About Depression

Depressed and Pregnant? You May Need a Flu Shot

2009-11-09T05:08:44Z

According to Ohio State researchers, pregnant women who are depressed may be more prone to severe flu symptoms if they catch the seasonal flu.

The researchers based their conclusions upon 22 pregnant women who had received a seasonal flu shot. Those with significant depression symptoms had a stronger inflammatory response to the flu shot than those who were not depressed. These findings suggest, say the researchers, that a depressed pregnant woman's immune system behaves differently, possibly causing them to have more serious symptoms if they do contract the flu.

"Inflammatory responses to vaccination do no harm, are mild, and typically go away within a few days. But an extended inflammatory response to vaccination, such as the one seen in women with the most depressive symptoms, isn't expected, and it serves as a way to estimate how somebody might respond to an actual infection or illness," said lead author Lisa Christian in a university press release.

The researchers suggest that, based upon these results, it would be wise for pregnant depressed women to get seasonal flu shots in order to avoid having a severe reaction if they do contract the flu.

Public health agencies advise that pregnant women get seasonal flu shots, but only 12-13% actually do, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"It will be interesting to see how that might change this year, in light of CDC recommendations that pregnant women receive seasonal and H1N1 flu vaccinations," said Christian.

The study was published online in advance of publication in the November issue of Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.

Depressed and Pregnant? You May Need a Flu Shot originally appeared on About.com Depression on Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 05:08:44.

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Before You Buy a Light Box

2009-11-08T00:30:48Z

There are many products on the market that claim to help Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), but not all meet the recommended requirements. These are the requirements recommended by the Center for Environmental Therapeutics (CET) for effective light box therapy. Make sure that any unit you purchase meets these specifications.

Light Box Requirements

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Before You Buy a Light Box originally appeared on About.com Depression on Sunday, November 8th, 2009 at 00:30:48.

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In Crisis?

2009-11-06T00:00:54Z

Are you feeling overwhelmed and are considering suicide, but you're not sure whom you can call on for help? There are numerous agencies and organizations out there who want to help you. In the U.S., you can make a toll free call to either 1-800-784-2433 or 1-800-273-8255 for immediate assistance. Canadian crisis resources can be found through the Centre for Suicide Prevention. To locate crisis assistance in other countries, please consult The Befrienders Worldwide for listings. To learn more about your options for assistance during times of crisis, click the blue link at the top of this post.

In Crisis? originally appeared on About.com Depression on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 00:00:54.

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Psych Meds May Increase Risk of Premature Delivery

2009-11-02T05:19:16Z

Women with a history of depression who used psychiatric medications had triple the risk of giving birth to a premature baby, according to a study in the September/October issue of Women's Health Issues.

Amelia Gavin and her team at the University of Washington, University of Michigan and Michigan State University, found that a combination of medication use and depression - either before or during pregnancy - were strongly associated with delivery before the 35th week of pregnancy.

The researchers also found that, without medication use, elevated levels of depression symptoms at midpregnancy and history of depression did not pose the same increased risk of preterm delivery.

At this point it is not clear, however, whether the medications are the direct cause of preterm delivery or whether medication use is simply an indicator of the severity of the mother's depression, which in itself could be a factor in pre-term delivery, said co-author Kristine Siefert.

According to lead author Amelia Gavin, the findings highlight a need for carefully planned studies to sort out the true associations between depression, psychiatric medication and preterm delivery.

"Women with depression face difficult decisions regarding the benefits and risks of using psychotropic medications in pregnancy," said Gavin. "Therefore, a focus on disentangling medication effects and depression effects on mother and offspring health should be a major clinical priority."

Psych Meds May Increase Risk of Premature Delivery originally appeared on About.com Depression on Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at 05:19:16.

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Working Moms Less Likely to Receive Depression Treatment

2009-10-28T05:53:56Z

An analysis of national data on 2,130 mothers conducted by researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine found that working mothers were less likely to receive adequate treatment for their depression.

A possible reason suggested for why these women do not receive the treatment they need is that they work long hours, making it difficult for them to find the time to seek help.

It was also suggested by the report that, because of women's difficulties in finding time to seek help, the workplace would be a useful location to provide depression intervention. "Services like employee-assistance programs can help these mothers get screened and treated, even if they are unable to visit a provider or a mental health professional in the health-care setting," said study co-author Kristin Litzelman. "Since healthy employees are productive employees, it's often a win-win for the employers to offer benefits that support employee mental health."

