What Are the Causes of Depression?
Major depression is a mood disorder that is often tough to defeat, and the prevalence of depression definitely seems to be increasing. According to Health magazine, roughly one out of every eight Americans has taken Prozac, a popular antidepressant. So what triggers major depression, and why are a growing number of people wrestling with this condition, which is frequently called the common cold of psychology?
The Various Causes of Major Depression
Major depression is a condition of severe psychological distress, so it’s no surprise that it is often caused by grief. The loss of a spouse, or some other substantial loss, in many cases can lead to clinical depression in some people. This includes losing anything that is valuable to an individual, such as a career they really enjoyed, as well as death, divorce, or maybe even the ending of a close friendship.
Another root cause of clinical depression is lack of purpose. In some cases an individual’s everyday life is just so tedious or difficult that life seems to lose its excitement. There is no longer any joy left in anything, and the individual simply quits making any effort to improve their situation. People like this have lost hope that things will ever get better.
Stressful events may also set off major depression. This may involve recent traumatic events in addition to incidents that happened in the past, such as childhood sexual or physical abuse. Clinical depression can also be a manifestation of post-traumatic stress disorder, which is also brought on by a traumatic situation, but is much more severe than major depression.
Being angry is something else that can lead to major depression. Any time you are angry with someone you know, you injure yourself emotionally by keeping that resentment inside of you. It is best to talk it over, whether with the individual you are angry at or a trusted friend, and let it go. Keeping a grudge can slow down your thought processes and cause clinical depression.
Knowing what triggers major depression can help you see whether there is some circumstance in your own life you need to improve in order to recover. The vast majority of individuals can get some level of relief from their depressive symptoms from taking antidepressants, but if you’re not able to do something about the underlying issues that are causing your depression, it’s likely that you’ll backslide when you discontinue taking the antidepressants.
Vanessa T. Sewell is a collaborator at www.InsomniaSideEffects.com website. She is an authority in sleeping disorders, depression symptoms and anxiety disorders. More info on how to sleep better naturally and the NightWave sleep assistant review.
Could Using Omega 3 SupplementsTreatments Help Treat Postpartum Depression?
Postpartum depression, and for that matter depression during pregnancy, is relatively common. It’s difficult to get reliable statistics for postpartum depression as it is often not reported.
Estimates are however that somewhere up to 25% of women have suffered some form of major depressive symptoms during or after pregnancy.
Treatments for postpartum depression often include antidepressant drugs, and these can have nasty side-effects, possibly even on the fetus when taken during pregnancy.
Studies have suggested that a deficiency of DHA, one of the most important of the Omega 3 essential fatty acids, may well lead to the onset of major depressive disorders during pregnancy and after pregnancy.
Studies have also suggested that taking Omega 3 supplements during and after pregnancy may well have an ameliorating effect on postpartum depression.
There is also emerging and significant evidence that taking Omega 3 supplements, or increasing the Omega 3 intake in other ways, for example by eating Omega 3 rich fish, may well help reduce the symptoms of depression generally.
Could Omega 3 supplementation therefore become one of the important elements in treatments for postpartum depression?
A new study begun in June 2011 is to examine this very question, namely the role of Omega 3 essential fatty acids in depression during pregnancy and postpartum depression, or what is sometimes called postnatal depression.
This study is to examine the role of both DHA and EPA, the 2 most important of the essential fatty acids known as the Omega 3 fats, on depression during and after pregnancy. 126 women from Michigan, up to 20 weeks pregnant, shall take part in the study. Some shall take supplements high in DHA, some shall take supplements high in EPA, and some will take a placebo.
And all of these women shall be assessed for symptoms of depression 6 weeks after delivery.
If this study confirms the results of other studies, namely that treatment for postpartum depression should include Omega 3 supplementation, then this is good news. There are very little if any side-effects of Omega 3 supplementation, and if the Omega 3 fats help reduce symptoms of postpartum depression then it is very easy and safe to supplement effectively.
Not only that but there are other powerful health reasons, both for the mother and baby, to take Omega 3 supplements or to ensure an adequate intake of the Omega 3 essential fatty acids through pregnancy and thereafter, and right through life.
