Archives for May 2007

                            Cutting SI in Depression:
Is injuring your self on purpose by making scratches or cuts on your body with a sharp object- enough to break the skin and make it bleed – is called “Self Injury” cutting is most common in girls but boys also sometimes self injure too.
Why Do People Cut Themselves?
Cutting is a way some people try to cope with the pain of strong emotions, intense pressure, or up-setting relationships problems or bad situations, they think they cannot change the situation they are in that’s why they do SI its basically a confused way of feeling in control. Cutting begins on an impulse it is not some one thinks about ahead of time and slowly it develops into a habit when the person does not how to cope with an emotional situation.

                            Colicky Child and Depression are Inter-related:
Research has shown that colic babies who tend to cry all through the night is a result of depressed mothers, more parenting stress, lower parental self-esteem and more family functioning problems. While depression can alter the way a mother perceives and responds to her baby’s cry signals in light of this the authors conclude that the co-occurrence of infant colic and maternal depression might be especially risky for infant development out comes such as behaviour skills or forming relationships so much so that 44% of the women showing up at the colic clinics are depressed which is devastating to the family.

                       Social Norms of Depression:
Depression was first classified as an illness in western medical diagnostic manuals in 1930 and the acceptance of depression as an illness is very recent, the factors that lead to social acceptance is zilch because values of social responsibility connection to others and community are weakened where independence is highly valued appropriate reliance on others is stigmatised as dependence all of this then leads to isolation. In reality individuals feel smaller in a bigger world and less able to influence the major decisions affecting their environment, models whose body shapes are unattainable for the majority come to define successful appearance even fairly financially comfortable people compare themselves unfavourably when extreme wealth is attained by most and valued by most. While unrealistic thinking like “Be The Best” propagate depressed thinking habits like perfectionism, so much so that in a sea of commercial messages about what we want, we lose the sight of what actually makes us happy much of which cannot be bought and on top of this chronic stress is applied on an individual when he/she is stigmatised if help is seeked by the sufferer.

                           Physical Symptoms of Depression:
Most of know about the emotional symptoms of depression but in fact depression can cause physical symptoms too which are as follows:
(1) Headaches: It is fairly common in people with depression if you all ready have migraine headaches they may become worse when you are depressed.
(2) Back Pain: If you have back pain it may get worse when you get depressed.
(3) Muscle Aches and Joint Pain: Depression can make any kind of chronic pain worse.
(4) Chest Pain: It can be a serious heart problem but chest pain is also associated with depression.
(5) Digestive Problems: You might feel queasy and Nauseous, Diarrhoea or become Chronically Constipated.
(6) Exhaustion and Fatigue: No matter how much you sleep you may still feel tired and worn out. Getting out of bed may seem hard even impossible.
(7) Sleeping Problems: Many people who are depressed cannot sleep anymore; they either wake up early or cannot fall back to sleep others sleep much more then normal.
(8) Change in Appetite or Weight: Some people with depression loose their appetite and loose weight others find that they may crave for carbohydrates and weigh more.
(9) Dizziness or Light Headedness: Depression can call real changes in the body for example it can slow down your digestion which can result in stomach problems.
 These symptoms are very common in people suffering from depression so when ever a person has these physical aches and pains it should not be taken lightly instead a psychiatric help should be taken as soon as possible.
 

           Vincent Van Gogh:
Was born in 1853 and is regarded as one of the greatest artist of the 19th century he is also well known example of an artist who suffered from mental illness in 1888 Van Gogh experienced a psychotic episodes, famously cutting of his own ear he voluntarily entered a psychiatric hospital where the doctor described him as suffering from acute mania with hallucinations of sight and hearing. It has also been argued that the painting “Starry Night” with its swirling night sky might have represented the haloes seen by patients treated with digitals, a drug that Van Gogh took to counteract his epilepsy. Vincent mutilated his ear then offered it to a prostitute this shows that he was highly emotional and lacked self confidence, it was mainly due to his past when he had 2 unsuccessful an un-happy romances and had worked as a failure as a clerk in a book store as an arts salesman where he was dismissed for overzealousness. Van Gogh always altered between fits of madness and lucidity and was sent to the asylum in Saint Remy for treatment then in 1880 he shot himself in his chest, as in his words “For the good of all.”

Pregnancy and Depression:
Depression during pregnancy is far too common – and too often ignored 1in 5 women are depressed but few are getting treatment for depression studies have shown that depressed women have a higher risk of preterm births, complications and their babies have lower birth weights, behavioural problems and delayed cognitive and language treatment, therefore a woman’s child bearing years are also her highest risk time for depression because the hormones and brain chemistry involved in depression are known to be affected by changes in other hormones related to pregnancy which may affect the fetes also. The women who suffer from depression during pregnancy also have poorer over all health, drink alcohol, and smoke also but this % is in women who are living in cities where medical treatment can be given to them, but what about the women who live in villages and remote areas?
They also suffer from depression but their condition is never paid a heed to by their husbands because they think their wives as incubators and not a living being who is the same as any educated woman the reason for such an attitude of men towards their pregnant wives is lack of education from both sides husbands/wives, dominance of husbands, presence of uncountable children already, and lastly in-laws of the woman who consider a daughter in-law nothing more then a reproductive machine, but due to all these reasons what becomes of the woman? She and her future are hung like a pendulum with no answers given to her suppressed desires, care and medical help.          

Child Depression:
It is not only that adults get depressed but children also get depressed the best way to handle such a situation is not to stop the anti-depressants because anti-depressants can work extremely well for a depressed child but they are most effective when used with psycho therapy too, also its extremely important that the child should be monitored closely while taking any medications for depression. Child with previous suicide attempts are at greater risk for another attempt also kids with a family history of suicide are at high risk, while serious depression has a genetic component, having many stressful events can also increase risk, such as loss of parent, numerous relocations, exposure to violence/abuse or even chronic illness the most dangerous thing is not to treat children with depression research shows that over half of all kids with depression will attempt suicide at least once, and over 7% will die as a result. To many kids get medicines instead of talk therapy and the reason why they get depressed is due to pretty profound neglect, putting the child on medications just confounds the situation in other words by doing this you are telling the child that something is wrong with you rather then seeing what is wrong in the family, this way you are not   really listening to what is going on in your child’s life, the number one issue is the staggering neglect if you think a child is depressed then take the child to therapist not a paediatrician if after 2-3 months of therapy no change is there then give medication, giving children everything they want is never a good idea, if they are not active contributing members in the family they can get depressed if  a child does not have jobs at home- if they are busy in karate and everything else it is not healthy. If you are concerned about the child’s depression spend time with her/him and do not ask “Are you depressed”? Talk in English “Are you unhappy”? Sad? Having a hard time? Are you having any fun? Etc.