Depression (Clinical)

[Michaelangelica]

Is this link any good?

I could not get it to work.

Got it to work. I needed to turn off the computer radio didn't I

Not that informative 'the conection between depression and pain' so what?

I think you may need broadband, which I haven't got

You may need to register on medscape to view it (painless)

http://www.insidecymbalta.com/depression/expert_opinion.jsp?reqNavId=2.2

New Trends in Depression

Expert opinion

 

Alan F. Schatzberg, M.D. Listen as Alan F. Schatzberg, M.D., discusses the latest advances in depression diagnosis and treatment. Dr. Schatzberg is Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the Stanford University School of Medicine; Kenneth T. Norris, Jr., Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.

 

View AnimationPart 1—The next advance in the diagnosis of depression

(Flash: 1 min. 53 sec.)

 

View AnimationPart 2—Advances that connect depression and pain

(Flash: 2 min. 53 sec.)

 

View AnimationPart 3—Shift in the treatment paradigm of depression

(Flash: 1 min. 50 sec.)

 

View AnimationPart 4—Latest insights on avoiding recurrence and relapse

(Flash: 1 min. 1 sec.)

View AnimationPart 5—Insights linking serotonin and norepinephrine

(Flash: 3 min. 7 sec.)

 

You will need Flash to play these animations. Download the plug-in.

[Queso]

if you're depressed just smoke a joint.

 

It's what I do and it works

EVERY TIME

[Michaelangelica]

if you're depressed just smoke a joint.

 

It's what I do and it works

EVERY TIME

Being 'depressed' and 'clinical depression' are different things.

MJ might be good for the anxiety that sometimes accompanies depression but with others it could be counterproductive if not harmful

 

Can anyone get a copy or abstract of this article please?

 

2006-02-0645 Chandre, R.; Narasimha Murthy, K.H.H. V.S.S.; Singh, R.H. (Department of Kayachiktsa, Faculty of Ayurveda, IMS, BHU, Varanasi, UP, India) Evaluation of the efficacy of Kusmandaghrita in the management of depressive illness. Aryavaidyan v. 18(2): p. 87-90, 2004-2005 (Eng; 20 ref).

[Turtle]

There is a documentary film I have watched twice on holistic medicine in India. The film is titled "Ayurveda: the Art of Being", & features the work of Brahmanand Swamigal. He makes medicines from herbs & minerals and has a western Phd as well as studying under some 20 Indian masters. Very good show if you ever run across it.

Do you know of it? They briefly mentioned mental disease but no specific medicines that I recall.:)

[UncleAl]

Depression is anger without enthusiasm. Joining a hate group can be very therapeutic. Uncle Al suggests EPA enforcement or IRS tax return auditing.

[Turtle]

Depression is anger without enthusiasm. Joining a hate group can be very therapeutic.

 

I wouldn't join any hate group that would take me as a member. - Thelonious Templeton George

[Michaelangelica]

Depression is anger without enthusiasm. Joining a hate group can be very therapeutic. Uncle Al suggests EPA enforcement or IRS tax return auditing.

 

A number of traditional therapists beleive that depression is the result of anger turned inwards

[arkain101]

I know what its about. I pulled myself out of 'clinical depression' via the developement of Truth-Basic!!

 

I really do think most depressions this strong begin by the mind left unguided in tramatic experiences.

There are also brain disorders!

Although, what I experienced was next to death. I lost sight of emotions, and could not taste food. No day was without pain and sleep was out of the question.

 

I do stand here today with my symbolic fist in the air and hand held out, saying, There is always a light my friend you not only need to find it but you do need to turn it on. I did it! I know so many others can, however making it through lead me to a path of a strange kind of enlightenment.

[Michaelangelica]

I know what its about. I pulled myself out of 'clinical depression' via the developement of Truth-Basic!!

 

I really do think most depressions this strong begin by the mind left unguided in tramatic experiences.

There are also brain disorders!

Although, what I experienced was next to death. I lost sight of emotions, and could not taste food. No day was without pain and sleep was out of the question.

 

I do stand here today with my symbolic fist in the air and hand held out, saying, There is always a light my friend you not only need to find it but you do need to turn it on. I did it! I know so many others can, however making it through lead me to a path of a strange kind of enlightenment.

 

Wow!

What a post

Thank you.

I am humbled by such courage

 

what is truth basic?

[arkain101]

It is like a philosophy.

I did not know what to call it, but it is a way of processing with the very basic truths.

 

In any problem one is to fall back on what has been done, what works, decide if it is true. Then take a step forward from that basic fact and build on top of that.

 

Depressed people specifically need a way to find the wheel. You cant just say go that way out of the ditch. They need to form a base under them to work with. Sort of like a reset button.

 

When you back away from a project only then do all the details form into large single pictures.

[Michaelangelica]

Emerging targets for the treatment of depressive disorder

by

Macritchie KA, Young AH.

Department of Psychiatry, Leazes Wing,

Royal Victoria Infirmary,

Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4LP, UK.

