Depression Expert Jerry Kennard shares Depression management news and commentary at MyDepressionConnection.com. The HealthCentral Network, Inc. (www.HealthCentral.com) is one of the top health destinations on the Web, with more than 35 condition-specific, wellness and general health Web properties. http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/4182 http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/4182/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/4182 http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/4182/95179/antidepressants Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:27:09 -0500 Jerry Kennard Every year well over 200 million prescriptions are handed out for antidepressants in the United States. Of the people who take antidepressant medications some will feel a certain level of relief and some won't benefit at all. So, if depression is simply due to an imbalance in neurotransmitters, why are some people ‘treatment resistant' when they take the very medication designed to correct the problem?   Professor Eva Redi, of the... http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/4182/95179/antidepressants http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/4182/94082/diet-depression Mon, 09 Nov 2009 04:56:31 -0500 Jerry Kennard Over the years various lines of enquiry have pointed to the fact that mood is affected by food. Not uncommonly, the focus has tended to be on particular types of sugary or fatty foods along with their nutritional value, or lack of. Most people, for example, have heard of the benefits of the Mediterranean diet in so far as it appears to protect against certain cardiovascular problems and possibly even depression. Of course for many of us the... http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/4182/94082/diet-depression http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/4182/66081/link-depression Mon, 06 Apr 2009 08:20:41 -0400 Jerry Kennard The history of depression and alcohol is both long and well documented. Reasons for hitting the bottle range from a simple desire to lift mood to that of reaching a state of oblivion. Many people assume that alcohol follows depression in the way that taking aspirin follows a headache. Unfortunately the self-medication notion of alcohol is only part of the story. What we are increasingly waking up to is the knowledge that alcohol actually causes... http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/4182/66081/link-depression http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/4182/65789/cutting-forms Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:09:51 -0400 Jerry Kennard Cutting is a form of deliberate self harm. It can be thought of as a physical manifestation of psychological distress. Cutting is a way of coping as much as a means of communication. It should always be taken seriously and viewed as a sign of genuine distress. Most self harm is undertaken by young people, with girls most likely to use cutting.   Cutting provides one of the clearest examples of self harm in that it is unambiguous. Some... http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/4182/65789/cutting-forms http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/4182/25688/sleep-depression Mon, 09 Mar 2009 09:50:00 -0400 Jerry Kennard   The association between sleep disturbances and depression is quite well known but research is revealing a number of other implications. Insomnia used to be thought of as a symptom of depression but growing evidence suggests it may actually precede depression and increases our risk of other health problems including obesity, heart disease and diabetes.   Most sleep disturbances fall into one of three categories. Sleep continuity... http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/4182/25688/sleep-depression http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/4182/19998/mental-health Wed, 04 Mar 2009 06:57:00 -0500 Jerry Kennard Exercise is increasingly proclaimed as a cost-effective, natural and highly accessible activity that has both preventative and curative properties in relation to mood states. The evidence linking physical exercise to improved mental health is somewhat mixed, both in terms of rigour and the outcomes. However, the trend suggests that moderate exercise can be considered a viable treatment in its own right for anxiety, depression and the elevation... http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/4182/19998/mental-health http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/4182/60901/tips-depression Wed, 25 Feb 2009 10:40:01 -0500 Jerry Kennard Everyone is different: and because of this it stands to reason that depression reveals itself in many different ways. Men may try to deal with depression in different ways to women. In some people depression seems to creep up on them slowly - in others it's more rapid. Depression may last for a few days, a few weeks, a few months or for years. It may be highly responsive to treatment or it may be treatment resistive. The one consistent issue for... http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/4182/60901/tips-depression http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/4182/43962/heart-depression Fri, 20 Feb 2009 07:14:00 -0500 Jerry Kennard Depression is approximately three times more common in patients following a heart attack. Despite this, only half of heart doctors say they treat depression and many patients who are diagnosed with depression are left untreated.   The American Heart Association (AHA) has taken up the case by calling for all heart patients to be regularly and routinely screened for signs of depression. The American Psychiatric Association is backing the... http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/4182/43962/heart-depression http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/4182/52084/depression-heart Thu, 12 Feb 2009 06:15:00 -0500 Jerry Kennard Depression is considered to increase the risk of heart disease. This has been known for some time, but the actual process that links depression to heart disease is less clear. New research, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggests that depression contributes to heart disease indirectly, and mainly through negative changes in health behaviors.   There are essentially two paths that link psychological issues... http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/4182/52084/depression-heart http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/4182/57993/depression-sleep Mon, 02 Feb 2009 15:08:51 -0500 Jerry Kennard Treating sleep problems early in life may protect children from developing depression as they get older. Alice M. Gregory, from the department of psychology at Goldsmiths College, London, used data from 300 twins in order to evaluate the association between sleep problems and depression.   The twins, born between 1994 and 1996, were tested for anxiety, depression and sleep problems. To assess the nature of the sleep problem parents were... http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/c/4182/57993/depression-sleep