Depression

[sunsplash1]

Few see the blues as a real problem
A national study on depression suggests less than 5 per cent of Australians believe the illness is a major health problem.
The study finds many are unaware of the symptoms of depression.
Depression campaign group Beyond Blue questioned nearly 3,000 people in the study.
Just 3 per cent of those who took part think depression is a major health problem.
Beyond Blue says depression and anxiety account for most of the economic, social and personal costs of mental disorders in Australia.
But researcher Nicole Highet says most still view the illness as a weakness.
"When they come forward and say they are suffering or experiencing depression, a lot of the time people have this thing that it's an attitude problem, get over it, pull your socks up, that sort of attitude," she said.
Dr Highet says many people still do not know how to deal with depression sufferers and 45 per cent of respondents believe keeping out of someone's way is helpful.
A further 34 per cent of people surveyed thought sharing their own problems helps but Dr Highet says both approaches make depression worse.
Beyond Blue has used the study to formulate a new national community awareness campaign, Blue Skies, which it launches today.
Sunday, July 4, 2004. 8:14am (AEST)http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200407/s1146325.htm

Hmmm...

 

[Anome]

Saw this on the ABC news ticker at the Canberra Centre this afternoon.

It just goes to show how little people know about depression and mental illness in general. Many of them probably think that depressives just need to cheer up.

 

[Leaferne]

A good friend of mine married an Aussie and moved down to Perth, and she said that Australia struck her as a very "macho" place (in marked contrast to Canada, which is sometimes so fuzzy-wuzzy and concerned with everyone's feelings you could scream). Any truth to that, from the perspective of genuine Aussies?

 

[sunsplash1]

*{'Splash enters wearing tin-foil covered slouch hat, Dead Kangaroo drapped over shoulders, with large blood stained knife in hand}*

Macho? Strewth and Crikey! Dunno mate, me shelia mates think I'm a bit of alright. Care about shitloads a stuff. Like me animals too, 'cept this bloody Kanga, looked at me funny so's I had to run the bastard down...

It'll be on the barbie tonight...

 

[Anome]

Care about shitloads a stuff. Like me animals too, 'cept this bloody Kanga, looked at me funny so's I had to run the bastard down...

You a bleedin' pooftah or something?

If it ain't your dog, and it ain't edible, then what use is it?

 

[sunsplash1]

Originally posted by Anome
You a bleedin' pooftah or something?

If it ain't your dog, and it ain't edible, then what use is it?

*{'Splash wipes blood of chin with back of hand}*
Crikey MAATEE!
Me bloody rat-a***d dingo ran off with me shelia mate years ago!


Edit 7.7.04 bit of a tidy up

 

[Anome]

They've been getting bolder around the sheep, those dingoes.

 

[sunsplash1]

Thanyou for the segue (Sp?) into being on-topic!

Sheep. Is it just me or do sheep look depressed? Their 'look is unsettling to me for some reason. Looks like they've had a hard time of late (or something...), or need a cuddle or some counselling...


Edit:No New Zealand sheep fetish references please!

 

[Anonymous]

I reckon most of the sheep over here are too busy keeping on the move to be depressed..... . They don't seem to stand still for too long 'less someone takes them from behind.....:eek!!!!:

 

[ramonmercado]

Source: Rockefeller University
Date: 2006-01-07
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 131350.htm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scientists, Linking Gene With Serotonin And Depression, Offer Insights To New Treatments

For the more than 18 million Americans who suffer from depressive illnesses, the best pharmacological treatments are those that increase levels of serotonin, the brain chemical that regulates mood, sleep and memory. New research by an international team of scientists, led by Rockefeller University researchers in Paul Greengard's laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, shows that a gene called p11 is closely related to serotonin transmission in the brain -- and may play a key role in determining a person's susceptibility to depression.

The newly discovered link between depression and the serotonin system, reported in the January 6 issue of the journal Science, could lead to new treatments for these mental disorders.

