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I am depressed. Before taking the Depression Quiz I was a happy, secure, balanced individual. Now I learn that I appear to be suffering from moderate depressive symptoms, commonly associated with depressive disorders.Oh, how depressing.

 

I hate to think what score I would have got had I taken the test when I was feeling down.

 

Tough

Life sucks eh!?

 

Shows you how you should never believe a PSY test

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There is an appropriate joke by the late Rodney Dangerfield that goes like this; if one think they are overweight and wants to feel thin without dieting, hang around with fat people. With respect to normal depression go around people with far worse problems. This will give one get a sense of perspective, helping one get out of their funk.

 

If one is bummed out about losing their favorite DVD, hang with a country dude whose best friend just ran off with his wife and dog stealing the dude's pick-up truck in the process. One's depression won't seem so bad. This gives one persepctive so the light can shine again.

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If one is bummed out about losing their favorite DVD, hang with a country dude whose best friend just ran off with his wife and dog stealing the dude's pick-up truck in the process. One's depression won't seem so bad. This gives one persepctive so the light can shine again.

You would think that Country and Western Music would help.!!

Unfortunately Clinically Depressed people can't make that logic work for them.

Logic is de-railed and they just think in circles. Circles that spiral into oblivion

 

This was interesting for anyone who thinks they know of someone who may be clinically depressed

http://depression.about.com/od/suicideprevent/a/howhelpsuicidal.htm

Tips From Suicide Prevention Resources

1. TAKE IT SERIOUSLY

 

a. Myth: "The people who talk about it don't do it." Studies have found that more than 75% of all completed suicides did things in the few weeks or months prior to their deaths to indicate to others that they were in deep despair. Anyone expressing suicidal feelings needs immediate attention.

 

b. Myth: "Anyone who tries to kill himself has got to be crazy." Perhaps 10% of all suicidal people are psychotic or have delusional beliefs about reality. Most suicidal people suffer from the recognized mental illness of depression; but many depressed people adequately manage their daily affairs. The absence of "craziness" does not mean the absence of suicide risk.

 

c. "Those problems weren't enough to commit suicide over," is often said by people who knew a completed suicide.

 

Suicide Thoughts?Take this quick test to find answers.http://www.GodTest.com

You cannot assume that because you feel something is not worth being suicidal about, that the person you are with feels the same way. It is not how bad the problem is, but how badly it's hurting the person who has it.

2. REMEMBER: SUICIDAL BEHAVIOR IS A CRY FOR HELP

 

Myth: "If a someone is going to kill himself, nothing can stop him."

 

The fact that a person is still alive is sufficient proof that part of him wants to remain alive. The suicidal person is ambivalent - part of him wants to live and part of him wants not so much death as he wants the pain to end. It is the part that wants to live that tells another "I feel suicidal." If a suicidal person turns to you it is likely that he believes that you are more caring, more informed about coping with misfortune, and more willing to protect his confidentiality. No matter how negative the manner and content of his talk, he is doing a positive thing and has a positive view of you.

3. BE WILLING TO GIVE AND GET HELP SOONER RATHER THAN LATER

 

Suicide prevention is not a last minute activity. All textbooks on depression say it should be reached as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, suicidal people are afraid that trying to get help may bring them more pain: being told they are stupid, foolish, sinful, or manipulative; rejection; punishment; suspension from school or job; written records of their condition; or involuntary commitment.

You need to do everything you can to reduce pain, rather than increase or prolong it. Constructively involving yourself on the side of life as early as possible will reduce the risk of suicide.

4. LISTEN

 

Give the person every opportunity to unburden his troubles and ventilate his feelings. You don't need to say much and there are no magic words.

If you are concerned, your voice and manner will show it.

Give him relief from being alone with his pain; let him know you are glad he turned to you. Patience, sympathy, acceptance. Avoid arguments and advice giving.

5. ASK: "ARE YOU HAVING THOUGHTS OF SUICIDE?"

 

Myth: "Talking about it may give someone the idea."