The researchers noted that maternal depression has a strong impact on the well-being of the children cared for by the depressed mother, so workplace interventions could improve the family's health as well.

The researchers also found that black, Hispanic and other minority women were less likely to receive adequate treatment. "Health-care providers need to understand the racial, ethnic and educational disparities that affect treatment of mothers with depression," wrote the authors, "in order to intervene and help these patients get the care they need."

In addition, the authors reported that mothers with health insurance were three times more likely to receive adequate treatment than those without insurance. "Health insurance facilitates access to adequate treatment for maternal depression. Expanding health insurance coverage to mothers with depression is a critical step in helping them to get the care they need," said study author Dr. Whitney P. Witt, an assistant professor of population health sciences, in a press release from the university.

The study will appear in an upcoming issue of the Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research.

Working Moms Less Likely to Receive Depression Treatment originally appeared on About.com Depression on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 at 05:53:56.

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Why Antidepressants Don't Always Work

2009-10-26T04:56:11Z

According to background information provided in a new paper by Northwestern University researchers, over half of antidepressants fail to provide relief to depression sufferers. Their research seems to indicate it may be because what we believe about what triggers depression is entirely wrong.

Eva Redei and her team used rats which were genetically engineered to become severely depressed. They isolated specific genes in this group of rats and compared them with four genetically different groups of rats which had been exposed to chronic stress for two weeks. When they studied gene changes that increased or decreased in particular brain regions, they found that the genetically different rats that had been exposed to stress did not have any significant overlap in their genetic changes with the rats that had been genetically altered to be depressed.

The implication of these results? Redei and her team concluded that stress does not play a role in triggering the genetic changes associated with depression; and, if stress does not play a role in depression then this means that antidepressants, which are generally tested on animals by stressing the animals and then observing how the antidepressant modifies their behavior, are actually treating stress, not depression.

Redei says that drug developers have been focusing on the effect (stress) rather than the cause of depression. "That's why it takes so long for them to work and why they aren't effective for so many people," explained Redei. They are not actually treating depression at all.

Why Antidepressants Don't Always Work originally appeared on About.com Depression on Monday, October 26th, 2009 at 04:56:11.

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Glaxo Must Pay $2.5 Million in Paxil Birth Defects Case

2009-10-25T10:49:35Z

According to a report in The Philadelphia Enquirer, GlaxoSmithKline, manufacturer of the antidepressant Paxil, must pay $2.5 million to settle a claim that the drug caused severe heart defects in 3-year-old Bensalem, PA boy.

The verdict is the first in 600 similar cases, which allege that Glaxo knew Paxil causes birth defects, but hid that knowledge in order to protect their profits.

Paxil generated about $942 million in sales last year, accounting for 2.1% of Glaxo's total revenue.

The boy's mother, Michelle David, claimed that her son, Lyam Kilker, suffered from life-threatening heart defects because she had used the drug during her pregnancy. There was no previous history of heart defects in her family, according to David.

By a 10-2 margin, the jury found Glaxo had "negligently failed to warn" David's doctor about Paxil's risks and that the drug was a "factual cause" of the boy's heart defects. They also found that Glaxo's handling of the drug was not "outrageous", meaning that the family could not seek punitive damages.

The jurors awarded the family more than double the $2.1 million that had asked for in order to provide for Lyam's past and future medical expenses related to the heart defects.

The verdict arrives at a time when the medical community is seeking to reevaluate how to treat pregnant women. An August report from the American Psychiatric Association and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommended that pregnant women should consider psychotherapy before taking antidepressants. It further stated that women with moderate to severe depression should probably remain on their medication, but the risks might outweigh the benefits for women with mild depression.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, which is the class on antidepressant which Paxil belongs to, have been linked to various problems, including a higher incidence of pulmonary hypertension, a condition in which increased lung pressure can lead to heart failure. In 2005, the FDA reclassified Paxil as a drug with some evidence of risk of the human fetus, but allowed doctors to continue prescribing it to pregnant women if the benefits outweighed the risks.

Glaxo issued a statement saying that they planned to appeal the verdict.

