early diagnosis and prevention of depression could have a major dual public health impact as they could also potentially prevent or delay cognitive decline and dementia in older adults."

Late-life depression is one of the most common psychiatric illnesses in older adults, affecting 15 percent of adults aged 65 and older in the United States, or approximately 6 million people.  Depression in late-life may be a relapse of an earlier depression, or it can be triggered by chronic illness (including degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease), grief, placement in a nursing home, or hospitalization.

Late-life depression is associated with poorer general health and higher incidences of cardiovascular disease. Although the symptoms of depression vary, clinical depression is characterized by an inability to function normally or complete daily tasks, over a prolonged period of time.

The research evaluated a total of 23 community-based cohort studies as part of a meta-analysis to calculate the pooled risk of all-cause dementia, Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia in older adults with late-life depression.  The findings concluded those with late-life depression are:

* 1.85 times more likely to develop all-cause dementia

* 1.65 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease

* 2.52 times more likely to develop vascular dementia

"Fortunately, we already know that depression can be prevented and treated," Butters says. "Now that we know the risks of dementia, we need to conduct clinical trials to investigate the impact of preventing depression on risk of cognitive decline and dementia in older adults."

The research was sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health and the John A. Hartford Foundation Center of Excellence in Geriatric Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh.

Source: University of Pittsburgh
            futurity.org

Rat Study Suggests Even Mandatory Exercise Lessens Anxiety, Depression

New research using rats suggests that even when individuals are forced to exercise, they still benefit from reduced anxiety and depression.

Prior research has shown that voluntary exercise is a method to relieve stress, but experts were uncertain as to the mental benefit of exercise when exercise is mandated.

Specifically, researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder wanted to study whether a person who feels forced to exercise, eliminating the perception of control, would still reap the anxiety-fighting benefits of the exercise.

Examples of mandatory exercise include regimens placed on high school, college and professional athletes, members of the military or those who have been prescribed an exercise regimen by their doctors, said Benjamin Greenwood, Ph.D., an assistant research professor in CU-Boulder’s Department of Integrative Physiology.

"If exercise is forced, will it still produce mental health benefits?" he said. "It’s obvious that forced exercise will still produce peripheral physiological benefits. But will it produce benefits to anxiety and depression?"

To find an answer, Greenwood and colleagues designed a lab experiment using rats. During a six-week period, some rats remained sedentary, while others exercised by running on a wheel.

The rats that exercised were divided into two groups that ran a roughly equal amount of time. One group ran whenever it chose to, while the other group ran on mechanized wheels that rotated according to a predetermined schedule.

For the study, the motorized wheels turned on at speeds and for periods of time that mimicked the average pattern of exercise chosen by the rats that voluntarily exercised.

After six weeks, the rats were exposed to a laboratory stressor before testing their anxiety levels the following day. The anxiety was quantified by measuring how long the rats froze – a phenomenon similar to the proverbial deer in the headlights — when they were put in an environment they had been conditioned to fear.

The longer the freezing time, the greater the residual anxiety from being stressed the previous day, researchers said. For comparison, some rats were also tested for anxiety without being stressed the day before.

"Regardless of whether the rats chose to run or were forced to run they were protected against stress and anxiety," said Greenwood, lead author of the study appearing in the European Journal of Neuroscience.

The sedentary rats froze for longer periods of time than any of the active rats.

"The implications are that humans who perceive exercise as being forced — perhaps including those who feel like they have to exercise for health reasons — are maybe still going to get the benefits in terms of reducing anxiety and depression," he said.

Source: University of Colorado at Boulder

Mouse Study Shows Why Sleep Deprivation Temporarily Relieves Depression?

Many people have experienced relief from depression after going without a good night’s sleep — but the mood boost typically only lasts until the person falls asleep again.

Although sleep deprivation is an impractical long term treatment, researchers have been interested in the workings behind this phenomenon. Now a research team at Tufts University has pinpointed glia as the key players.

Previously, the researchers found that astrocytes — a star-shaped type of glial cell — regulate the brain chemicals involved in sleepiness.

While we’re awake, astrocytes continuously release the neurotransmitter adenosine, which builds up in the brain and causes "sleep pressure," the feeling of sleepiness and its related memory and attention deficits.

Adenosine creates this pressure by binding to receptors on the outside of neurons like a key fitting into a lock. As more adenosine builds up, more receptors are triggered, and the urge to sleep gets stronger.

