Signs and Symptoms of Depression - Depression. The foremost symptoms of depression are loss of interest, loss of energy, and an inability to experience pleasure. Depression can be so overwhelming that a person cannot recognize the symptoms. Conversely, some depressed people sleep a lot during the day, and longer than normal at night. Overactivity in this sense does not mean mania—the agitated state in major depressive disorder should not be confused with the manic episode that occurs in bipolar disorder, when mood is temporarily elevated by a transient sense of hope and elation. Many psychomotor behaviors associated with mental disorder affect impulses, cravings, instincts, and wishes. The spectrum of agitated behavior includes the following. Incoherent conversation. Expansive gesturing. Pacing and hair twirling. Psychomotor retardation manifests as a slowing of coordination, speech, and impaired articulation. Swierzewski, III, M. D. Published: 0. 2 Feb 2. Last Modified: 1. Depression. Depression is rated by the World Health Organisation as the leading cause of disease burden amongst high income countries. Depression is characterised by feelings of worthlessness or guilt, poor concentration, loss of energy, fatigue, thoughts of suicide or preoccupation with death, loss or increase of appetite and weight, a disturbed sleep pattern, slowing down (both physically and mentally), agitation (restlessness or anxiety). If you think you are feeling down, try our free depression test questionnaireto check your mood. There are many factors that can contribute to the development of depression such as psychological issues or biochemical imbalances, and triggers such as major stress or trauma. There are also a number of nutritional imbalances that can make you prone to depression such as: Essential fats, do you need more Omega 3? ![]() HelpGuide is dedicated to Morgan Leslie Segal. For six years, she grappled with a condition that started as low self-esteem and worsened into major depression. Lifting depression without an Rx Depression affects nearly 16 million Americans annually, and a large portion of those people take antidepressant drugs. Homocysteine, is it too high? Serotonin levels, do they need boosting with amino acids? Blood sugar balance. Levels of the nutrients chromium and Vitamin DFood intolerances, could they be making you sad? To find out more about these factors read on, or click on our Action Plan for Depression. Watch Fran, a client of the Brain Bio Centre clinic, talking about how a nutritional approach helped support her depression: More information about the Brain Bio Centre clinic where nutritional imbalances can be analysed can be found here. WHAT IS DEPRESSION? EasyDiagnosis offers automatic online medical diagnosis for consumers and health care professionals. Just answer questions about your signs and symptoms and our. Learn about depression symptoms in men, women, teenagers, and children. Plus, read about treatment, medications and side effects, causes, and diagnosis. Can a junk food diet increase your risk of depression? Answers from Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D. Depression and diet may be related. Several studies have found that.In Britain, 1 in 2. Unipolar Depression is rated by the World Health Organization as the leading cause of disease burden amongst high- income countries. The classic symptoms of depression include feelings of worthlessness or guilt, poor concentration, loss of energy, fatigue, thoughts of suicide or preoccupation with death, loss or increase of appetite and weight, a disturbed sleep pattern, slowing down (both physically and mentally), agitation (restlessness or anxiety). There are 2 major classifications of depression: typical and atypical. Typical depression tends to feature loss of weight, appetite and difficulty sleeping whereas atypical depression tends to include weight gain, increased appetite and excessive sleepiness and/or sleeping. ARE YOU DEPRESSED? Depression is diagnosed on the basis of symptoms in a questionnaire test, the most common being the Hamilton Rating Scale of Depression, or HRS for short. This contains questions about your mood, guilt feelings, suicidal thoughts, insomnia, agitation, anxiety, physical problems, sex drive, and so on. Depending on your test score on these questions, you will be diagnosed with either “mild,” “moderate,” or “severe” depression. Here’s a simplified depression test questionnaire to check your mood. Check yourself out on this simplified Mood Check. WHAT CAUSES DEPRESSION? ![]() There are many factors that can contribute to the development of depression. There might be underlying biochemical or psychological issues that predispose an individual to depression. There might be a trigger such as a stressful event, a bereavement, loss of a job, or break up of a relationship. If you are suffering with a low mood, whether you consider that it is depression or not, you should see your GP who can rule out medical causes, recommend counselling, cognitive behavioural therapy and psychotherapy, and assess your medication. Exercise is also very important and there’s lots of evidence that regular exercise boosts mood, especially if you’re able to exercise outdoors in a green environment. Even a walk in the park or a stroll by the river is thought to be beneficial. There are a number of nutritional imbalances that can make you prone to depression. ![]() These are: Essential fats, do you need more Omega 3? Homocysteine level, is it too high, corrected with B vitamins? Serotonin levels, do they need boosting with amino acids? Blood sugar balance, is yours within the healthy range? Chromium, are you getting enough? Vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin. Food intolerances, could food could be making you sad? To find out more about these factors read on, or click on our Action Plan for Depression. DIET AND NUTRITION.. WHAT WORKSIncrease your omega- 3 fats. Omega- 3 fats are