 

People already have the idea; suicide is constantly in the news media. If you ask a despairing person this question you are doing a good thing for them: you are showing him that you care about him, that you take him seriously, and that you are willing to let him share his pain with you.

You are giving him further opportunity to discharge pent up and painful feelings.

If the person is having thoughts of suicide, find out how far along his ideation has progressed.

6. IF THE PERSON IS ACUTELY SUICIDAL, DO NOT LEAVE HIM ALONE

 

If the means are present, try to get rid of them. Detoxify the home.

7. URGE PROFESSIONAL HELP

 

Persistence and patience may be needed to seek, engage and continue with as many options as possible. In any referral situation, let the person know you care and want to maintain contact.

8. NO SECRETS

 

It is the part of the person that is afraid of more pain that says "Don't tell anyone." It is the part that wants to stay alive that tells you about it. Respond to that part of the person and persistently seek out a mature and compassionate person with whom you can review the situation. (You can get outside help and still protect the person from pain causing breaches of privacy.) Do not try to go it alone.

Get help for the person and for yourself. Distributing the anxieties and responsibilities of suicide prevention makes it easier and much more effective.

9. FROM CRISIS TO RECOVERY

 

Most people have suicidal thoughts or feelings at some point in their lives; yet less than 2% of all deaths are suicides.

Nearly all suicidal people suffer from conditions that will pass with time or with the assistance of a recovery program.

There are hundreds of modest steps we can take to improve our response to the suicidal and to make it easier for them to seek help.

Taking these modest steps can save many lives and reduce a great deal of human suffering.

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Logic is de-railed and they just think in circles. Circles that spiral into oblivion

 

This is the problem in a nutshell, if you'll forgive the pun! From the psychological point of view, depressed people are stuck in a box and need to think outside it. It's like Arkain said, you have to seek out the truth (light of understanding) and that means ditching preconceptions and hope aimed in a particular direction. The reason the depressed can't get out of their hole is that they won't let go of the logic and reasoning that got them in there in the first place. They are like cars stuck in garages, that try to get out by driving forward and when that doesn't work they just give up effort instead of turning round and backing out the way they came in: An angry person doesn't give up, they just put their foot down on the accelerator and pour in more juice but basically they are in the same predicament only they refuse to accept it and acceptance is the key to returning to sanity through the bigger picture.

 

With regards to bipolar - it is expressed anger or at least directed. By this I mean it is driven despair that won't give up it's quest and then collapses through exhaustion. When it recovers enough to function again, the cycle begins again - at least that is my spin on it. Normal people get exhausted through effort too but usually it lacks this driven quality (low self esteem).

 

We must remember that people project the face they want others to see, which is why suicides get missed as believe what we are told by those hiding the truth for their own reasons (Don't want to upset others/ do want to plan and execute their own deaths without interruption by well meaning others). Always we must remember motive on both sides of the fence for action/inaction (Those around suicides may not want to know what is going on in their lives or want to get involved either as they have their own problems to deal with).

 

Lastly, I believe it is the psychological attitude which drives or depresses the person involved and this will alter body chemistry (Think of the car analogy again - idling along the road, we are not so likely to run out of resources like petrol as someone negligent (depressed) or angry (driven).

Imbalances can be helped through drugs for this reason I believe, as they can add to what a person needs or help speed up processes, that would without help lead to autointoxication. Like Arkain says, the mind needs to free the body but outside assistance in this form can help but not cure the situation in my opinion.

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This is a cause of depression I had not heard of before

"extremely low testosterone,"

 

One for the golfers amoung you

http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/pgachampionship06/news/story?id=2548821

I especially liked

 

"Stephanie was the one who finally said, 'You've got to go to the doctor.' You know men. We don't go to the doctor on our own.

We never ask directions."

Which is unfortunately the view of many males.

 

At home, Shaun was less charming than he had been before he was famous. "I seemed to be tired all the time, and irritable," he says. "I wasn't myself. I became a new father in November of '03, and now I'm trying to be a good husband, a good father to this precious little thing, and a major champion. And I'm failing at everything."

