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Writing in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers from the Columbia University Medical Center and the University of Pennsylvania say that less than a third of Americans suffering from depression receive treatment. Furthermore, the study found that for those who are getting treatment, “less than half of those with severe psychological distress are seen by a mental-health specialist.”
Symptoms of depression include feelings of sadness, lack of energy, loss of interest in daily activities, inability to sleep, anxiety, changes in appetite, suicidal thoughts and more. “Greater clinical focus is needed on depression severity to align depression care with each patient’s needs,” said Dr. Mark Olfson, senior author of the report, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia and also practices at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. “These patterns suggest that more needs to be done to ensure that depression care is neither too intensive nor insufficient for each patient," Olfson said. "Although screening tools provide only a rough index of depression severity, increasing their use might nevertheless help align depression care with each patient’s needs.”
New research suggests patients with disorders such as obsessive-compulsive behavior, depression, Parkinson's Disease and Tourette's syndrome might be helped by having deep brain stimulation devices implanted in the brain.
For the study, researchers used data from a national survey of 46,000 adults in 2012 and 2013. They focused on those with symptoms of depression or serious psychological distress, and noted what treatment was given, such as medication or psychotherapy. Age, gender, race, education, marital status, income and the availability of health insurance were also taken into account. Just over eight percent of those surveyed “screened positive for depression” and around eight percent reported having been treated for depression. Among those who screened positive, those most likely to receive treatment were women, whites, privately insured adults and those with a college education or more.
Among those who reported serious psychological distress, younger adults were four times more likely to receive medication or psychotherapy than older adults, and those with a college education were twice as likely to receive treatment. “With the increase in antidepressant use over the last several years, it may come as a surprise to learn that widespread challenges persist in accessing depression care,” Olfson said. “There are also challenges in connecting depressed patients to the appropriate level of care.”
Most Americans With Depression Not Being Treated Appropriately
“Use of hormonal contraception, especially among adolescents, was associated with subsequent use of antidepressants and a first diagnosis of depression, suggesting depression as a potential adverse effect of hormonal contraceptive use,” the study concluded. The study in JAMA also stated why studying the link between birth control pills and depression was important. “Millions of women worldwide use hormonal contraception. Despite the clinical evidence of an influence of hormonal contraception on some women’s mood, associations between the use of hormonal contraception and mood disturbances remain inadequately addressed,” the study summary stated.
The methodology used for the study was as follows: “All women and adolescents aged 15 to 34 years who were living in Denmark were followed up from January 1, 2000, to December 2013, if they had no prior depression diagnosis, redeemed prescription for antidepressants, other major psychiatric diagnosis, cancer, venous thrombosis, or infertility treatment. Data were collected from January 1, 1995, to December 31, 2013, and analyzed from January 1, 2015, through April 1, 2016.”
Health.com reported that the lead author of the study said more studies are needed. “Further studies are needed to examine depression as a potential side effect of birth-control use,” lead author and clinical professor Øjvind Lidegaard, said. But it’s not too early for doctors and concerned patients (or parents) to put these findings to use,” Health.com reported.
“Women who develop depression after starting on oral contraceptives should consider this use as a contributing factor,” Lidegaard said. “Doctors should include these aspects together with other risks and benefits with use of hormonal contraceptives, when they advise women to which type of contraception is the most suitable for that specific woman.” “This is especially important for teenage girls who seem to be most vulnerable to this association, and to the risk factors for depression overall,” the article said. “Doctors should ensure that women, especially young women, are not already depressed or have a history of depression,” Lidegaard said. “And they should inform women about this potential risk.”
Study: Birth Control Pills Linked to Depression; Adolescents Most Vulnerable
An analysis of a number of drug studies involving people with autoimmune diseases, including psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease, found that participants with symptoms of depression were improved after the research ended.
Inflammation is culprit
In autoimmune diseases, white blood cells become overactive, and instead of attacking bacteria and viruses, the immune system assaults various tissues in the body. Anti-inflammatory drugs quiet the immune system by disarming cytokines, a protein that is a major player in the body’s inflammatory response.
A person receives a test for diabetes at a free medical clinic in Los Angeles, California, Sept. 11, 2014. According to a new study, the drugs that can help treat autoimmune diseases like diabetes can also help treat depression.