"We have shown that a gene called p11 is involved in the multiple complex changes that underlie depression," says Per Svenningsson, a research assistant professor and first-author on the paper. "Our findings demonstrate that patients with depression, and mice that model this disease, have decreased levels of p11 protein, and they suggest that drugs that increase p11 are likely to have anti-depressant properties."

Serotonin binds to 14 different receptors on a cell's surface. One receptor in particular, known as 1B, plays a crucial role in regulating serotonin transmission in the brain. Recent studies have suggested a role for the serotonin 1B receptor in depression, as well as in obsessive-compulsive disorder, drug addiction, anxiety, aggression and sleep.

Intrigued by these studies, Svenningsson and colleagues at Rockefeller, the Karolinska Institute, the University of Rouen in France and Eli Lilly and Company, used a blind screen called a yeast two-hybrid screen to identify proteins that associate with the serotonin 1B receptor. They found an association with a protein called p11, a protein previously identified as a regulator of the localization of several proteins on the cell's surface.

The researchers analyzed tissue from a mouse model of depression as well as post-mortem tissue from depressed human patients, and found decreased levels of p11 protein in both cases. On the other hand, p11 levels increased in rats and mice that were treated with anti-depressant medications or electroconvulsive therapy.

To further test the connection, Svenningsson and his colleagues genetically engineered two strains of mice: one that produced more p11 than normal and another that produced no p11 at all. They found that mice that overexpress p11 were hyperactive and, in a test designed to identify depression in rodents, acted just like mice that were on anti-depressant medication. Mice that lacked p11, meanwhile, acted depressed and showed less responsivity to anti-depressant medications.

Taken together, the findings point to p11 as a new target for developing depression treatments.

"In addition to exploring ways to increase p11 in depressed patients, it may also be possible to develop peptide-based compounds that can mimic the action of p11 to achieve a new class of anti-depressant compounds," Svenningsson says.

In addition to Svenningsson and Greengard, the study's other authors are Ilan Rachleff and Marc Flajolet at Rockefeller; Karima Chergui and Xiaoqun Zhang at Karolinska; Malika El Yacoubi and Jean-Marie Vaugeois at the University of Rouen; and George G. Nomikos at Eli Lilly.



###
This study was supported by the U.S. Public Health Service and the Swedish Research Council.

 

[rynner2]

I find it depressing that someone who has achieved as much as Hugh Laurie can still suffer from depression. What hope then for the rest of us run-of-the-mill depressives?

HUGH LAURIE

It's a caterpillar to butterfly-type media metamorphosis. The man best known in his homeland for portraying bumbling, English upper-class twits has become a sex symbol in the US for his role as a brooding, brilliant, blue-eyed American doctor in the hit series House.

The Washington Times has described Hugh Laurie's performance as Dr Gregory House as "perilously close to perfection". This week, it won him a Golden Globe in the best TV actor category.

Yet, not even his estimated £240,000 per episode has made him entirely happy. Producers working on the show have remarked that he is seldom content and more often morose and despondent.

And it's not just because the intense filming schedule has meant him not being with his wife and three children at home in London.

In 1996, Hugh Laurie first admitted he was clinically depressed. He diagnosed this himself when, during a charity stock car race, with cars flying and exploding around him, he felt bored.

Psychotherapy eventually confirmed his condition.

His insecurities stemmed, it would seem, from a mother who continually criticised him, having set goals for him that he could never attain. With typical British understatement, he has described her as "contemptuous of the goal of happiness".

Hugh Laurie was born in Oxford, in 1959, the youngest of four children. His father was a GP and Hugh was expected to follow him into the profession. He felt guilty that this didn't come about. The irony that he has achieved worldwide fame through being a doctor, albeit on TV, has not escaped him.

Laurie's friends

He went to Eton and then to Cambridge where he studied anthropology and archaeology, but made a bigger splash, so-to-speak, by rowing in the Boat Race. That Cambridge lost by a mere five feet still rankles.

But his career in showbiz was forged in the Cambridge Footlights, the theatre group that has been the springboard of success for such stars as Peter Cook, Alan Bennett, Sir David Frost and John Cleese.