Want to find out more about Omega 3 supplements? Or do you want to learn more about the role of Omega 3 in preventing depression? Visit Peter’s Website Healthy Omega 3 Fish Oil.
Are You Feeling Depressed? If So Try More Omega3 Fats In Your Diet
The efficacy of Omega-3 fatty acids for treating depression has been the subject of many clinical studies ever since a connection between the two has been observed. In the article Major Depression and Omega 3 Fatty Acids, Dr. Scott Olson wrote, “There is strong evidence from epidemiological (population) studies that cultures which eat large amounts of fish containing these oils have a low incidence of depression.”
Another article, Treating Depression With Omega-3: Encouraging Results from Largest Clinical Study, reports, “Epidemiological and neurobiological studies have suggested that a relative deficit in polyunsaturated fatty acids of the Omega-3 group may predispose individuals to psychological disorders such as depression.” Naturally, results from such studies do not just strongly imply a link between Omega-3 and depression, but they do suggest that dietary intake of fish oil for depression may be a viable treatment plan.
To say that depression is a very important health concern is an understatement. Co-morbidity incidence reports on depression and other psychological or physiological problems (such as alcoholism, anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, chronic pain, cardiovascular disease, drug abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicidal tendencies) cannot just be dismissed offhandedly. Bottomline, if statistical reports are suggestive of anything, it is that depression may be a risk factor to more serious problems.
It is for this reason that the “Omega-3 for Depression” hype is as strong as ever. Clinical trials continue to study not just the premise that low levels of Omega-3 fatty acids may contribute to depression, but also to test whether increasing these levels through dietary intake and/or supplementation might have a positive effect. At the other end of this bandwagon are the entrepreneurs who stake their money on the efficacy of using fish oil supplements for depression. If present trends are an indication, it is a good bet this is not going to end anytime soon.
Now, what do the experts have to say on the matter? The excerpt below from may help provide a bird’s-eye-view of what the medico-scientific community has probably been thinking:
According to the University of Maryland Medical Center:
Studies have found mixed results as to whether taking Omega-3 fatty acids can help depression symptoms. Several studies have found that people who took Omega 3 fatty acids in addition to prescription antidepressants had a greater improvement in symptoms than those who took antidepressants alone. However, other studies have found no benefit.
Studies are also mixed on whether Omega-3 fatty acids alone have any effect on depression.
The prevailing thought is clear enough: Clinical trials have yet to yield absolutely conclusive evidence on the efficacy of fish oil supplementation for treating depression, however results from these same tests do suggest that it may well be a viable option. In the end, it seems sufficiently clear that there is indeed a link between Omega-3 and depression, and this should be enough to warrant further studies.
Visit Peter’s Website about Omega 3 fatty acids to learn more about Omega3 and depression and also about the health benefits of Omega 3 fats generally.
Natural Remedies for Anxiety – Tips to Solve Your Panic Attack
How do you stop being so nervous all the time? Why does one feel so depressed when they feel this? How can it grow into a major panic attack? Believe it or not, you do not need everyone else to know about your problem. You can work on this through various natural remedies for anxiety.
Anxiety is defined by most dictionaries as “A vague unpleasant emotion that is experienced in anticipation of some (usually ill-defined) misfortune”. This is a very normal reaction to certain kinds of stresses.
However, when this worsens and becomes full-fledged panic without any reason at all, you might have a great deal of problem on your hands. This can get pretty depressing too, another psychological trouble you do not want to have.
If you do not want burdened by any of these, you should nip that anxiety in the bud. Psychological experts or the traditional school may not agree but there are natural remedies for anxiety.
Some experts have found ways on how you can deal with this problem on your own.
One of the natural remedies for anxiety is to own a journal. You can write five things that you like about yourself and then write one that you are not happy with. This way, according to the professionals, you will be able to refocus your perspectives on the good things.
Beauty experts, fashion pros and trainers will agree that if you look good, you will feel good as well. They recommend then that you should do everything to change the way you look now.
They recommend that you go out and shop for new clothes and get a new hair style. If your problem is your weight, work out to whittle it down and get in shape. These may be the solution to your problem.
There are also self-help books or guides which can help you prevent and deal with those anxiety problems.
One of the books in the market today tells you to learn to break the loop of anxiety. The most frightening issue about panic attacks is that most patients who have this fear the idea of having it in the most inopportune times. Sadly, the anxiety that you feel may even generate another bout of uncontrollable panic.
