Depression (Clinical)

[Michaelangelica]

http://depression.about.com/od/dysthymia/a/dysthymic.htm?nl=1

Basic Information About Dysthymic Disorder

Dysthymia (pronounced Dis-THIGH-me-uh) comes from the Greek roots dys, meaning "ill" or "bad", and thymia, meaning "mind" or "emotions". The terms dysthymia and dysthymic disorder refer to a mild, chronic state of depression.

 

Symptoms

 

The symptoms of dysthymia are similar to major depression, but are less severe. These symptoms include:

 

* either poor appetite or eating too much

* sleep difficulties

* fatigue

* low self-esteem

* difficuly concentrating or making decisions

* feelings of hopelessness

 

Diagnosis

 

There is no laboratory test for dysthymia. A diagnosis must be made by a mental health professional after reviewing your symptoms and medical history.

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In order to be diagnosed with dysthymic disorder, your symptoms cannot be better accounted for by drug or alcohol abuse, a medical condition, or another psychological disorder. You also must meet the criteria set forth by the DSM-IV (a manual used to classify psychological disorders). According to the DSM-IV, if you have felt symptoms of depression more often than not for at least two years then you could be diagnosed with dysthymic disorder. For children, the requirement is lowered to one year.

 

Treatment

 

Treatment for dysthymia is similar to that for major depression. Some patients will do well with psychotherapy alone, while others may require medication. St. John's Wort, which has been reported to be helpful with cases of mild to moderate depression, may also be an option.

[Michaelangelica]

[http://www.market-day.net/article_27264/20060921/Can-a-Neurotransmitter-Imbalance-Be-Causing-Your-Mood-Problems.php

QUOTE]

Can a Neurotransmitter Imbalance Be Causing Your Mood Problems??

Posted on September 21, 2006

 

by Valerie Balandra ARNP, BC

 

Neurotransmitters are powerful chemicals that regulate numerous physical and emotional processes such as cognitive and mental performance, emotional states and pain response. Virtually all functions in life are controlled by neurotransmitters.

 

Interactions between neurotransmitters, hormones, and the brain chemicals have a profound influence on overall health and well-being. When our concentration and focus is good, we feel more directed, motivated, and vibrant. Unfortunately, if neurotransmitter levels are inadequate these energizing and motivating signals are absent and we feel more stressed, sluggish, and out-of-control. Disrupted communication between the brain and the body can have serious effects to ones health both physically and mentally. Depression, anxiety and other mood disorders are thought to be directly related to imbalances with neurotransmitters.Some of the more common neurotransmitters that regulate mood are Serotonin, Dopamine, and Norepinephrine.

 

Serotonin imbalance is one of the most common contributors to mood problems

more at site

[Chacmool]

Wow, great article! It underlines yet again how important proper nutrition and excercise are for a healthy body and mind.

[Michaelangelica]

Thanks Chacmool

Some drugs can be a problem too

http://www.opednews.com/articles/genera_evelyn_p_060922_fda_needs_to_ban_acc.htm

FDA Needs To Ban Accutane (Isotretinoin)

by Evelyn Pringle

http://www.opednews.com

Unfortunately hundreds of parents already know that Accutane can cause some teenagers to commit suicide, but new evidence of a link between the acne drug and depression in the journal, Neuropsychopharmacology, will hopefully put an end to the years of claims by Hoffman-LaRoche that its drug is not responsible for the suicides.

 

Scientists from Bath University, with the University of Texas in Austin, reveal in the journal, Neuropsychopharmacology that experiments conducted on mice show that Accutane makes the rodents behave in ways recognized as depression.

and

FDA ALERT [7/2005]: Suicidal Thoughts or Actions: In addition to the strengthened risk management program, FDA continues to assess reports of suicide or suicide attempts associated with the use of isotretinoin.

All patients treated with isotretinoin should be observed closely for symptoms of depression or suicidal thoughts, such as sad mood, irritability, acting on dangerous impulses, anger, loss of pleasure or interest in social or sports activities, sleeping too much or too little, changes in weight or appetite, school or work performance going down, or trouble concentrating, or for mood disturbance, psychosis, or aggression.

