Some Quick Depression Facts
March 7, 2008
Clinical depression affects about 19 million Americans annually. It is estimated to contribute to half of all suicides.
- About 5%-10% of women and 2%-5% of men will experience at least one major depressive episode during their adult life.
- Depression affects people of all races, incomes, and ages, but it is three to five times more common in the elderly than in young people.
- Therapy frequently includes antidepressant medication and supportive care such as psychotherapy.
Depression is caused by a combination of factors:
Biochemistry - Abnormalities in two chemicals in the brain, serotonin and norepinephrine, might contribute to symptoms of depression, including anxiety, irritability and fatigue. Other brain networks undoubtedly are involved as well; scientists are actively seeking new knowledge in this area.
Genetics - Depression can run in families. For example, if one identical twin has depression, the other has a 70 percent chance of having the illness sometime in life.
Personality - People with low self-esteem, who are easily overwhelmed by stress, or who are generally pessimistic appear to be vulnerable to depression.
Environmental factors - Continuous exposure to violence, neglect, abuse or poverty may make people who are already susceptible to depression all the more vulnerable to the illness. Also, a medical condition (e.g., a brain tumor or vitamin deficiency) can cause depression, so it is important to be evaluated by a psychiatrist or other physician to rule out general medical causes.
Melancholywaves.com brings you information for holistic approaches to augment your treatment. You know you best - listening to your body, mind, and spirit and its “call for help” can best be identified and acted-upon by you! Friends, loved-ones, doctors and spiritual guides are also an important component to the healing process. Not to sound cliche, but it really does take a village to heal a depressed soul! Hope is the main ingredient, and MelancholyWaves.com brings hope and updated information, as well as personal stories of triumph to your computer screen.
(P&H) : Participate & Heal!!
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62 Brain Power Foods That Help Fight Depression
March 3, 2008
Foods to soothe you with those who suffer from any form of depression have probably noticed that certain changes in diet do affect them. For example, the notorious sugar-rush, that other folks may enjoy, can reek havoc Read more
Gender Differences With Depression
February 29, 2008
Men and Women Suffer Differently
Research and clinical evidence and research studies show that while both women and men can develop symptoms of depression, they often suffer from Depression differently and may have different ways of coping with the symptoms. Indicators of Depression also can appear totally different between the Genders. Researchers at MeloncholyWaves.Com have identified the following differences: Read more
Rough Childhood Can “Jump-Start” Depression
February 27, 2008
Persons who become clinically depressed have generally experienced more severe difficulties in childhood than those who do not become depressed. Indicators include mild or severe childhood trauma,such as sexual or physical abuse, a turbulent upbringing, separation from a parent, or mental illness in a parent. Researchers are now saying that a problematic childhood may trigger an early-onset of depression (first episode occurs before age 20). The most significant event that seems to be related to clinical depression is separation from or death of a parent before the age of 11.
It is not clear just how a difficult childhood can result in adult depression, but there are a few theories. One theory suggests that children who experience great unhappiness growing up have a harder time adjusting to changes in their life such as adolescence and the new roles of adulthood. Another theory is that these children may either lack appropriate emotional development or they become emotionally damaged making them vulnerable to developing depression. Experiencing great difficulties as children, these individuals may be more likely to have low self-esteem, feel powerless, and become dependent on others to make them feel good about themselves. These kinds of traits may increase a person’s susceptibility to depression. Still another theory has to do with the developing brain of a young child. Early experiences may affect the development of the limbic system in the brain. If a child experiences great emotional distress, this could affect his or her ability to adapt to new environments and regulate emotions.
During World War II there were a number of children who were separated from their mothers. It was noticed that these children became depressed after going through several stages of grief. First, the children cried strenuously for their mothers. Then the children became very agitated. Afterwards, they became despondent and still. Lastly, they became very withdrawn. This severe reaction to losing their mothers is known as anaclitic depression. This same type of reaction to separation has been observed in studies with monkeys. In these studies, the monkeys secreted higher amounts of cortisol (a stress hormone) during the earlier stages of grief. It was found that the more cortisol that was released into the blood, the more intense the monkey’s depression became later on. In approximately one-half of all depressed humans there are high levels of cortisol in the blood.