 

Shaun, 37, and wife Stephanie grew up in the same subdivision near the Colonial Country Club in Memphis. She was 11, he 13, when they started to fall in love. "Stephanie was the one who finally said, 'You've got to go to the doctor.' You know men. We don't go to the doctor on our own. We never ask directions."

 

For three days, he awaited the results of the blood test, especially braced to hear the words clinical depression. ("All sorts of stigmas attach to that.") When the doctor said "extremely low testosterone," the sky began to clear.

An estimated 5 million American men are affected by low-T in some way. From a list of possible treatments, Shaun chose a gel that he rubs on his arms. That was in April of 2005. By September, Micheel's T-reading was in the normal range. His gentle nature returned.

 

"It doesn't make every drive go down the middle," he says, "but it makes me able to enjoy practicing again, to enjoy my family again.

I'm not shooting for elevated counts, either. Just normal ones."

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With regards to bipolar - it is expressed anger or at least directed. By this I mean it is driven despair that won't give up it's quest and then collapses through exhaustion. When it recovers enough to function again, the cycle begins again - at least that is my spin on it. Normal people get exhausted through effort too but usually it lacks this driven quality (low self esteem).

 

.

This is a Freudian view of depression :- "anger turned inward"

While it might apply in some cases of depression I doubt if it does in bi-polar.

There seems to be an obvious chemical problem here. Bi-polar is different to straight depression, I think, (But I don't know) Often, for example, a few cents worth of Lithium a day will cure bi-polar.

 

If you read through this thread you will see that there are very many,many causes of depression. Some quite unexpected (EG my last post).

This is why a good, thorough medical checkup is important.

Something a bit rare to find in 5 minute doctor's visits but essential nevertheless.

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Drug treatment of bi-polar some recent treatments

http://www.psychiatrist.com/briefreports/

There has been an impressive increase in our fund of high-quality evidence pertinent to bipolar depression.

There are now 4 treatments that have been found better than placebo in adequately powered double-blind placebo-controlled studies: lamotrigine, quetiapine, olanzapine, and the combination of olanzapine and fluoxetine.

 

In contrast, there remains little compelling evidence supporting the use of standard antidepressant medications.

. . .

This progress is welcome and exciting.

Given the prevalence and disability associated with bipolar depression, a steady stream of new data is needed to further clarify the role of these medications and the older standard antidepressants.

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Hormonal imbalances, totesterone, progesterone, estrogen? certainly seem to be involved with depression .

This article is form a Fasion Magazine!

http://toronto.fashion-monitor.com/news.php/health/2006082002Depression

Depression in Pregnant Women Not Treated Enough

The majority of pregnant women who have full-blown major depression aren’t getting any treatment for the condition, and neither are most pregnant women who have signs of milder depression or depression risk, a new study finds.

 

The majority of pregnant women who have full-blown major depression aren’t getting any treatment for the condition, and neither are most pregnant women who have signs of milder depression or depression risk, a new University of Michigan Depression Center study finds.

 

Even those pregnant women who are receiving some form of treatment may not be getting enough, the researchers conclude in the current issue if General Hospital Psychiatry.

 

Without adequate treatment — medication, talk therapy, or both together — prenatal and post-partum depression can seriously impact both women and their babies.

 

The findings come from a study of 1,837 pregnant women who were surveyed in the waiting rooms of five Michigan obstetrics clinics, using a standard questionnaire that detects signs of depression.

 

In all, 17 percent of the 276 women were found to be experiencing a serious depression. Another 23 percent had a history of major depression, which can come and go throughout life and needs regular monitoring and treatment. Of those who were experiencing major depression at the time of the study, only 33 percent were receiving any treatment for it. And of the 276 women with high depression risk, only 20 percent were receiving treatment, despite the fact that many had a history of depression.

 

When the researchers analyzed data on the at-risk and depressed women who were receiving treatment, they found that only 43 percent of those taking anti-depressant medications (alone or in combination with talk therapy) had been taking them at the recommended dose for at least six weeks. Such medications often must be taken for six to eight weeks before depression symptoms ease.