A small amount of inflammation is necessary to activate the immune system to fight microbes. But Golam Khandaker, professor of psychiatry at the University of Cambridge in England, says too much inflammation is harmful. “Slow burning inflammation that’s burning in our body can cause a number of physical and psychiatric conditions,” he explained, pointing to a couple of examples. “In the brain, it could lead to increased risks of depression. Similarly, in the body, it could lead to increased risk of heart disease, coronary heart disease such as stroke … or Type 1 diabetes or Type 2 diabetes.” Frequently, people with autoimmune diseases, which include Type 1 diabetes, suffer from depression. It’s thought that they are depressed because of their chronic illnesses. But the new study suggests that inflammation alters brain chemistry, causing the psychiatric disorder.
Unlike anti-inflammatory drugs, antidepressants work by restoring the proper function of brain chemicals called neurotransmitters. However, a significant number of people with depression do not respond to psychiatric medicine. For the meta-analysis, published in the Nature journal Molecular Psychiatry, Khandaker and colleagues looked at the results of 20 studies of people treated with anti-cytokine — or anti-inflammatory — drugs for their arthritis, psoriasis and Crohn’s disease.
Depression eased
Writing in the journal Computers in Human Behavior, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Center for Research on Media, Technology and Health (CRMTH), say “use of multiple platforms is more strongly associated with depression and anxiety among young adults.” Specifically, researchers found that people who report using between seven and 11 social media platforms are three times more likely to develop depression and anxiety than those who use between zero and two platforms.
These findings were the same even when adjusted for the total time users spent on social media. “This association is strong enough that clinicians could consider asking their patients with depression and anxiety about multiple platform use and counseling them that this use may be related to their symptoms,” said lead author and physician Brian A. Primack. “While we can’t tell from this study whether depressed and anxious people seek out multiple platforms or whether something about using multiple platforms can lead to depression and anxiety, in either case the results are potentially valuable.”
A new study links heavy social media use with depression.
For the study, researchers sampled 1,787 American adults between 19 and 32 to determine social media use and depression. The surveys asked about 11 social media sites, including Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, LinkedIn and others. While those who used seven to 11 of these platforms reported three times more depression, Primack says more study needs to be done. Researchers are not sure why heavy use of social media drives depression and anxiety, but they do have some theories.
For one, multitasking ”is known to be related to poor cognitive and mental health outcomes,” researchers said. Also the “distinct set of unwritten rules, cultural assumptions and idiosyncrasies of each platform are increasingly difficult to navigate when the number of platforms used rises, which could lead to negative mood and emotions,” researchers said. Lastly, being on more platforms leads to a greater chance to commit a “social media faux pas,” which can cause repeated embarrassment.
Heavy Social Media Use Linked to Depression
WHO says conflict, wars and natural disasters are major risk factors for depression. WHO estimates one in five people affected by these events suffers from depression or anxiety. Given the magnitude of the problem, it says mental health and psychosocial assistance should be a part of all humanitarian assistance.
Apart from these situations, WHO reports depression is the leading cause of disability. The director of WHO’s department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Shekhar Saxena, says depression is behind a global epidemic of death by suicide.“All over the world, 800,000 people die because of suicide every year and this converts into a death every 40 seconds," said Saxena. "So, while we are dealing with the number of deaths, which are of course very unfortunate in conflicts and wars, we also need to remember that there are silent epidemics going on in the world, which are also killing a very large number of people without obvious headlines and banners.”
People make outdoor sport exercise to mark World Health Day in Kiev, Ukraine, Friday, April 7, 2017. The World Health Day is a global health awareness day celebrated every year on April 7, under the sponsorship of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Saxena tells VOA there is no significant difference in the prevalence of depression between developed and developing countries. He notes the majority of people with depression lives in low- and middle-income countries. “Depression is more common amongst the women - 5.1 percent versus 3.6 percent amongst men," said Saxena. "Other risk factors include poverty, discrimination, and all adverse life situations - either chronic or acute, especially amongst young people.”
Saxena says treatment usually involves psychotherapy, antidepressant medication or a combination of both. He says it is not necessary to have a specialist treat depression. He says the so-called talking cure administered by general doctors, nurses, or health care workers can be just as effective.
On World Health Day, WHO Focuses on Depression as Health Issue
Kallon said he turned to alcohol to cope with his grief. He was still receiving care in the Ebola treatment unit when his parents died from the virus. He didn't get to say goodbye and doesn't even know where they are buried. Sometimes Kallon goes with fellow Ebola survivors when they visit the graves of their loved ones.
