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DEPRESSION
Robert Lopes
Takane Miyashita
Kathryn Claitor
Binjie Huang
Causes of Depression
Genetic: risk increases with heredity
Biochemical: Too little or too much of a brain
chemical affecting mood and sleep.
Environmental: Significant loss, difficult
relationships, financial problems, drugs, or a
major change in a life pattern.
Psychosocial: Persons with certain traits.
Pessimistic thinking, low self-esteem, a sense
of having little control over life.
Diagnosing Depression
You are depressed sad, blue, tearful
Lost interest in things you previously liked
Appetite increases or decreases; significant
weight gain or loss
Trouble sleeping or too much sleeping
People notice your agitated, restless, or have
slowed down
Feelings of worthlessness and guilt
Causes
Trouble concentrating, thinking clearly,
or making decisions
You feel you would be better off dead
or have thoughts about killing yourself.
American Psychiatric Association
Major Depressive Disorder
Statistics
One in ten adults
suffer depression
each year
Treatment can
alleviate the
symptoms in 80%
Depression is the
most common
psychiatric disorder
Women experience
depression at twice the
rate of men
Elderly white males are
highest at risk
74% of people seeking
help go to their primary
doctor and 50% are
misdiagnosed of those
cases
Caution
“There is a distinct difference between feeling
“depressed” and having a depressive illness.
If you have low spirits for a while, don’t be
concerned. However, if you feel you can’t lift
yourself out of your misery, you should seek
professional help.
All information gathered from
www.holisticonline.com
Online Depression Screening Test
What causes depression?
http://www.abc.net.au/health/depression/cause.htm
At the most basic level, nobody really knows what causes depression. The
dominant theory is that it is a result of low levels of certain neurotransmitters
(messenger chemicals that carry signals from one nerve cell to the next) in the
brain. This is called the 'monoamine theory' of depression — monoamines
being the group of chemicals that these neurotransmitters belong to.
Sleep apnea can cause
depression
on this web-site, you can take a sleep disorder quiz to see if…
“Obstructive sleep apnea is an illness characterized by snoring, partial or complete
cessation of breathing during sleep, reductions in blood oxygen levels, severe sleep
fragmentation, and excessive daytime sleepiness…
The syndrome strikes both sexes and all races, ages, socioeconomic strata,
and ethnic groups, though it is less common in women prior to menopause,
and may be more common in blacks than in whites." (NCSDR)
Brain Chemistry of Depression
Link Found Between Serotonin
Transporter Gene And BPAD
(Bipolar affective disorder) is a complex genetic disorder
Depression in Chinese Medicine
--three types of depression: earth-, water-, and woodtype
As with all disease, we need an accurate diagnosis before we can
begin treatment. Depression has many causes. Not all of them will be
helped by antidepressants. If your self-esteem is intact, your mood
does not vary during the day, and you are not impaired socially, your
depression may have a physical cause.
Some physical/biomedical causes of depression are: chronic pain,
chronic fatigue, normal grief, vitamin B12 deficiency anemia, folate
deficiency anemia, viral disease, connective tissue/collagen disorders
(arthritis), an organic brain disorder, drug side-effects, cancer, and
endocrine abnormalities. Chinese Medicine can enhance the health of
anyone with any of these conditions.
What depression can induce?
How can you determine if an illness is
causing depression or depression is
causing an illness?
Illnesses that can lead to depression are usually major, chronic, and/or
terminal. When an illness is causing depression, there is often long-term
pain present or there is a sudden change in lifestyle.
Depression causes illness in a different way. Like psychological stress, it
can weaken the immune system (cells involved in fighting disease and
keeping you healthy) allowing a person to get more colds or the flu. There
is often a notable presence of "aches and pains" with no particular cause.
Having depression may also cause an illness to last longer and intensify its
symptoms, but the true relationship of depression-induced illness, in terms
of major disease, has not been thoroughly defined.
BIPOLAR DISORDER
What is it?
Bipolar Disorder, also known as manic
depression, an illness characterized by mood
swings from depression to mania. The diagnostic
criteria for bipolar depression is the same as for
major depression, but bipolar patients tend to
have atypical features.
Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder
Enormous, frequent mood swings, resulting in
these symptoms during an episode of
depression or mania
Increased energy, no
energy at all
Restlessness or irritability
Extreme irritability
Distractibility
Little sleep needed
Thoughts of death or
suicide
Denial that anything is
wrong
Feelings of hopelessness
Spending sprees
Lasting periods of
unusual behavior
Abuse of drugs,
particularly cocaine,
alcohol and sleeping
medication
Provocative, intrusive,
or aggressive behavior
Chronic pain, fatigue
Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder is a lifetime illness, ongoing
treatment plans are necessary
Bipolar patients who rapid cycle can be up
and down in a matter of minutes, and in
mixed states, depression and mania are
present at once.
