Family, marriage, work, and even our own thinking can become sources of stress. Life today is filled with sources of stress much of which cannot be avoided. Often the best we can do is find ways of effectively coping. To be effective we must recognize both the source of stress and appropriate techniques for dealing it.
Family. Families are a complex network of interactions. Each family is a system and hence each interaction and each personality affects the entire system. If one person is ill in your family, it is clear how that illness disrupts the everyday flow of the system. Likewise, it affects the system when one member of the family is angry or depressed. An alcoholic in the family disrupts the system and often leads to the system trying to adapt to the family member. Sometimes that adaptation creates difficulties as well.
The family, like the human body, tries to compensate for an organ that is not functioning up to par. Our entire body may be thrown out of alignment by an injury to an arm or a leg, for example. Similarly, the family in an attempt to compensate for one of its members, may be thrown out of alignment and become dysfunctional. When this occurs it is time to seek professional help. Psychologists and family therapists can help the family focus on the communication styles that throw the family out of alignment.
The amino acid tryptophan, present in protein foods, plays a role in a number of biochemical reactions in the body. Some tryptophan becomes protein, some is converted into niacin (vitamin B3) and some enters the brain to become the neurotransmitter serotonin. Serotonin, a key brain chemical, is responsible for producing, among other things, a feeling of calm and well-being. Three decades of research connects various states of depression and anxiety with altered amounts of serotonin.
In the 1970s and 1980s, tryptophan became a popular nutritional supplement because of its role as a precursor to serotonin. Tryptophan proved to be remarkably effective at alleviating symptoms of depression, but in 1989 the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned the retail sale of tryptophan after a contaminated batch from a single Japanese manufacturer caused a serious condition known as eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS). Although tryptophan itself was not clearly implicated in causing EMS, FDA has steadfastly maintained its ban. Fortunately, another substance has come to light as a natural precursor to serotonin: 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP). Derived from the seed pods of Griffonia simplicifolia, a West African plant, 5-HTP is a close relative of tryptophan and part of the metabolic pathway that leads to serotonin production:
COLD PRESSED BUT NOT DEPRESSED
Summary: Answers a question about the link of reduced fat and cholesterol intake with depression and anxiety. Importance of fat for the body; Most dangerous fat for the body found in processed foods; Recommended healthy fats.
Q: I'm a slender 30-year-old woman who does not need to lose weight, but does want to eat as healthful a diet as possible. However, whenever I lower my fat intake, I find I get nervous and depressed. Is there a logical explanation for this, or is it simply my imagination?
A. No, it's not your imagination--your body and brain both need fat to function properly. Studies have linked reduced cholesterol and fat intake with depression and anxiety. Fat is especially important...
What Medical Intervention Needs to be Sought for Children With Fragile X Syndrome to Help in Sensory Processing?
Several areas that affect sensory processing may be helped by medication, in addition to counseling, environmental adjustments, and behavioral plans. Anxiety, aggression, and attention are all areas that are affected by sensory overload issues.
Anxiety may be a significant problem for most males and some females with fragile X syndrome. The serotonin agents are often prescribed to help lower anxiety levels (see section on Medication by Dr. Hagerman).
Aggressive outbursts affect some males with fragile X syndrome. Some of the serotonin agents may be helpful, in that they reduce the anxiety that causes the outbursts.
A third area that often requires medical intervention for many children is that of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). (See also the section on Behavior for more information on ADHD). Attention problems interact with sensory overload issues, in that the affected person attends to too many stimuli (the sound of the fluorescent lights, the sight of too many decorations on the wall, etc.).
Ever been cranky when it is too hot? Have you ever been listless or depressed when its cold or rainy? Can the weather affect our mood? This has always been an intriguing subject. It has been studied by scientists and sociologists. One would think so, just to make an educated guess, especially if it has happened to you. Like when the days are extremely hot, and you feel irritated or moody for no apparent reason. And what about when it is cold or rainy and gloomy and you feel sad, meloncoly, even depressed, but you can't quite put your finger on it. Is there any evidence to substantiate these seemingly bizarre occurances? Phenomenon? Or is there a direct connection between the two?
