Female Care » Depression

How Having A Baby Cured My Depression

Article Poster — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 04:13:23 +0000

With all the talk of how pregnancy throws a woman’s hormones out of wack and turns her into an evil creature that continues to suffer miserably postpartum, no wonder many women are afraid of having children. I used to be one of them, until a little blonde-haired blue-eyed little girl changed my outlook on life.

I spent most of my 20s on anti-depressant medication. The stress of trying to keep up with my college studies, strained personal relationships and working 30 plus hours a week at two different jobs landed me in psychiatric facility when I was 19. The healing came fairly quickly, the Prozac even quicker. Still, I felt lost and wondered what my purpose in life was.

I knew I wanted to be a writer. As an only child, books and words were often all I had and they comforted me. I told myself and others I wasn’t sure if having children would ever be an option for me. I didn’t think I was mentally stable enough to handle the pressure of child rearing and worried I would pass my mental illness onto any I might choose to have.

I met my husband Daniel and married him in 2000. I was still on the fence about having children, but he reassured me that we would handle it together and thought that having and raising a family would be a wonderful challenge for us. Exactly two years later, while celebrating our wedding anniversary, our daughter Mia was conceived. We had planned on waiting a few more years before starting our family but apparently that wasn’t in the cards.

After the initial apprehension of discovering I was pregnant, something miraculous happened to me. First, I quit my Prozac and Wellbutrin immediately. I knew I probably should have checked with my doctor first but I couldn’t bear the thought of my child being harmed by the drugs. Even with all the hormones that were surging through my body and the absence of my anti-depressants, I felt surprisingly happy. My attitude towards things changed. I began eating healthier and gave up caffeine entirely. I didn’t want to put anything into my body that could possibly hurt my child.

After the initial fatigue of the first trimester, I began to feel even better. Even though I had a rewarding job in public relations at the time, something I had worked my whole career for, I told my husband I wanted to stop working and raise our baby full-time if we could afford it. I felt that raising our child was the most important job I could take on.

I exercised frequently and grew larger. I still had never felt so happy and content in my entire life. Carrying my child filled me with an inner peace I had never known before. And again, I’m sure many (including my own mother) were surprised when I decided to breastfeed my child and began reading literature and taking classes on it. After the birth of my daughter, Mia Isabel, in June 2003, I waited for the postpartum depression to set in. I thought surely with all my problems with past depression I would be one to suffer from this.

Maybe it was the breastfeeding, but the post-partum depression never came. In one of my books I read that production of the hormones prolactin and oxytocin promote feelings of warmth, love, and cuddliness. I was down because I hadn’t been able to deliver Mia vaginally and had to endure a c-section after 23 hours of labor, but I think that was understandable. And sure, I was tired in the beginning, but it took me a while to realize that it was okay if I didn’t keep the house immaculate while nursing a baby all day long and changing her diapers. My husband reminded me that our child’s needs definitely came first over household chores and was a big help to me when he came home from work.

In fact, I was so happy with my new family, I didn’t spend a night away from my daughter until she was almost eighteen months old. I always thought couples that couldn’t separate themselves from their children, even for an overnight trip, were crazy. Now I completely understood. On a girls’ weekend in New York City in December of 2004 I had a wonderful time, but I missed my little girl and my husband terribly.

I realized that for the first time in my life I had something to center me. My daughter. I didn’t have time to mope around and reflect on all the things I hadn’t done in my life or feel sorry for myself. Mia forced me to live in the here and now, and continues to do it on a daily basis. I want to live a long and happy life with my family, and eventually give her a brother or sister.

The love I feel for my daughter is overwhelming. Every day she amazes me and inspires me. I love taking her on outings and to children’s museums just so I can see the look on her face when she experiences something new. I want to go to graduate school now to get a master’s degree. I want her to one day be as proud of me as I am of her. There are days when I feel down, the old feelings start to creep back, but I look at my daughter and make the decision to stay off medication for as long as I can. I know one day I might need it again to stabilize me, but for now she is the only drug I need. It is quite an addiction.

Actually, the only times I feel really depressed are when money gets a little tight and I realize I may not be able to stay at home with her full-time anymore. I can’t bear the thought of working an 8-5 job and only seeing my daughter for a few hours at night.

