Mental Health News

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Research has shown that certain foods can improve your mood and lessen the effects of mild anxiety and depression.  This holiday season, why not try some of the following foods to improve your mood and fight depression. 

Milk
Your brain uses an amino acid called tryptophan to make serotonin.  I’m sure most of you have heard that tryptophan in that Thanksgiving Roast Turkey is part of what makes you so sleepy, but it’s also present in milk.  Well, the serotonin that the brain makes from this stuff is also a mild sedative and can help calm you down and make your mood lighter.

Chocolate
No wonder guys bring chocolate to gals on dates.  It’s such a good thing; they hope we’ll associate good stuff with them!  Chocolate contains a lot of mood lifting chemicals to fight depression.  Plus, chocolate increases the levels of endorphins in the brain, which are literally the happy hormones and a painkiller.

Whole Grains
If you are feeling anxious and grouchy most of the time, try switching to whole grain pasta and breads in your diet.  These complex carbohydrates boost serotonin levels, which will increase your sense of calm. Plus, complex carbs can help keep your body fueled longer between meals, helping prevent a mood shattering drop in blood sugar.

Broccoli
Your mom made you eat this as a kid, but Broccoli is quite useful in helping fight depression.  It’s also pretty good with cheese sauce.  This veggie contains lots of stress relieving B vitamins, which help keep your nervous system in good mental health.

Coffee
It’s a drug for sure, but the caffeine in coffee can work to make you more alert as well as activating your brain’s pleasure centers.  On the down side it can also work to increase nervousness and anxiety.  If you are just feeling a little depressed, try one small, regular strength cup of coffee each day with milk and chocolate to see if your mood improves.

For more mood lifting foods check out the Ririan Project. http://ririanproject.com/2007/08/29/kick-start-your-day-with-these-11-mood-lifting-foods/

The Japanese have recently made mental health news with their recently released study that links PMS with depression.   Millions of women experience anxiety and depression around the world and have made the link themselves between their periods and their mental health issues.

It has been found by a study in the magazine, BioPsychoSocial Medicine that PMS is tied to a decrease in the autonomic nervous system activity that occurs in the late luteal phase right before a woman’s period.  This decrease in activity may be a cause of or just another symptom of the PMS that plagues so many women.

Of course this decrease in nervous system activity is also extremely likely to result in some symptoms like anxiety and depression.

This study does also bring some good mental health news.  It provides physicians with a relatively non-invasive method to distinguish women with PMS from those with a non-hormonal disorder.

Many women find PMS to be nothing more than a mild monthly annoyance, however there are millions of women who find that their symptoms are major disruptions in their lives.  There is still no definite conclusion as to the underlying cause of PMS and its severity in some women.

Though mental health news has learned that taking oral contraceptives or SSRIs can reduce the severity of PMS symptoms to some degree.   If you are having major PMS symptoms such as the following each month you should seek medical attention for advice on treatment.

Common PMS Symptoms
Source: Women to Women http://www.womentowomen.com/menstruation/pmssymptoms.aspx

irritability
depression
anxiety
angry outbursts
confusion or fuzzy thinking
tearfulness
fatigue
insomnia
changes in libido
overeating
cravings, especially for salty or sweet foods
alcohol intolerance
acne
hives
abdominal and pelvic cramps
bloating
weight gain
headaches
menstrual migraines
breast swelling and pain
edema
asthma
sinus problems
sore throat
worsening of chronic conditions like arthritis and ulcers
difficulty with coordination
being more prone to accidents
dizziness
decreased balance
heart pounding
nausea
fainting
urinary problems

As we come up on the holiday season many experts are warning people about the possibility of depression and anxiety resulting from a variety of areas.  The holidays hit at the same time every year, but not everyone feels the same about the holidays.

There is quite a lot of build-up to the holiday season, especially New Year’s Eve, when most Americans feel that this is the night they have to party.  Not everyone has someone to party with on New Year’s Eve, or they may not even feel like partying.  This can lead to sadness or a feeling that something is wrong with you.

Director of Pastoral Care and Social Services at Lima, Ohio Memorial Health Systems, Dottie Kaiser recommends that people without plans for the big yearly party just enjoy the time by yourself.  There is a lot of external pressure to have someone to be with for the holidays or someplace to go.  However, you can easily have a nice comfortable evening with yourself.  Snuggle up with a good book and some hot cocoa.  Watch the alcoholic consumption because mixing beer with a bad mood can lead to major depression over the holidays.

Another part of the holiday season usually involves setting unrealistic or vague New Year Resolutions which can also lead to anxiety and depression because of the let down in not fulfilling your resolutions.  Experts recommend setting achievable, specific and realistic goals for the New Year so you don’t get depressed trying to achieve the impossible.

Those who survived Katrina or left only to come back to the ruins of New Orleans are still suffering and it shows in their mental health.  Many of the survivors of Katrina are showing signs of depression. 