In the new study, the researchers investigated whether this process is responsible for the antidepressant feelings during sleep deprivation. Mice with depressive-like symptoms were given three doses of a compound that triggers adenosine receptors — mimicking sleep deprivation.

Although the mice continued to sleep normally, after 12 hours they showed a significant improvement in mood and behavior, which lasted for 48 hours.

The findings verify that the buildup of adenosine is responsible for the antidepressant effects of a lack of sleep. These results lead to a promising target for new drug development because it suggests that mimicking sleep deprivation chemically may offer the antidepressant benefits without the unwanted side effects of actually losing sleep.

This type of treatment could give immediate relief from depression, especially compared to traditional antidepressants, which often take six to eight weeks to work.

According to Dustin Hines, lead author and a postdoctoral fellow at Tufts, this study may also have implications beyond depression and sleep regulation.

"For many years neuroscientists focused almost exclusively on neurons, whereas the role of glia was neglected," Hines said.

"We now know that glia play an important role in the control of brain function and have the potential to aid in the development of new treatments for many illnesses, including depression and sleep disorders."

Source: Psych Central News

Study Reports Depression can be Contagious

Depression afflicts thousands of people throughout the world every year. Several studies have looked into the genetic and environmental factors that contribute to depression in order to understand the condition better and develop more effective treatment options. In a recent study done by psychological scientists, Gerald Haeffel and Jennifer Hames from the University of Notre Dame, the results suggest that within the college setting, depression might actually be contagious.

The researchers looked into the effects and manifestation of depression within the closed knitted area of a college dorm. The researchers theorized that during college years, people are often still exploring their own personalities and thus, become more vulnerable to accepting other people's opinions and mindsets as their own.

This increase in vulnerability could increase the risk of developing depression, especially if the people within the surroundings exhibit depressive symptoms and mindsets. 

The researchers tested this hypothesis by gathering the data of 103 undergraduate pairs of students who were randomly placed in dorms. All of the students and their roommates were freshmen as the time. During the first month of college, the participants were asked to take an online questionnaire that measured their cognitive vulnerability and indicators of depression. Cognitive vulnerability measures a person's susceptibility to depression based on how he/she reacts to and interprets stressful life changes. The same questionnaire was administered three and six months later. During these two later points of the experiment, the participants were also measured on stressful life events that might have taken place during that time.

The researchers found that a person rooming with someone with high levels of cognitive vulnerability seemed to develop it later on in the year as well. The assessments during the two later points revealed that people tend to adapt their roommate's cognitive style, which led to higher rates of cognitive vulnerability. The researchers found that the reverse happened as well. People who shared a room with a person with low cognitive vulnerability also had lowered rates of this indicator of depression. Despite the fact that both cognitive styles seem to affect people, researchers were alarmed at how drastic the change was for people who lived with depressed roommates. They found that people who experienced an increase in cognitive vulnerability had about doubled the level of depressive symptoms than those who did not develop higher levels of cognitive vulnerability.

"Our findings suggest that it may be possible to use an individual's social environment as part of the intervention process, either as a supplement to existing cognitive interventions or possibly as a stand-alone intervention," the authors explained.  "Surrounding a person with others who exhibit an adaptive cognitive style should help to facilitate cognitive change in therapy. Our study demonstrates that cognitive vulnerability has the potential to wax and wane over time depending on the social context."

The study was published in Clinical Psychological Science, which is part of the Association for Psychological Science journal - By Cheri Cheng

http://www.counselheal.com/articles/5010/20130419/study-reports-depression-contagious.htm

Depression: What Everyone's Not Talking About

At Dartmouth, happiness seems to be the norm. Whether it's giggling sophomores in KAF chatting about their night out or seniors justifying their antics as "senior spring," everyone seems to be having a good time. In a country based on the pursuit of happiness, a state that tells us to Live Free or Die and a school where happiness is tied into our idea of the ideal Dartmouth student, there is no place for sadness, let alone depression. We stigmatize anything sad, and admire those apparently able to juggle endless commitments with ease. Personally, I think the daily activities of a "successful" Dartmouth student look a lot more like mania than normalcy, but that's a topic for another article.

"There's such an emphasis on being busy and finding satisfaction in responsibility, conversations end up being like ‘what are you doing today,' instead of ‘how do you feel about today," Ali Oberg '13 said. "People want to be productive, and they don't see conversations about emotions as productive," Oberg said.

