Wednesday, August 18, 2010

What diet you should opt during depression?

Depression is a medical condition which stops a human being from leading a normal life. It affects the physical and mental health of a person. One of the important depression symptoms is weight loss and sleeplessness. So the diet during depression is a major concern which can improve the physical condition of the depressed person to some extent. It is rightly said that food and mood are related with each other. For a depressed man, proper diet plays a vital role in reducing the level of his depression.

Food to avoid: The depressed man should avoid sugar, sucrose, coffee, caffeine, milk or milk products, excess intake of junk food, processed food, cigarette, alcohol, meat, fish, and eggs

Food to eat: One of the major causes of depression is poor nutrition or mal-nutrition. So a healthy diet is very much necessary for the depressed person. He/she should take a diet that is rich in vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, beta-carotene and proteins. Studies have revealed that during depression free radicals of the brain are damaged. So a depressed person should take food which is high in antioxidants as antioxidants reduce the destructive power of free radicals.

Vegetables and fruits, rich in carbohydrates are good for every human being. This is the same for the depressed persons. Minimum amount of Cholesterol and fat should be taken which depends on the physical condition and the behavior of the person.

Food which is rich in omega-3 fatty acids is very healthy for depressed persons. Chia, walnuts, fish oils are prescribed for this purpose.

Brown rice, wheat germ, potato, broccoli, peppers, whole grain oats, cabbage, blueberries, strawberries, margarine, tomatoes etc. should be taken regularly. All these are rich in vitamins which fight and reduce the effects of free radicals.

Soya beans and soy products, seeds, cereals, yogurt, peas, which are enriched in protein are very good diet. Protein food should be taken again and again which will help the depressed man to boost up his/ her energy level and thus refresh himself/ herself.

As depression is a medical condition, it can affect any individual- a child, a teenager, a youth or an adult. Doctors prescribe medical treatment and dietary changes that would improve the mental outlook of the depressed person. For example, antidepressants are prescribed for teen depression. But more than medicines, the depressed person needs love and care from the near and dear ones.

Treatment of depression in men

Depression is a serious disease which can be experienced by both men and women. Although women are more likely to suffer from depression, the number of men falling prey to this disease is also increasing. For example, a recent study has revealed that every year almost 6 million men in the United States of America are affected by depression or depressive disorder.

One of the main causes of depression in men is their concern about their position in the family and the society. In the modern age women have become more conscious about their self-esteem. The stepping of women outside their home is something which cannot be accepted by many men. So this is an important factor in male depression.

A depressed man can be a manager, a corporate executive, an engineer, a professor, a teenager etc. Depression can affect a man irrespective of his age and profession. Some of the prominent depression symptoms in men are:

Men feel inferior to the women regarding their social status and financial capabilities.
Men will face sleeping disorders like sleeplessness.
They will face some serious problems or illness like frustration, marital discords, sadness, anger, failures and agitation. In such circumstances, they will easily get affected. This will gradually lead him to the more serious illness called depression.
Many a time, a depressed man is aware of his disease but is not willing to visit the doctor. But this is not at all acceptable. Every depressed man should go for a medical checkup. Because depression is a mental condition and its recovery lies in medical treatment. First of all the man should change his lifestyle and his way of thinking. While in depression, men tend to look at things in a pessimistic way. So he should be given enough importance and made to think positively.

Some of the common depression treatment or treatments of depression in men are as follows:

One of the basic and essential treatments for depression is counseling. Visiting a counselor or a psychiatrist will definitely prove beneficial.
Antidepressants, a medicinal drug is very effective.
A healthy diet rich in vitamins, carbohydrates, minerals, beta-carotene is essential for a depressed man.
He should learn some skills like stress management skills, relationship skills etc.
He should avoid drinking and smoking.
He should always be guided and supported by his family members and close friends.

Visit http://www.thecorrect.com/questions-about-depression.html for Treatment of depression in men

How Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder affects a person?