called essential fats, because unlike some other substances, they can’t be manufactured within the human body, and therefore it is essential that you take them in through your diet. The richest dietary source is from oily fish such as salmon, sardines, mackerel, pilchards, herring, trout and fresh but not tinned tuna. Surveys have shown that the more fish the population of a country eats the lower is their incidence of depression. There are two key types of omega- 3 fats, EPA and DHA and the evidence suggests that it’s the EPA which seems to be the most potent natural anti- depressant. There have been six double- blind placebo controlled trials to date, five of which show benefit. The first trial by Dr Andrew Stoll from Harvard Medical School, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, gave 4. The next, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, tested the effects of giving twenty people suffering from severe depression, who were already on anti- depressants but still depressed, a highly concentrated form of omega 3 fat, called ethyl- EPA versus a placebo. By the third week the depressed patients were showing major improvement in their mood, while those on placebo were not. A recent pooling of trials (a meta- analysis) which looked at all good quality trials of omega- 3 fats and mood disorders concluded that omega- 3 fats reduced depressive symptoms by an average of 5. Of those that measured the Hamilton Rating Scale, including one . This may be because omega 3s help to build the brain’s neuronal (brain cell) connections as well as the receptor sites for neurotransmitters; therefore, the more omega- 3s in your blood, the more serotonin you are likely to make and the more responsive you become to its effects. Where’s the evidence? Search our evidence database for a list of scientific studies on omega 3 and depression. Side effects? Very occasionally, when starting omega- 3 fish oil supplementation, some people can get slightly loose bowels or fish- tasting burps, but this is quite rare. Supplementing fish oils also reduces risk for heart disease, reduces arthritic pain and may improve memory and concentration. See action plan for our recommendations. Increase your intake of B vitamins. People with either low blood levels of the B- vitamin folic acid, or high blood levels of the amino acid homocysteine (a sign that you are not getting enough B6, B1. In a study comparing the effects of giving an SSRI with either a placebo or with folic acid, 6. But how does folic acid itself, a cheap vitamin with no side- effects, compare to anti- depressants? Three trials involving 2. Two involving 1. 51 people assessed the use of folic acid in addition to other treatment, and found that adding folic acid reduced HRS scores on average by a further 2. That’s not as good as the results with 5- HTP (discussed below) but as good, if not better than antidepressants. These studies also show that more patients treated with folate experienced a reduction in their HRS score of greater than 5. Having a high level of homocysteine, a toxic amino acid found in the blood, doubles the odds of a woman developing depression. The ideal level is below 7, and certainly below 1. The average level is 1. Depression risk doubles with levels above 1. The higher your level the more likely folic acid will work for you. Folic acid is one of seven nutrients – the others being B2, B6, B1. TMG – that help normalise homocysteine. Deficiency in vitamin B3, B6, folic acid, zinc and magnesium have all been linked to depression. Having a low homocysteine means your brain is good at . So it makes sense to both eat wholefoods, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, high in these nutrients and supplementing a multivitamin. Side effects? There are none, except lower risk for heart disease, strokes, Alzheimer’s and improved energy and concentration. However, if you are B1. B1. 2 deficiency symptoms, but the underlying nerve damage caused by B1. So, don’t take folic acid without also supplementing vitamin B1. See action plan for our recommendations. Boost your serotonin with amino acids. Serotonin is made in the body and brain from an amino acid called tryptophan. Tryptophan is then converted into another amino acid called 5- Hydroxy Tryptophan (5- HTP), which in turn is converted into the neurotransmitter serotonin. Tryptophan can be found in the diet; it’s in many protein rich foods such as meat, fish, beans and eggs. HTP is found in high levels in the African Griffonia bean, but this bean is not a common feature of most people’s diet. Just not getting enough tryptophan is likely to make you depressed; people fed food deficient in tryptophan became rapidly depressed within hours. Both tryptophan and 5- HTP have been shown to have an antidepressant effect in clinical trials, although 5. HTP is more effective - 2. So how do they compare with anti- depressants? In play- off studies between 5- HTP and SSRI antidepressants, 5- HTP generally comes out slightly better. One double- blind trial headed by Dr. Poldinger at the Basel University of Psychiatry gave 3. SSRI fluvoxamine (Luvox) or 3. HTP. At the end of the six weeks, both groups of patients had had a significant improvement in their depression. However, those taking 5- HTP had a slightly greater improvement, compared to those on the SSRI, in each of the four criteria assessed—depression, anxiety, insomnia, and physical symptoms—as well as their own self- assessment, although this improvement was not statistically significant. Since anti- depressant drugs, in some sensitive people, can induce an overload of serotonin called . The balance of evidence suggests that there is little to no risk, however, if you wish to take 5- HTP or tryptophan alongside a serotonergic drug (SSRI or tricyclic antidepressant that boosts serotonin levels), you should first consult your prescribing doctor.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
August 2017
Categories |