Thursday, October 22, 2009

Understand Different type of Depression Treatment Regimens

Depression has become one of the most prevalent health issues in many countries around the world. In fact, studies reveal that a majority of people will experiencing clinical depression at some point during their lifetimes. As a result, we should at least have a basic awareness of what different depression treatment regimens are available in the market.

Change of lifestyle

If an individual is suffering from a mild, isolated case of depression, the effective depression treatment regimens may include change of lifestyle including more sleep, diet adjustment and increased exercise. In some circumstances, a combination of these resources gives effective result in beating the blue.

Professional advice and Medication

Some of the people find themselves suffering a more serious bout of depression. In that case, a depression treatment program must include professional assistance. When consulting with a qualified health care professional, a depression treatment program that includes therapy and medications are likely to be recommended.

Therapy is an important element in the depression treatment regimens as it assists the afflicted patient discovering the root causes of the depressive illness. While medications are helpful to aid in the reduction of the symptoms that commonly associated with a depressive illness.

Hospitalization

In some condition, a depressive illness is so serious that the depression treatment regimens include inpatient hospitalization. Normally, a person who is hospitalized for depressive illness will only be confined for a short period of time, with the purpose of emotion stabilization. The long term treatment will be conducted on an outpatient basis.

EST (electro-shock therapy)

EST is one of the depression treatment regimens that used by some of the mental health care professionals for patients who have a more profound depressive illness. For some period of time in the 1970s and 1980s, EST as a depression treatment option was frowned upon by a wide sector of the mental health care professional community.

In recent years, the techniques associated with EST have been refined and some doctors have come to see beneficial results in their patients who are subjected to a depression treatment regimen that using EST. Anyway, EST is mean to use only in a limited number of cases, normally in a more severe and unabated patient. Similar with other depression treatment regimens, patients who receive EST also participate in a course of therapy to try and discover the root causes of the depressive illness.

EEG Biofeedback (Neurofeedback) Training

One of the depression treatment regimens is EGG Biofeedback, using the brain wave training mechanism. Without any medication, a lot of people have encouraged results using it. The overall success rate (with good and bad clinicians) is considered to be about 85%. Anyway, the cost of 60 recommended sessions with half hour each time in conjunction with the professional advice is ranging from $4500 to over $10,000. It is expensive and is above the ability of most mid and low income families.

Indeed, when it comes to depression treatment, there are a number of different options available in the market. Every depression symptoms should be treated case by case basis, and please consult with your physician before starting any depression treatment regimens.
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Friday, October 16, 2009

Causes of Depression

Depression is a mental disorder that we really should take a look at its causes. In any given year, there are over 14 million adults in the U.S. are affected by major depressive disorder, or with its common name as depression. From that figure, there are approximately 10% of women and 4% of men with aged 18 and older take antidepressant for depression.

In fact, there are many theories about causes of depression but nobody knows exactly what they are. Anyway, studies have revealed some of the factors that contribute to the probability of people developing depression.

1) Stress
Stress takes the first place prize in the causes of depression. It is true that any stressful environment or situation can lead to depression, including social stress, loss a job, relationship difficulties, worry about money, overload of duties, lifestyle out of control, pressures of school homework and getting good grades. Stressful situations just keep changing.

2) Drinking and Drugs
Studies reveal that people who take drugs and alcohol are more prone to depression. When these substances are used at a young age, they can effect a person's brain in negative ways in long run. These substances help make the person feel good temporarily, but in most cases, people become addicted afterwards.

Drugs can assist in dopamine releasing in the pleasure center of the brain. For instance, delicious food boosts dopamine release by about 50%. However, drugs can increase dopamine release anywhere from 4 to 10 times. This unnatural high almost certainly leads to depression after the high goes away.

This substance is the surest way to fry brain circuitry. Drugs make a person depressed more than it makes him happy in the long run. This effect will spiral downward until the person doing drugs will want more and more of it in order to break the cycle of depression that follows each high and so the addiction is born.

3) Physical Changes to the Body
Physical changes that occur to our bodies can also lead to depression. Severe medical conditions such as Parkinson's disease, heart attacks, strokes and diabetes can make the people believe that there is nothing worthwhile living for because the body can no longer do the things their mind expect it to do. This can create a believe that life tends to be meaningless and it becomes easier for them to slip into negative spiral of emotions. When individual feel depressed, it will delay the rate of recovery.