It's not abnormal to be sad, especially in a high-pressure atmosphere like Dartmouth, explains Paul Holtzheimer, a psychiatrist and head of Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center's Mood Disorder Service. The college environment creates unrealistic expectations.

"The idea that someone can be a party animal throughout the week, still go to his 8 a.m. class and excel academically and socially is a dangerous meme," Holtzheimer said.

Karoline Walter '13 spoke about her experience balancing social and academic expectations while managing depression. "Everything is so fast-paced. It's definitely easy to and lose yourself," Walter said.

While humans have evolved to deal with acute stress, we are more vulnerable to chronic stresses, which are more common in the college environment.

"Chronic, unpredictable stress, which defines college, is the easiest way to make a student look depressed," Holtzheimer said.

Depression is one of the leading causes of disability today, yet discussion of the issue remains scarce on campus. If we don't talk about sadness, how can we figure out when sadness is normal, and when it becomes cause for concern? Depressed feelings become abnormal when they begin to affect basic functioning. If a student isn't going to class, seeing friends or enjoying activities for an extended period of time, there may be a more serious issue.

"It's not feeling blue itself that makes you depressed, it's when the things that used to pull you out of that slump stop working," Holtzheimer said.

For those struggling with chronic depression at Dartmouth, it's much more than feeling blue. Depression is one of the most common disorders addressed by on-campus counselors, Dick's House psychiatrist Da-Shih Hu said. Despite its prevalence, the stigma around depression is not limited to this campus.

"For people who haven't had depression or worked with people that do, they think that if you can get out of bed, there is nothing physically wrong with you," Holtzheimer said.

Walter agreed, saying that explaining her experience to those unfamiliar with the disorder has been difficult.

"People say, ‘what is the problem? How can we fix it?' But there's no root to my problem. It's not just something you can identify and fix."

Often, friends who want to help aren't familiar enough with depression to notice the signs. Oberg said that while she tries to be a good resource for her friends struggling with mood disorders, the complexity of the disorder makes hard to recognize.

"I barely understand [depression], and I know people that are depressed" said Oberg. "You can get it conceptually, but you haven't experienced it…" she said.

In reality, depression is just as real as any physical disorder, a deficit in mood control no less legitimate than a deficit in physical functioning. Depression still has a negative connotation and the societal notion that one can defeat depression with mere resiliency leaves depressed individuals feeling weak-willed and flawed.

The stigma has real consequences in Dartmouth students' lives. For someone struggling with chronic depression, there will be days when they can't get out of bed. There will be times when they can't go to class, when they can't complete normal, day-to-day activities. How readily do these students share the real reason behind their absences?

Sharing the reasons behind absences is something "I avoid at all costs unless I have to…the only time I talked to professors about [depression] is after I missed too much class or a test," Walter said.

It's much easier to say you have the flu than to say you don't see the point in getting out of bed to shower, let alone attend class. It's more acceptable to be ‘physically' sick, Walter said.

Would professors be responsive to the real reason behind these absences?

In Hu's experience, professors do tend to be sensitive to mental health disorders. However, they often only discover these conditions in the most serious cases. Hu and Holtzheimer agree that students should be able to be more transparent about mental illness. While class syllabi characteristically include a note urging students to reach out to student accessibility services to accommodate learning disabilities, resources about mental illness are not included. While seemingly insignificant, this additional information would let suffering students know that they have the College's support, and that their professors take their illness as seriously as a physical or learning disability.

Reducing the stigma around depression "involves the institution making reasonable accommodations, but also needs responsibility on the student side," Holtzheimer said. Including a mental illness note on syllabi would also foster student responsibility. For students with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorders, taking advantage of additional resources is crucial to succeed. Students with depression should be offered the same resources, and should have the same responsibility.

"If you have a disorder, you should have the accommodations necessary to meet your potential, but you have the responsibility to see that it is treated," Holtzheimer said.

By legitimizing depression as a disease, students may be more likely to reach out and take agency of their condition.

Walter said that while she hadn't shared her condition with many professors in the past, she would have felt more comfortable if syllabi included specific mental health accommodations.

Diagnosing depression in college students is particularly difficult because of the stressful atmosphere. But even outside of college, the condition is not clear cut. With a variety of subtypes and symptoms, depression affects each individual in a unique way. For those wondering if their blues have become blacks, Holtzheimer stressed the importance of talking to someone with expertise.

