Archives for April 2007

Modern-day living is such that all of us are in the danger of falling victim to stress and stress-related disease, both physical and psychological. Relaxation and rest are as imperative to our general well-being as exercise. We know that relaxation is an effective and important way of coping with stress.

Stress is a daily problem. So, relaxation should also be a daily concern. Many of us find relaxation, not in lying down and resting, but in pursuing a hobby or a sport that we enjoy. There are people who relax with a crossword puzzle after a hard day's work. Some like to read or listen to music or go for a long walk. So, even though the body or mind is active, one feels refreshed and relaxed.

We all need to do something different from our daily tasks and chores. A change of activity actually brings about relaxation. A hobby can help to divert the mind from mundane activities and even from worries. 

Psychological treatment of depression (psychotherapy) can assist the depressed individual in several ways. First, supportive counseling helps ease the pain of depression, and addresses the feelings of hopelessness that accompany depression.  Second, cognitive therapy changes the pessimistic ideas, unrealistic expectations, and overly critical self-evaluations that create depression and sustain it. Cognitive therapy helps the depressed person recognize which life problems are critical, and which are minor. It also helps him/her to develop positive life goals, and a more positive self-assessment. Third, problem solving therapy changes the areas of the person's life that are creating significant stress, and contributing to the depression. This may require behavioral therapy to develop better coping skills, or Interpersonal therapy, to assist in solving relationship problems.

At first glance, this may seem like several different therapies being used to treat depression. However, all of these interventions are used as part of a cognitive treatment approach. Some psychologists use the phrase, cognitive-behavioral therapy and others simply call this approach, cognitive therapy. In practice, both cognitive and behavioral techniques are used together. 

Once upon a time, behavior therapy did not pay any attention to cognitions, such as perceptions, evaluations or expectations. Behavior therapy only studied behavior that could be observed and measured. But, psychology is a science, studying human thoughts, emotions and behavior. Scientific research has found that perceptions, expectations, values, attitudes, personal evaluations of self and others, fears, desires, etc. are all human experiences that affect behavior. Also, our behavior, and the behavior of others, affects all of those cognitive experiences as well. Thus, cognitive and behavioral experiences are intertwined, and must be studied, changed or eliminated, as an interactive pair.

During the ECT procedure, an electric current is passed through the brain to create controlled convulsions (seizures).ECT is helpful for certain patients with major depression, chiefly for those who cannot take or are not responding to antidepressants, have brutal depression, or are at a high danger for suicide. ECT often is successful in cases where antidepressant medications do not afford enough help of symptoms.

 This process possibly works by a huge neurochemical release in the brain due to the controlled attack. Highly effectual, ECT relieves depression within 1 to 2 weeks after beginning treatments. After ECT, some patients will carry on to have upholding ECT, while others will go back to antidepressant medications.

                        Understanding Depression:
While sadness touches all of our lives at different times, the illness of depression can have enormous depth and staying power. Even the ancient Greeks noted how disabling it could be and that it was more then a passing bout of sadness, dejection or feeling down in the dumps, this illness cannot be lifted at will wished or joked away a person in the grip of depression cannot solve his problems by showing a little more backbone. Being depressed has nothing to do with personal weakness scientists believe that changes in nerve pathways and brain chemicals called Neurotransmitters can affect your moods and thoughts, these neurological changes may bubble up as symptoms of depression. Its tributaries include traumatic or stressful life events, such as death of a loved one, and psychological traits such as pessimistic outlook or tendency isolation, an episode of depression may result from one particularly powerful experience or from a confluence of several factors. According to the National Institute of Mental Health during a given year approximately 1 in 10 adults will suffer from some form of depression.

Since the indications of fibromyalgia are miscellaneous and differ amongst patients, cure programs must be individualized for each patient. Current studies have confirmed that the best conclusion for each patient results from a mixture of steps that engages the patient in customization of the treatment plan.

Patient Education

Patient education is a significant initial step in assisting patients recognizes and manages with the various symptoms.

Stress Reduction

It is particularly complicated to determine stress stages in diverse patients. For some people, spilling milk on the table can characterize an important calamity. Therefore, stress reduction in the handling of fibromyalgia must be individualized.

Exercise

Low-impact aerobic exercises, such as swimming, cycling, walking and stationary cross-country ski machines can be successful treatments for fibromyalgia. Exercise treatments are most valuable when performed on an every-other-day basis, in the morning.

Medications

The most effective medications in the treatment of fibromyalgia are the tricyclic antidepressants, medications usually used in treating depression. In treating fibromyalgia, tricyclic antidepressants are taken at bedtime in doses that are a fraction of those used for treating depression.

Other Treatments

Local injections of analgesics and/or cortisone medication into the trigger point areas can also be helpful in relieving painful soft tissues, while breaking cycles of pain and muscle spasm.
 

