Category: Depression

Spotting when people are trying to avoid these sensations is critical to avoiding depression relapse.

People who have recovered from depression but try to block out emotions — including sadness and anxiety — are more likely to become depressed again, research finds.

Being open to both positive and negative emotions is critical to mental well-being.

One reason is that the emotions provide important information: they exist for a reason.

Emotions help to inform our thoughts and allow us to understand our experience.

Dr Norman Farb, the study’s first author, said:

“We don’t like feeling bad things, (but) we don’t really think about the implications of balancing our short-term relief with our long-term health.

Our research explains why working to keep feeling is so important.

It lays the groundwork for seeing that emotional stress actually robs us of sensation—and to undo stress, one must counter this inhibitory effect.”

Blocking emotions

The findings come from a study in which 166 people were given therapy for depression and then followed up over two years.

As part of the study, the brains of participants were scanned while they watched various videos, some of which included emotionally charged situations.

The researchers found that people who were more affected by sad videos were less likely to suffer a depression relapse.

Instead, it was the people who blocked their emotions that were at greater risk.

Dr Farb said:

“What actually determined their depression levels was how much that sadness was accompanied by a sensory shutdown.”

Emotions update our thoughts

When people block out negative emotions, they lose a vital way of updating their thoughts, said Dr Farb:

“Our thoughts are there to nail things down so you can hold onto them over time, and that’s fine as long as they keep getting updated—but the thing that updates it is new sensations.”

In other words, much as we might like to, we cannot live healthily without emotions like sadness and anxiety.

Minor negative events can lead to depression relapse for those suppressing their emotions, said Dr Farb:

“This negative mood gets tied up with thoughts about themselves and can be easily perpetuated over time, and the person can feel worse.

If the person suppresses these bodily sensations, their thoughts will compound into more and more depressive reactions.”

Spotting those who are trying to avoid sensations early is critical, said Dr Farb:

“We don’t have to wait until the person starts to really spiral, where it takes a lot of resources and time and effort to pull them out.

You can start to notice if the person is starting to fit the profile of someone who’s getting really sensory-avoidant.

We can address it then, before the person stops showing up to work or taking care of their kids.”

The study was published in the journal NeuroImage: Clinical (Farb et al., 2022).

A range of common drugs, many available over the counter, help to reduce depression.

Fish oils, statins and common painkillers like aspirin — all available over-the-counter — can help treat depression, research concludes.

The positive effects of these anti-inflammatories are even stronger when taken with antidepressants.

The reason these drugs may help is because inflammation in the body can contribute to depression.

The research found that the most effective anti-inflammatory drugs are:

• Omega-3 fatty acids,
• statins,
• non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs),
• and minocyclines (a type of antibiotic).

The study also found that other anti-inflammatories, like steroids, modafinil and N-acetyl cysteine, were linked to a positive effect on depression.

The conclusions come from an analysis of 30 different studies which collected their results together.

Professor Ed Bullmore, a neuropsychiatrist at Cambridge University, who was not involved in the study, explained:

“The paper uses rigorous statistical methods to combine results from 30 previously published trials, involving about 1600 people with depression.

Based on this large amount of data, they find that anti-inflammatory agents “on average” have modest but robust anti-depressant benefits.

Interestingly, anti-inflammatory agents had a stronger effect when they were taken together with a conventional anti-depressant drug, like an SSRI.”

Around one-third of people given antidepressants do not respond to the medication.

Taking anti-inflammatories, though, reduced depression symptom severity by 52 percent.

They also increased the chance of curing depression symptoms by 79 percent.

Prof Bullmore sounded a note of caution, though:

“The study falls short of providing definitive evidence that any particular agent is an effective anti-depressant, or is likely to work well for everybody with depression.

Even for over the counter drugs and food supplements, it is advisable to let your doctors know what you’re taking, especially if you’re already taking prescribed medication or you experience any side-effects.”

The study was published in the journal Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery & Psychiatry (Bai et al., 2019).

Certain dairy products are associated with lower rates of depression.

People who consume low-fat dairy products are less likely to be depressed than those who prefer whole-fat.

The conclusions come from researchers in Japan and China.

They studied 1,159 Japanese adults aged between 19 and 83.

All were asked about their dairy consumption and levels of depression.

People who ate low-fat dairy between one and four times a week were less depressed, the results showed.

The benefits of dairy products could be down to trytophan, the study’s authors write:

“Dairy products may decrease the prevalence of depressive symptoms due to its beneficial contents, such as tryptophan, an essential amino acid.

Tryptophan can be converted into 5-hydroxytryphtophan (5-HTP) which is subsequently converted into the neurotransmitter serotonin.

Therefore, intake of tryptophan may improve depressive symptoms by increasing the level of serotonin in the brain. It has been confirmed that serotonin deficiency is causally related to depressive symptoms.”

Whole-fat milk consumption, though, was not linked to depressive symptoms.

It may be that the benefits of the tryptophan in milk were cancelled out by the trans-fatty acids.

Only milk and yogurt were measured in the study, not cheese and butter.

As ever with correlational studies — those that find an association between two factors — it is not strong evidence that low fat dairy causes lower depression.

There is still a link to be explained, though.

Some experts also recommend milk for brain health:

Milk consumption has been linked to higher levels of naturally-occurring antioxidants in the brain, a study finds.

Despite this, few Americans reach the recommended daily intake for this healthy brain food.

Professor Debra Sullivan, chair of dietetics at University of Kansas Medical Center, said:

“We have long thought of milk as being very important for your bones and very important for your muscles.

This study suggests that it could be important for your brain as well.”

The study was published in the journal Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology (Cui et al., 2017).

White matter disruption has been linked to both emotional problems and difficulties with thinking skills.

Depression changes the structure of the brain, according to the results of over 3,000 brain scans.

Changes were seen in the white matter of the brain.

The white matter is the brain’s ‘wiring’, connecting the different areas together.

It contains tracts of fibre down which electrical signals can pass.

White matter disruption has been linked to both emotional problems and difficulties with thinking skills.

The results come from brain scans of 3,461 people.

It found that people who reported symptoms of depression had reduced white matter integrity.

Dr Heather Whalley, who led the research, said:

“This study uses data from the largest single sample published to date and shows that people with depression have changes in the white matter wiring of their brain.

There is an urgent need to provide treatment for depression and an improved understanding of it mechanisms will give us a better chance of developing new and more effective methods of treatment.

Our next steps will be to look at how the absence of changes in the brain relates to better protection from distress and low mood.”

Scientists used a cutting-edge technique called diffusion tensor imaging.

This technique — which measures the movement of water molecules — is particularly suited for mapping the fibres in the brain.

The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports (Shen et al., 2017).