A study released in November found that almost half of the pre-hurricane residents of New Orleans and one-fourth of those living in other affected areas had evidence of an anxiety or mood disorder about five to seven months after the Hurricane hit. 

The hurricane created a disaster area in the United States that is as large as Great Britain and killed more than 1,000 people.  Two years later, the city is still a shadow of it’s former self and many residents are still living in tents.  The strain of continuing to live in difficult conditions is likely one of the causes of depression in the survivors.

A telephone survey was conducted between Jan. 10 and March 31, 2006 with a little over 1,000 people who provided the information for the study.  It was found that a vast majority of those in the New Orleans metro area about 91.9% reported experiencing at least one of the 10 categories of hurricane related stressors.   The stressors such as death of a loved one down to robbery resulted in signs of depression and other anxiety/mood disorders occurring.

One of the major preventable causes of the mental health decline in New Orleans and surrounding area residents is concluded by the study to be the slow government response to Hurricane Katrina in evacuating, providing aid and more.

A recent study is indicating that if you were a small baby you could have a higher risk of mental health issues such as anxiety and depression.  Researchers as the University of Alberta and Colleagues in Britain studies the records of 4,600 Britons born in the year 1946 and who took part in a 40-year study.

The researchers looked at the birth weights of all these people and at whether or not the participants experienced mental health issues.  They didn’t try to look for causes of the problems, only noted the connections. 

Ian Colman, one of the researchers stated that people who only had mild to moderate symptoms of depression and anxiety tended to be smaller babies than those who were in better mental health.  He also said that this appears to be a ‘dose-response relationship’ in that the smaller you were as a baby, the more likely you are to have mood disorders. 

Researchers also noted that those who had more mental health issues throughout their lives also tended to reach developmental milestones later on, such as sitting upright and walking. 

Of course being born small doesn’t guarantee you’ll have problems.  It’s only an indicator if you were born small because of stress in the womb.  Researchers believe this is so because when a mother is very stressed blood flow to the womb is constricted and the fetus gets fewer nutrients and this can lead to lower birth weight.  Researchers also theorized that some of the stress hormones produced by the mother are being passed through the placenta to the fetus when she is stressed causing the baby to be stressed. 

Studies have also shown that a lower birth weight indicates a higher risk of diabetes and heart disease in later life.  So it’s not just mental health issues you should be concerned about.

This study shows that pregnant women should be well taken care off and care should be taken not to stress them.

Medical researchers find that for many, the problem of drug addiction and mental illnesses occur together.  It has long been known that people with mental illnesses ranging from anxiety disorders to bipolar depression commonly struggle with addictions.  These can be addictions such as nicotine, alcohol and cocaine or others.  In fact, Andrew Chambers, MD, cited that at least half of all people who seek help for their addictions are also diagnosed with a co-occurring mental health disorder. 

For a long time previously, doctors had assumed that the addictions were a kind of ‘self-medication’ for those suffering with mental illnesses who just slid into addiction.  However, Andrew Chambers decided to find out if this was the cause through the scientific method. 

He and his team at the medical school of Indiana University compared the adult mood- and drug addiction related behavior of two groups of adult rats.  One group underwent surgery to purposely damage their amygdalas and another group underwent a fake surgery to simulate the same conditions. 

The rats that underwent the real surgery were found to be significantly more sensitive to cocaine and developed an addiction to the drug when addicted to it much faster. 

Dr. Chambers theorized that the reason the amygdalas are damaged in humans can vary.  Sometimes there are relatively rare cases of temporal lobe epilepsy, tumors or early brain injury.  However, these co-occurring drug addictions and mental illnesses are more common than that.  Chambers believes they could also be the result of developmental damage to the amygdale during early childhood.  An early emotional trauma combined with certain genetic backgrounds can alter the early development of the neural networks involved in the amygdala leading to brain disturbances.

In Hastings, Nebraska a small program at Hastings Regional Center, focused on mental health care for adolescents is in trouble.  It is so little used that the $3 million dollar program could be shut down. 

This mental health care program is currently only treating one adolescent, but it has a multi-million dollar budget.  However, some of the funds in the program are being used in another program at the local community focused center where both programs have a home.

The program is focused on helping adolescences with major mental health problems who haven’t been successfully treated in other programs.  It is also geared towards a community focused treatement. 

The other program receiving some of the unused funds from this mental health care program’s multi-million dollar budget is full.  It has 40 adolescent participants who are being helped with substance abuse problems.  Children’s mental health care programs such as these are important in trying to help those with mental health problems and substance abuse issues while they are still young.  They may even have a better chance at full recovery as youths. 

The Director of Behavioral Health for the Department of Health and Human Services involved with the program stated that they have tried to remain good stewards of the money provided for the program.  When they noticed the number of participants in the mental health care program dwindling they reduced the capacity size from 16 to 8 adolescents.  They also worked to cut costs to preserve the $3 million budget. 

A state legislative task force issued a report after reviewing the mental health care program’s situation that recommended the program be shut down.  There are currently no plans to shut down the other full substance abuse treatment program at the Hastings Regional Center.