It has inspired me into doing something else I might never have done, which is working from home. I am trying to launch a career as a freelance writer, which has always been a dream of mine. I hope that I can be successful; because I believe being with my children as much as I can is the most important thing I can ever do with my life. And I know I can’t tell Mia that she can achieve all her dreams if I never try to accomplish mine.

I can’t explain why I am one of those women who managed to dodge the roller coaster ride of pregnancy and postpartum depression. But I feel for the women who do have to go through it. I recently saw Oprah Winfrey’s interview with Brooke Shields and her battle with postpartum depression and it brought me to tears. It was hard enough experiencing that pain most of my adult life. I can’t imagine how awful the guilt and sadness postpartum can be during what should be a joyous time. My husband thinks that maybe I had to suffer for so many years to truly appreciate the miracle that children can be. I don’t question it. And I can only hope I am lucky enough to experience the same sense of well-being the next time around.

The Basics of Depression

Article Poster — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:28:07 +0000

Depression is a prolonged and magnified sadness that lasts for more than two weeks. It can lead to a loss of interest in hobbies and relationships, and it interrupts one’s ability to concentrate. In addition, it changes eating habits, causing either excessive or miniscule food intake. Depression can last from weeks to years, and despite the discomfort, most people do not seek help.

Depression is an illness; it is a state of dis-ease in the body. Chemicals in the brain influence moods. Serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine are “feel good” chemicals and when these chemicals linger in our brain, we feel uplifted. When the chemicals reabsorb too quickly, we feel down. Scientists have found ways to help the chemicals stay longer in the brain.

Depression can have internal and external causes. External causes include poverty, financial stressors, abusive relationships, and personal losses. Internal causes can be chemical imbalances, some medications, heart disease, brain disease, and thyroid disorders. In some families, depression shows up from generation to generation.

Male and females may show signs of depression in different ways. During depressive periods, men often express, anger, discouragement, excessive work, alcohol, and/or, drug abuse. Although women may behave similarly, they are prone to express depressive symptoms in hopeless and helpless behaviors. The hormonal cycle vary in women more than men, and studies show that women who have premenstrual syndrome are more likely to suffer from depression in their lifetime.

Unfortunately, treatment for depression is not readily available for everyone. Most insurances limit mental health benefits, but thankfully, there is a movement in congress that supports legislation to have mental health issues receive the same kind of consideration as any other illness. In the mean time, some public health clinics provide treatment on a sliding scale basis. In addition, some drug manufacturers offer programs for patients who cannot afford their medications. Contact the drug manufacturer and inquire if there is a suitable program for you.

Therapy for depression include, talk, behavior modification, and medication therapy. Mild depression often responds well to talk and behavioral therapy. Mediation therapies include Monamine Oxidase inhibitors and Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors. Another therapeutic option is electroconvulsive therapy. With any medication and treatment, there can be side effects. It is important to discuss concerns and side effects with your doctor.

Depression is like any other disease, as with asthma, diabetes, and hypertension there are causes and treatments. It is important to recognize depression and seek treatment.

Menopause Signs

Article Poster — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:54:29 +0000

Climax is not a disease or disorder of the organism. Menopause is a transient state between two life stages of women when menstrual bleeding terminates. Various symptoms testify about hormonal changes during menopause. If consider menopause signs, the first is the age. Menopause occurs in certain age, therefore knowing approximate period we can compare to other signs and realize that menopause has come. The exact age of climax is impossible to define, because the processes responsible for ovaries activity have not been studied yet. Also we can say that this process occurs individually, but certain average time frames of menopause coming can be defined. It is the age of 45-56 years. However, as it was told above, it can be observed individually, earlier or later. The shorter time intervals between menstrual periods can be the first sign of menopause approaching. During menopause, menstrual periods come unexpectedly.

Before climax bone density and cholesterol level are decreased leading to cardiovascular diseases. The following first signs can testify about menopause: mood swings, depression, chronic weakness, headaches, change of menstrual cycle, pain, spasms, blood sugar fluctuations, body water retention, sleep disorder, low libido, painful urination and skin ageing.