Laurie's year had a particularly talented intake. His fellow Footlighters included Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson, Tony Slattery and Kenneth Branagh. Their student days were recalled in the movie, Peter's Friends.

Laurie formed a double-act with Stephen Fry, first in theatre revue and later, on television. Fry once described his comedy partner as "phenomenally intelligent with a fantastic brain".

Though something of a foil for Fry, Hugh Laurie was establishing himself as a comic actor. Other talents were also evident, not least his accomplishment on the piano. And could there be a better impersonator of the trumpet?

The piano wasn't his only musical outlet. He played guitar in a rock band named Poor White Trash. He is also a keen pilot and skydiver.

More comic acting success continued with his portrayal as the chinless wonder Bertie Wooster in Jeeves and Wooster, again with Stephen Fry. Then there was more aristocratic fooling around in the role of the gormless Prince Regent in Blackadder.

But Laurie decided it was time to turn aside from the image of a buffoon. He worked so hard on his accent that the producers of House assumed he was American when he bowled them over at his LA audition for House.

The exaggerated mannerisms of his comic characters somehow lend themselves well to the quirkiness of Dr Gregory House. The accent, though, is so different it could almost be dubbed.

The show is currently one of the most popular on American television and is becoming a cult here. If ever there was vindication for Hugh Laurie's decision to go to Hollywood to escape type-casting in Britain, this is it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4631772.stm

Psychotherapy eventually confirmed his condition.

Laurie: I feel depressed.

Therapist: Ah! I diagnose you are suffering from depression. That will be $20,000.

8)

 

[Quake42]

In 1996, Hugh Laurie first admitted he was clinically depressed. He diagnosed this himself when, during a charity stock car race, with cars flying and exploding around him, he felt bored.

Umm... I'm no mental health expert but I have had a couple of people close to me who have suffered from serious depression and it is a rather different beast to what is described above! In my experience clinical depression is a debilitating condition which can make it impossible for people to work, have relationships, get out of bed or indeed have any sort of a normal life.

Feeling a bit bored at a stock car race just sounds like celebrity ennui to me...

 

[rynner2]

Umm... I'm no mental health expert but I have had a couple of people close to me who have suffered from serious depression and it is a rather different beast to what is described above! In my experience clinical depression is a debilitating condition which can make it impossible for people to work, have relationships, get out of bed or indeed have any sort of a normal life.

Feeling a bit bored at a stock car race just sounds like celebrity ennui to me...

...a debilitating condition which can make it impossible for people to work, have relationships...

(My italics)

But a lot of people do have succesful careers despite their depression.

And I certainly can understand this:

His insecurities stemmed, it would seem, from a mother who continually criticised him, having set goals for him that he could never attain. With typical British understatement, he has described her as "contemptuous of the goal of happiness".

I can't remember ever being praised by my mother for anything, which has led to a lifetime of insecurity, which in turn led to a chequered working career.

As for relationships, I have no close friends (just you lot! ) and am mostly out of touch with my family.

Oh well, time for Sunday lunch down the pub, one beacon of pleasure in a gloomy life...!

 

[Rrose_Selavy]

In 1996, Hugh Laurie first admitted he was clinically depressed. He diagnosed this himself when, during a charity stock car race, with cars flying and exploding around him, he felt bored

Sounds like anhedonia - the inability to enjoy the things you would normally - what used to be pleasurable leaves you numb or disinterested- a classic but less obvious symptom of depression. I'm sure that wasnt the only reason for the diagnosis




-

 

[ruffready]

He just needs (with his money he can) to get a place were he can get a bunch of animals to take care of and he won't have time to get depressed. the end

 

[Quake42]

Quote:
...a debilitating condition which can make it impossible for people to work, have relationships...
(My italics)

But a lot of people do have succesful careers despite their depression.

Yes sorry I wasn't trying to offend anyone - I just think that a diagnosis of serious mental illness when, in fact, it just sounds like Hugh was bored and needed a change of direction trivialises the whole issue. I do think that nowadays there is a tendency for doctors (who of course have a vested interest!) to medicalise perfectly normal behaviour.

