Category: Depression

The Surprising Personality Trait Linked To Depression

The type of people who are more sensitive to negative emotions.

The type of people who are more sensitive to negative emotions.

People who are more open to experience are at higher risk of depression.

People who are open to experience are more likely to be imaginative, sensitive to their feelings, intellectually curious and seekers of variety.

In particular, people who are into art and in touch with their emotions are more likely to experience depression.

It may be because artistic people are more sensitive.

The conclusion comes from a study of 143 people who were given tests of personality, focusing on the personality trait of openness to experience:

“Open individuals exhibit an increased awareness of, and receptiveness to, their feelings, thoughts, and impulses, as well as a need for variety, or a recurrent need to enlarge and examine experience.”

Some people in the study had never been depressed, some were depressed in the past and the remainder were currently experiencing depression.

The authors explained the results:

“Depressed participants (both current and past) scored significantly higher than nondepressed participants on the broad factor of Openness, as well as on both Openness to Aesthetics and Openness to Feelings.”

Sensitivity to the arts is probably linked to sensitivity to negative emotions, the authors write:

“It seems more likely that individuals who are attuned to beauty and the arts might be more sensitive, in general, and might therefore be more sensitive to, and affected by, negative events and stimuli.”

An appreciation of art and the experience of depression may be strongly linked:

“…the experience of depression may lead to an existential ”reexamination of the purpose of living,” and consequently bring the depressed individual “in touch with the mystery that lies at the heart of ‘tragic and timeless’ art”

Similarly, Ludwig (1994) suggested that the experience of depression (as well as other emotional problems) serves to fuel the writers “motivation for expression, . . . providing them with the basic ingredients for their art’.”

The study was published in the Journal of Personality Assessment (Wolfenstein & Trull, 1997).

How Talk Therapy Changes And Heals The Depressed Brain (M)

Cognitive-behaviour therapy doesn’t just relieve depression, it changes the brain’s structure.

Cognitive-behaviour therapy doesn't just relieve depression, it changes the brain's structure.

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Depression: 8 Daily Food Choices That Fuel And Fight It (P)

Three dietary choices that act like antidepressants, plus 5 that make depression worse.

Our diets shape our mood, resilience and risk for depression in powerful ways.

From the bacteria in our gut to the foods on our shelves, research has revealed many connections between nutrition and depression.

However, some foods we consider 'healthy' might actually be working against our mood, while others we've overlooked could be powerful allies.

The eight studies below explore some foods the body needs to fight depression -- and those that make it worse.

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9 Signs of Seasonally Affective Disorder (SAD) (M)

People are diagnosed with SAD if they experience these changes during two consecutive winters.

People are diagnosed with SAD if they experience these changes during two consecutive winters.

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This Is What Causes Major Depression: The Vicious Circles Revealed (M)

Scientists are mapping the complex web of causes of major depressive disorder.

Scientists are mapping the complex web of causes of major depressive disorder.

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The Type Of Exercise That Lifts Depression

People felt more interested in all activities, in a better mood and it reduced feelings of worthlessness.

People felt more interested in all activities, in a better mood and it reduced feelings of worthlessness.

Lifting weights and strength training help to reduce depression, a review of the research finds.

Strength training can substantially improve people’s symptoms even for those with moderate depression and those who do not train that often.

In fact, strength training, including weight-lifting, is particularly effective for people who have more severe depression symptoms.

It also didn’t matter if people ‘bulked up’ or not — there was no link between having more muscle and feeling better.

The main thing was just to do the workout.

After strength training or weight-lifting, people felt more interested in all activities, in a better mood and it reduced feelings of worthlessness.

The studies cannot tell us why strength training is beneficial, but it may be because it increases blood flow to the brain.

Previous studies have also shown that weight-lifting reduces anxiety symptoms.

Mr Brett Gordon, the study’s first author, said:

“Interestingly, larger improvements were found among adults with depressive symptoms indicative of mild-to-moderate depression compared to adults without such scores, suggesting RET may be particularly effective for those with greater depressive symptoms.”

The conclusions come from a review of 33 separate studies involving 1,877 people.

The studies included both the depressed and nondepressed.

