Search Results for: blog chocolate may make your depression worse

Contraception and Mental Illness

Contraception has given women choices about the timing and number of children they may have. But, like any drug, contraceptives have side-effects and we as consumers should be made aware of all of them. Including those that involve our mental health. Today’s blog tells the story of Emily. After marrying her childhood sweetheart, she decided to use a contraceptive implant as she and her husband wanted to wait a few years before having children. She was assured by her doctor that the implant was safe and would provide her with an effective means of contraception. What the doctor didn’t take … Continue reading →

Hormonal Swings and Depression

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While the symptoms of PMS are very familiar to many women, those who have a history of anxiety and depression or who currently suffer from anxiety and depression may notice that the changing hormonal levels during the month bring about increased emotional problems. The week before menstruation is well-known by women and feared by men as being the most emotionally difficult week of the month. That makes for twelve to thirteen “difficult” weeks per year for women of childbearing age. However, the ebb and flow of hormones that bring about these changes can have quite a dramatic effect of the … Continue reading →

Glorifying God in Stressful Situations

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When bad things happen in our lives, glorifying God is perhaps the last thing on many of our minds. It’s not that we don’t think about God; it’s that our thoughts toward Him might be that of a child who doesn’t understand why they can’t have something the way they want. The other day my mom and I were on our way to have lunch (I hadn’t eaten a single bite that whole morning). Last minute I decided to stop at a furniture store. On the way out of the parking lot to head to our intended lunch destination, I … Continue reading →

Teachers Dealing with Stress

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Teaching can be a very stressful job. Unlike some other professions, teachers form emotional relationships with many people. Teachers must connect with children, parents, co-workers, and the community. Unlike dealing with products, teachers build human beings. Children can often be on emotional roller coasters. The success of a teacher can depend greatly on the success of others. Teachers are given strict guidelines and standards. Teachers have very little control over the regulations of their classrooms. Teachers are also closely observed and many times placed under a microscope by the community. All of these factors can lead to stress and burnout. … Continue reading →

Suicide: My Thoughts on One Case

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In Suicide: What Do You Think about It? I talked about the varied reactions of people to the phenomenon of suicide. Today I want to talk about a recent example of a typical reaction to suicide, one that I experienced just prior to Christmas, that season of love, family, and pronounced spikes in the annual rate of suicide. The woman in question who took her own life left no note, so the family had no concrete explanation for why she decided to take her own life. Naturally they were upset. I did not know the woman involved but I knew … Continue reading →

Suicide: What Do You Think about It?

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Since we have just passed through Christmas, the highest suicide period of the year, I thought it was time to address this taboo, yet all-too-common, topic. What do you think about people who commit suicide? This is an interesting question and one that produces a variety of responses. Some people go through their entire lives untouched by the specter of suicide; others have been exposed to it through the deaths of friends or family members. Others still have attempted suicide and have lived to tell the tale. And then there are those who think about it, yet do not take … Continue reading →

Are You a Cyberchondriac?

There are hundreds of medical websites online, many offering self-diagnosis. Aligned with these sites are those selling medications online, often without a doctor’s prescription. The combination of these two facilities can be harmful to your health. The British medical journal The Lancet quotes one case where a woman diagnosed herself with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and self-medicated with steroid drugs which she obtained without prescription from Thailand. A few years down the track she was diagnosed with two eye complaints: side effects brought about by the continual use of these drugs. This case is just one of thousands that come to … Continue reading →

What would make a child depressed?

Children can suffer from depression just as adults can. But while mental health groups around the country struggle to increase awareness of the widespread nature of depression in adults, the equivalent illness in children is often very much swept under the carpet. One of the reasons why this occurs is that adults have an entrenched perception that children are very resilient. While this is generally true, and children do seem to bounce back after a distressing episode much more quickly than the majority of adults do, there is a limit to a child’s personal coping skills. Adults also seem to … Continue reading →

More concerns with Prozac and other SSRIs

A psychiatrist who headed at team of researchers at Columbia University in New York City has found that young mice given Prozac grow into adult mice who display emotional problems, chiefly depression. The results add to the growing unrest concerning the effect of Prozac and other SSRI-type antidepressants on young children, adolescents, and the embryos of pregnant women. SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) such as Prozac, Paxil and many other antidepressants in this family are coming under increasing scrutiny as their long term effects are not known. In the Columbia University experiment, young mice were injected with Prozac and given … Continue reading →

Disorder of the Day (1)

Illnesses such as depression, ADHD, and anxiety and behavioral disorders are being diagnosed in increasing numbers throughout First-World countries. While there is little doubt that people are being more up-front about mental illness, is this trend a true reflection of what is really happening in the lives of everyday people? A concerning aspect in this upswing in the use of medication to “solve” these conditions, is the accompanying upswing in the profits of the pharmaceutical industry. While most people have always traditionally wanted a “magic bullet” to solve their health problems, in the area of mental health, the pharmaceutical industry … Continue reading →