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is the common childhood disorder. It continues through adolescence and adulthood. Depression symptoms are difficulty in controlling behavior, hyperactivity and staying focused on given activity or paying attention. Impulsivity, inattention and hyperactivity are the behaviors related to attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
It is normal for children to be hyperactive, impulsive and inattentive but for children with attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, these behaviors are severe and occur often.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is diagnosed as a psychiatric disorder in children affecting nearly about 3% to 5% children worldwide and diagnosed in 2 to 16 aged children. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder can affect some certain areas of brain, which allows planning ahead; understanding other’s actions, impulse control and problem solving. ADHD affects 5% to 15% of school aged children occurring frequently in boys as compared to girls. Depression persists into adulthood in several cases. Incapability to integrate in social academic settings is a pattern, which is seen in people with the history of ADHD. A person with ADHD in childhood can have academic problems because the condition affects the ability of a person to concentrate as well as focus on tasks, because they are not able to organize their work and their studies. Children with ADHD also try to distract other children.

People with ADHD are particularly sensitive to sensory stimuli like touch, visual cues and noise. They can be over stimulated with ease leading to changes in behavior, which includes aggressiveness. Several people think that ADHD and ADD are two different conditions. However; they are in fact two names for the similar condition. During pregnancy or after birth, some factors can damage the brain as well as alter its function. After birth the development of some infectious diseases, which affect brain tissue and the way brain sends signals contributes to the symptoms connected with ADHD.

Should one take antidepressants in depression?

Antidepressants are medicines used to help people come out of depression. Antidepressant drugs are not contented pills. They are not a panacea. They are prescription drugs, which come with advantages and risks. It must be taken only under supervision of a doctor. But, they are other depression treatment options available. Taking medications for depression is not a sign of weakness.

Many antidepressants work by slowing removal of some chemicals from brain. These chemicals are known as Neurotransmitters, norepinephrine and serotonin. Neurotransmitters are required for normal brain function and are involved in the mood control and other functions and responses like sleep, pain, thinking and eating.

Antidepressants help people with depression by making natural chemicals making available to brain. By restoring chemical balance of brain, antidepressants help to relieve the depression symptoms. Antidepressants drugs specially help to reduce extreme hopelessness, lack of interest in life and sadness, which are typical in people with depression. These drugs also used for the treatment of other conditions like premenstrual syndrome, eating disorders and chronic pain. Usually, antidepressants are taken for four to six months. It few cases, patients and their doctors decide that antidepressants are needed for a long time. If you have severe depression, which is interfering with your capability to function, medication is best for you.

For adults with depression, there is strong evidence that antidepressants are effective enough as compared to other treatment options. When depression is moderate, psychotherapy is sufficient. In this case, even short-term antidepressant drug treatment also helps people in getting to the point where they are able to engage in therapy and exercise. Antidepressants also used to for obsessive compulsive disorders, chronic pain, eating disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and severe anxiety. Learning the facts about antidepressants as well as weighing the advantages against the risks helps you make an informed and personal decision about whether medication is right for you or not.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Depression in Women!!

Depression is a serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, think and act about any particular thing at a given time period.
The victims of this illness seem to loose interests in activities that were once enjoyable to them and vice versa.

People of all ages can get affected from clinical depression and the figure speaks for it. Not less than 17 millions Americans were found to be bitten by this bug.


What causes Depression?
Sometimes the very causes of depression are known to a patient. However, many times the real cause of the phenomenon can not be diagnosed by even the experts from the field.

It has been speculated that the reasons which are not known for the cause can be a mixed variants of factors ranging from as diverse field as genetic, psychological and environmental factors, respectively.

Nevertheless, regardless of its root cause, a depression can always be treated.

Factors for depression

academic demands
transitions-re-entry to school, being new to Berkeley
balancing school, work, family, social life
financial responsibilities or worries
family concerns
social isolation
difficulties in relationships with friends and romantic partners
being on one's own in a new environment
exposure to new ideas, new people, and temptations
awareness of sexual identity and orientation
preparing for life after graduation, career decision-making
Major loss
Chronic illness

Relationship problems, work stress, unwelcome life changes or family crisis can also trigger symptoms in people to be depressed.

