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Written by Dr Bob
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Depression is one of the greatest problems and killers of our time. Here we list the latest depression statistics, reveal surprising facts about underlying depression causes, the failure of standard treatments, and what works for depression in the long-term.
- Depression Statistics
- Why Standard Treatments are Inadequate
- Depression Causes
- Depression and Illness
- Effective Depression Recovery
- References and Further Reading
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Depression Statistics
- Depressive disorders affect approximately 18.8 million American adults or about 9.5% of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year. This includes major depressive disorder, dysthymic disorder, and bipolar disorder. [1]
- Everyone, will at some time in their life be affected by depression -- their own or someone else's, according to Australian Government statistics. (Depression statistics in Australia are comparable to those of the US and UK.) [2]
- Pre-schoolers are the fastest-growing market for antidepressants. At least four percent of preschoolers -- over a million -- are clinically depressed. [3]
[Pill-Popping Pre-Schoolers | Even Toddlers Get the Blues]
- The rate of increase of depression among children is an astounding 23% p.a. [4]
- 15% of the population of most developed countries suffers severe depression. [5]
- 30% of women are depressed. Men's figures were previously thought to be half that of women, but new estimates are higher. [6]
- 54% of people believe depression is a personal weakness. [7]
- 41% of depressed women are too embarrassed to seek help. [8]
- 80% of depressed people are not currently having any treatment. [9]
- 92% of depressed African-American males do not seek treatment. [10]
- 15% of depressed people will commit suicide. [11]
- Studies show depression is a contributory factor to fatal coronary disease. [12]
[Depression Link to Heart Disease | Hostility, Depression May Boost Heart Disease]
- Depression results in more absenteeism than almost any other physical disorder and costs employers more than US$51 billion per year in absenteeism and lost productivity, not including high medical and pharmaceutical bills. [13]
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Written by Dr Lish
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Are you one of the one in three women and one in five men who suffer from depression? If so, Feldenkrais and our own Repatterning Movement exercises may have some hidden benefits, because they are powerful mood lifters.
As a Feldenkrais Practitioner and psychotherapist, I continue to be amazed at how much more optimistic and at peace with themselves people feel after even a few minutes of hands-on work or Awareness Through Movement. For this reason ATMs are included in our international Uplift Program, which has a 94% success rate in lifting mood (based on follow-up questionnaires) and in our new book,Creating Optimism: A Proven, 7-Step Program for Overcoming Depression (McGraw-Hill, 20004).
Another great benefit of Feldenkrais is that it enables you to get the most from what medical researchers are now touting as a vital part of any treatment program for depression-walking. James Blumenthal, PhD of Duke University, says that a brisk 30-minute walk around the athletic track three times a week may be just as effective in relieving the symptoms of major depression as a standard treatment of anti-depressant medications.
But when you're depressed, walking or any movement often becomes more difficult. Depression actually slows down the brain, and that is reflected in lethargy and slow, sometimes even difficult movement. I suffered from depression for many years, and my husband Bob, who is a psychologist, said he could accurately gauge my mood from the speed of my gait. The lower my mood, the slower my movment. I remember it used to feel as if someone had dialed up the gravity level. Now I see the same phenomenon in my clients.
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Written by Dr Lish
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We have used Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement (ATM) concepts to create a variation on a traditional Buddhist walking meditation that harnessed the advantages of meditation, body awareness, and connection to nature.
This meditation is an excellent exercise to incorporate into your walking or relaxation routine, Repatterning Movement program or every-day spiritual practice. Great to boost both mood and self-awareness.
The walking we are about to do should, ideally, be on a natural, uneven surface. A park, forest or beach are perfect. Try to find a place or a time when there is relative quiet or at least little traffic or construction noise. Humans were not made to live with machines, nor were our feet made to walk on concrete.
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Optimism quiz based on the seven step program
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Written by Dr Bob
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Truly supportive relationships bring out the best in us. Unfortunately in our society many of our relationships are actually quite dysfunctional and can lead to depression, anxiety, stress, and even illness.
But a network or "tribe" of supportive relationships can actually help overcome these pervasive modern ailments. In hunter-gatherer bands which we and other researchers have studied, long-term depression and generalized anxiety disorder are virtually unknown and most researchers put this down to the strength of their communal and individual bonds.
Of course you need to know whether your relationships are part of the solution or part of the problem, and how to make so-so or even emotionally dangerous liaisons into supportive "tribal" relationships. In our book, Creating Optimism: A Proven, 7-Step Program for Overcoming Depression, we show you how to do just that.
Many adult emotional problems, such as depression and its neurological twin, anxiety, originate with problematic relationships with caregivers in childhood. Almost certainly, our parents, older siblings or kindergarten teachers didn't mean to set us up for pain later on. But if they criticized us, were absent or emotionally distant, didn't get along well, or abused us physically, our brains may have become wired for pessimism and depression.
And we often perpetuate these awkward relationship patterns in our choice of friends, marriage partners, or work associates. Because our brains became accustomed to coping with such people, we tend to seek out people who remind us of them and then "cope" by retreating into familiar emotional patterns.
So how do you know whether your connections to others are healing, those--based on your real emotional needs--or problematic, reflecting your difficult or abusive childhood?
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