[email protected]

Expert Opin Ther Targets 2001 Oct;5(5):601-612

http://www.biopsychiatry.com/postmonoamine.htm

ABSTRACT

 

New agents offering novel mechanisms of action are required in the treatment of depressive disorder. Established agents targeting monoamine systems are unsatisfactory because of full and partial treatment resistance, delay in the onset of their effect and the occurrence of side effects. The monoamine hypothesis of depression is now recognised to provide an incomplete explanation of the pathophysiology of depression. New theories have recently developed and new targets for treatment have emerged. We briefly review some important candidate systems and therapeutic targets in depression: the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) and the glucocorticoid and corticotrophin-releasing factor receptors, synaptic plasticity and neurotrophins and the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor. The putative role of the neuropeptides substance P and neuropeptide Y, the nicotinic system and the potential therapeutic benefits of cannabinoids are also reviewed. Vagal nerve stimulation (VNS) and transcranial magnetic stimulation, serendipitous advances in treatment, are discussed briefly.

 

SSRIs

NARIs

5-HT2

Recovery

Serotonin

Anhedonia

Noradrenaline

Antidepressants

Biogenic amines

Tyrosine hydroxylase

Tryptophan hydroxylase

Noradrenaline depletion

Catecholamine depletion

An individualised approach

How do antidepressants work?

Males, females, serotonin and depression

The monoamine hypothesis of depression

The neurotrophic effects of antidepressants

The catecholamine hypothesis of depression

[Michaelangelica]

FROM:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06157/696126-114.stm

 

Patients seek unapproved depression therapy

 

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

By Elena Cherney, The Wall Street Journal

 

Pediatrician Laura Schulman suffered from depression so severe that it forced her to stop practicing medicine five years ago.

A string of drug cocktails over the years failed to help.

Then she read about an experimental treatment called repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation.

 

The treatment hadn't been approved for depression, but a clinic in Canada was offering it to U.S. residents, and would even help arrange travel and lodging. So last summer, the Seattle resident dipped into her savings and headed north to a MindCare Centers clinic in Vancouver, British Columbia, where three to four weeks of treatment costs nearly $7,000.

 

After a few sessions of rTMS, which delivers electromagnetic pulses to the brain via a magnetic coil held against the skull, Dr. Schulman says she felt her depression lifting. As she made her way around Vancouver she started finding it easier to manage everyday tasks that had once felt so burdensome -- such as buying a bottle of water at a corner store. "It was like putting on glasses for the first time if you've been myopic all your life," she says.

 

Dr. Schulman is one of many desperate patients leaving the U.S. to obtain rTMS after failing numerous antidepressant medications.

 

. . .

 

Health

Patients seek unapproved depression therapy

 

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

By Elena Cherney, The Wall Street Journal

 

Pediatrician Laura Schulman suffered from depression so severe that it forced her to stop practicing medicine five years ago. A string of drug cocktails over the years failed to help. Then she read about an experimental treatment called repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation.

 

The treatment hadn't been approved for depression, but a clinic in Canada was offering it to U.S. residents, and would even help arrange travel and lodging. So last summer, the Seattle resident dipped into her savings and headed north to a MindCare Centers clinic in Vancouver, British Columbia, where three to four weeks of treatment costs nearly $7,000.

 

After a few sessions of rTMS, which delivers electromagnetic pulses to the brain via a magnetic coil held against the skull, Dr. Schulman says she felt her depression lifting. As she made her way around Vancouver she started finding it easier to manage everyday tasks that had once felt so burdensome -- such as buying a bottle of water at a corner store. "It was like putting on glasses for the first time if you've been myopic all your life," she says.

 

Dr. Schulman is one of many desperate patients leaving the U.S. to obtain rTMS after failing numerous antidepressant medications. And while some doctors are cautioning patients to wait for the Food and Drug Administration to weigh in, scores of other patients have traveled to U.S. clinics that offer the treatment on an "off label" basis. The technique is approved in the U.S. only for brain research, but doctors can use it to treat depression, just as other drugs and therapies can be used in applications other than those for which they are approved. In Canada, the rTMS device has limited federal approval for safety, but provincial health-insurance plans won't cover it, citing lack of evidence on its efficacy.

 

The therapy is showing promise in studies. In the first big multisite trial of rTMS, the method was shown to benefit about 42 percent of patients with treatment-resistant depression -- or severe depression that doesn't improve with medication. And side effects were considered mild, mostly consisting of headache. The 300-patient study, released last month, was sponsored by Neuronetics Inc., which is seeking Food and Drug Administration approval for use of its rTMS device in treating depression. A spokeswoman for the FDA declined to comment on the review process.

 

Many psychiatry experts say rTMS is likely to be approved soon in the U.S. But some doctors note that for now, the clinics in both Canada and the U.S. are operating without direct regulatory authority, and may not be following the same protocols in screening patients that researchers use in their clinical trials. So some patients who aren't appropriate candidates may be paying for pointless treatment, these doctors say, and failing to pursue the treatment that they do need. Since rTMS isn't covered by insurance, patients typically pay thousands of dollars out of pocket.