See my rants on other threads about food allergies, dyslexia and some of the ludicrous definitions of "binge drinking" or "alcoholism" which are currently floating about in the media.

I suppose what I'm saying is that we all have times in our lives when we are not desperately happy, feel stuck in a rut etc. But that's perfectly normal and it really doesn't compare with the suicidal despair that the seriously depressed often feel.

 

[rynner2]

I suppose what I'm saying is that we all have times in our lives when we are not desperately happy, feel stuck in a rut etc. But that's perfectly normal and it really doesn't compare with the suicidal despair that the seriously depressed often feel.

True.

Suicide? Been there, done that. (Failed, obviously.)

It's the fact that Laurie and I have had similar 'mother' problems that makes me think that we're both on a similar part of the depression spectrum.

 

[Leaferne]

I find it depressing that someone who has achieved as much as Hugh Laurie can still suffer from depression. What hope then for the rest of us run-of-the-mill depressives?

It's an organic disease, ryn, like diabetes or cancer--indeed, substitute either of those words for "depression" in your statement and see how much sense it makes. It doesn't matter how rich or good-looking or successful or thin you are; it's a problem with brain chemistry, not outlook, and the difference between clinical depression and everyday blues is like the difference between New Orleans circa September 2005 and an overflowing bathtub.

 

[Graylien]

If depression is purely an organic disease - like cancer - then surely that would make psychotherapy totally irrelevant?

 

[Anome]

Ah, but it's not purely organic. There is an organic component, but there is frequently a psychological trigger for the depression.

If it were purely organic, as you say, there would be little need for psychotherapy. Just take the pills, and it will all work out. But the most effective treatment seems to be a combination of medication and the talking cure.

 

[Leaferne]

Cognitive therapy is brilliant for both panic and anxiety; it helps you change the way you think/feel/react to things.

 

[Niall114]

Have to admit, not dying in a car crash absolutely cured me.

Whether that's repeatable & diagnostic I don't know

 

[ramonmercado]

I know it inovles octupuses (octopi?) but its about depression, so I'm putting it here.

Using Octopuses To Understand Depression
13 Feb 2007

Researchers often use animals to help them resolve problems that can be applied to people. Dr. Jean Boal, a biology professor at Millersville University of Pennsylvania, is developing a new and unique way to research the causes and effects of depression with the help of octopuses.

Boal, along with Dr. Anne-Sophie Darmaillacq, a visiting postdoctoral fellow from Universite de Caen in France, is performing behavioral experiments with octopuses. Darmaillacq will be working with Boal through February 16.

"Along with biology student, Katherine Heldt, we will be researching the effects different conditions have on the octopuses to gain information on depression," explained Boal.

She explained that the first part of the research will include training the octopuses to distinguish between white and black rods and reward it with food if it goes to one rod and no reward if it goes to the other. Next, for two weeks they will house half the octopuses in enriched conditions and the other half in impoverished conditions and then reverse the housing for another two weeks.

"My prediction is that if the octopuses are like rats (or people), the octopuses moved from impoverished to enriched conditions should be 'happy' and 'optimistic,'" said Boal. "The octopuses moved from enriched to impoverished conditions should be 'sad' and 'pessimistic.' We can test this by presenting them with rods that have black-and-white stripes. Optimistic animals will see the striped rods as like the ones they were rewarded with. Pessimistic animals will see the striped rods as like the ones that had no reward."

"Darmaillacq's primary goal is to collaborate with me on these behavioral experiments," said Boal. "Her secondary goals are perfecting her English and getting to know the United States."

Boal will be traveling to France this summer to work with Darmaillacq in her home setting. They will conduct the same type of studies, but with cuttlefish instead of octopuses.

Along with their student collaborator, they will present the results of their experiments at an international behavior meeting and publish their results in a peer-reviewed journal.

