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Health News:Depression

Acceptance of Chronic Illness Helps People Move On

November 10, 2009

TUESDAY, Nov. 10 (HealthDay News) — For chronically ill patients, giving up the hope that they will get better may actually lead to more happiness, U.S. researchers suggest.

“Hope is an important part of happiness, but there’s a dark side of hope. Sometimes, if hope makes people put off getting on with their life, it can get in the way of happiness,” Dr. Peter A. Ubel, director of the Center for Behavioral and Decision Sciences in Medicine at the University of Michigan Health System, said in a university news release. Read More

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Brain Stimulation May Ease Treatment-Resistant Depression

November 9, 2009

MONDAY, Nov. 9 (HealthDay News) — Electrical stimulation of a certain area of the brain may prove an effective treatment for severe depression, say German researchers.

They implanted electrodes in the nucleus accumbens area of the brains of 10 people. This area of the brain is part of the reward system that ensures that people remember good experiences and puts them in a state of pleasant anticipation.

None of the study participants had responded to psychotherapy or drug treatment. After electrical stimulation of the nucleus accumbens, though, all of them showed signs of improvement in their depression symptoms and half showed significant improvement, the study reported. In some cases, initial improvements were seen after just a few days. Read More

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Depression May Blur Memory of Aches and Pains

November 3, 2009

TUESDAY, Nov. 3 (HealthDay News) — Depressed people tend to report more physical symptoms than they actually experience, a new study finds.

The study involved 109 women who completed questionnaires designed to assess their levels of neuroticism and depression. For the next three weeks, they kept daily records of whether they felt any of 15 common physical symptoms, including aches and pains, gastrointestinal problems and upper-respiratory issues.

At the end of the three-week period, the women were asked to recall how often they’d experienced each symptom. Those who had a higher depression score at the start of the study were more likely to overstate the frequency of their symptoms. Read More

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Psychotherapy Beats Light Treatment for SAD

October 29, 2009

THURSDAY, Oct. 29 (HealthDay News) — As daylight hours dwindle, people with seasonal affective disorder (SAD) can often feel the onset of wintertime depression, but a new study suggests one type of remedy may work better than another at banishing the SAD blues.

Cognitive behavioral therapy specially designed to treat people with SAD is more effective at preventing recurrences of depression than either light therapy or a combination of the two, the study found.

The psychotherapy may also be a time-saver — potentially welcome news with Daylight Saving Time coming to an end on Nov. 1. Read More

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Phone Counseling for Depression Rings With Promise

October 27, 2009

TUESDAY, Oct. 27 (HealthDay News) — An intensive telephone counseling program for people with depression offers substantial benefits at moderate cost, U.S. researchers say.

They studied 600 people who were randomly assigned to one of three types of care for their depression. One group received telephone care management, which included five outreach calls for monitoring, support, feedback and care coordination. Another group received telephone care management plus psychotherapy, which added eight sessions of structured cognitive behavioral therapy over the phone with up to four additional reinforcement calls. The third group received usual care. Read More

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Depression Often Goes Untreated in Working Moms

October 27, 2009

TUESDAY, Oct. 27 (HealthDay News) — More than 65 percent of U.S. mothers with depression don’t receive adequate treatment, a new study has found.

Black, Hispanic and other minority mothers are least likely to receive adequate treatment. Mothers with health insurance are three times more likely to receive adequate treatment than those without insurance, wrote the researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health. Read More

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Constant Light Linked to Symptoms of Depression

October 23, 2009

FRIDAY, Oct. 23 (HealthDay News) — Exposure to too much light at night may cause depression, suggests a new study.

Ohio State University researchers found that mice kept in a lighted room 24 hours a day had more depressive symptoms than mice that had a normal day-night cycle. The study also found that mice that lived in a constantly lit room, but could take refuge in a dark tube when they desired, had fewer depressive symptoms than mice that couldn’t get away from the 24-hour light. Read More

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Fish Oil Supplements Don’t Help Depressed Heart Patients

October 20, 2009

TUESDAY, Oct. 20 (HealthDay News) — In a surprise and not very welcome finding, researchers report that fish oil supplements do not ease depression in individuals who suffer from both depression and coronary heart disease.

Participants in the study, which is published in the Oct. 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, were also taking the antidepressant sertraline (Zoloft). Some studies have suggested that the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish might enhance the effects of Zoloft. Read More

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Suicidal Thoughts May Vary by Antidepressant

October 15, 2009

THURSDAY, Oct. 15 (HealthDay News) — Men who take the antidepressant nortriptyline (Aventyl) are nearly 10 times more likely to have suicidal thoughts than those who use the antidepressant escitalopram (Lexapro, Cipralex), a new study has found.

The study, published online Oct. 15 in BMC Medicine, included 811 people with moderate to severe unipolar depression. Though it found an overall reduction in suicidal thoughts, men who took nortriptyline were found to have a 9.8-fold increase in emerging suicidal thoughts and a 2.4-fold increase in worsening suicidal thoughts, compared with those who took escitalopram. Read More

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Green Spaces Boost the Body and the Mind

October 15, 2009

THURSDAY, Oct. 15 (HealthDay News) — The closer you live to nature, the healthier you’re likely to be.

For instance, people who live within 1 kilometer of a park or wooded area experience less anxiety and depression, Dutch researchers report.

The findings put concrete numbers on a concept that many health experts had assumed to be true.

“It’s nice to see that it shows that, that the closer humans are to the natural environment, that seems to have a healthy influence,” said Dr. David Rakel, director of integrative medicine and assistant professor of family medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. Read More

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