There are a few types of Bi-Polar Disorder
ranging from “mild” and “extreme” mood
swings to acute schizophrenia
BIPOLAR DISORDER
Not just a mood swing depression
Patients also suffer from subtle cognitive
deficits, between episodes which get worse
over time
Many patients also suffer from at least one
other mental illness, such as anxiety and
panic, or alcohol and substance abuse
One major study found that 61% of bipolar
patients had a lifetime substance dependence
problem
Treatment for Bipolar Disorder
Psychological treatment is necessary
A person with bipolar disorder should
be under the care of both a
psychologist and a psychiatrist
Medication is required to help balance
the mood swings and obtain substantial
stabilization
Web Sites with information
regarding Bipolar Disorder
www.psychologyinfo.com/depression/bipolar.ht
m
www.mcmanweb.com/index.html
www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/bipolar.cfm#
bp1
Depression in Traditional Chinese Medicine
(TCM)
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is based on very different worldview
than that Western medicine. In order to understand Chinese medical psychiatry,
one must understand that no dualism between the mind and body exists in TCM.
The body is the material basis for the mind, which is seen as the natural
expression of the function of the body. Because of this non-duality between
psyche and soma, physiological events within the body might result in mentalemotional sensations, experiences, and predispositions, while psychological
events may have either a beneficial or deleterious effect on the body’s
physiology. Therefore there is such a disease or simple category as “depression”
in TCM. However there are certain “patterns” that are similar to what is called
depression in western medicine.
Acupuncture As An Treatment For “Depression”
There have been a number of Chinese studies done showing that acupuncture
can be an effective treatment for mental-emotional disorders. Hiener
Fruehauf stats “(For the treatment of mental-emotional diseases), the
therapeutic focus tends to be on the restoration of uninhibited qi flow, since
unbalanced emotions first affect the qi before they influence the physical
structure of the body” and what acupuncture does first and foremost is
disinhibit the flow of qi. (According to Ted J. Kaptchuk, OMD in his book,
The Web That Has No Weaver, Qi is, in clinical sense, “the particular dynamic
of engendering, movement, tension, and activation. “) Therefore acupuncture
can be a very effective treatment for many kinds of mental-emotional
disorders. In particular, acupuncture is very effective for promoting relaxation
in cases of heightened excitation and restlessness. One of the most common
responses to acupuncture is for patients to fall asleep on the treatment table.
Relaxation As A Basis For Mental Health
TCM emphasizes on relaxation for the treatment of long-term psychoemotional problems. It actually is more important than many people think.
Relaxation results in freeing the flow of qi mechanism. For instance, liver
depression qi stagnation sits squarely in the center of most of the disease
mechanisms leading to mental-emotional disease. Therefore any therapy
that has a disinhibiting and normalizing effect on the qi flow and, therefore,
the qi mechanism will have a salutary effect on the mind and emotions.
When one relaxes physically and mentally, whatever qi should be up borne
is down borne. The psycho-physiological effects of simply letting go are
immediate and automatic.
Qigong
Qigong is a generic term covering a wide range of mental, movement, and
respiratory regimes. This is very effective method for treating psychoemotional problems.
- Still Qigong & Active Qigong
In general, there are two kinds of qigong, still qigong and active qigong.
When qigong is advised to patients with mental-emotional diseases, it is
mostly the still qigong. This consists of what West knows as progressive deep
relaxation and certain kinds of biofeedback therapy. In this type of qigong,
the patient uses their volition, imagination, and respiration to relax the entire
body and mind.
An Importance Of Treatment Schedule
The other important thing in treating mental diseases with
acupuncture is that treatment schedules have to be close enough
together. Bob Flaws and James Lake, MD state in Chinese
Medical Psychiatry that more serious psychological disease,
more closely treatments should be scheduled. According to
them, many of the failures some Western acupuncturists have
experienced in treating these kinds of diseases may have been
due to improperly spaced treatment regimes.
Web Sites
- Acupuncture Today
http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/
An article from a TCM journal “Acupuncture Today” on seasonal disorder
http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/archives2003/apr/04abbate.html
- American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine
http://schools.naturalhealers.com/actcm
<For general information regarding to TCM>
- WEB MD
http://aolsvc.health.webmd.aol.com/content/healthwise/109/27014?SRC=a
olKW=acupuncture
- Acupuncture Com.
http://acupuncture.com/
Also the book, “The Web That Has No Weaver” by Ted, J. Kaptchuk is
highly recommended.