 

"The results are very promising, but standards need to be in place" before patients seek treatment, says Sarah H. Lisanby, a lead investigator on the Neuronetics study and a psychiatrist at the Brain Stimulation and Neuromodulation division of the New York State Psychiatric Institute.

 

Treating stubborn depression remains one of psychiatry's most puzzling problems. About 14 million people in the U.S. suffer from depression, and some 70 percent don't fully respond to the first antidepressant drug they try.

At least one-third of patients still have symptoms after adding a second drug or switching to another medicine, according to recent studies by the National Institutes of Health.

"These are people who've lived their lives in misery or have tried many medications," says Mark George, a psychiatrist at the Medical University of South Carolina, who is an investigator on the Neuronetics trial and has consulted for the MindCare clinics.

 

Only two nondrug treatments have been approved by the FDA for depression. Electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT, is considered the gold standard in hard-to-treat cases, based on its efficacy. But because it works by causing a seizure, it must be performed in a hospital. And it can have serious side effects, including memory loss and cognitive problems. Dr. Schulman of Seattle, for instance, said she didn't want to try ECT because of the risk of side effects.

 

Vagus nerve stimulation, approved last year, involves surgery to implant a device in the neck, but is only approved as an add on to medication for chronic or recurrent depression.

 

In rTMS a strong magnetic field is directed through a coil held against the head for a series of sessions that last less than an hour each. The magnetic force stimulates a part of the brain believed to play a role in depression. The treatment doesn't require anesthesia and produces few side effects, though it doesn't work for as many people, or as effectively, as ECT.

 

The treatment does carry a small risk of seizure, and the American Psychiatric Association guidelines for research state that rTMS should be supervised by a licensed doctor. In research trials, patients are screened to make sure they don't have medical conditions that could put them at risk for having a seizure. Patients in the studies are also screened by a psychiatrist to make sure that they in fact are suffering from depression.

. . .

see article for more

[Chacmool]

Thanks for all the great info, Michaelangelica! It would be interesting to see if researchers can conclusively establish a link between viral infection and depression.

 

Dear Racoon, I understand that you are a very optimistic person by nature, but please refrain from making antagonistic and hurtful comments. I can assure you that clinical depression is a very real medical problem that affects many people. A person can't snap out of depression, just like he/she can't snap out of diabetes or cancer.

 

I have been suffering from severe depression all my life. And I'm not exaggerating - I can remember wanting to commit suicide at the age of four. A few years ago I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and for the first time I started getting treatment. I found psychotherapy to be of very little use, since I understood very well what the problem was and what I should be doing. But I simply wasn't capable of "just being happy" like people kept on telling me. I've tried various medications over the last few years, and I'm now taking a cocktail of four different ones. It seems to be working OK, but I'm always aware of the dark monster lurking beneath.

[Michaelangelica]

Dear Racoon, I understand that you are a very optimistic person by nature, but please refrain from making antagonistic and hurtful comments.

.

Thanks for your post.

I was beginning to think I was talking to myself

 

Racoon just has the odd "off" day. Just ignore those posts. We all have our "off" days

 

On Virus(ss?)

I am interested in herbal anti-virals.

They may come in handy if Bird Flu breaks out between human-human.

Some herbal "cure alls" are interesting

1) Virgin Coconut Oil (Very trendy at the moment)

2)St John's Wort

While this is prescribed for mild depression, no one knows the active ingredient. It's traditional use is as a cure all and used for soldier's wounds. Never traditionally used for depression to my knowledge. Does it work because it is anti-viral (PS It "potentates"(? not exactly the right word) the effects of mainstream anti-depressives.)

3)Ecinacea

4) Violets (see my thread on Violets and Cyclocides)

--

[InfiniteNow]

Dear Racoon, I understand that you are a very optimistic person by nature, but...

 

I believe our good friend Rac has been touched by a bit of depression recently as a result of his grandmother's passing. This will perhaps assist in the feelings of empathy.

[Michaelangelica]

This is a good article on recent discoveries and emerging treatments

 

http://depression.about.com/cs/treatments/a/newtx.htm

 

the volume of various brain structures is reduced in long-term sufferers of depression. Among these is the hippocampus, a part of the limbic system (involved in emotion and memory). This finding is consistent with animal data suggesting that chronic oversecretion of cortisol, as occurs in many depressed individuals, can destroy hippocampal cells.1

 

Positron emission tomography (PET) has shown that patients with major depression compared with normal persons show different patterns of activity in several limbic and cortical brain areas.

 

In addition, one PET analysis revealed that increased activity in a region of the limbic system--the amygdala of the left hemisphere--might be an indicator of heightened vulnerability to future depression.2

 

Functional imaging technology can also be used to examine the concentrations of neurotransmitters, so that densities of those molecules can be compared. Traceable substances that bind to the serotonin reuptake transporter and to one type of serotonin receptor have been developed and should provide information about which brain areas show depleted serotonin activity in depressed patients.3

[Chacmool]

I believe our good friend Rac has been touched by a bit of depression recently as a result of his grandmother's passing. This will perhaps assist in the feelings of empathy.

This is true. It wasn't my intention to be mean, dear Racoon! I was very sad to hear the news about your grandmother.