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244 Famous People Suffering From Depression
February 26, 2008
You Are Not Alone! Many talented, creative successful people have suffered from depression. This list is only a fraction of celebrities with some form of the condition of depression
Famous People Who Have Suffered from Depression or Manic-Depression:
- Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, astronaut
- Louie Anderson, comedian, actor
- Ann-Margaret, actress
- Alexander the Great, king
- Hans Christian Anderson, author
- Tai Babilonia, figureskater
- Roseanne Barr, actress
- Drew Barrymore, actress
- James M. Barrie, writer
- Rona Barrett, columnist
- Charles Baudelaire, poet
- Shelley Beattie, athlete and artist
- Ned Beatty, actor
- Samuel Becket, writer
- Ludwig von Beethoven, composer
- Menachem Begin, Prime Minister of Israel
- Brendan Behan, poet
- Irving Berlin, composer
- John Berryman, poet
- William Blake, poet
- Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor
- Kjell Magne Bondevik, Prime Minister of Norway
- Marlon Brando, actor
- Art Buchwald, political humorist
- Robert Burns, poet
- Robert Burton, writer
- Tim Burton, artist, movie director
- Willie Burton, basketball player
- Barbara Bush, former First Lady
- Lord Byron, poet
- Truman Capote, writer
- Drew Carey, actor and comedian
- Jim Carrey, actor and comedian
- Dick Cavett, broadcaster
- Ray Charles, R&B performer
- Lawton Chiles, former governor of Florida
- Frederic Chopin, composer
- Winston Churchill, British prime minister
- Eric Clapton, blues-rock musician
- Dick Clark, entertainer (American Bandstand)
- Rosemary Clooney, singer
- Kurt Cobain, rock star
- Tyrus Cobb, athlete
- Leonard Cohen, poet and singer
- Natalie Cole, singer
- Garnet Coleman, Texas legislator
- Samuel Coleridge, poet
- Judy Collins, musician, writer
- Shawn Colvin, musician
- Jeff Conaway, actor
- Pat Conroy, writer
- Calvin Coolidge, U.S. president
- Francis Ford Coppola, director
- Patricia Cornwell, writer
- Noel Coward, composer
- William Cowper, poet
- Kathy Cronkite, writer
- Dennis Crosby, actor
- Sheryl Crow, singer and rock musician
- John Daly, athlete (golf)
- Rodney Dangerfield, comedian
- Charles Darwin, explorer and scientist
- David, Israeli King
- Sandra Dee, actor
- Ellen DeGeneres, comedienne, actor
- John Denver, singer and actor
- Diana, Princess of Wales
- Paolo DiCanio, athlete (soccer)
- Charles Dickens, writer
- Emily Dickenson, poet
- Scott Donie, Olympic athlete (diving)
- Theodore Dostoevski, writer
- Tony Dow, actor, producer, director
- Richard Dreyfuss, actor
- Kitty Dukakis, former First Lady, Mass.
- Patty Duke, actress
- Thomas Eagleton, lawyer, U.S. Senator
- Thomas Edison, inventor
- T.S. Eliot, poet
- Queen Elizabeth I of England
- Ralph Waldo Emerson, writer
- Philo T. Farnsworth, inventor of television
- William Faulkner, writer
- Carrie Fisher, actress and writer
- F. Scott Fitzgerald, writer
- Larry Flynt, magazine publisher
- Betty Ford, former First Lady
- Harrison Ford, actor
- Steven Foster, writer
- Michel Foucault, writer, philosopher
- Connie Francis, entertainer
- Andre Franquin, 1924-1997, cartoonist
- Sigmund Freud, psychiatrist
- Peter Gabriel, rock star
- Judy Garland, singer, actor
- James Garner, actor
- Paul Gauguin, artist
- Harold Geneen, executive, ITT Industries
- King George III of England
- Kendall Gill, athlete (basketball)
- Dwight Gooden, baseball player
- Tipper Gore, wife of U.S. Vice-President
- Francisco de Goya, painter
- Phil Graham, owner, Washington Post
- Shecky Greene, comedian
- Linda Hamilton, actress
- Georg Frederich Handel, composer
- Ernest Hemingway, writer
- Margaux Hemingway, actor
- Audrey Hepburn, actress
- King Herod, Biblical figure
- Sir Anthony Hopkins, actor
- Howard Hughes, industrialist
- Victor Hugo, author
- Andrew Jackson, U.S. President
- Janet Jackson, singer
- Thomas Jefferson, U.S. President
- Jim Jenson, CBS News
- Jeremiah, Biblical figure
- Joan of Arc, French leader
- Job, Biblical figure
- Billy Joel, musician, composer
- Elton John, musician, composer
- Ashley Judd, actor