Patients should stop isotretinoin and they or their caregiver should contact their healthcare professional right away if the patient has any of the previously mentioned symptoms. Discontinuation of treatment may be insufficient and further evaluation may be necessary. [Action taken 08/12/05 Labeling revision]

http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/accutane/default.htm

Accutane is used to treat a type of severe acne. About a year or so ago a young teenager (18YO) being treated with an acne drug (don't know if it was Accutane) commited suicide. The suicide was a shock to everone. The boy was popular at school and doing well in his studies. The acne treatment was implicted but I don't think any action was taken.

A heavy price to pay.

[McGyver]

Virtually all functions in life are controlled by neurotransmitters.

 

Interactions between neurotransmitters, hormones, and the brain chemicals have a profound influence on overall health and well-being.

 

Disrupted communication between the brain and the body can have serious effects to ones health both physically and mentally.

 

Depression CAN become secondary to a known or unknown physical ailment, or as the above suggests, it can actually be the cause of the illness. It is regretable that the practice of medicine in the West, more particularly in the U.S., does not do enough to explore the affect of illness on depression. This is why exercise is so important for mental health. In the event that a person is ill, the illness may preclude or limit their ability to exercise - which then allows their status to further deteriorate.

 

Practitioners too often profile patients for a quick diagnosis and remedy, and such Western practices can leave untreated physical ailments to fester and create/exacerbate emotional and mental deficits. Eventually, it becomes difficult to know just what is contributing to the underlying condition.

 

Equal consideration should be given to the body, as well as the mind.

[Michaelangelica]

 

Equal consideration should be given to the body, as well as the mind.

Yes how true

 

This is an interesting article

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/25/AR2006092501387.html

 

Plumbing the Depths Of Depression

Scientists Hope A New Tool Will Tap Into the Source Of the Blues

 

By Neely Tucker

Washington Post Staff Writer

Tuesday, September 26, 2006; Page C01

 

Ketamine, sweet ketamine, answer to our glutamatergic dreams. In the long November night of the soul, in the ever-dark downpour of depression, it turns out that there might be a better umbrella than Prozac and Zoloft and Paxil and their serotonin-loving ilk.

 

Of course, when it comes to antidepressants, nobody really knows anything, anyway, so why not go with ketamine, a mild hallucinogen known to club freaks as Special K?

 

Yes, yes, break out the male Wistar rats and the injection needles -- researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health announced a study recently in which 18 chronically depressed patients infused with low dosages of ketamine improved within two hours.

Seventy-one percent improved within a day, and nearly 30 percent were depression-free by that time. In 24 hours! These were people who had been dealing with depression from three to 47 years.

They had failed to respond to just about every drug on the market.

Most of them stayed depression-free for up to a week.

 

Chronic depression, one of the most common, debilitating diseases known to mankind, blown away like a flower petal on a passing breeze

.

[McGyver]

I find it amazing that the U.S. government would undertake a study on a drug (special K) that is widely abused on the street. But, the findings according to highly respected experts in this area, are extraordinary.

 

Also just out TODAY:

 

SEATTLE - A brain institute funded by software billionaire Paul Allen says it has completed its first project: a map of the mouse brain down to details of individual cells. Work is already beginning on a similar map of the human brain.

 

The new Allen Brain Atlas is being made available online without cost to neuroscientists studying brain circuits and chemistry, a potential boon to cancer and other disease research because of similarities between the brains of mice and human beings. The formal announcement of the mouse brain atlas' completion was made by the Allen Institute for Brain Science on Tuesday in Washington, D.C.

 

It would seem such research may catapault new understandings and treatments for neurological (and psychiatric) disoders.

 

Link to FULL TEXT on MSN news: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15014341/

 

Stephen

[Michaelangelica]

I find it amazing that the U.S. government would undertake a study on a drug (special K) that is widely abused on the street. But, the findings according to highly respected experts in this area, are extraordinary.

 

Also just out TODAY:

 

SEATTLE - A brain institute funded by software billionaire Paul Allen says it has completed its first project: a map of the mouse brain down to details of individual cells. Work is already beginning on a similar map of the human brain.

 

The new Allen Brain Atlas is being made available online without cost to neuroscientists

Special K is new to me . I don't go to dance parties!

But maybe its all good.

 

Just because you have a map does not mean you understand the terrain.

