Depression Archive

For too many women, joyfully anticipated pregnancy and motherhood bring depression as an unexpected accompaniment. Children as well as mothers suffer. Depression during pregnancy may result in poor prenatal care, premature delivery, low birth weight, and, just possibly, depression in the child. Depression after childbirth (postpartum depression) can lead to child neglect, family breakdown, and suicide. A depressed mother may fail to bond emotionally with her newborn, raising the child's risk of later cognitive delays and emotional and behavior problems. Fortunately, if the depression is detected soon enough, help is available for mother and child.

Depression During Pregnancy

Depression in pregnant women is often overlooked, partly because of a widespread misconception that pregnancy somehow provides protection against mood disorders. In reality, almost 25% of cases of postpartum depression in womem start during pregnancy, and depression may peak at that time, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal.

Hurting bodies and suffering minds often require the same treatment.

Pain, especially chronic pain, is an emotional condition as well as a physical sensation. It is a complex experience that affects thought, mood, and behavior and can lead to isolation, immobility, and drug dependence.

In those ways, it resembles depression, and the relationship is intimate. Pain is depressing, and depression causes and intensifies pain. People with chronic pain have three times the average risk of developing psychiatric symptoms — usually mood or anxiety disorders — and depressed patients have three times the average risk of developing chronic pain.

Author and migraine sufferer Joan Didion once wrote, "That no one dies of migraine seems, to someone deep into an attack, an ambiguous blessing." At that time, migraines weren't something that could be prevented. Today, that's a possibility for some people who have severe migraines, frequent migraines (more than three or four times a month), or migraines that don't respond well to treatment.

The cornerstone of migraine prevention is managing triggers like stress or certain foods or strong perfumes. Alternative and complementary therapies (like acupuncture) help some migraine sufferers keep headaches at bay.

Some people live long lives with no disease or serious illness. What can they teach you about healthy living?

Image: Creatas | Thinkstock /Thinkstock

You won't live forever, but it may be possible to live a long and maybe disease-free life by following the lead of "wellderlies."

This is a term to describe a special group of people who have reached ages 90 to 100 without having any major health issue or disease. And if they do get sick, it often happens late in their life and a short period before death.

Studies suggest that adopting a sunnier outlook may improve your health and even extend your life.

Image: © lzf /Thinkstock

In these turbulent times, it's sometimes a struggle to maintain a glass-half-full view of life. But if you can, it may serve you well. A growing body of research links optimism—a sense that all will be well—to a lower risk for mental or physical health issues and to better odds of a longer life.

One of the largest such studies was led by researchers Dr. Kaitlin Hagan and Dr. Eric Kim at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Their team analyzed data from 70,000 women in the Nurses' Health Study who, in 2004, had answered questions about how they viewed their futures

The relaxation response appears to manage stress and some chronic conditions at the deepest levels.

 Image: © XiXinXing/Thinkstock

Chronic stress takes a toll on the body: it contributes to everything from high blood pressure and heart disease to anxiety, digestive disorders, and slow wound healing. On the flip side, managing stress helps control many chronic conditions or reduce your risk for developing them. Strategies include regular exercise, a healthy diet, and better sleep. And one strategy in particular—eliciting the relaxation response—may enable you to manage stress right down to your genes.

The anti-stressor

Trigger the response

Studies show smoking high-tar unfiltered cigarettes, as opposed to medium-tar filtered cigarettes, greatly increases your risk of lung cancer. So, cigarettes labeled as low-tar or ultra light are an even safer choice, right? Wrong. A study comparing the lung cancer risks of different types of cigarettes found this seemingly logical assumption is false.

The study six years and involved over 900,000 Americans over the age of 30. The researchers compared the risk of death from lung cancer among men and women who were smokers, former smokers, or had never smoked. When analyzed according to the tar rating of cigarette smoked, the results of the study showed the risk of lung cancer death was greatest for smokers of high-tar unfiltered cigarettes. The risk of lung cancer death was no different among smokers of medium-, low-, and very low-tar cigarettes.