Through hiring new staff, initiating student counseling groups and assigning a counselor to each residential cluster, Dick's House has been working to increase awareness for mental health on campus. In addition to the counseling and human development department, Dick's House provides a 24-hour consultation service. However, these methods may not be effective for those who aren't comfortable seeing a counselor or feel that their symptoms are not serious enough. For these students, we need something student-based.

Dartmouth trains peer advisors for eating disorder-related issues as well as sexual abuse and drug and alcohol awareness but has no peer mentoring group for mental health. Students trained in recognizing symptoms of mental illness would be particularly helpful for those who, for whatever reason, do not want to go to Dick's House.

"There need to be mood disorder and depression peer advisors," Holtzheimer said. "Students must be trained and need a direct line to us in the field to supervise, to answer questions. Our department would be happy to help."

For Oberg, a peer advising program would help both depressed students and students who want to better support their friends.

"It would help people recognize behavioral changes and explain their feelings to their friends," said Oberg. In Oberg's perspective, a peer mentoring program would also help reduce stigma. "Once you have more institutions surrounding an issue, people's ability to understand it as a real disorder and problem is heightened."

For Walter, peer mentoring is a necessary missing link between talking with friends and making an appointment with Dick's House.

"The first people you open up to are people who are close to you, then there's guilt because you don't want to be a burden, but it's a huge step to go from talking to a friend to going to counseling," Walter said. A student advisor would be helpful for students who don't want to burden their friends, but don't feel comfortable going to counseling.

Hu agreed, noting that students may feel more comfortable sharing their feelings with a peer than with a professional.

Whether it is passing feelings of sadness or more persistent symptoms, feeling in control is a key to recovery.

"Students need to be able to say ‘"I can control myself, I can do what I need to do, get things done," Holtzheimer said.

Resources are available at Dartmouth, but won't be used until we stop making sadness a character flaw. It's okay not to be okay.

By Reese Ramponi, The Dartmouth Staff

http://thedartmouth.com/2013/04/19/mirror/depression

Depressed Teens at Higher Risk of Mental Illness as Young Adults

A study recently published in the Journal of Adolescent Health abstract finds that individuals experiencing depression during their teenage years are likelier than their high-school peers to develop long-term mental illnesses and engage in substance abuse in their twenties.

The sample involved more than 1,000 young people, ages 16 and 17, who were initially measured in 1994. Every two years, researchers conducted follow-up surveys, which concluded in 2008. At baseline, researchers said that about 7 percent of the young people originally surveyed showed signs of depression.

According to the study, conducted by researchers using data from the National Population Health Survey of Canada, the depressed teens were nearly five times more likely to report experiencing depression in follow up surveys than their colleagues, a pattern that held consistent throughout the subjects' adulthoods.

The subjects reporting depression as teenagers were also likelier to report additional distress and take antidepressants, researchers found. Furthermore, those who reported experiencing depression as teenagers were found to be almost twice as likely to abuse alcohol and were found to be three times likelier to be daily smokers in their twenties than other subjects.

"Our research shows that depressed adolescents are more likely to suffer from numerous problems," said Dr. Ian Coleman, a researcher at the University of Ottawa's Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, in an article by the Center for Advancing Health.

"These include ongoing difficulties with mental illness, alcohol abuse, poor physical health and inadequate social support networks."

Read More: http://www.youthtoday.org/view_article.cfm?article_id=5981

To Treat Depression, Researchers Invite Avatars to Discuss Their Problems

Late last year, a small group of patients diagnosed with clinical depression gathered to speak with a medical researcher and with fellow patients about their condition. Some were suffering from eating disorders or alcoholism. Others had family problems. For some of them, getting out of the house was an enormous emotional challenge. But once inside the room where the focus group was held, they began to relax, open up, and share their problems.

The breakthrough? The focus group was conducted online in a virtual meeting room with the patients selecting 3D computer-generated avatars to represent themselves.

The findings of this virtual focus group surprised the researchers. "Patients were more comfortable in revealing honestly their symptoms. We could get them to engage more constructively and converse more quickly with each other compared with face-to-face sessions," said Frank Gabbert, senior vice president and director of the qualitative practice at Lieberman, a market research firm that works closely with pharmaceutical companies. The patients who participated in the virtual sessions were quicker to convey emotion and shared significantly more personal information about their symptoms, the researchers found. The findings of the study, entitled The Patient Unveiled—Generating Insights in a Virtual World, were presented at a pharmaceutical trade conference earlier this month in Toronto.