There are studies that link weather with long periods of high temperatures to increase in crime. It is believed that people get irritable and hostile when it is extremely hot. Several law enforcement agencies have statistics that shows te correlation of the two. Think about how you felt if ever you had experienced a heat wave: hot, irritable, frustrated, maybe even angry.
Another way that has been proven and documented that the weather can affect your mood is called SAD. SAD stands for Seasonal Affective Disorder. SAD is a syndrome characterized by depression...
In the West, seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is mostly a winter phenomenon. But two new studies reveal that in other locales, that's not necessarily the case.
Wintertime depression has been linked to melatonin, a hormone we naturally release when darkness falls, which makes us sleepy. Some scientists believe that as day length wanes, melatonin secretion Increases, causing the lethargy linked with SAD. It would follow that SAD would be pervasive in Iceland, where there is very low light during the winter. But a recent study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry showed no evidence of seasonal mood change among Icelanders. The near absence of winter depression was likely caused by a genetic selection process favoring "those who had full stamina during the winter" and could survive the plagues, volcanoes and ice that have pure-reeled Iceland over the past millennium, says Hogni Oskarsson, M.D., a psychiatrist at Ulleval Hospital in Oslo, Norway.
Separation anxiety refers to a developmental stage during which the child experiences anxiety when separated from the primary care giver (usually the mother). It is normal between 8 months of age and may last until 14 months old.
In young children, their unwillingness to leave a parent or a caregiver is a sign that attachments have developed between the caregiver and child. They are beginning to understand that each object (including people) in the environment is different and permanent. Young children cannot yet understand time, therefore they do not know when or even if you will ever come back. Children at this stage are struggling between feelings of striking out on their own and yet wanting to stay safe by a parent or caregiver’s side.
Although separation anxieties are normal among infants and toddlers, they are not appropriate for older children or adolescents and may represent symptoms of separation anxiety disorder. To reach the diagnostic threshold for this disorder, the anxiety or fear must cause distress or affect social, academic, or job functioning and must last at least 1 month (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). Children with separation anxiety may cling to their parent and have difficulty falling asleep by themselves at night. When separated, they may fear that...
Who needs mental health care? Under the guidelines of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) published by the American Psychiatric Association virtually any person could be diagnosed as having a mental disorder. What is the difference between the person who appears to be successfully dealing with their life, the person who requires individual or family counseling, and the person who requires more intensive interventions such as medication or hospitalization? For the most part the difference is a matter of degree, or severity of the problem.
One method of measuring a persons need for mental health care is the Global Assessment of Functioning outlined by the American Psychiatric Association in the DSM. This assessment tool rates the persons capacity to function in three areas of their life; family, social and work or school. A person who is having severe problems coping in two or three of these areas needs help; likewise a person who is only having problems in one of these areas, but the problems are so debilitating that the person is totally nonfunctional in that area also needs help. A person who is only having mild to moderate problems in one or two of these areas can usually copy without outside intervention. A good rule of thumb to use in considering mental health care is how comfortable the individual is with their situation. If the individual is satisfied with the way their life is going, then intervention is most likely not needed.
Count among the legacies of divorce a certain amount of relationship anxiety. If your parents were divorced, you're likely to think your own marriage is in trouble-even when it isn't.
Men and women whose parents split while they were growing up are just as likely to have a happy marriage as are folks from intact families, reports a team of Michigan sociologists. But even when happily married, they are more likely to think that their own marriage is full of conflict.
Adult children of divorce are 70% more likely than their peers from nonfractured families to fear their marriage is suffering. They're also more inclined to consider divorce in the face of marital problems. Having seen their parents split up, they accept divorce as an option.