Types of Depression
There are basically 3 types of depression which has been recognized. Let’s have a look!
Major Depression- A combination of depression symptoms which interferes with the ability of an individual to wok, sleep, eats or enjoys once likable activities. These events can happen once, twice or many time in a life span of an affected person.

Bipolar Disorder- Also referred to as manic-depressive disorder, under the same, periods of depression alternate with period of elation and increased activity, called as mania (madness).

Dysthymia- It’s a less intense type of depression that involves chronic depression symptoms which are for longer terms and considered severe but keep one at bay from functioning at their fuller level of efficiency and from feeing elated.

Depression in Women- Causes & Treatment

Depression in women is different from that of men. Women are more prone to depression than their male counterparts and their causes of the same and concurrently their treatments too are not common like men.

From reproductive hormones to the social pressures to the female responses to stress are the many factors, are the factors which contributes to the unique attributes of the female depression.

According to a figure released by National Mental Health Association, approximately a large amount of women amounting to 12 million are said to be affected each year by clinical depression.

About one in every eight women can expect to develop the same during their lifetime.

Causes of depression in women

Pre-menstrual Problems- Bloating, irritability, fatigue and emotional reactivity during menstruation as symptoms of pre-menstrual disorder can evoke hormonal dysfunction during the same and infuse a new lease of disruption in their lives and is enough to do so.

Also women can experience different bipolar moods in their years of menopause, it’s said that most of the women become victims of depression in this period more. Thus the relation of menopause and depression goes hand in hand.

Depression in pregnancy- There are hordes of hormonal changes which occurs in a women during the course of pregnancy and these can also trigger a wave of depression to loom large in them.

The various concerns and the actual happening regarding miscarriage, abortion, infertility and unwanted pregnancy are the issues which takes them to acute levels of depression. Thus, depression in pregnancy also adds to the trauma of other problems in women.

Treatments of depression in women

Depression is very much curable provided people have an urge to get them treated by the doctors.
Women who suffer from the various stages of depression mostly rely on antidepressants. These antidepressants may give them some moments of relief.
However, in order to be fully fit, depressing women shall not vary much be dependent on antidepressants as they may cause other side effects.

The major methods of treatment for depression in women include talk therapies, medication with sublime doses of antidepressants in normal cases and in severe cases the electroconvulsive therapy is implemented.
More than any medicine, one needs to provide a warm human touch to a depressed women and taking care of them in the right proportion may stimulate the same to bounce back to the normalcy of life coherently.

The real truth about clinical depression!!

Feeling of loneliness, being in the awe of being out of this world, thinking that no one likes you, being in a world of own and detachment from the society, inability to carry out various daily routine tasks comfortably and uncontrolled urge to cry, laugh, shout, or harm self or others are the first symptoms that one has been struck by a deep wave of depression.

What is clinical depression?
The above stated events are the depression symptoms.

Clinical depression is a serious medical illness that negatively affects how you feel, think and act about any particular thing at a given time period.
The victims of this illness seem to loose interests in activities that were once enjoyable to them and vice versa.

People of all ages can get affected from clinical depression and the figure speaks for it. Not less than 17 millions Americans were found to be smitten by this bug.



Types of Depression
There are basically 3 types of depression which has been recognized. Let’s have a look!

Major Depression- A combination of depression symptoms which interferes with the ability of an individual to wok, sleep, eats or enjoys once likable activities. These events can happen once, twice or many time in a life span of an affected person.

Bipolar Disorder- Also referred to as manic-depressive disorder, under the same, periods of depression alternate with period of elation and increased activity, called as mania (madness).

Dysthymia- It’s a less intense type of depression that involves chronic depression symptoms which are for longer terms and considered severe but keep one at bay from functioning at their fuller level of efficiency and from feeing elated.

What causes Depression?
Sometimes the very causes of depression are known to a patient. However, many times the real cause of the phenomenon can not be diagnosed by even the experts from the field.

It has been speculated that the reasons which are not known for the cause can be a mixed variants of factors ranging from as diverse field as genetic, psychological and environmental factors, respectively.

Nevertheless, regardless of its root cause, a depression can always be treated.