 

 

This was interesting

 

Are there any treatments for children with depression other than the currently used drugs with side effects that make their use problematic?

There is one study reported on in the “American Journal of Psychiatry” that found success in treating children with depression by using fish oil.

 

The study was done at Ben Gurion University in Israel. The lead author of the study said he would continue to study the use of the fish oil, omega-3, in treating depression in both children and adults. So this is still considered experimental, but it may be something you might want to discuss with your doctor.

http://www.readingeagle.com/re/consumer/15470177.asp

[McGyver]

Here's an alternative to the traditional methods of treating stress and depression, "drum circles." I have been in music much of my life. Some two years ago, I added a djembe drum to my musical performances. Little did I know how big audible rhythm, percussion, and drum circles would become.

 

In a little more than two years, I lowered my cholesterol to normal levels for the 1st time in 15 years, improved my IQ, confidence, and attentiveness, learned how to better manage stress. I have also undertaken research with audible rhythm, and found how it can help and neurological disorders, cognitive dysfunction, and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

 

Here's a link I found to a story on drum circles and depression: http://www.healingmusic.org/Library/Newsroom/SouthHealingCanYouDrumYourWay.asp

 

You can read some of my findings on my web site at http://www.DolleCommunications.com. I am currently rewriting/expanding my drum circles paper.

 

Stephen

[Michaelangelica]

Here's an alternative to the traditional methods of treating stress and depression, "drum circles." I have been in music much of my life. Some two years ago, I added a djembe drum to my musical performances. Little did I know how big audible rhythm, percussion, and drum circles would become.

 

In a little more than two years, I lowered my cholesterol to normal levels for the 1st time in 15 years, improved my IQ, confidence, and attentiveness, learned how to better manage stress. I have also undertaken research with audible rhythm, and found how it can help and neurological disorders, cognitive dysfunction, and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Interesting thanks

Leaning music seems to help kids I think someone did some reseach on attention defecit and listening to classical music like Mozart.

 

I know there are Music Therapists about but I don't know what they do or what types of disorders they focus on.

 

I have never heard of music being used to treat depression before but I can imagine drums getting the heart beating.

 

 

Some have asked about Bi-polar which is different to depression . This is a very good link

http://www.concernedcounseling.com/Communities/Bipolar/causes.asp

What Causes Bipolar Disorder?

HealthyPlace.com Radio

listen to HealthyPlace.com Radio Study Ties Brain Abnormality to Bipolar Disorder listen with windows media player

 

No single cause may ever be found for bipolar disorder. Instead, a combination of biologic, genetic, and environmental factors appears to trigger and perpetuate the chemical imbalances in the brain that shape this complex disorder

. . .

Certain Viruses May Cause Bipolar Disorder

HealthyPlace.com Video

 

watch to HealthyPlace.com video on bipolar disorder, manic depression Jane Pauley: a combination of antidepressants and steroids unmasked her bipolar.

 

 

 

The high rate of winter births in those who develop bipolar disorder (as well as schizophrenia) has encouraged researchers to look at infectious agents as a possible cause or trigger of these mental disorders.

 

Borna Virus. The Borna virus is among the infectious agents being intensively studied. This virus is known to cause serious central nervous system injuries in animals, but not in people. A few studies using sensitive blood testing, however, have detected strong evidence of the infection in psychiatric patients. Some researchers believe that the virus may cause subtle changes in human brain (in contrast to the more dramatic inflammation seen in animals) leading to a range of mental illnesses. It should be noted, however, that other research has not supported the association. S

[Valhalla]

I can say with certainty that I'm clinically depressed. I've been suffering with depression most of my life, accompanied by chronic anxiety. I don't get the highs as with bi-polar depression, so it's just mono-polar. I understand what has been written so far on this thread, and something about feeling too weak to move was particularly familiar to me. I feel depression is a physical illness as much as it is mental and it's important for those not suffering with depression to realise that people cannot just snap out of it. I feel confident that if I could transfer my feelings to such a person for even a short time, they would be climbing up the walls or crying under their bed. I get why people without depression cannot understand it, but they cannot really judge unless they are going through it.