Intermittent Explosive Disorder falls in the category of Impulse-Control Disorders. This disorder is characterized by frequent and often unpredictable episodes of extreme anger or physical outbursts. Between episodes, there is typically no evidence of violence or physical threat. Often genuine regret is expressed after the outburst. Most patients are young men and history will often involve frequent traffic accidents, moving violations and possibly sexual impulsivity. These patients may exhibit extreme sensitivity to alcohol. This disorder is a controversial category because some clinicians believe that it is only a symptom of other diagnoses rather than a disorder on its own (Morrison, 1995).
It just may be that no drug is more effective than a good, meaningful chat. In a new study, British researchers have demonstrated the healing power of friendship.
A group of chronically depressed women living in London were randomly assigned to receive a volunteer "befriender" or were placed on a waiting list for one. The befrienders were instructed to be confidants to the depressed women, meeting them regularly for chats over coffee or outings.
Tirril Harris, Ph.D., of Guy's, King's and St. Thomas' schools of medicine in London reports in the Journal of Psychiatry that among the women who saw their volunteer friends regularly throughout the year, 72% experienced a remission in depression compared with just 45% in the control group. That's about the same success rate as antidepressants or cognitive therapy, says Harris.
We all have finicky friends who wrinkle their noses at sushi and consider pizza an exotic eat. Now there's a name for their cuisine-challenged condition: food neophobia, or anxiety over trying new foods.
Robert A. Frank, Ph.D., a psychologist at the University of Cincinnati, asked over 300 men and women to rate the smells of foodstuffs like canned asparagus while wearing a "sniffometer," a device which measures the depth of their nasal inhales. They then completed surveys rating their reactions to unfamiliar foods. Neophobics, or those deeming themselves hesitant to try new things, found the smell of strange foods less pleasant and tended to sniff with less vigor than their neophilic, or more culinarily adventurous, counterparts.
Scientists found no differences in the two groups' physical thresholds for intensity of smell and taste, so Frank contends that neophobia is a matter of attitude, not chemistry.
There's more than one way to use the word "confidence." Apart from relaxed or natural, it can also mean "certain" as in "I am confident you will be able to help me." The opposite is uncertainty or doubt. This is true for confidence, the feeling, as well.
For many people, "confidence" is really the absence of anxiety. Anxiety comes in when you're not sure what will happen and start asking "What if?" Think of some situations where you feel less confident than you'd like. What are your "what if's?" What if I say the wrong thing? What if I faint? What if I can't get home? When people get anxious, one "what if" often leads to another, worse "what if" which leaves a lot of questions but no answers.
By Answering your Own Questions With "Then I Will.."
About 38 million people in 100 countries take Prozac to ease their depression and anxiety. This is just a small indication of the number of people worldwide who rely on medication for emotional pain. At the same time, record numbers are seeking other types of therapy for stress, anxiety and depression.
Stress, anxiety, depression -- while many turn to medication, David Servan-Schreiber, M.D., believes there may be a better option. "What we’re moving towards now is...
Feel like you've spent as much time with Shrinky as Woody Allen has? Wondering if you're ever going to get off the proverbial couch? Contrary to what you might think, therapists don't see their patients as lifelong meal tickets.
"In the course of treatment, you obviously touch on a lot of issues," says Leonard Tuzman, DSW, CSW, director of social work services at Hillside Hospital, a part of the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System in New York. "You could continue to work ad nauseum on all those issues, but at some point, patients need to take what they've learned in therapy out into the community. A therapist shouldn't foster lifelong dependency."
"The job of therapy is...
The promise of darker skin lures people to tanning beds. But the relaxing effects of ultraviolet (UV) light keep them coming back, a new study shows.
This newest study examines the complex reasons why people keep returning to tanning beds, despite the skin cancer dangers. Is it just for the darker skin? Or is something else happening? Recent research shows that UV exposure puts tanners in a better mood.
"We believe that ultraviolet light has an effect on mood...
Anxiety symptoms and disorders are the number one health problem in America, ranging from a simple Adjustment Disorder to more difficult and debilitating disorders such as Panic Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. According to the most recent data, the lifetime prevalence for anxiety disorders as a whole in adults is about 25%; the frequency in children is unknown, but felt to be significantly underreported and under-diagnosed. More specifically Social Anxiety Disorder has a lifetime risk of 17%, while Panic Disorder occurs in approximately 1-3% of the adult population.