Millersville University
http://www.millersville.edu/


http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medical ... wsid=62847

 

[Ria777]

all this research to tell us what all already know.

 

[glamour_dust]

And stressing out the poor octopuses. Besides , i don't think the researchers know much about depression if they assume moving the creatures into better conditions will necessarily make them happier. Depression doesn't always work that way in humans, so i'm guessing neither in animals.

 

[ramonmercado]

Well theres always the chance that an octopus will strangle a researcher. Or do the biologists eat them after the study concludes?

 

[James_H]

I find that octopuses always cheer me up.

 

[sunsplash1]

'splash looks at black and white striped pole

Meh...

 

[rynner2]

A roll in the dirt...

Health and happiness is all down to a roll in the dirt
John Elliott, Social Affairs Correspondent

FORGET the spring-cleaning. A study has found evidence that bacteria common in soil and dirt could improve people’s spirits.

According to the research, the action of Mycobacterium vaccae (M vaccae) on the brain is similar to that of some commonly used antidepressants.

The bacterium, which is related to the microbe that causes tuberculosis, appears to work by stimulating the body’s immune system. This, in turn, prompts certain cells in the brain to produce more serotonin, a hormone associated with feelings of wellbeing.

“These studies help us to understand how the body communicates with the brain and why a healthy immune system is important for maintaining mental health,” said Dr Chris Lowry, a neuroscientist at Bristol University who carried out the research.

“They also leave us wondering if we shouldn’t all spend more time playing in the dirt.”

The finding follows separate research by other scientists into the impact of bringing children up in “overhygienic” conditions.

They found evidence that exposure to a wide range of common microbes in early life helped to promote healthy development of the immune system.

Without such exposure, the immune system seems more likely to mistake the body’s own cells as invaders and launch attacks on them. This could be one of the mechanisms underlying the surge in conditions such as asthma and eczema.

The research by Lowry and a team of 12 scientists at Bristol and University College London (UCL) takes this “hygiene hypothesis” a step further by linking exposure to the microbes found in dirt with good mental, as well as physical, health.

Interest in the project arose after human cancer patients being treated with M vaccae unexpectedly reported increases in their quality of life.

This could have been caused by the microbe having indirectly activated the brain cells that produce serotonin.

The researchers injected some mice with the bacteria while others were made to inhale it. They then analysed the blood and brains of the infected mice to see what effect the microbes might have had on their immune systems and on serotonin levels.

Details will be published in Neuroscience, an academic journal, this week.

The study is highly unlikely to lead to new therapies for depression in the near future but it does build on the growing body of research showing the importance of the human immune system in regulating even the subtlest aspects of health.

There are a range of studies supporting the hygiene hypothesis and the idea that exposure to microbes is good for long-term health.

In families with several children, the youngest often has the least allergies, most likely because it picks up the elder siblings’ infections so activating the child’s immune system.

Graham Rook, a professor of immunology at UCL who worked with Lowry, has already published research into the link between exposure to microbes and subsequent development of allergies.

Rook and two of his co-researchers are also working with S R Pharma, a company looking into whether M vaccae could become the basis of treatments for conditions such as asthma.

Rook believes that improved cleanliness may be a contributory factor in diseases such as asthma, eczema and hay fever, along with autoimmune diseases such as Type 1 diabetes and inflammatory bowel disorders such as Crohn’s disease. He said: “We’ve known for a couple of decades now that a whole group of chronic inflammatory disorders are becoming much commoner in the rich developed world.”

The body’s response to such inflammatory diseases is regulated by immune cells which, said Rook, need to encounter harmless bacteria early in life in order to work out how to respond effectively to real threats.

Without these encounters, he said, the regulatory cells can malfunction, leading to health problems.

Mark Pepys, professor of medicine at UCL, said that there was “quite a lot of evidence” to support the hygiene hypothesis but said he would be cautious about extending the theory to mental wellbeing.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_a ... 596735.ece

Probably explains why I liked goal-keeping when younger!

 

[Beakmoo]

And why I get seriously weird if I don't have access to a garden.