'I always cry'
"I feel like dying ... I always cry when I am there," he said. "I always feel pity, because I can't find their graves." The corpses of people infected with Ebola can be very contagious. During the epidemic, burying the dead quickly and safely was so important to stopping transmission that proper records were not kept and some graves were left unmarked. From 2014 to 2016, the regional Ebola epidemic killed just over 11,000 people. Nearly all of them were in West Africa, with about 4,000 in Sierra Leone.
Dr. Stephen Sevalie, one of Sierra Leone's only psychiatrists, says mental health problems "are quite high among Ebola survivors." He's pictured at a military hospital Freetown
Those who survived the virus have faced stigma. Kallon was shunned by his community. It was only through support from the Sierra Leone Association of Ebola Survivors that he started to heal. "When I am among my colleague survivors, we explain to ourselves what we go through, and that helps us to forget about the past and face the future," he said. Many of the Ebola survivors in Sierra Leone are going through similar struggles, said Dr. Stephen Sevalie, one of the country's only psychiatrists. "Our data has not been analyzed yet, but I can tell you that mental health symptoms are quite high among Ebola survivors," he said.
Scientists are studying a host of symptoms now known collectively as post-Ebola syndrome. Symptoms include loss of eyesight, joint pain and fatigue, as well as mental health issues like depression and anxiety. Mental health, however, is a much wider problem in Sierra Leone. An estimated 240,000 people in the country suffer from depression.
Help within communities
There are various classifications for these.Anxiety disorders 'need more research'...
Anxiety disorders 'need more research', says global study
Sun, 05 Jun 2016 - Anxiety disorders need more research and women are twice as likely to be affected as men, a global review by University of Cambridge scientists finds.
Anxiety should be given more attention in mental health research because it is more common than we think, says a global review of the disorder. Scientists from the University of Cambridge said women, young people under 35 and those with health problems were particularly affected. They estimate that four out of every 100 people are affected by anxiety. But the review said more research was needed to find out which other communities were at greatest risk.
Published in the journal Brain and Behavior, the global review of 48 studies found that more than 60 million people were affected by anxiety disorders every year in the EU. North America is thought to be worst affected, with eight in 100 people having anxiety, and East Asia least affected (three in 100). Although the proportion of people suffering with this mental health problem stayed fairly constant between 1990 and 2010, the authors said it was a problem which was rarely researched, unlike depression.
'Debilitating'
Review author Olivia Remes, from the department of public health and primary care at the University of Cambridge, said anxiety disorders could make life extremely difficult. "There has been a lot of focus on depression - which is important - but anxiety is equally important and debilitating; it can lead to the development of other diseases and psychiatric disorders, increase the risk for suicide and is associated with high costs to society." She added: "It is important for our health services to understand how common they are and which groups of people are at greatest risk."
What is an anxiety disorder?
It's feelings of worry, fear and unease which persist for a long time and become overwhelming, affecting everyday life. Physical sensations such as raised blood pressure, feeling nauseous and disrupted sleeping are common At this point, it becomes a mental health problem and a diagnosis of a specific anxiety disorder can be given. Globally, women were found to be twice as likely to experience anxiety as men. Ms Remes said this could be because of hormonal fluctuations or because women are more prone to stress in general, or because of their traditional role of caring for the young. The review said people with a chronic health condition were at particular risk, "adding a double burden on their lives". For example, 32% of people with multiple sclerosis have an anxiety disorder and 15 to 23% of cancer patients are affected.
The review noted that data on anxiety was particularly lacking in some populations, such as indigenous cultures, and some communities, like drug users, sex workers and lesbian, gay and bisexual people. Pregnant women were also found to be particularly prone to obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) - a form of anxiety disorder - before and immediately after the birth of their baby. Stephen Buckley, head of information at mental health charity Mind, said anxiety was one of the most common mental health problems in the UK. "Many people wait too long before seeing their GP, discounting social anxiety as just day-to-day stress. "But it's not the same as being 'a bit shy' and it's important to seek help as soon as possible if you feel like your anxiety is interfering with your ability to do the things you normally would."
Anxiety disorders 'need more research', says global study - BBC News
Happy pills will cure anything.Can anxiety and depression be solved? It can be researched of course, but can it be solved?
Anxiety and depression exists because everyone's job duties are more than what can be accomplished. This must be so, otherwise shareholders leave money on the table.