Although quite common, Anxiety Disorders in children often are overlooked or misjudged...
Doctors and researchers are finally paying attention to an obscure neurological disorder that disrupts the sleep of countless people worldwide, forcing them to get up and walk around or face discomfort throughout the night.
Experts say many "restless leg syndrome" sufferers don't realize they have an illness and fail to seek help. Some even think the condition is perfectly normal until a bedmate breaks the news that it isn't.
But even now, about a decade into the disease's renaissance as a topic of attention, not everyone takes it seriously.
There are lots of alternative treatments for clinical depression and anxiety disorders, but you may need tried-and-true treatments.
There's growing evidence that caviar, exercise, SAM-e, even meditation can help ease mood disorders. Sounds like more fun than antidepressants -- but psychiatrists don't take it lightly.
In fact, some are concerned. People who rely on alternatives too much -- who don't get treatment that is proven to be effective -- can slip into a more serious clinical depression or anxiety disorder before they realize it.
"There's highly suggestive evidence that some alternatives, especially SAM-e and omega-3 fatty acids, can help, but it's not conclusive," says Andrew F. Leuchter, MD, vice-chair of psychiatry at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute.
"When someone needs treatment, we have to look at what really works," he says. "The real danger is that somebody with serious illness could forgo getting an effective treatment for months, even years."
Most of us have indulged in a snack by the light of the fridge late at night. Those who do it too excessively and too compulsively, however, may have a relatively unknown type of eating disorder: night eating syndrome.
Colleen Rand, Ph.D., of the University of Florida at Gainesville, says that those afflicted may consume half or more of their daily calories after 7 p.m. Because they feel guilty (or simply aren't hunt gry), night eaters may also experience "morning anorexia," abstaining from eating the next day. Night eaters are also frequently troubled by insomnia, which Rand believes might be caused by the same tension and anxiety that drives their overeating.
A study Rand and her colleagues conducted revealed that, among patients so obese that they had to have surgery, 58 percent had experienced night eating syndrome (and 27 percent continued to do so even after surgery). The syndrome's prevalence among the general population was far lower--about 1.5 percent...
In a new study, a group of Canadian researchers focuses on this Mars-Venus issue: Just how much do men really get from short-term group therapy -- especially after a significant loss, like the death of a spouse?
In his study, women got relief from depression, anxiety, and general distress through group therapy -- while men were "virtually unchanged," writes researcher Anthony S. Joyce, PhD, with the University of Alberta and University of Alberta Hospital Site.
Men are often outnumbered by...
Who prescribed your antidepressant? Not a psychiatrist, most likely.
Up to 80% of antidepressants are prescribed by primary care doctors - and given the high rate of clinical depression, "that's a good thing," says David Feinberg, MD, a clinical psychiatrist with the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute.
In fact, many insurance plans require a primary care doctor be the first step in treatment.
Most people associate phobias with specific objects, animals or places. But one of the common phobias occurs across a wide spectrum of life situations & can therefore impair many parts of a person’s life. A social phobia ís the persistent, intense fear of social or performance situations. It can be one of the most debilitating of all phobias, yet ís often untreated, even though there are effective ways to overcome ít.
People with social phobia often know that their fears are excessive or unreasonable. They see others cope with & even take enjoyment ín situations that they dread. They wish they could be as relaxed as most people are when they are with others socially. If they are called upon to be the center of attention or to perform ín front of others, they panic. This often interferes with work situations where they are observed by a supervisor.
Do you know someone who’s convinced they’re ill even when doctors can find nothing wrong? For sufferers, their family and friends, hypochondria is no joke.
Some estimates suggest that one fifth of patients seen by GPs are actually suffering from health anxiety, rather than a physical illness. The character who habitually mistakes their migraine for a brain tumour, or insists their head cold is SARS is often a figure of fun – think Woody Allen or Archie Glover in Only When I Laugh. But for some people, anxiety about their physical well being can become an illness in itself.