Factors for depression

academic demands
transitions-re-entry to school, being new to Berkeley
balancing school, work, family, social life
financial responsibilities or worries
family concerns
social isolation
difficulties in relationships with friends and romantic partners
being on one's own in a new environment
exposure to new ideas, new people, and temptations
awareness of sexual identity and orientation
preparing for life after graduation, career decision-making
Major loss
Chronic illness

Relationship problems, work stress, unwelcome life changes or family crisis can also trigger symptoms in people to be depressed.

How to treat clinical depression?

Clinical depression can be treated through implementation of various methods.

By referring to a psychologist- Referring the patient to a psychologist can work wonder as they hypnotize the same and try to figure the events in their lives as to which might had done the damage.

They scrutinize the same and based on their observations; carry out certain tests which gives them enough proof for the same and then only based on them the affected person is treated.

Natural Treatments- By adopting natural treatment of home remedies, antidepressants cam also be taken back to the normalcy of life.

Giving the patient what they really crave for in nay form can zoom back a patient to the basics of life.

Comforting & Pacifying- Comforting a victim with a human touch and subsequently by pacifying them and giving them a security that some one is there to look after them for ever may give strengths to them and based on the same with the passage of time eventually get treated comfortably.

Conclusion

More than these above listed phenomenons, it’s important from the humanistic point of view, for the people of society to provide the patients a helping hand, involve them in life activities, pacify them, love them, does not ignore the, don’t let them being alone and interact with them can easily bounce back a person to the very basics of life.

Remember, people don’t react to people with such problems with good responses but one shall not forget that sometime even the happiest soul on this earth can fall for the depression related illness.

Thus, keep yourself at the place of the ailing person and then realize the pain he/she is going through. We are sure and vouch for the same that doing simple things in small quantities from time to time will keep the patients happy and a deep urge of reverting back to the life’s vitality shall evoke in their heart, soul and mind upon seeing their acceptance from the society they exist in.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Depression-During and after Pregnancy!!

Often women experience depression phases in their childbearing years. This state of mind can create complications before and after pregnancy. Earlier, women were considered immune to this mood during their pregnancy period. However research shows that pregnancy actually triggers the depression in women.

There are basically two types of depression stages a pregnant woman goes through- before and after pregnancy, also called as prenatal and postpartum depression respectively. Both of them have been described in detail Here:



Prenatal depression

As mentioned above, depression during the pregnancy is called as prenatal depression. The factors mentioned below can increase the risk of the pregnant woman going into depression:

If a woman already has a history of mental illness or extreme depression state, there are chances for the individual to go into depression during her pregnancy.
Another most obvious reason for depression in pregnant women is lack of support from friends and family during her pregnancy phase.
Women, who have had problems with child bearing or child birth prior to present pregnancy, have chances of going into depression.
Complimentary to the above reason, if a woman bears a child at a very young age, she tends to go into depression.
Marital or money problems can also cause the mother to go into depression during her pregnancy.

Affects of prenatal depression

The prenatal depression can cause harm to the child. It can affect the child’s weight and also premature delivery of the child. Doctors suggest therapy for all women during their pregnancy, to avoid such consequences for the child. Many mothers fear that the depression medication may harm the child either in foetus stage or after the child is born, but research shows that the risks to the mother and the child from receiving medical treatment for depression is much lesser than the risks from not receiving any antidepressant medication for the mother.

Postpartum depression

Postpartum depression occurs after the delivery of a child. This usually happens within one year of the child’s birth. The high amounts of progesterone and estrogen levels, from the pregnancy stage, drop down rapidly after the child’s birth, due to these changes in the level of hormones, depression is triggered.

Due to the postpartum depression the mother may experience, very low energy levels, problems in concentrating, anxiety and feeling of guilt. All these factors can affect the daily functioning of the mother and thus affects her well being. Listed below are some factors that contribute to the postpartum depression state:
Fatigue
Feeling overworked
The change in the daily lifestyle before and after pregnancy.
Feeling loss of identity and may want to revert to the lifestyle before pregnancy.