 

Heather Flynn, Ph.D., the U-M psychologist who led the study, calls the result very troubling. “These are women who meet the formal clinical criteria for the most severe form of depression. No one would argue that these women would benefit from some form of intervention, but only 33 percent of them were,” she says.

etc more at site,
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Lots of medical abstracts here about the Borna virus and mental health problems (Bi-polar, depession, schizophrenia)

http://www.psycom.net/borna.html

EG

Borna disease virus (BDV), a unique genetically highly conserved RNA virus

(Bornaviridae; Mononegavirales), preferentially targets neurons of limbic

structures causing behavioral abnormalities in animals. Markers and virus in

patients with affective disorders and schizophrenia have raised worldwide

interest.

 

. . .snip. . .

 

revealed that BDV-CICs indicate 10

times higher infection rates (up to 30% in controls, up to 100% in patients) than did previous serology. Persistence of high amounts of CICs and plasma antigens correlates with severity of depression. Even BDV RNA could be detected in plasma samples with strong antigenemia.. . .snip. . .

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Many disorders have a silver lining if they are viewed in a positive way.

 

It's clear that one of the main problems with Depression and/or Clinical Depression is it's clearly misunderstood and has the idea that those with the problem are " Mad " and belong in a Psychiatric Institute. This causes a big problem in society as those with the problem could ' bottle up ' and not face that idea that society proposes. A Campaign should be launched for people worldwide to understand that Depression is the same as Psoraisis, the same as a Leg Cramp, the same as Conjuntivitis, all these things have one common denominator in that they are all Medical Conditions that need time to heal fully and for the all the symptoms to be eliminated.

 

Another problem faced by those suffering from Clinical Depression/ Depression is the diagnosis of several problems which include Depression. For example, like the above posts of the guy who took Anti-Acne pills. If a patient goes to the Doctor with Acne problems and too has Depression but doesn;t open up to it, the medication could make the problem worse. Therefore how do Doctors realise that he has depression. Well, one of the possible things that all Doctors should be trained to do is to ask the patient if he/she has depression of any kind, and it has been proven for some medication that it does cause depression, therefore the treatment could be changed while treating the Depression and Acne. This also solves the problem that because the Depressed Patient might not open-up to depression, if he/she was asked it would enlighten them to open up and share there problems and make them understand that the Doctor is there to help.

 

I would also like information from those who would know of a mental state where you seem to dislike most things around you and show negativity to their own family. This type of person always seems to claim to hate everything, from the sound of swallowing food to a person drinking tea, to the hate of smelling coffee and smoke and always trying to disagree with everyone and make themselves appear more intelligent than those around them. Just an angry person impossible to deal with. Would this be symptoms of depression in any way, I'm not sure as to this case?

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Just a little extra info regarding the medications listed in michaelangelica's post:

lamotrigine (Lamictal) is the ONLY drug besides lithium approved by the FDA as a true mood stabilizer. It is not without serious possible side effects (steven johnson syndrome), however I find personally it is an easier drug to use, (generally) taken once a day, no weight gain, and no "fog".

 

quetiapine (Seroquel) and olanzapine (Zyprexa) are anti-psychotics used to treat hallucinatory issues that can occur in a diagnosis of Bipolar 1. These drugs have a high level of sleepiness and apathy associated with them, therefore should only be used with those with schizo-typical tendencies.

 

fluoxetine (Prozac) is an anti-depressant that should almost never be used in patients with a true bipolar disorder. Anti-depressants are linked with precipitating manias in otherwise stable patients. However since most patients seek help during depressive phases of their illness, they are often misdiagnosed with clinical depression and given anti-depressants.

 

This is my experience with these drugs. There is much information in the forum http://www.crazymeds.org and I recommend this site as it has accurate scientific advice, with a "if you don't laugh about it, you'll cry" attitude.:shrug:

 

Shannon

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I would also like information from those who would know of a mental state where you seem to dislike most things around you and show negativity to their own family.