4) Lack of Sleep
Researches indicate that up to 40% of adults do not get the proper amount of sleep per day and among students, up to 71% complain of sleep disorders and lack of sleep. We know that sleep is essential to an individual's health. During sleep, the body repairs itself and reorganizes thought. Lack of sleep contributes to a lack of coherence in brain waves. This scenario can lead to depression. Sleeping during the day and staying up late also interferes with the body's natural rhythms. This can lead to a sense of depression too.

5) Low self esteem
Low self esteem and pessimism are one of the factors that relate to the causes of depression. With these negative mood traits, an individual may regard themselves with feelings of hopeless, worthlessness, a desire to end their life and may even attempts for a suicide. The worse thing is people who suffers from low self esteem tend to see their lives in the negative perspective. These low self esteem and pessimistic feelings, together with other factors such as stress, can create a potential for depression and may indeed invoke a response towards depression.

Besides the 5 causes of depression mentioned above, other causes of depression include death, change of job, genetic traits, moving from one place to another etc. Even the fear of the unknown can cause depression and the list is endless. While some of these events cannot be avoided, we must come up with an effective depression coping mechanism and get some overcome depression tips to be able to thrive in any situation.

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Thursday, October 8, 2009

Use Natural Remedy to Beat Depression, Anxiety and Stress

There are a lot of natural remedies for depression treatment in the market that you can use to relieve and also prevent your depression, anxiety and stress. The use of herbal remedies can help you with your depression and anxiety naturally, safely and effectively. One of these natural remedies for depression treatment is Rhodiola Rosea. Rhodiola Rosea is considered as one of the best natural remedies that efficiently addresses the different and devastating symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress.

Also known as Golden Root or Rose Root, Rhodiola Rosea is a native plant of arctic Siberia and is a popular plant in traditional medical systems in Eastern Europe and Asia. For centuries, it has been used with a reputation for stimulating the nervous system, decreasing depression and fatigue, enhancing work performance, treating nervous system disorders and preventing high altitude sickness.

Besides Rhodiola Rosea, there are over 200 different species of Rhodiola have been identified and at least 20 of them are used in traditional medical systems in Asia. They include Rhodiola Alterna, Rhodiola Brevipetiolata, Rhodiola Crenulata, Rhodiola Kirilowii, Rhodiola Quadrifida, Rhodiola Sachalinensis and Rhodiola Sacra.

In fact, Rhodiola Rosea has been intensively studied in Russia and Scandinavia for more than 35 years, and it has been included officially in Russian medicine since 1969. Despite its long history, the western world has just recently become aware of the health benefits provided by Rhodiola Rosea. It has caught the attention of many natural health practitioners because of studies which tested its affects on beating anxiety and stress, and thus help in depression treatment.

Rhodiola Rosea is considered as an adaptogen by Russian researchers. This is because it has an overall stabilizing effect on the body without disrupting other functions. Its ability to normalize hormones may be effective for treating depression and anxiety. Researches about Rhodiola Rosea reveal that it stimulates neurotransmitters and enhances their effects on the brain. This includes the ability for the brain to process serotonin which helps the body to adapt to stress.

Since adaptogens improve the body's overall ability to handle stress, it has been further studied to identify it's effects on biological, chemical and physical stress. A research was performed to test the effects of Rhodiola Rosea when stress is caused by intense mental work such as final examination. Such tests concluded that using Rhodiola Rosea improved the amount and quality of work, increased the mental clarity and reduced the fatigue effects.

Apart from that, the effect of Rhodiola Rosea has also been tested on stress and anxiety from both physical and emotional sources. A study by the American Botanical Council indicates that "Most consumers discover that it improves their mood, energy level, and mental clarity". Besides, it was also reported that the indicated Rhodiola Rosea could increase stress tolerance while at the same time protecting the brain and heart from the physical affects of stress. These studies reveal that Rodiola Rosea does help in treating or preventing depression as stres and anxiety are one of the main cause of depression.

If you want to try Rhodiola Rosea, the common recommended dose is 200-600mg/day, while the active properties should be a minimum 0.8% of salidroside and 3% of rosavin. When you are on the shop, please be aware because Rhodiola may be sold using other species that do not share the properties of Rhodiola Rosea, or at ineffective strengths for treatment. Make sure you buy the correct one.

If you suffer from any depression symptoms such as anxiety, feelings of helplessness, loss of sound sleep etc, please check with a health professional when treating these symptoms using Rhodiola Rosea.



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