Some doctors seem to think so and one Austrailain psychiatrist spoke out about the possible over diagnosis of major depression on August 17th, 2007. Doctor Gordon Parker of the University of New South Wales is that doctor. He thinks that many people today just end up getting a clinical depression diagnosis for something as simple as a bout with the blues.

We all know its normal for people to become depressed from time to time, but how much depression is normal and how much is too much? I’ve listed the signs of depression here previously but to recap they basically involve,

Chronic sad or anxious mood
Feelings of hopelessness or pessimism
Feelings of guilt or worthlessness
Lack of interest in favorite activities
Fatigue or tiredness
Trouble concentrating
Insomnia or oversleeping
Changes weight or in appetite
Thoughts of death or suicide
Agitation or irritability
chronic pain

Most people can safely claim at least a few if not more of those symptoms for a case of the blues as well as for major depression. Where can the line be drawn and when do people need treatment for depression? Clinical depression was once only diagnosed in about 5 to 10 percent of the population, while today’s wide range of criteria could cover as much as 90 percent. Now, it’s very likely that previously the 5 to 10 percent of the population which was diagnosed was way less than the actual numbers of people with major depression. However, it is hard to believe that as many as 90 percent of people could be dealing with major depression. That would be natural selection gone very wrong. Where do you stand on the issue?

Most likely the difference between a bout of the blues and major depression has to do with length of time. A bout with the blues is just that, a bout. Clinical depression is very hard to ‘get over’ and many of those with diagnosable major depression have been dealing with the same feelings of sadness, anxiety and anger for weeks, months or years consistently.

Here’s yet another obesity pill that can be harmful to your mental health and physical health.  Look out for signs of depression and suicidal thoughts when you are using the Sanofi-Aventis SA obesity drug called, Zimulti.  It is an obesity drug that has proven results in clinical trials, but also has a tendency to give users excessive thoughts of suicide.  We all know that the more thoughts of suicide you have, the more likely you are of acting on those thoughts.

Zimulti, which is currently marketed in 18 countries (but not the States) under the name of Acomplia, had been undergoing clinical trials to decide if it was safe to sell in the United States.  However, approval doesn’t seem likely with recent results.  Researchers studying the drug, also known generically as rimonabant, found that the 20 milligram dosage significantly increased the incidence of suicidal thoughts and major depression, when compared to a placebo.  In addition, the incidence of ‘adverse’ psychiatric mental health events, neurologically ‘adverse’ events and seizures were consistently higher.  This is one obesity drug that will seriously mess you up.  My only suggestions so far is don’t take it.  Even if you are in another country where it’s legal and even if it becomes legal in the States, don’t take it.  If you notice signs of depression, stop taking it.  It is just not worth it.

Luckily so far the increased incidences from taking this drug seem to have been manageable, but you are much more likely to end up on depression treatment in addition to your weight loss program with Zimulti.

If you are on any medication, be certain your doctor has made you fully aware of the side effects.  Those who aren’t fully aware, look it up online.  It really pays to know what you are putting into your body.  The following are a few signs of depression so you can be more aware of a potential problem with your mental health or a side effect in medication:

Chronic sad or anxious mood
Feelings of hopelessness or pessimism
Feelings of guilt or worthlessness
Lack of interest in favorite activities
Fatigue or tiredness
Trouble concentrating
Insomnia or oversleeping
Changes weight or in appetite
Thoughts of death or suicide
Agitation or irritability
chronic pain

Scientists have recently finished taking a look at the mental health issues that develop amongst those working and living in the Antarctic for up to a year at times. They have found that a bizarre kind of ‘Polar Madness’ often grips those who come to the arctic and live for an extended period of time.  This polar madness can lead to anything from symptoms of depression to extreme anger and in the worst case scenarios, mutiny, lunacy and cannibalism.  The worst of these polar madness cases happened during some of the earliest expeditions to deep frozen lands at either pole of the world.

Now a days we have the facilities set up to help keep the polar madness from developing into such extremes.  The researchers in the north and south poles have warm shelter, food, mental diversions and company to keep with each other.  Not to mention medical facilities with ample supplies for some of the mental health issues that may pop up from living in such extreme conditions.  If worst came to worst they could also request that an individual or the entire group be evacuated from the facility.

Researchers state that it is important to know how living in such an extreme environment can affect the mental health of people for safer living conditions and for possible use as research to help those astronauts whom eventually make the long trip to Mars. 

Some of the symptoms those living in the poles have experienced include;

• Sleep Problems
• Depression and anxiety
• Anger
• Intellectual inertia
• Irritability
• Conflict with co-workers
• Memory impairment
• Reduced alertness
• Headaches
• Boredom
• Fatigue
• Lack of personal hygiene
• Over-eating

If you are currently living or working in the Antarctic and experiencing any of these conditions you need to report to the nearest medical facility.  Just kidding folks, although these findings are very important for the mental health and well-being of those we send to work in such extreme environments.