Posts tagged as Depression
Sad People Smoke
Daily smoking is a risk factor "for repeat episodes of depression." OR MAYBE IT IS A WAY OF COPING WITH REPEAT EPISODES OF DEPRESSION! Did you ever think of that, study? Grrr.
Why White People Are Fat, Drunk and Sad
Finally, an excuse for my obesity, dipsomania and moroseness: "Westerners could be genetically programmed to consume fatty foods and alcohol more than those from the east, researchers have claimed. Scientists at the University of Aberdeen say a genetic switch – DNA which turns genes on or off within cells – regulates appetite and thirst. The study suggests it is also linked to depression."
The Night Clay Aiken Saved My Life
A room full of depressives, schizophrenics and recovering addicts will almost never agree on what constitutes “Must-See TV.” The only options that night were "American Idol" and a Mel Gibson movie, the one where the kids make tinfoil hats to ward off alien mind control. Watching anything brain-related in a mental hospital—forgive me, behavioral health facility—is pretty much verboten, so we decided on "Idol." Personally, I was more interested in my proximity to Mike on the couch, and how his hand had crept toward mine under the edge of the stiff, synthetic blanket on my lap. It was August, but you wouldn’t have known it. The air conditioner was set to “arctic,” and the skylight in the rotunda only registered day, night and rain. READ MORE
Dealing With The Summer Depression
Here are some tips on how to cope with "summer depression," or, as I like to call it, "summer." And here are some better tips. Whatever works!
Depressed People Have A Better Understanding Of How Badly Life Sucks
"While healthy people expect the future to be slightly better than it ends up being, people with severe depression tend to be pessimistically biased: they expect things to be worse than they end up being. People with mild depression are relatively accurate when predicting future events. They see the world as it is. In other words, in the absence of a neural mechanism that generates unrealistic optimism, it is possible all humans would be mildly depressed."
Article On Depressed Preschoolers Not Exactly A Bundle Of Laughs
"But there were worrisome signs. For one thing, unlike your typical joyful and carefree 4-year-old, Kiran didn't have a lot of fun. 'He wasn't running around, bouncing about, battling to get to the top of the slide like other kids,' Raghu notes. Kiran's mother, Elizabeth (her middle name), an engineer, recalls constant refrains of 'Nothing is fun; I'm bored.' When Raghu and Elizabeth reminded a downbeat Kiran of their coming trip to Disney World, Kiran responded: 'Mickey lies. Dreams don't come true.'" READ MORE
Sometimes I'm Happy
Happy people are more selfish and pay less attention to details than do those of us who know that life is an unrelenting slog of boredom, horror, and melancholy, says Science. This obverse of this assertion is looked at in much longer detail in a Times Magazine article on depression this weekend. It examines the idea that depression is an evolutionary strategy aimed at helping us better focus on things. And there is this, on the link between depression and creativity. READ MORE
Your Parents Make You Sad
Philip Larkin was right: "Long-term epidemiologic studies show that depression intensifies from one generation to the next. Today's parents represent the largest group of depression sufferers raising the fastest-growing group of depression sufferers. We are on average four times more depressed than our parents and ten times more than our grandparents. This is not just a reflection of greater awareness of the disorder."