- Franz Kafka, writer
- Karen Kain, prima ballerina
- Danny Kaye, entertainer
- John Keats, writer
- Margot Kidder, actress
- Larry King, talkshow host
- Jessica Lange, actor
- Robert E. Lee, U.S. general
- Vivian Leigh, actress
- John Lennon, musician
- Abraham Lincoln, U.S. President
- Greg Louganis, U.S. diver and Olympic gold medallist
- Courtney Love, musician
- Robert Lowell, poet
- Salvador Luria, bacterial geneticist
- Martin Luther, Protestant leader
- Imelda Marcos, Philippine dictator’s wife
- Robert McFarlane, former United States National Security Adviser
- Rod McKuen, writer, poet, producer
- Sarah McLachlan, singer, Lilith Fair creator
- Kristy McNichol, actress
- Herman Melville, writer
- Burgess Meredith, actor
- Robert Merrill, musician, lyricist
- Paul Merton, British comedian
- Michelangelo, Italian artist
- Spike Milligan, comic actor, writer
- Carmen Miranda, actor
- Claude Monet, artist
- Marilyn Monroe, actor
- Alanis Morissette, Canadian singer
- Michelangelo, artist
- John Stuart Mill, writer
- Edna St. Vincent Millay, poet
- Kate Millet, writer and feminist
- Spike Milligan, humourist
- John Milton, poet
- J.P. Morgan, industrialist
- Benito Mussolini, Italian dictator
- Ilie Natase, tennis player, politician
- Ralph Nader, U.S. consumer rights advocate
- Nebuchadnezzar, Biblical figure
- Sir Isaac Newton, physicist
- Florence Nightingale, British nurse
- Vaslav Nijinksy, ballet dancer
- Richard Nixon, U.S. president
- Sinead O’Connor, musician
- Georgia O’Keeffe, painter
- John Ogden, pianist
- Laurence Olivier, actor
- Ozzie Osborne, rock star
- Donny Osmond, musician
- Marie Osmond, musician
- Dolly Parton, singer
- Boris Pasternak, writer
- John Pastorius, composer
- George Patton, soldier
- Pierre Peladeau, publisher
- Teddy Pendergrass, musician
- Jimmie Piersall, baseball player
- William Pitt, Prime Minister
- Edgar Allen Poe, writer
- Jackson Pollock, artist
- Cole Porter, composer
- Alma Powell, wife of Gen. Colin Powell
- Charlie Pride, country singer
- Sergey Rachmaninoff, composer
- Bonnie Raitt, singer
- Mac Rebennack (Dr. John), musician
- Lou Reed, singer
- Jeannie C. Riley, singer
- Rainer Maria Rilke, poet
- Joan Rivers, comedian
- Norman Rockwell, artist
- Theodore Roosevelt, U.S. President
- Axl Rose, rock star
- Dante Rossetti, poet and painter
- Gioacchimo Rossini, composer
- Philip Roth, writer
- Mark Rothko, artist
- Winona Ryder, actor
- Yves Saint Laurent, fashion designer
- Charles Schulz, cartoonist (Peanuts)
- Mary Shelley, author
- William Tecumseh Sherman, general
- Paul Simon, composer, musician
- Alonzo Spellman, athlete (football)
- Rod Steiger, actor
- George Stephanopoulos, political advisor
- Sting, singer and musician
- Teresa Stratas, opera singer
- Darryl Strawberry, baseball player
- James Taylor, singer and musician
- P.I. Tchaikovsky, composer
- Alfred, Lord Tennyson, poet
- Dylan Thomas, poet
- Leo Tolstoy, writer
- Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, artist
- Spencer Tracy, actor
- Ted Turner, founder, CNN Network
- Mark Twain, author
- Mike Tyson, prizefighter
- Jean-Claude Van Damme, actor
- Vincent Van Gogh, artist
- Victoria, British Queen
- Kurt Vonnegut, writer
- Mike Wallace, broadcaster
- George Washington, U.S. President
- Damon Wayans, comedian, actor, writer, director, producer
- Walt Whitman, poet
- Robin Williams, actor
- Tennessee Williams, playwright
- Brian Wilson, rockstar (Beach Boys)
- Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous
- Jonathan Winters, comedian
- Natalie Wood, actor
- Virginia Woolf, writer
- Tammy Wynette, singer
- Boris Yeltsin, former President, Russia
- Robert Young, actor
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Moving from Depression……….Into Expression
February 26, 2008
Using Creativity To Beat Depression
One way of combating depression is through creative expression. As part of a holistic approach to putting one’s depression into remission, expression of emotions, through artwork, craft-making, journaling, music and dance, can help to strengthen well-being and keep aspects of depression at bay. Read more