Besides, during premenopausal period an estrogen level is sharply decreased in woman. However, the reason of estrogen level decrease should be revealed. It may not be associated with menopause. The doctor will define menopause after checking gonadotropin level in blood or urine. If hormones level is high, the hypophysis releases them for extra stimulation of ovaries activity. It means that the process begins.

Generally, it is impossible to say that menopause came, even if the said signs are observed. Any modern and advanced analysis cannot define when a woman experiences climax. So, ask your mother when she experienced this process in order to be ready because it depends very much on hereditary.

Menopause is the beginning of a new life for a woman. In the beginning of this process there is nothing bad and you can feel many positive effects. As this process is inevitable you will have to adapt. Knowing when you can expect the beginning of this process will help you to prepare.

Menopause and Depression

Article Poster — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 14:32:42 +0000

Every woman experiences the specific period called menopause or climax. Menopause is a period in women characterized by disorder of estrogen hormones release. These hormones define activity of ovaries and hypophysis. Usually this process starts in the female organism after the age of 45 to 55 years, and its average duration is from 4 to 8 years.

Menopause does not come in one moment, this process is complicated physically and psychologically. Generally the female organism has enough time to prepare for a new stage of the life because the process lasts for long and categorized by certain stages which help to manage with these changes.

Menopause is divided into three stages: pre-menopause (from the beginning of lowering ovaries function to menopause), menopause (the last menstrual periods), and post-menopause (from the end of the last menstrual periods to the end of the life cycle). The process occurs gradually and woman is getting used to changes without serious affecting. But very often women feel menopause depression.

The scientists have been trying for over the century to find correlation between menopause and depression. The physiological and psychological changes observed during menopause depression have not been studied yet. Many mood swings are caused by estrogen deficiency, however it is not always like this, so it cannot be explained by the specific factors. Menopause was always associated with the period when women are especially sensitive to mental disorders. However, psychological disorders depend on various factors. Very often these disorders are related to early menopause. Early menopause may arise due to many reasons, for example: surgeries, ovaries functionality lowering, diseases, and many other disorders.

The beginning of the early menopause for many women signifies the end of life, but it is not like this. They cannot have children, they are getting older after menopause and these factors cause depression. After deep reflections, they may experience mood disorder hard to be treated.

This female menopause depression problem has been studied for a long time by the doctors, and the clinical researches conducted to reveal menopause depression reasons define various results.

It is difficult to make a specific conclusion on the basis of available analysis. Probably, we can say that menopause depression is not observed in all women, but many women experience these symptoms, especially in perimenopausal period.

Personal Properties Affecting Depression

Martin — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 18:15:41 +0000

The mislead of hate and rage to one’s self instead of people around in belief of causing loss of people around. (A character in that kind of a structure has not had regular and sufficient mother- child relation in one’s early 1-2 years. The depression the person goes through is related to a real or assumed loss.)

- As a person, one’s surroundings and expectations from future, ideals and one’s real situation could be so very different from the real world, so distracted and so inappropriate that being not able to reach these high standards may lead to weakness and loneliness thoughts and depression.

- One’s super ego could be so powerful and dominant that it restricts, blames, takes away from comforting and pleasure-giving activities, as if torturing.

- People around one may expect so many things that it’s impossible to establish. This may lead to some thoughts of weakness and misery and turn them into depression.

- There exists no one that one could love, respect, be proud of, get support and company, follow the footprints, idealize as a father, mother, teacher, relative etc. in a certain level. This affects the development of character in a negative way and may lead to loss of self- confidence and eventually depression.

- Separation or loss of parents in childhood may lead to build wrong or insufficient mechanisms to get over stressed circumstances lacking of support and this may prepare some base to depression.

- The characteristics are important in depression progress. The tendency to depression is higher in people who are obsessive- compulsive, addictive, hysterionic and in borderline having personal disorders.

Depression in Children

Martin — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 20:13:42 +0000

Depression is not only observed in adults. Children and adolescents could get depressed as well. It’s known that 5% of the children, 5-10% of the adolescents are exposed to depression.

Depression is defined as a disease that prevents the child or the adolescent from establishing various functions whereas depression feelings remains stable.

