This Quick Cosmetic Procedure Relieves Depression (M)
Depression was reported between 40 and 88 percent less frequently after the treatment.
Category: Depression
This Mental Health Problem Is Far More Common Than We Thought (M)
The discrepancy could be down to the fact that people forget or downplay these episodes when asked many years later.
A Harmless Pill That Reduces Emotional Distress (M)
Markers of emotional distress in the brain reduce within seconds of taking the pill.
The Diet That Eases Depression (M)
What you eat affects how you think and what you think also affects how your digestion works.
The Type Of Aspirations That Make People Depressed (M)
Thinking over-and-over again about failed aspirations is psychological distressing.
This Vitamin Is Linked To 75% Lower Depression Risk
Up to 50% of young women may be deficient in this vitamin.
Up to 50% of young women may be deficient in this vitamin.
Healthy levels of Vitamin D are linked to a 75% lower risk of depression, new research finds.
The Irish study followed almost 4,000 older adults for four years.
The results showed that those with a vitamin D deficiency had a 75% higher risk of depression.
Vitamin D is produced by the body in response to sunlight or can be taken as a supplement.
The link between vitamin D and depression is not confined to older adults.
One recent study found that vitamin D deficiency is linked to depressive symptoms and more negative thoughts in young women.
Dr Eamon Laird, study co-author, said:
“This study shows that vitamin D is associated with a health condition other than bone health.
What is surprising is the large effect on depression even after accounting for other control variables.
This is highly relevant for Ireland as our previous research has shown that one in eight older adults are deficient in the summer and one in four during the winter.
Moreover, only around 8% of older Irish adults report taking a vitamin D supplement.”
Older people typically have low levels of vitamin D in their bodies.
One-in-eight older Irish adults are deficient in vitamin D.
Another study has suggested that 50% of young women have insufficient vitamin D levels.
Foods that have high levels of vitamin D include oily fish and eggs, but most people get their vitamin D from the action of sunlight on the skin.
Dr Laird continued:
“Given that vitamin D is safe in the recommended intakes and is relatively cheap, this study adds to the growing evidence on the benefits of vitamin D for health.
It also helps to continue to impress the need on our public health bodies to develop Irish vitamin D recommendations for the general public.
Up to this point, these are severely lacking.”
The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association (Briggs et al., 2018).
Depression And Anxiety Are NOT Mental Disorders (M)
The symptoms of depression and anxiety can only be reduced by dealing with the ‘psychic pain’ of adversity.
The Best Hobbies To Prevent Depression (M)
Pursuing hobbies increases the chance of a depressed person recovering by 272 percent.
The Best New Depression Therapy Is Quicker Than CBT
The depression therapy is quicker and more effective than CBT.
The depression therapy is quicker and more effective than CBT.
Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) is often seen as the gold standard for treating depression.
However, a new study has found that ‘metacognitive therapy’ has a better outcome and is quicker.
Three-quarters of patients with depression recovered after being given metacognitive therapy in comparison to only half given CBT.
Metacognitive therapy involves targeting basic thinking processes.
It focuses on how people think, in contrast to CBT which concentrates on the content of thoughts.
A simple example of metacognition is realising one is prone to repetitive thinking of depressive thoughts — what psychologists call rumination.
Metacognitive therapy is about learning to deal with rumination more effectively.
One strategy is learning that thoughts are just thoughts and do not reflect reality.
Like any thoughts, they can be allowed to float away without causing distress.
Professor Adrian Wells, the study’s author, said:
“CBT has been the therapy of choice for many years in treating patients with major depression — with varying degrees of success.
We don’t know for sure why MCT might be more effective, but it is a method that has a solid scientific basis, grounded in the latest cognitive psychology.
We’re very excited about the results.
The focus of the two treatments is different: MCT aims to change basic mental regulation processes that have become biased, whilst CBT aims to modify thought content and is based much more on clinical observation.”
The study included 174 people with major depression, 85 of whom received metacognitive therapy and 89 received CBT.
Six months after the therapy, 74 percent of patients receiving metacognitive therapy had recovered, compared with just 52 percent of those receiving CBT.
Metacognitive therapy was also quicker, taking an average of 5.5 sessions compared to 6.7 for CBT.
Professor Wells, who co-developed the therapy, thinks it has a bright future:
“We think MCT may cost less than CBT but no formal analyses have been run on this to date.
However MCT appears to give results more quickly so fewer sessions may be required.
We do think MCT may be easier to use because it has a core set of principles that can be applied to many types of disorders and does not depend on reality-testing of different negative thoughts.
Instead it helps patients to reduce the process of repetitive negative thinking and worrying.”
The study was published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology (Wells, 2020).
The Most Natural Way To Reduce Depression (M)
The natural activities that give the biggest boost to mood.