Most of us fret about our health from time to time. Perhaps that's why it's so easy to dismiss those most likely to have ‘I told you I was ill' inscribed on their tombstones. However, there is a point at which this sort of anxiety becomes quite debilitating in itself, and develops into hypochondria.
Remorse. Heartbreak. Embarrassment. If we could erase memories that haunt us, would we? Should we? Scientists who work with patients suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are developing a new science that has been called "therapeutic forgetting."
But by erasing traumatic memories, are we changing the person? Are we erasing capacity for empathy?
Last year, the President's Council on Bioethics expressed concern that "memory numbing ... could dull the sting of one's own shameful acts ... allow a criminal to numb the memory of his or her victims.
"Separating subjective experience of memory from the true nature of the experience that is remembered cannot be underestimated," says the Council's report. "Do those who suffer evil have a duty to remember and bear witness, lest we forget the very horrors that haunt them?"
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Food and Drug Administration approved sale of a new antidepressant for adults on Wednesday. Called Cymbalta, it should be on pharmacy shelves by late in the month.
Maker Eli Lilly & Co. is banking on Cymbalta as a successor to its once-blockbuster Prozac. Cymbalta, known chemically as duloxetine, is one of a newer class of antidepressants that targets two brain chemicals involved in depression, serotonin and norepinephrine.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who are chronically stressed out during the middle of a pregnancy are more likely to give birth to children who develop behavioral problems later in life, researchers reported Friday.
The investigators found that women who were very anxious between the 12th and 22nd weeks of their pregnancies were more likely to have children who were also anxious and showed symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
However, anxiety that occurred later in pregnancy did not appear to influence children's behavior.
Study author Dr. Bea R. H. Van den Bergh explained that women who were highly anxious often had trouble coping with the daily stresses and strains of normal life. For instance, some were struggling with interpersonal relations at work, or because they were living with their in-laws, she said.
She cautioned that children were affected when women experienced prolonged bouts of anxiety, and women should not fear that if they feel anxious for one minute during pregnancy, their children will suffer.
(March 2, 2004) -- Capping a 17-year effort by a small but committed group of activists, the federal Drug Enforcement Administration has agreed to let a South Carolina physician treat 12 trauma victims with the illegal street drug ecstasy in what will be the first U.S.-approved study of the recreational drug's therapeutic potential.
The DEA's move marks a historic turn for a drug that has long been both venerated and vilified.
Ecstasy, also known as MDMA, is popular among casual drug users for its reputed capacity to engender feelings of love, trust and compassion. The government classifies it with LSD and heroin as a drug with no known medical use and high potential for abuse.
Although the study's approval is by no means a federal endorsement of uncontrolled use, it will give ecstasy's proponents their first legitimate opportunity to prove the drug can offer medical benefits.
Are the symptoms of your anxiety disorder worse during hot weather? You may not be imagining it. When your body becomes too hot, you may experience symptoms similar to those of an anxiety disorder. If you do not take care of yourself when the weather is hot, you may find your anxiety symptoms escalating.
When your body becomes hot, it works to cool itself. You know your body is working the way it's supposed to be because you will be sweating. This physical change alone, however, is enough to increase anxiety for some. If you are focused on any bodily change (and many people with anxiety are), then you may become concerned that the sweating is related to anxiety or is even the beginning of a panic attack.
In certain situations, your body may not be able to keep cooling itself adequately, particularly if you are not taking care of yourself. Symptoms of too much heat include:
Sweating
Nausea and vomiting
Dizziness
Headaches
Difficulty breathing and hyperventilation
Anxiety and mental confusion
Pale, clammy skin
Sound familiar? These are all possible symptoms of anxiety and panic.
July 1, 2004 -- Playing sports or just being active may help adolescents reduce their risk of depression, according to a new study.
The study shows that 7th graders who were physically active were less likely to suffer from depression, and students who increased their level of physical activity during the next two years had a lower risk of becoming depressed.
Researchers say...