But if you can never accomplish what you signed up for, then you get anxious and depressed.
Psychiatrists sell you that you can learn how to cope with whatever. This is bull. The solution to every anxiety and depression is to push back and reject the environment and its conditions. But pervasive governments like those of western countries will never allow that. They demand free labor, on behalf of their corporations. Mystery solved. Your anxiety and depression is now your core forever.
Now check in to a suicide clinic and help them bill for some care dollars quickly.
Once again ...hardly...the "voice" is nothling like a mental illness. it is more a spiritual knowledgePrayer is when you talk to God.Two of my friends told me they see it as talking TO God/the Universe for help and wisdom is the purpose of Prayer, and sitting still and letting God's wisdom answer is the purpose of meditation. So they saw it as a two way conversation or process. I also see it as three way, that when we share prayer and exchanges of insights and corrections, we are editing and implementing these insights into actions to direct our relations. So it multiplies from there in thought word and actions. Humans collectively influence each other by our social and spiritual interconnections on many levels, conscious and unconscious. The highs and lows we feel are like the tide of energy going in and out. As we open up and normalize the flow, we will see less extremes of droughts here and tsunamis there, but flowing water that sustains life everywhere in harmony. We pray for this peace and we receive it the more we forgive the storms and disasters in life along the way. We are all growing together, but each on our own unique paths. How much better that we support each other to walk and run instead of stumbling. We can win the race together. And celebrate victory for all."People who use a combination of prayer and meditationPeople who use a combination of prayer and meditation
tend to find their own ways for dealing with the causes of
their stress and anxiety. The way I summarize it is that
internal FEAR on an individual level comes from unresolved
or unforgiven conflicts carried from the past. When these
are projected onto "other people in relationships" this causes
STRESS by involving at least one other person and their own
fears issues and conflicts, so it compounds. Then when these
stresses are processed collectively, with larger groups of people
in society and whole institutions, this creates ANXIETY on a collective scale.
When working backwards, to identify the layers of stress and anxiety,
I recommend starting with Mother and Father relationships, then seeing
how these patterns have repeated and projected onto Family relations
and Romantic relations; then collectively work relations and perceptions
of politics, economics and external dynamics.
by meditating on the root causes and praying for forgiveness, letting go,
peace, acceptance and closure, the mind can sort through the steps
and try to take them one at a time.
The process of resolving things can have severe ups and downs of
manic phases and depressive stages, also the stages of grief and recovery.
All this is part of the spiritual process and path to learning growing and changing.
Most symptoms people exhibit are a manifestation of this process that is
unique to each person. but I do see similar patterns in the maternal relations
and paternal relations that repeat and can be projected onto future relations
until the patterns are identified and the person finds ways to manage these.
tend to find their own ways for dealing with the causes of
their stress and anxiety."
Could not agree more. Never underestimate the power of prayer and meditation.
Many answers we have at our fingertips if only we look and ask.
I also see it as dialog where prayer is asking and meditation listening. It takes a great deal of time to actually trust the process because as with a y relationship it grows and deeps with time, if I allow it.
There are times that the answer I get is silence and even more than that a "dark night of the soul" as discussed by the Trappist monk Thomas Merton. That is an especially difficult time and somewhat painful.
Schizophrenia is when God talks to you.
Voices in your head.
Same as Muhammad.
Personally I get more out of singing.Prayer does wonders. Just my opinion.
One Centrum Silver per day should cover most if not all vitamins.Check vitamin d and niacin levels - it helped me!
For some people however the issue is brain chemistry.Our culture is the causation for many "depressed" or anxious people.
We live empty lives we try to fill with stuff and more stuff. We try to convince ourselves working 10 hour jobs is worth it buy buying stuff. That new car (with a high monthly payment) a bigger house than others (with a high mortgage) and fill that house with more stuff.
Never realizing that the stuff isn't what is important, it is the important things we sacrifice to get the stuff. Namely time and effort.
When you spend most of your waking hours to pay for the stuff you have, you don't have proper time to raise your children...spend with your spouse...and just as importantly doing things you enjoy. So your children suffer, your marriage suffers and you suffer.
So.... you buy more stuff...so you need to make more money to pay for that.
It is a vicious, never ending progression that never satisfies - and NEVER compensates for what you are really missing: quality time for yourselves and your loved ones.
You would be amazed by the therapeutic value of sitting with someone you love in a dark room...maybe a few candles...and just...be.
When is the last time you did that?