This type of person always seems to claim to hate everything, from the sound of swallowing food to a person drinking tea, to the hate of smelling coffee and smoke and always trying to disagree with everyone and make themselves appear more intelligent than those around them. Just an angry person impossible to deal with.

Would this be symptoms of depression in any way, I'm not sure as to this case?

The person certainly has a problem.

 

Usually there would be other symtoms like sleeplesness, hard to wake up in AM, acute anxiety, suicicidal ideation, etc., for depression

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I would also like information from those who would know of a mental state where you seem to dislike most things around you and show negativity to their own family. This type of person always seems to claim to hate everything, from the sound of swallowing food to a person drinking tea, to the hate of smelling coffee and smoke and always trying to disagree with everyone and make themselves appear more intelligent than those around them. Just an angry person impossible to deal with. Would this be symptoms of depression in any way, I'm not sure as to this case?

It is very hard to tell without more information and a context. Perhaps the person has hormonal problems, or is simply very sensitive. A healthy diet could also change behaviour for the better. The best is, of course, to speak to the person himself/herself to get to the root of the problem, and consult a professional if necessary.

 

Perhaps also have a look at personality disorders. Best of luck to all concerned!

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Does "migraine" have any link with clinical depression ?

It appears so:

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/09/000921073320.htm

 

Forty-seven percent of the migraine sufferers experienced depression, compared to only 17 percent of people without migraine. However, research shows that while migraine and depression are linked, they have independent causes and both cause a reduced quality of life.
Migraine patients consistently rated their quality of life lower in the mental and social aspects, but higher in the physical aspects.

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Does "migraine" have any link with clinical depression ?

I was about to say the same thing

http://www.health24.com/child/Headaches/833-3450,22919.asp

The study found that, over a period of two years, migraine sufferers were five times more likely than normal people to develop major depression. And visa versa � participants suffering from depression at the start of the study had over a three-fold higher chance of developing migraines.

 

It is interesting that the herb Feverfew taken daily can prevent migraine. A study at Guy's hospital in London (Migraine Clinic) found that over a two year period people who ate 2-3 leaves of Feverfew a day 90% of them reduced or eliminated their headaches.

When the hospital asked the Feverfew Takers to stop eating feverfew to see if their headaces returned (like good scientists should) they refused. The patients felt that the feverfew was keeping them free of migrain and they were not about to bring the migraines back by stopping the feverfew.

Feverfew is probably a mild gut anti-inflamatory, though no-one has done the work to see why it works for migraine (and hopefully for depression too?)

This then implies their is a gut connection with both migraine and depression. Perhaps gut flora?

EFT Master Practitioner and Gary Craig approved EFT training course

And indeed clinical signs of gut dysbiosis (abnormal gut flora) are present in ... were also found in patients with depression and rheumatoid arthritis. ...

http://www.e-f-t.co.uk/gutfloraandpsychology.html

or

celiac disease

- this comment was interesting

http://www.docnotes.net/cat_medicine.php

Migraines & Celiac

 

Medscape: Migraine Linked to Celiac Disease

 

About 4% of migraine sufferers may have celiac disease and symptom control may be improved with a gluten-free diet, according to the results of a study published in the March issue of the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

 

Celiac disease is certainly the disease of 2003. I think I've diagnosed 5 patients this year already!

Though I think that over time we'll learn that there are varying levels of wheat and/or gluten sensitivity ...

I would certainly agree with that last comment.

Wheat has such a complex gene structure now that we have hybidised it so much-we may have made it inedible!

Celiac disease is more common among people with Irish or some with some types of Jewish ancestry.

From my Irish ancestory, I suspect alcohol is the drug of choice for depression!

http://depression.about.com/cs/diet/a/foodallergies_2.htm

it should not be surprising if the intestinal permeability, and digestive enzyme deficiencies found in celiac disease were also found in many folks suffering

 

This is underscored by the reports that depression is a very common symptom of celiac disease (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26). More on this point can be found at: http://www.gluten-free.org/reichelt.html

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