The risk of getting depressed is higher in children under stress, going through loss, having disorder of attention, comprehension, behaviour or anxiety. Family related tendency is important in depression progress as well.

SYMPTOMS

The symptoms of children and adolescents getting depressed may be different from those of adults. It’s recommended that you take an expert’s advice if there exists one or more of the depression symptoms in your children for a long time.

· Frequently crying and being sorry

· Hopelessness

· Reducing attention in activities or getting no pleasure from activities that were done before with pleasure

· Constant boredom, lack of energy

· Social isolation, lack of communication

· Lack of self- respect and feeling of guilt

· Oversensation in failure or rejection issues

· Increase in anger, hostility, resentment

· Having problems in relationships

· Frequent physical complaints like headache, stomachache

· Decrease in success in school and attendance at school

· Lack of concentration

· Great changes in habits like sleeping and eating

· Claims or attempts to run away from home

· Expressions or thoughts of suicide or hurting one’s self

A child who used to play with friends may come to spend time alone and have interest in nothing at all. The things once used to enjoy one’s self may become less interesting or have no meaning at all for a child in depression. They may say that they’re mean, not loved and blame themselves frequently. With self- respect, they may be lack of self- confidence and be conservative. Children and adolescents in depression may want to die or mention suicide. The risk of suicide increases in children and adolescents in depression. They may apply to smoking, alcohol or drugs to make themselves feel fine.

Children and adolescents causing troubles at home or school may be going through depression. For the reason the little children would not seem sorry all the time, parents and teachers may not understand that the troublesome behaviours are symptoms of depression. Hyper-activity, harshness, frequent crying may be symptoms of depression in little children. When asked directly, some children may express that they are unhappy or sorry. In little children and girls in adolescence, the symptoms of depression are seen as mostly physical complaints like stomachache or headache. Physical symptoms are frequently seen in children who are lack of self- confidence about school, insufficience in establishing relationships and having problems in getting independant from parents. Symptoms like headache or stomachache may get condensed while going to school in the morning.

EARLY DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT IS IMPORTANT

Early diagnosis and treatment is quite important in children going through depression. Depression is a real disease that really requires professional help. A developed treatment usually involves application of therapy both to the person and the family. For example, cognitive behaviour therapy and personal psychotherapy especially are important as personal therapy methods in depression treatment in children.

Treatment may require usage of antidepressing medication. Recently produced new antidepressing medications could be used with little children in safety and do not have properties like addictivity. For help, it’s essential to apply to a expert in children and adolescents’ mental health to diagnose and treat the depression in children and adolescents.

10 Factors That Increase The Risk of Depression

Martin — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:11:52 +0000

There is no easy answer to the question why people get depressed. It’s certain what causes the flu, because the virus can be detected. It’s uncertain what causes depression, however there are some important issues known about depression. Probably it depends on the following components: Genetic tendency, factors that affected you essentially while growing up. Now you can get further information about the causes of depression here.

Genetics

Depression may show transition between family members. If your mother, father, children or siblings go through repeating depression attacks, unfortunately the risk of having once or more depression episodes of yours is 20%.

Sex

The possibility of progress in depression in women is as twice as much in men. What is more, it is claimed that recently in fact there are much men getting depressed in number than that are assumed in the first place, however they are much more in volunteer to get into a research of treatment. Depression affects men in different aspects so that most men don’t even realize that they’ve got depressed. That leads to existence of decreased per cents in researches.

Socio-economic situation

The relation between social situation and depression isn’t verified eventually, but it seems like the risk of progress in depression in lower socio-economic groups is higher.

Psychological trauma

Some people who have gone through psychological shocks and traumas react these issues by getting depressed. Some of them react in anxiety or alcoholism. In some of them, there hardly occurs a psychological damage. The reaction that you’ll give depends on mostly your genetics and personality.

Sexual abuse

The risk of depression stands higher in people who have been exposed to sexual abuse in childhood.

Divorce

It’s uncertain whether divorce increases the risk of depression or not. The possibility of having been divorced is higher in people depressed than other people, but it’s uncertain whether people get depressed due to divorce or get divorced due to depression.