The results showed it didn’t matter if people went to the gym five times a week or just twice a week, or how many repetitions they completed — the benefits were roughly the same.

All that really mattered was showing up and completing the workout.

The study’s authors conclude:

“Resistance exercise training significantly reduced depressive symptoms among adults regardless of health status, total prescribed volume of RET, or significant improvements in strength.”

Weight training has similar benefits to mental health to those provided by aerobic exercise, like jogging.

This is quite apart from its physiological benefits, such as increasing bone strength and preventing other chronic conditions.

The authors recommend working out at least twice a week and performing around 10 repetitions of 10 different strength-building exercises.

Related

The study was published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry (Gordon et al., 2018).

The Type Of Breathing That Fights Depression And Anxiety

Changing patterns of breathing improves mental health, concentration and memory.

Changing patterns of breathing improves mental health, concentration and memory.

Deep breathing can help reduce the symptoms of depression and anxiety.

It also has the power to increase concentration and memory.

Controlled yogic breathing has even been shown to help with severe depression.

But, it has to be done right.

Diaphragmatic breathing — colloquially known as deep breathing — involves contracting the muscles underneath the lungs.

Sometimes it is called ‘belly breathing’ because it feels like breathing from the belly.

In contrast, ‘chest breathing’ — using the muscles around the upper body — is less efficient.

Dr Melanis Rivera, a clinical psychologist who works at a student counselling centre, said:

“When you breathe with your upper chest, upper lungs, upper body, what happens is you are taking in less oxygen which is vital to your body and organs.”

This sort of shallow breathing is linked to anxiety, fatigue and muscle tension.

It can also lead to headaches and panic attacks.

Belly breathing is best done by breathing in steadily for four seconds from the diaphragm, then exhaling for six seconds.

Dr Nathaly Shoua-Desmarais, a clinical psychologist and biofeedback specialist, said:

“The misconception is the longer you suck in air the better, but it’s the longer exhalation that provides the most benefit.”

While it might seem odd that we need to train ourselves to breathe properly, Dr Shoua-Desmarais said:

“Babies use diaphragmatic breathing.

Somewhere along the way we develop bad habits that develop into thoracic breathing.”

Retraining ourselves to do something so natural, though, can prove difficult.

It is best to start with a 5-minute routine at first, said Dr Rivera:

“If you’ve been chest breathing for a good portion of your life and you suddenly tell your body, hey, let’s stretch out these lungs, you could feel dizzy or get a headache, even hyperventilate.”

A Common Vitamin Deficiency Linked to Depression

Very common vitamin deficiency linked to higher levels of depression.

Very common vitamin deficiency linked to higher levels of depression.

Almost half of young women have insufficient vitamin D levels, which is linked to depression.

The study also found that over one-third of young women had signs of clinical depression.

Dr David Kerr, the psychologist who led the study, said:

“Depression has multiple, powerful causes and if vitamin D is part of the picture, it is just a small part.

But given how many people are affected by depression, any little inroad we can find could have an important impact on public health.”

While many suspect a link between the vitamin deficiency and depression, studies have not often confirmed it.

Dr Kerr continued:

“The new study was prompted in part because there is a widely held belief that vitamin D and depression are connected, but there is not actually much scientific research out there to support the belief.

I think people hear that vitamin D and depression can change with the seasons, so it is natural for them to assume the two are connected.”

Vitamin deficiency

To test the link researchers recruited 185 female college students between the ages of 18-25.

The study focused on women because they are almost twice as likely to suffer from depression.

Their vitamin D levels were measured from their blood.

Depression symptoms were checked every week for five weeks.

The results showed that women of colour had particularly high vitamin deficiency for vitamin D, with 61% being deficient.

This compared to low vitamin D levels in 35% of other women.

Vitamin D is important for both mental and physical health.

Physically, it has been linked to better bone health, muscle function, and cardiovascular health.

Vitamin D is created in the body with exposure to sunlight.

It is also found in some foods, like milk, which is fortified with it.

Dr Kerr concluded:

“Vitamin D supplements are inexpensive and readily available.

They certainly shouldn’t be considered as alternatives to the treatments known to be effective for depression, but they are good for overall health.”

The vitamin deficiency study is published in the journal Psychiatry Research (Kerr et al., 2015)

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