Archive for March, 2007

5 Powerful Ways to Fight Bipolar Disorder in Children – Perhaps Your Child!

By Merri Ellen Giesbrecht

1. Get rid of the TV and video games.

What? You may gasp, but the amount of stuff that kids see these days only damages their development of proper thinking such as assessing reality, problem solving, etc. We are convinced that bipolar disorder in children can be aggravated by TV and video game images. You most likely heard about this study already on TV affecting a child’s sleep functioning. Once we got rid of these things, yes, we got objections, but a few days later the kids were playing in the backyard throwing a ball around – laughing! What a concept! This makes for happier parents too!

If you can’t eliminate TV and video games completely, then maximize their time to an hour a day. Then instead, teach them the importance of doing good things for others and focus on that by verbally praising them. Show them what is important to enjoy life – hard work and loving others instead of seeking to be entertained.

More →

Getting Anxious Over Anxiety Depression?

By Barry McDonald

A lot of people who are exerting too much of their brain power usually exhaust not only their physical strength when engaging in various multi-tasking activities, they also tend to over extend their brains up to the point when it plainly needs some good old time for relaxation. A lot of busy people who seem to cannot fathom the idea of relaxing and taking time of from work, as well as their worries, tend to actually start having nervous breakdowns, anxiety depression and all sorts of mental illnesses that can cause a person’s sanity to go haywire, fortunately, if you’re one of those poor unfortunate ones who are unable to distress and is constantly worried and fussing over things, there are actually available cures and various treatments for treating anxiety depression.

Anxiety depression is actually characterized by all sorts of irregularities and erratic behavior from the person who is suffering from it, this is usuallu due to certain stress triggers that may tend to easily cause a person undue jitters and stress. Also, a lot of people who tend to get easily nervous over stressful activities are actually prone to having anxiety depression, its just a matter of being strong-willed when it comes to facing difficult and stress-prone activities. It may be pretty hard to overcome at first, but trying to be calm and cool in times of extreme pressure is what’ll actually save your mental health from going totally downward spiral.

More →

Depression and Pregnancy

By DM Driscoll

Science and Mythology of Depression and Pregnancy

When considering both depression and pregnancy, it is important to separate science from mythology. One pervasive parcel of mythology extant today is that women who have depression can negate it by getting pregnant. Popular myth dictates that the hormonal changes that occur during pregnancy will somehow alter brain chemistry, lifting pregnant women out of depression. In the past, doctors even espoused this link between depression and pregnancy as true. Today, science has largely disproved this.

A number of tests conducted in Massachusetts about the link between depression and pregnancy concluded that pregnancy actually has no effect on clinical depression whatsoever: getting pregnant does not alter brain chemistry in any way that might alleviate depression – and even worse, getting pregnant often has the opposite effect: it can actually worsen depression.

More →

Advertiser Appreciation: February 2007

I have been posting around the week of the 10th of each month a “THANK-YOU” post, like this one, to all the advertisers from the previous month listed as at month end. That’s a permanent link in this blog, under the category heading which I call .. “Sponsor Appreciation”. I know it’s hard out there trying to figure out where to spend your advertising dollars .. and well .. THANKS for considering the Battling Depression Blog.

I have compiled a new advertising page for the HART-Empire Network of sites for your perusal.

More →

Depression Medications Explained

By Jason Hunter

Depression is more than a gloomy and terrifying disorder; it can be lethal. Therefore, anyone with moderate to severe depression requires vigorous treatment immediately. There are many different depression medications. These same antidepressants can also help treat panic disorder, other anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and attention deficit disorder.

Depression has been linked to a shortage of any one of four different neurotransmitters: serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine or epinephrine. Depression medications are designed to correct neurotransmitter shortages by increasing the body’s supply of one or more of these important brain chemicals.

More →

Help For Depressed Older People

By Michael Russell

Older people experience a lot of changes in their lives that cause depression. Depression is one of the most common health problems among the elderly. Changes in older people’s physical, personal and financial capacities may contribute to their anxieties and in return, they may end up feeling sad, alone, empty and rejected.

Depression in older individuals is caused by many factors including accumulated lifetime losses and medication. Lifetime losses usually include changes in the standard of living, housing and reduced income. These also include changes in relationships, the loss of a loved one or close family members and in instances where friends and family move away. Even the loss of a pet or important possession contributes to depression. Medication on the other hand is also a common cause of depression among older individuals. Older people oftentimes take a lot of medications such as sedatives, tranquilizers, high blood pressure medicines and anti-inflammatories, all of which can cause depression. Drug interactions can sometimes be dangerous and can produce depression, mental confusion and many other physical problems.

More →

Teen Eating Disorder And Anxiety Depression Causes

By Robin J. Derry

Body image confusion running amuck? A seemingly “perfectionist” orientation to the smallest details? When does this apparent detail-and-goal orientation by your child “cross the danger line” into obsessive compulsive behavior and accompanying teen eating disorder?

Eating disorders, and their deeper complex of potential causes, constitute the greatest mortality risk of our present crop of diagnosed and labeled psychiatric illnesses. An eating disorder in teen family members is utterly serious, and potentially life-threatening unless parents can orchestrate an intervention combining counseling therapy and some mix of anxiety medicine or anxiety herb remedies.

More →

Male Migraine and Depression

By Lawrence Angell

While it’s true that my website pertains almost exclusively to house building, there remains a sentiment of human emotion, which lives in all of us that pushes me to accomplish difficult things.

I rarely talk about the strong, positive attributes we all need to do extraordinary things, but if I can offer even a small measure of assistance or comfort to someone that struggles then my words will have been worth it.

More →

Taking Manic Depression Seriously

By Barry McDonald

Manic depression or Bipolar depression is actually considered as one of the worst type of depression that people usually suffer from.

Characterized by sudden and extreme changes in their mood, Manic depression is said to be called as such because manic = mania refers to the ‘ups’ while depression refers to the ‘downs’.

A lot of people actually experience erratic changes in their moods, some times, these so-called mood swings may not just be caused by PMS (pre-menstrual syndrome) or stress. Doctors actually have diagnosed mood swings as a common symptom of depression.

More →

Panic Attack Medication: What Is Best For Me?

By Mike O’Brien

If you are one of those living with panic attack symptoms, you know it can almost take over your life. Living with the fear that you will have to suffer through another period of grief, pain, and discomfort is sometimes enough to bring on a panic attack. When it comes to treating a panic attack, some medication have been known to significantly reduce the symptoms, enabling people to continue living a life that is not ruled by the fearful unknown. The following provides information about some of the most effective medications available to consumers.

Alprazolam (al-PRAZ-zo-lam)

More →