 

This thread is so long and I wanted to respond to parts along the way but I'll just start here. If anyone has any questions for me then let me know, maybe I can add some insight to this discussion, maybe not. I'm currently taking an anti-depressant that seems to be helping a bit, although with side effects that are not too pleasant. I find that music helps and attempting to get out and expand. Pushing myself however unpleasant it may be means I can cope with more. If you start to stop doing things, I reckon it shrinks your world, and for depressed people it only makes things worse. Without drugs though, I'd have no choice, most days without the anti-depressant I barely feel like I can breathe, don't want to eat, and lie on my bed, my muscles aching, and am told exercise helps, yet it often is not possible. Mood can have a serious impact on someone's life, and for me it has gotten so bad that I lost weight (which now I have managed to put back on - through alot of effort.) I've been in hospital a few times, but frankly that kind of environment is not helpful in the least and it is better to make sure you never get to a point so low that hospitalisation is warranted or considered by those caring for you - you may come to find yourself having no choice in the matter.

 

I read something about depression being related to anger not expressed, and maybe this is true. I think boredom makes depression worse as well, and keeping busy is a good idea - if you feel you are able to do anything that is. Lack of interest in things you used to enjoy is also something that I find is a common symptom, hopelessness, and thinking that there is nothing to get better for.

 

For me, there isn't a choice, I have to try, the only other way out is a grim prospect. I'd be happy to discuss strategies and treatments for recovery with anyone else suffering, but you have to want to help yourself if you are to have any chance of improving, even a little. I haven't been able to recover though, and I'm not sure if it is possible for me to do so, but I'm told that belief is common in depressed people as well.

 

-Val-

[InfiniteNow]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/09/29/60minutes/main2053537.shtml

Studying the brain scans of severely-depressed patients, Dr. Helen Mayberg, the study’s lead neurologist, kept seeing that a small almond-shaped node was in over-drive.

 

"The area of the brain that was the most active was Area 25," Dr. Mayberg explains.

 

Area 25 – deep in the very center of our brains – is connected to other areas that control sleep, appetite and drive, all the things that go haywire when someone’s depressed. Mayberg’s theory is if you cool off area 25, you treat the disease.

 

This was a rather interesting story...

[Valhalla]

"I was distinctly hit with being overwhelmed with color in the operating room," Deanna recalls. Before, she says she had been seeing everything in black and white and gray.

 

 

That seems familiar. When I've tried new drugs sometimes I've noticed changes in how I percieve colour - although it is subtle. Usually things seem duller to me but a few times when I've tried a new medication that has changed. I wonder what that has to do with mood though, exactly. Does low mood cause you to literally 'see' the world different? I know some people in Winter feel worse than in the Summer months, worse on cloudy days than sunny days, so maybe light level and colour have an effect on mood?

[InfiniteNow]

I know some people in Winter feel worse than in the Summer months, worse on cloudy days than sunny days, so maybe light level and colour have an effect on mood?

It does, and has been studied in context of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).

 

 

Also, mood has an effect on perception of color. In good mood means colors are brighter and more vibrant. In poor mood, it's all gray... :)

[Chacmool]

Also, mood has an effect on perception of color. In good mood means colors are brighter and more vibrant. In poor mood, it's all gray... :)

I can attest to that. When the fourth type of pill got added to my arsenal for bipolar disorder earlier this year, I could literally see the difference. It was as if objects appeared brighter and with sharper outlines - like sunshine after a rainstorm.

[Michaelangelica]

I can attest to that. When the fourth type of pill got added to my arsenal for bipolar disorder earlier this year, I could literally see the difference. It was as if objects appeared brighter and with sharper outlines - like sunshine after a rainstorm.

it is interesting how many psychiatrists are using multiple anti-depressants.

It is a bit contentious.

 

Do you snore?

Do you stop breathing when you snore?

Does your partner have poor sleep when you sleep with him/her?

Sleep apnoea may be the culprit!

The repeated arousals in sleep apnoea disrupt the quality of sleep and thus deprive one of good quality sleep and the associated oxygen deprivation can result in slow mental functioning, poor memory, [b]depression [/b]and loss of libido, as well as daytime sleepiness.

http://www.med.monash.edu.au/medicine/alfred/research/sleep/ob-apnoea.html

[Michaelangelica]

Heavy but interesting

http://www.the-scientist.com/article/home/24909/