Unemployment

The possibility of being unemployed is higher in depressed people. However it’s uncertain whether people get depressed due to unemployment or get unemployed due to depression.

Lamentation

It’ll probably surprise you to find out that there’s no relation between the death of a close friend or a relative and the risk of getting into depression. Lamentation is a different situation; however if lasts for too long or causes loss of sense, you may get depressed.

Illness

Physical illnesses increase the risk of depression. Any kind of illness may lead to depression. That is valid for serious problems like coroner thromboses and cancer as well as small problems like flu.

Pregnancy and birth

The risk of progress in depression is higher in weeks and months that follow giving birth. It’s essential that both of your body and mind to get into synchronization in the birth process. It requires harmony in functional systems to look after your baby. This is a most emotional period of life and every one of ten women gets into postnatal depression.

What is Depression? (major depression)

Martin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:05:05 +0000

Most people suffer from depression in some part of their lives. Almost everyday you can hear someone complaining about feeling down and depressed and it is pretty normal in today’s fast paced and stressed life. Depression has certainly become the 21st century plague. However, there are lots of confusions about what depression really is, the differences between clinical depression and the common old blues, and many types of depression that people may experience.

Depression is a serious –but common- mental illness that affects directly the way you live. It is true and actually sad that we use the same term –depressed- for two different things – a bad mood and a diagnosable illness. However, depression is far more than a prolonged bad mood or just feeling sad and down, it is a serious mental illness which needs treatment by professionals.

Depression can be triggered by an event like loss of a loved one, or a job, a divorce, family problems etc., but it can also come on for no apparent reason at all. Grief after the death or the usual mood swings of teenagers are not considered depression in the usual sense. It generally strikes adults and twice as many women as men.

Finding and understanding the cause of the depression is not really matters, immediately getting effective and appropriate treatment is the important thing. However, first you should know that if it is just the common blues that you are going through, or something more..?

Everything is Fine, so Why Am I Depressed?

Martin — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:56:56 +0000

Sometimes, depression can be a very complicated feeling. Even if all the things in your life may seem to be in order, you may still fell unhappy and unsatisfied. If it is the depression that we are mentioning, internal conditions are more important than the external ones. You may have a good job, a caring family and supportive friend, still you can as yourself, everything seems fine, but why do I still feel bad about myself?

Whenever you succeed at something that is important for you, if you think that it was just your luck or anyone could have done that, you are missing a chance to be happy. This may seem like a little thing; however this kind of thinking is an obvious symptom of depression.

Everything in life changes, nothing ever stays the same, but human nature tends wishing things to continue the same way. In this case, the important and necessary thing is to adopt those changes. Unfortunately depressive thoughts and behavior make it hard to adopt these changes. You may have difficulties in changing your view of life making decisions and you may not know what to do when you face those changes. At these times life may seem not worth living for you, if this is the case you should immediately get help from trained professionals.

Depressed people often tend to live in the past and questions, where did all things went wrong? What have I done to make that happen? You may blame yourself all the time and feel not confident. All these thoughts trigger depression and if you can not enjoy your moment, even the things were currently alright, you should get help from professionals.

Remember even if your life is financially secured, you still have human needs like having good relationships with other people, feeling connected and spiritually secured and having goals to achieve. If all these things sound meaningless and pointless to you that means you may have an illness which needs treatment.

Dysthymic Disorder (Dysthymia)

Martin — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 19:55:04 +0000

Dysthymia is simply chronic depression which lasts for years. It does not have to be as severe as the major depression; however people who suffer from dysthymia do not even remember a day that they did not felt depressed. The symptoms are similar to depression, overeating or poor appetite, low energy, sleeping disorders, low self esteem and difficulties in concentration and making decisions.

In order to be diagnosed with dysthymic disorder, no major depressive disorder has been diagnosed and the duration in children and adolescents must be at least a year, for adults this is more than two years. This means that the person needs to have a long termed, mild and not complicated depression to be diagnosed with dysthymia.

In adults, dysthymia has a big risk to turn into major depressive disorder. In children, there is a risk of having hyperactivity disorder, learning disorders and mental retardation. Adolescents have bad school performance low self esteem and poor social interaction.