Depression Blog

If you thought that stress could only be relieved by attending fancy meditation sessions, you were sadly mistaken. A clutter free and organized house can go a long way in effectively reducing stress. Check out these simple and effective tips to make your home a peaceful oasis:

1. Try to add things reflecting nature and water at places where you spend most of your time. You may chose to add plants, flowers and stones (either actual or images of them) to beautify your kitchen, bath or bedroom and reduce stress levels.

2. Repaint your rooms in soothing colors and add a water element or even a wall mural. A mural takes you close to nature and is the easiest way to turn your room into a living heaven.

3. Avoid clutter. Clutter can cause high levels of stress.

4. Natural tones like that of soothing water or grass are known to have soothing effect on a person’s mind. Chose calming shades like blue and green.

5. Use natural elements to decorate your house. Add plants to your bedroom as they increase oxygen levels. Make way for direct sunlight in day time and use diffused lighting techniques for evening.

So, let stress relief start at your home with these simple and cheap tips.

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How would you take the pain swirling in your head; merely as a headache or something more? Well, seeing it in the light of a new study you can’t deny that it could be an indication of major depression, inching slowly into your life.

Unfortunately, the year gone by would be known not because it brought some thing good, but what it left behind for us - the shocking figure of one million suicides with a life ending every 40 seconds followed by 20 suicidal attempts every minute.

So long as stress is confined to your workplace, its sounds a bit manageable. But the time it starts riding you even to your home, something uneven begins to crop up even among your close relations.

Just like nature and nurture shape up our physical and mental faculties, these two factors also seem to determine our response to stress. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD has been shown to have a genetic and environmental connection. A study conducted by Kerry Ressler, of Emory University in Atlanta, established that an individual may be at an increased risk for developing PTSD if he/she possesses a particular gene variant in combination with a past traumatic experience. The research team examined the effects of a gene called FKBP5 and concluded that the presence of this gene could mean a predisposition to PTSD. Every individual has a different mechanism to deal with stressful situations like violence, accidents, natural calamity and war. While some succeed in leaving behind bad memories and moving on with life, others remain haunted by them for a long time to the extent that it affects their mental health and social well-being. PTSD is characterized by frequent nightmares, anxiety attacks, phobic behavior, insomnia and traumatic flashbacks.

Depression has its fallout on the physic of the depressed as signified in a series of researches. An Archive of Internal Medicine study found that women suffering from depression are more prone to bone loss from osteoporosis compared with women who are not clinically depressed.

It is known that women are more prone to both depression and osteoporosis than men, with half of all women compared with only one in five men suffering from bone loss after the age of 50. Blood and urine samples revealed that depressed women had overactive immune system that produces higher level of chemicals that promote inflammation. A protein called IL-6 is chiefly responsible for triggering bone loss.

One thing that has accompanied development is the ever-increasing loneliness. Yeah! I know that we do socialize, we do throw big bashes, we meet new people everyday, but the warmth in our conversations, the security of feelings have been lost way back. I don’t wanna preach anything but my point simply is - ‘we are lonelier then ever’. We might have all the riches in the world, we might be in a top position is our firm but we aren’t able to find a single soul to tell our problems to. Thus, loneliness in its various physical, mental and social shapes is taking its toll and believe me that’s a threat to human society.

Louise Hawkley and John Cacioppo, two psychologists from the University of Chicago have been trying to solve the complex, inevitable web of loneliness, by studying both the superficial and underlying factors. As per the findings that were reported in this month’s ‘Current Directions in Psychological Science’ which is a journal of the Association for Psychological Science indicate that the problem snow balls into bigger issues with time. It increases, both by breadth and length. As per the studies, lonelier people not only face troubles with a greater helplessness but also are not easy to talk about them to anyone. They instead of seeking help in such conditions retire back to a shell life, which worsens their conditions.

The researchers studied college-aged group and also studied a group of people aged between 50 and 68 for a whole year. People reported almost the same number of stressful or demoralizing events but the lonely ones had more experiences of chronic stress as an aftermath. On a molecular level, the lonelier ones reported increased flow of epinephrine, a hormone in their bodies. The increased hormone level indicates that these people go through a lot of stress which leave them with heightened arousal conditions. Also, loneliness takes its toll proportional to the age factor. Loneliness can be one of the factors, which can make you look 60 when you have just crossed 45.

Another condition that the researchers observed was that lonelier people had lesser sleep and also what we may call ‘micro awakenings’. The word here means that the amount of the sleep of the lonelier people is almost equal to those who have social circles, but the quality of sleep is poorer. Yeah! Lonely people have a disturbed sleep which doesn’t let their body, mind and soul to relax. Thus, if you find anyone who you think is a loner, stretch out your hands to welcome him/her in your world.

Source: Physorg

Image credit: Teensexercise

An advertisement for financial assistance entices people with the prospects of retiring at the age of 45. But why would someone want to retire in his or her prime? What does the person do after retiring?

Insomnia is a chronic sleeplessness, a sleeping disorder. Insomniacs are those who are unable to close their eyes or rest their mind for more than a few minutes at a time. Insomnia is a disease which is more common in the elder masses of our society.

There are few cases of insomnia which separately defines how long each kind of insomnia stays. First is ‘transient insomnia’ which last for few days or weeks by some changes in the routine, another one is ‘acute insomnia’ which yearns for a period of between three weeks to six months, ‘chronic insomnia’ hankers from months to years. The study of geriatrics and the statistics prepared by them depicts that insomnia prolongs to depression in the elderly.

Mild depression is different from clinical depression but needs equal attention so that it does not turn worse. Clinical depression is not just grief or sadness.
It is an illness that can challenge your ability to perform even routine daily activities. At its worst this depression may lead you to contemplate or commit suicide. Mild depression means that there are signs of depression but the individual is still able to cope with normal life to some extend.