Clinical depression is radically different from a passing feeling of sadness. It is a phase of low mood that lasts for more than three to four weeks at a stretch. Typical symptoms of depression are social withdrawal, insomnia, change in appetite, weight gain or loss, extreme pessimism and a feeling of worthlessness.

Passing phases of sadness can potentially lead to clinical depression if not attended to. It is imperative that you arm yourself with some protection to avoid such a situation. Some simple procedures including natural remedies for depression can prove very helpful in boosting energy levels and avoiding depressive moods.

According to the ancient Indian therapy Ayurveda, disease is caused by an imbalance of the three aspects. These aspects are the basis of the healthy functioning of a body. They are vata (wind), kapha (phlegm) and pitta (heat). Depression occurs when this imbalance is accompanied by â��œlack of awareness of one ’s deeper, inner Self.â�

Originally posted 2007-09-18 09:59:02.

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With the pressures of society coming down heavily on our children, anxiety and mood disorders have become extremely prevalent. Though the term �

Originally posted 2006-10-03 11:49:45.

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The most difficult part of grief over the death of a pet is that probably no one except you understands your grief. Somehow or the other, the death of an animal is hard for people to compare with the death of a human being. It is only you and your family who understand how close a companion the pet had been. Grief on the death of a pet is normal and the extent largely depends upon your bond with the pet. Children are especially fond of pets and it affects them the most.

How the child is affected by the death of a pet also depends on the age of the child. Up to a certain age, children are unable to understand the permanency of death. They are likely to keep asking questions about the absence of their loved pet when they do not see him around. It is only after they are explained that they realize that the pet is gone forever. Managing pet grief in children is all about explaining irreversibility of death if the child is old enough or simply by hugging and holding just as you would when the child is disturbed due to another reason.

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If you are like many of the 20.9 million adults in the U.S. who are suffering from depression, you have probably debated the pros and cons of taking prescription antidepressants. While depression can often be combated with therapy alone, some professionals do recommend medication for certain cases. The right type and dosage of a prescription medication can sometimes meet with success for a patient, but many experience side effects that outweigh the benefits.

Side effects vary between the different types of antidepressant, but the most commonly prescribed medications are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft are all SSRIs, and often produce side effects such as sexual dysfunction, nausea, diarrhea and headaches, and in some cases thoughts of suicide. In order to avoid these, more and more people are deciding instead to explore natural remedies for depression.

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Clinical depression is a condition that is far removed from the everyday meaning of â��œfeeling depressedâ�

Originally posted 2007-09-11 14:49:05.

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Clinical depression is a cluster of physical and psychological symptoms. To deem a case as clinical depression, the symptoms need to present themselves continuously for at least six weeks and impair normal life. Some of the major symptoms of depression are:

1. Sadness, anxiety, fussiness and pessimism
2. Lack of emotion or too emotional
3. Indifference towards pleasure activities
4. Marked appetite changes
5. Too much or too less sleep
6. Lack of confidence and low self esteem
7. Inability of rational thinking
8. Abstruse thinking

These symptoms are likely to lead to strained relationships, job and financial pressures, and conflicts with loved ones.

Drugs can elevate moods and induce a feel-good factor. But medications like antidepressants for treating depression can only provide symptomatic treatment.

Proper counseling is required to make-good the damage done to relationships and motivation to bounce back into normalcy needs psychological handling. The person suffering has to struggle to regain positivity. Psychotherapy or treating depression psychologically attempts to help the patient in that effort.

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Even though pregnancy is supposed to be the happiest period in the life of a woman, a tenth of all women go through this phase facing some symptom of anxiety or depression. About 5 percent of women undergo major depression during pregnancy. Anxiety and depression during pregnancy is fairly normal and if you are going through this phase, you should know that a large number of women face similar thoughts and worries.

Feeling anxious about the nutrition that you need to take for the child, being worried about the health of the baby and the future of your life with your partner after the baby comes, is something that most, if not all, women go through. Thoughts about how you will manage a small baby along with your ambitious work life and home management can send shivers down the calmest of people.

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I was in India in 1993 to help manage a community for orphans and blind children on behalf of a German charity. During the monsoon season, the week of the big Hyderabad earthquake, I took an all-day train ride almost all the way across the subcontinent (from Bombay through Hyderabad to Rajamundri) to visit an obscure town near the Bay of Bengal. In the train compartment with me were several Indian businessmen and a physician, and we had plenty of time to talk as the countryside flew by from sunrise to sunset.

Curious about how they viewed our children diagnosed as having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), I asked, “Are you familiar with those types of people who seem to crave stimulation, yet have a hard time staying with any one focus for a period of time? They may hop from career to career and sometimes even from relationship to relationship, never seeming to settle into one job or into a life with one person â���� but the whole time they remain incredibly creative and inventive.”

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Anxiety and depression in adolescence has been on the increase of late. A fairly significant 5 percent of the kids and teens population suffers from clinical depression. This clinical anxiety and depression should be understood as different from the loose manner in which we tend to use the words anxiety and depression. Depression is the extended feeling of sadness, hopelessness, pessimism and despair that desists the adolescent from carrying about normal daily activities required in life.

The causes for anxiety and depression have not been identified unambiguously but there are certain factors that are known to increase the probability of anxiety and depression in adolescents. The first of these causes that has been researched and established as one that determines the risk of anxiety and depression in adolescents is heredity. The National Institute of Mental Health claims in a press release that depression is 40 to 70% inheritable. Experiences in the past that are linked to a major loss or setback can also trigger anxiety and depression in adolescence. Circumstances like the death of a close friend, parent or sibling, rejection from peer group chronic illness, psychological or sexual abuse and a physical disorder may lead to a higher probability of being afflicted with anxiety and depression.

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One of the difficulties in diagnosing ADHD is that it is often accompanied by other problems. For example, many children with ADHD also have a specific learning disability (LD), which means they have trouble mastering language or certain academic skills, typically reading and math. ADHD is not in itself a specific learning disability. But because it can interfere with concentration and attention, ADHD can make it doubly hard for a child with LD to do well in school.

A very small proportion of people with ADHD have a rare disorder called Tourette’s syndrome. People with Tourette’s have tics and other movements like eye blinks or facial twitches that they cannot control. Others may grimace, shrug, sniff, or bark out words.

More serious, nearly half of all children with ADHD–mostly boys–tend to have another condition, called oppositional defiant disorder. These children may overreact or lash out when they feel bad about themselves. They may be stubborn, have outbursts of temper, or act belligerent or defiant.

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