Let Me Tell You More About My Depressed, Miserable Existence
By Depressed Jane on September 12, 2007
Mental disorders rank among the top ten illnesses causing disability — more than 37 percent worldwide — with depression being the leading cause of disability among people ages 15 and older, according to the Global Burden of Disease and Risk Factors published in 2006. [click link for full article]
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By Depressed Jane on September 11, 2007
Studies with rats have revealed the potential in an entirely new class of antidepressants that take effect after only days of treatment versus the weeks required for current drugs. The researchers said that they hope their findings will spur development of such new antidepressant drugs so that clinical testing can begin quickly.Guillaume Lucas and colleagues published their findings in the journal Neuron, published by Cell Press. [click link for full article]
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By Depressed Jane on September 11, 2007
Leading mental health charity Mind comments on new research findings by the World Health Organisation which show that depression causes more damage to health compared to chronic diseases such as angina, asthma, diabetes and arthritis.Marcus Roberts, Head of Policy at Mind said:”The impact of depression on a person’s life can be devastating. It can have negative effects on their relationships, their finances, and their future prospects. [click link for full article]
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By Depressed Jane on September 11, 2007
Two reports released reveal significant increases in youth suicide rates between 2003 and 2004 following a steady decline since the early 1990’s. The first study, released in the September issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry, details a 14 percent increase in suicide rates for youth below the age of 19 – the largest increase in this population since the agency began collecting suicide data in 1979. [click link for full article]
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By Depressed Jane on September 10, 2007
Most patients with depression who are treated by primary care physicians do not receive care consistent with quality standards, according to a new RAND Corporation study.Physicians had high rates of adherence to just one third of the 20 measures of quality that researchers examined and had low rates of adherence to nearly half of the treatment recommendations studied, according to the report in the September 4 edition of the Annals of Internal Medicine. [click link for full article]
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By Depressed Jane on September 9, 2007
In response to the publication of World Health Organisation research into depression in The Lancet, Kathryn Hill, Director of Mental Health Programmes at the Mental Health Foundation, said: “We welcome the fact that an organisation as prestigious as the World Health Organisation is calling for more attention to be paid to the devastating impact depression can have. [click link for full article]
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By Depressed Jane on September 8, 2007
There has been a lot of discussion about obtaining recovery from depression. This discussion was sparked by the results of the largest treatment trial (STAR D). American investigators push for more and new combinations of antidepressant drugs for an increased level of remission, based on the results of the trial. [click link for full article]
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By Depressed Jane on September 8, 2007
A group of Dutch investigators has reported on a new study on the combination of antidepressant drugs and psychotherapy in the September issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics. Although several forms of effective therapy exist for outpatients suffering from major depressive disorder, many patients do not profit from treatment. Combining psychotherapy and medication may be an effective strategy. However, earlier studies have rarely found a clear advantage for the combination. [click link for full article]
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By Depressed Jane on September 7, 2007
The damage that co-morbid depression has on a patient’s health is greater than that caused by such chronic illnesses as diabetes, angina, asthma and arthritis, according to an article published in The Lancet. In other words, depression with diabetes is more damaging than diabetes with angina or asthma or arthritis. Dr Somnath Chatterji, World Health Organisation (WHO), Geneva, Switzerland and team looked at data on 245,404 people from the World Health Survey (WHO). [click link for full article]
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By Depressed Jane on September 5, 2007
A patient with depression may find it harder to recover his/her heart rate variability after a heart attack, increasing his/her chances of coronary death. Patients who are successfully treated for depression tend to experience improvement in heart rate variability after acute coronary syndromes, compared to depressed patient’s who aren’t (treated for depression), says an article in Archives of General Psychiatry (JAMA/Archives), September issue. [click link for full article]
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