Gabbert, who has several years of experience working with pharmaceutical companies on patient research projects, says that the ease with which the patients, as represented by their avatars, opened up holds big promise for the medical community. It can take as long as eight years of therapy for female patients of clinical depression and 12 years for male patients to reveal enough about themselves to be properly diagnosed with depression, he said. Shortening that cycle has long been a goal of medical experts and their patients.

Gabbert and his team at Lieberman were drawn to the idea of using avatars to treat clinical depression from some of the early work they heard about it with Second Life, the pioneering virtual world that has declined in popularity in recent years, but still has its devotees. For years, Second Life users wondered if the virtual world environment could help patients and their families cope with depression, dementia, and other psychological disorders.

Pharmaceutical companies, too, were wondering if avatars could improve treatment and diagnosis in this area. Steve Chasin, Lieberman’s director of global pharmaceutical practice, said the research firm was approached last year by a major drug maker to put the plan into action. "People live with depression for a long time before they get it diagnosed. They are a bit inhibited or even ashamed to speak about it," Chasin said. "This pharmaceutical company was desirous to get people into treatment sooner."

The Lieberman study involved 35 patients diagnosed with clinical depression from across New York and New Jersey. Half of the group was asked to participate in the virtual sessions; the other half participated in more traditional face-to-face sessions. Virtual group members each created their own 3D computer-generated avatar. They could dress the avatar any way they chose. Some opted for caps, others chose loose clothing. Some patients chose avatars that were thinner than they were in real life. "In the virtual environment, the participants were all pretty much the same height and size, but they didn’t have that physical imposition that you might encounter in the face-to-face environment," said Gabbert. "In such an environment you are much more likely to be revealing and willing to engage each other."

Since presenting the findings, Gabbert said the firm has been approached by other drug makers to expand the virtual focus group concept in the hopes of better honing treatment protocols and understanding more about patient-drug interaction. "We talk a lot about the treatment algorithm," he added. "Pharmaceutical companies want to know not only why do patients switch medications, but their reactions, the advantages, and disadvantages to certain treatments. And the virtual world experience can help with that."

Ref: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-04-16/to-treat-depression-researchers-invite-avatars-to-discuss-their-problems

Learn To Relax To Better Handle Depression

Depression is a condition that can affect any person, child, adult, or the elderly. Equal number of men and women are affected by depression. It can be triggered by any particular situation. It could be due to some personal problems or financial problems. Health problems have also been found to be a major reason for depression. In fact, people dealing with chronic health issues are constantly monitored for depression. The same is the case with their caregivers too. Even they are highly susceptible to depression. But there is help at hand; depression can be cured with proper therapy. 

Some of the common symptoms of depression in all age groups and sex can be broadly classified. They are fatigue, loneliness, social withdrawal, insomnia, loss of appetite of constant hunger pangs and general lack of interest in daily life. Work pressures are a common cause of depression. Children too are affected; the reason may be any kind of illness that they are going through. A large number of women have been found to suffer from postpartum depression. In the case of elderly, neglect and health issues may be the cause. The feeling of being unwanted is a major reason too.  

Help is easily available to deal with depression. Routine checks and screening by health care professionals helps detect the symptoms. Most of the cases can be treated with proper counseling and alternative therapies without resorting to anti depressants. However in chronic cases, medication is prescribed. Your physician will help you train to respond to stress. If there is a family history of depression, you may be more prone to it. With screening you will be better prepared to deal with stress that can be a cause for depression. Your doctor will educate you about depression and the symptoms that you need to look for and try to help yourself deal with it. Self help has proven to work wonders with stress.

Relaxation and depression go hand in hand. Depression is often triggered by stress. Stress is accompanied with anxiety or anger. Stress when unattended leads to sleep deprivation and the best way to beat stress is through relaxation. 

Relaxation techniques have proven to calm the mind and body thus reducing its harming effects. Many forms of relaxation techniques are available. You do not need to follow any rule-book to relax. Follow a pattern that best suits you. Yoga and meditation have found to have a soothing effect on the body and mind. Yoga emphasizes on physical exercise with proper breathing. Proper breathing is found to rejuvenate and relax the body completely and it can be practiced at your home at your chosen time. It is best done in the morning or at any convenient time and like any other physical exercise, not  after a meal. 

Any kind of physical exercise triggers higher levels of endorphin in your body that help you deal with pain and elevates your mood. So follow a regular exercise regime. The other mood elevators are good music, any form of art that you can appreciate and even good food. Take out some time for your self each day. You just need a few minutes to do something exclusively for your self to get boosted to better deal with the stresses of life.