Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Depression”
People seeking treatment for major depression and bipolar tend to do well if they have two related characteristics. The first is persistence: the ability to keep doing what needs to be done, no matter the mood. The second is willingness to do whatever it takes, even if that means giving up control over which treatments are acceptable and which are …
Loneliness is an important public health issue The American Medical Association has defined loneliness as a public health issue for all Americans. Why loneliness? Why public health? Loneliness is found across demographics, at every age level. It is not a matter of how many friends you have, rather, loneliness is feeling a lack of connection with other people. You may …
A discussion with a patient this past week really brought into focus the power of the mind to affect the world. Or maybe it would be better to say how we decide to live in the world. Our patient, I’ll call her “Amy”, is a teacher’s aide in a crowded, underfunded special ed. classroom, and she was saying she is …
10 USEFUL* things you can do for suicide prevention *Spoiler: none of these things are about “fixing” a suicidal person. I’d like to apologize for missing the actual National Suicide Prevention Day, which was September 10, but, really, any day is a good day to talk about suicide prevention. Suicide prevention is not a matter of telling your distressed friend …
Fall is just around the corner in the Northern Hemisphere, and the impending seasonal change means impending mood changes, too. For every person who goes into September with a New Year’s feeling: new school year, new challenges, new friends; there is another who starts the autumn with anxiety, melancholy, or even dread of the dark days to come. Our agrarian …
Depression is awful. It takes all the meaning and joy out of life, it reduces our capacity to care for, or even defend ourselves, and it can lead to an endless downward spiral leading to years of anhedonia and even suicide. So why would anyone want to talk about any value of depression? Scholars who take an evolutionary approach to …
What is rumination and how can it be overcome? Rumination, or repetitive negative thinking, can be a symptom, and possibly even a cause of depression. But where does it come from, does it have any upsides, and what can you do about it if you feel stuck in an endless loop of regret, recrimination and overthinking the past? Psychologists distinguish …
Too Busy? Not Busy Enough? A recent consultation with a patient got us thinking about activities and depression. The patient was saying that she was not looking forward to the long 4th of July weekend because she had to plan some activities to keep busy, because this is not a holiday that has a lot of actions to take, other …
Some reflections by Denise Collins on The Mighty We were struck by this great post on The Mighty, (which is a fascinating site with lots of discussion groups to explore). One of their discussion groups is about depression, and Denise Collins is a regular contributor there. Recently, she posted this reflection on how writing helps her when she is depressed. …
Many of our patients want to reduce their use of medications, and move to a more natural regimen, utilizing herbal medicine, dietary supplements, and other traditional or less invasive methods of controlling mood swings and increasing stability. However, we have to recognize that “natural” medicine is still a form of medical treatment, and requires patient participation and discipline just as …
Exercise is more than just cardio Moderate exercise is associated with lower rates of depression, longer life and reduced cognitive impairment in a number of recent studies. Evidence is accumulating that exercise is for more than just cardio-vascular health, and confers significant benefits at all stages of life. A 2019 observational study looked at exercise rates correlated with depression rates …
Living with mental illness or mood disorder day after day can be taxing and tiring. You have to be more disciplined, stronger, more organized and more on top of things than anyone else you know. You are bombarded with advice about dealing with a chronic illness: exercise helps, diet is important, be sure to get enough sleep, but not too …
Bright light therapy has been in use for some years for insomnia and seasonal affective disorder, and results in those areas are very promising. Until recently, however, there has not been much data available about the use of bright light therapy for major depression. A recent study, though small, was reported in a presentation at the American Psychological Association’s 2021 …
Inflammation in the body may be associated with depression, but until recently, the evidence was confusing. Now, a study has looked at symptoms of depression separately, and has found that certain symptoms associated with depression are also correlated with systemic inflammation. Common symptoms of depression that are classified as physical: “changes in appetite”, “felt everything was an effort”, “loss of …
People without a partner are often anxious about getting “hooked up” ASAP before the biological clock runs out (this attitude affects men and women both). But people living with depression often find the dating pool to be a taxing and often futile place to be. How do you handle feeling pulled in two directions at once? On the one hand, …
Seasonal Mood Changes Spring is coming, a season that some call “mania season”. Even those without mood disorders often feel a rush of energy and hopefulness as the days finally start to get longer, and the temperatures go up. Many of our bipolar patients find that their mood swings follow a predictable pattern: for the majority, “up” in the spring …
Deaths of despair increasing, but only in the USA Mortality rates are rising in the United States, especially among poor, rural populations, and specifically among whites. Life expectancy in other groups continues its historic rise, and this rising pattern is also found in 16 other countries with comparable economic levels. This phenomenon has been dubbed “deaths of despair” because the …
Aerobic exercise has long been recognized as an important adjunct to prevention and management of mental illness, especially mood disorders, depression and anxiety. A new study from Sweden looks at almost 200,000 people who participated in cross-country ski racing there, and found that participants (whom researchers considered a “proxy” for physically active people generally) show a much reduced incidence of …
Holiday stress is a reality of life for many people, but for those struggling to manage chronic illnesses like bipolar, the holidays can be a real trial. Each year, MoodSurfing encourages readers to spend some time before the holidays reflecting on how they want to face up to, and hopefully get some fun out of, the winter holidays. Here are …
Winter time insomnia For many, winter is a time to hibernate and sleep more, but others struggle more with insomnia when the mornings are dark. A patient recently shared some morning routines she has discovered to battle both insomnia and depression during the darker months. “I still try to wake up at 6:30 am, which gives me a little bit …