"While we sympathize with Lyam Kilker and his family, the scientific evidence does not establish that exposure to Paxil during pregnancy caused his condition. Very unfortunately, birth defects occur in 3 to 5% of all live births, whether or not the mother was taking medication during pregnancy," the company's statement said.

Glaxo Must Pay $2.5 Million in Paxil Birth Defects Case originally appeared on About.com Depression on Sunday, October 25th, 2009 at 10:49:35.

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CBT Better Than Light Therapy for Prevention of SAD?

2009-10-24T09:33:52Z

In a study comparing light therapy versus cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for the treatment of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), University of Vermont researcher Kelly Rohan found that CBT may be most effective at preventing future episodes of the disorder.

Rohan randomized 69 people with SAD, a form of depression which occurs during the fall and winter months, into one of four groups: light therapy, cognitive behavior therapy, a combination of the two or a wait-list control group. She then surveyed the participants the following winter to determine how well the interventions had prevented a recurrence of the disorder.

Rohan determined that only 7% of the group treated with CBT had a recurrence, compared to 36.7% of those treated with light therapy. The recurrence in the combination group was 5.5%. In addition, the severity of the depression experienced by those who had CBT was less than that experienced by either the light therapy group or the combination group.

Why did the light therapy group do so poorly the following year? According to Rohan, long-term compliance with this type of treatment is rare. It requires sitting in front of a light box for 30 minutes a day during a time when people may not be feeling their best. In fact, in this particular study, only four participants opted to use the light box the second winter.

Does this mean that light therapy is not a good treatment for SAD? Not necessarily. What it does mean is that even if a treatment is effective, you won't benefit from it, if, due to your illness, you cannot summon the motivation to use it.

Rohan's goal, she said, is to develop effective treatments with good compliance rates in order to give patients better long-term outcomes.

The study appeared in the September issue of Behavior Therapy.

CBT Better Than Light Therapy for Prevention of SAD? originally appeared on About.com Depression on Saturday, October 24th, 2009 at 09:33:52.

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Feeling SAD as the Days Grow Shorter?

2009-10-19T00:13:40Z

Have you ever noticed how a gray, rainy day makes you feel gloomy and tired, but a sunny day can leave you feeling cheerful and energized? Well, there's a scientific reason for this. Insufficient exposure to sunlight has been associated with low levels of melatonin and serotonin, carbohydrate craving, weight gain, and sleep disturbance.

Some of you may have also noticed that you find a seasonal fluctuation in your moods, feeling depressed only in the winter months. Take a look at your calendar and you'll soon see why. Each year on June 21 we experience the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. With our longest hours of sunlight in the middle of summer it's no wonder we're happier this time of year. After this date, however, the days progressively get shorter until the winter solstice on December 21, the shortest day.

Is it any accident then that so many of us run for the hills when the holidays roll around? With our serotonin in such short supply, the added stresses of living up to our images of the picture-perfect holiday are just too much. The medical term for the season-long malaise that we fall into is Winter Depression, Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD.

Read More About SAD

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Feeling SAD as the Days Grow Shorter? originally appeared on About.com Depression on Monday, October 19th, 2009 at 00:13:40.

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Social Networking Sites Are Good Barometer of Suicidal Intent, Say Researchers

2009-10-14T02:49:40Z

By analyzing posts made on social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, it may be possible to help prevent suicide, according to Victoria University researchers Dr. Tiong-Thye Goh and Yen-Pei Huang.

The two researchers created a decision support system to scan social networking sites to identify keywords posted by 18 to 24 year old users, such as "I don't want to live any more", "depressed" or "I want to kill somebody." If a high proportion of these keywords are being used, the researchers believe it could indicate that the user is at risk of depression, suicide, self-harm or hurting others.

"Social networking sites have in recent years become an increasingly popular avenue for young people to express and to share their thoughts, views and emotions," said Dr. Goh. "When young people are emotionally distressed...social networking blogs may provide a channel to share and release their emotions and intentions."

Eventually, Dr. Goh would like to see some sort of monitoring system in place that identifies users at risk and engages them, perhaps by asking how they are doing and offering a link to an appropriate informational website if the user indicates that they need help.

What do you think about this idea? Would it help people at risk? Or would it prevent users from speaking freely about how they are feeling?

Social Networking Sites Are Good Barometer of Suicidal Intent, Say Researchers originally appeared on About.com Depression on Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 at 02:49:40.

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