Major Depression: Major depression is probably one of the most common forms of depression. You probably know a handful of people who suffer from it. The sufferer seems to walk around with the weight of the world on his or her shoulders. He or she seems disinterested in becoming involved in regular activities and seems convinced that he or she will always be in this hopeless state. There is a lack of interest in sexual activity and in appetite and a weight loss. Atypical Depression: Atypical depression is a variation of depression that is slightly different from major depression. The sufferer is sometimes able to experience happiness and moments of elation. Symptoms of atypical depression include fatigue, oversleeping, overeating and weight gain. People who suffer from atypical depression believe that outside events control their mood (i.e. success, attention and praise). Episodes of atypical depression can last for months or a sufferer may live with it forever. Psychotic Depression: Sufferers of psychotic depression begin to hear and see imaginary things - - sounds, voices and visuals that do not exist. These are referred to as hallucinations, which are generally more common with someone suffering from schizophrenia. The hallucinations are not "positive" like they are with a manic depressive. The sufferer of psychotic depression imagines frightening and negative sounds and images. Dysthymia: Many people just walk around seeming depressed - - simply sad, blue or melancholic. They have been this way all of their lives. This is dysthymia - - a condition that people are not even aware of but just live with daily. They go through life feeling unimportant, dissatisfied, frightened and simply don't enjoy their lives. Medication is beneficial for this type of depression. Manic Depression: Manic depression can be defined as an emotional disorder characterized by changing mood shifts from depression to mania which can sometimes be quite rapid. People who suffer from manic depression have an extremely high rate of suicide.

             Forgotten Tune:
The real life story of Television actress Roohi Bano once among the most admired stars of the silver screen has recently gripped the country. Bano now in her 50s has recently been released from The Fountain Head in Lahore, an institution for the mentally disturbed for years she has suffered paranoid schizophrenia and depression aggravated by the death of her son’s death a few years ago, the Punjab Govt. has stepped in to take care of Bano who has no family her house is also going to be renovated which is in a dilapidated condition for this purpose the Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi handed over a cheque of Rs. 500,000(DH 41,667) to Bano, she has also been granted a job in the Govt. social welfare department to provide her income and focus of life.

There is no blood or x-ray test to help the doctor determine whether someone is suffering from fibromyalgia. Therefore, the diagnosis of fibromyalgia is made purely on clinical grounds based on the doctor's history and physical examination. In patients with widespread body pain, the diagnosis of fibromyalgia can be made by identifying point tenderness areas, by finding no accompanying tissue swelling or inflammation, and by excluding other medical conditions that can imitate fibromyalgia. Many medical conditions can cause pain in different areas of the body, imitating fibromyalgia.

Do the chips that don’t pass the lips of low-carb dieters weigh heavily on their shoulders instead? People who avoid certain foods or are reducing their food intake are famous for irritability, but many who are testing low-carbohydrate approaches like Atkins and the South Beach Diet are reporting unusually high feelings of anger, tension and depression. “It’s called the ‘Atkins attitude,’ ” says Judith Wurtman, director of the Women’s Health Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Adara Weight Loss Center, both in Boston. “It’s very well-documented.”

Wurtman, who advocates a diet high in complex carbohydrates for weight loss and stress relief, says her studies on rats have shown a connection between a diet low in carbohydrates and low levels of serotonin—a neurotransmitter that promotes feelings of happiness and satisfaction. In her research, rats placed on a ketotic, or low-carbohydrate, diet for three weeks were found to have lower levels of serotonin in their brains. The same rats binged once starch was reintroduced into their diets.

Wurtman believes that same effect occurs in humans on low-carb diets and leads to pronounced feelings of depression and sadness, even rage. “People feel very angry, and their antidepressants don’t work well, either,” she says.Granted, dieting isn’t easy no matter how one does it, but many think low-carbohydrate approaches are particularly hard on your happiness. Wurtman goes so far as to call them dangerous for those who already struggle with depression or bipolar disorder

A person with obsessive-compulsive disorder have either obsessions, or compulsions, or both. The obsessions and/or compulsions are strong enough to cause significant distress in their employment, schoolwork, or personal and social relationships. This includes: anankastic neurosis, obsessional neurosis and obsessive-compulsive neurosis.

There is no cure for OCD, However, there are several types of treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder. 

Counseling and Psychotherapy
Individual therapy is the most common treatment and frequently involves response prevention and exposure. Response prevention therapy consists of keeping the person from acting on his/her obsessions and compulsions.

Pharmacotherapy
Current medications used for the treatment of OCD include Anafranil (clomipramine), Luvox (fluvoxamine), Paxil (paroxetine), and Prozac (fluoxetine). These medications can help diminish obsessive thinking and the subsequent compulsive behaviors.

Electroconvulsive Therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy is sometimes helpful in individuals with severe primary depression and secondary obsessions and Neurosurgery-Stereotactic limbic leukotomy (combining anterior cingulotomy and subcaudate tractotomy) and anterior.