All of these methods are directed at boosting your confidence so that you can manage your problems really well. If you have a good awareness and opinion of yourself, you would not have insecurities and anxieties either.
Have you been prescribed to medication for anxiety that only treat your conditions? Learn how to remove your panic attack with my simple tips on natural remedies for anxiety. Visit http://www.naturalremediesforanxietytips.com
From McHenry, Huntley, Cary, and Algonquin, IL-Understanding your Feelings of Anxiety and Depression
Anxiety typically consists of emotions, which are laden with worry, trepidation and hypervigilance. Symptoms include tenseness, ruminating over certain thoughts, heart palpitations, stomach fluttering etc. and nervousness most often localized to the chest.
Anxiety is multifaceted and consists of both somatic issues (body) and cognitive (thinking processes)ones. Anxiety is regarded as a mechanism of fight or flight and was originally engineered in us to protect us from harm.
Since anxiety prepares one to fight danger, typical physical symptoms required to do that appear i.e. the heart may start to palpitate and beat faster and blood pressure often rises. Since anxiety is preparing us to fight a menace of sorts, our nervous system starts generating a surge of blood going out to the muscles enabling our body to escape or fight as may be necessary.
There is also decreased functioning in your digestive system because blood is diverted from your abdominal area to your musculoskeletal area. Again, anxiety has been engineered into us as a survival mechanism, intended to enhance the odds of our survival.
People suffering from abnormal anxiety usually have a built-in neurological predisposition to worry or fear that something catastrophically harmful or dangerous might happen based on some triggering situation. Anxiety is heavily driven in the brain by two structures: The hippocampus and the amygdala.
These structures trigger when the body feels in need of safety because of an irrational perception of a lurking threat or due to the irrational anticipation that something hurtful or dangerous might happen imminently.
As mentioned previously, anxiety is a defense mechanism which is hard-wired into us with the purpose of protecting us from the plethora of real or imagined dangers in our environment. However, because of genetic errors or unfortunate types of genetic or trait pooling throughout the generations, some of us develop abnormal forms of anxiety when it is triggered even though there is no realistic danger with which to contend.
So, instead of protecting us from trouble, it actually causes it and for no rational reason. This is referred to as an anxiety disorder.
Occasionally, anxiety exists simultaneously with depression or bipolar disorder. Anxiety dysfunctions are divided into several types, including, specific phobias, generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder.
A phobia is a targeted fear of a particular thing, person or situation, such as a fear of snakes or public speaking. Phobic fears by their nature are irrational because the perceived or anticipated harm that is imagined as a consequence of engaging in the feared behavior is irrational and not likely to happen.
These conditions are fueled by extensive, catastrophic and irrational imagination that has gone terribly awry because the fears are catastrophic and not valid. Because of this catastrophic way of imagining consequences, some individuals may experience compelling frightening panic attacks and may have problems breathing, feeling dizzy and fearing they’re going crazy.
Generalized anxiety disorders are much more common in the population and refer to a free floating anxiety, tension or foreboding which seems to taint most things in a person’s daily life; there is no specific stimulus. On the other hand, obsessive compulsive disorder is a very bizarre type of anxiety that gives sufferers the idea that something is just wrong with their mind.
In this condition,individuals have obsessive thoughts that point to some dangerous consequence if a certain behavior, like checking the lock on the car is not done repetitively and compulsively. The imagined consequence, again is irrational but sufferers need to compulsively repeat the ‘ritual’ to relieve their anxiety of the feared consequence.
Washing their hands repetitively for no rational reason is another ritual that some patients feel compelled to do. Psychotherapy, counseling and some psychiatric medications can be helpful in reducing the intensity and frequency of the obsessions that lead to the compulsions.
Dr Shery is in Cary, IL, near Algonquin, Crystal Lake, Marengo and Lake-in-the-Hills. He’s an expert psychologist, provides day and evening appts and accepts all insurance.
He earned his doctorate in counseling psychology at The University of Southern Calif. and is a member of the American Counseling Association.
Call 1 847 275 8236 (24 Hrs) and make an appt orlearn more about counseling at: http://www.carypsychology.com