Articles
Alternative Solutions to Depression:
Recommended Books
Quizzes and Tests
Organizations / Programs / Newsgroups
Recommended Books
Quizzes and Tests
Organizations / Programs / Newsgroups
| Combating Depression: Exercise, Relaxation, Cleansing and Nutrition by Stephen L. Bernhardt The brain is housed and nurtured by our body, if we are to heal our mind we must supply the needed nutrients and exercise so that the brain is able to function properly. This article provides an overview of how to make lifestyle changes that incorporate exercise, relaxation and proper nutrition to combat depression. |
| Cognitive-Emotional Self-Help for Depression (Control) by Stephen L. Bernhardt This article outlines a six step program to begin taking control of your life and your emotions. Steps include physical exercise, improved diet and cleansing of the body, Emotional Thought Stopping, and a change in lifestyle. |
| Being the Expert on Yourself by Mary Ellen Copeland, MS, MA "You are the best expert on yourself. You have, by far, more knowledge about yourself than anyone else." This article suggests techniques for accessing your inner knowledge to assist in battling depression. |
| Coming Out Of The Mire by Mary Ellen Copeland, MS, MA Some ideas to avert a depressive mood when the first signs are revealed, including a discussion of a technique called "focusing." |
| Plain Talk about Depression An overview of depression including a description of depression disorders and the different types of depressions, symptoms of both depression and mania, causes of depression, the evaluation and treatment of depression, the different antidepressant medications and their side effects, psychotherapy as a treatment, ideas to help yourself and how family and friends can help you and other resources for help. |
| Depression and Nutrition by Bonnie Beardsley, MPH, LDN, RD, NutritionResource.com A discussion of how nutrition can play a key role, both in the onset, severity, and duration of depression, including daily mood swings. |
| Vitamins and Minerals "Ever wish that treating depression were as simple as taking a vitamin? Well, for some of you it may be just that simple. There are a variety of vitamin deficiencies that can lead to depression symptoms." A list and discussion of various vitamins and minerals that aid in fighting depression symptoms. |
| Herbs for Depression by Karyn Siegel-Maier, HerbalMusings.com An overview of the various herbs commonly used to combat depression, their side-effects and effectiveness. |
| Questions and Answers about St. John's Wort Information about St. John Wort and a National Institute of Mental Health study currently underway testing its effectiveness. |
| Prevention: Herbal Remedies - Saint-John's-Wort from Prevention.com A discussion of how and why St. John's Wort may alleviate depression. |
| Information About St. John's Wort Several questions about St. John's Wort are answered including: Is St. John's Wort safe? Is St. John's Wort effective for depression? and Should it be used? |
| St. John's Wort by Terence Monmaney, L.A Times Medical Writer A discussion of whether St. John's Wort lives up to its claims of effectiveness, standards for gaging its potency and quality issues, and efforts by the herb industry to police itself. |
| Herbs - Kava Kava (Piper methysticum) Extensive information about kava kava, its history, and its uses in altering depressive moods. |
| Kava Kava: An Introduction from "Natural Alternatives to Prozac" by Michael T. Murray, N.D. A complete overview of the herb kava kava including kava kava extract in anxiety and depression, kava kava and menopause, how kava kava works, dosage, and safety issues. |
| Concepts and Dreams A site devoted to the nutritional supplement DMD, used to alleviate mild forms of depression. "What makes DMD different from any other nutritional supplement is that it was formulated with these specific nutrients to do what antidepressant drugs are trying to do, help increase the production of these neurotransmitters in your brain! But it helps to do so naturally, so you experience little or no side effects." |
| Sam-E A discussion of Sam-E, its benefits and uses, recent findings, how it works, food sources, safety, and optimal doses. |
| Emotional Thought Stopping: A Depression - Mood Enhancing Exercise by Stephen L. Bernhardt To allow negative thoughts about life's problems, problems caused by depression, hopeless thoughts about the future, or emotionally painful thoughts of past experiences to remain in our conscious mind reinforces our negative emotions. This article is designed to help you combat these depressive thoughts and enhance your mood. |
| Depression, Suicide: Cognitive-Emotional Self-Help by Stephen L. Bernhardt Undue stress resulting from past circumstances which were out of our control play a part in depression. If we can not find solutions and relieve undue stress the unconscious mind will trigger a depressive response. This article discusses how our past coping solutions may be prolonging our depression today. |
| Who Controls You? How Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy Can Help You Change Unwanted Emotions and Behaviours by Wayne Froggart Most people want to be happy, but we seem to be much better at defeating ourselves. Instead of feeling good, we worry and feel guilty. We feel shy, hurt or self-pitying. We get jealous, hostile and bitter or suffer anxiety, tension and panic. Most of this pain is avoidable! We can learn how to choose how we feel and behave. Some issues discussed in the article include how thinking affects feelings and how our beliefs determine how we behave, self-defeating beliefs, rational thinking, and how to change your beliefs. |
| Electroconvulsive Therapy. NIH Consensus Statement 1985 from the National Institutes of Health Findings by the NIH regarding the use of electroconvulsive therapy in the treatment of different kinds of depression, the risks and adverse effects, and how it should be administered. |
| Electroconvulsive Therapy from the National Institutes of Health An academic overview of ECT including the evidence that ECT is effective for specific mental disorders, the risks and adverse effects, factors to be considered in determining if ECT is appropriate, and how it should be administered. |
| Voices From Within: A Study of ECT and Patient Perceptions "This study examines ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) patients' own perceptions concerning their treatment and after effects. Research concerning memory loss and cognitive problems as a result of ECT has focused on researchers' ideas about what is important in assessing memory loss and cognitive damage. This study is an attempt to give ECT patients and survivors a voice of their own, from the perspective of those who have experienced the treatment." |
| ECT: Sham Statistics, the Myth of Convulsive Therapy, and the Case for Consumer Misinformation by Douglas G. Cameron, from The Journal of Mind and Behavior "This paper emphasizes that, contrary to the claims of ECT experts and the ECT industry, a majority, not 'a small minority,' of ECT recipients sustain permanent memory dysfunction each year as a result of ECT. The paper exposes the convulsion hypothesis upon which ECT is allegedly based, as mythological. Finally, through hidden and comparative electrical parameters, it exposes the extreme destructive power of today's 'new and improved' ECT devices." |
| California Figures from the Dept. of Mental Health "Despite the American Psychiatric Association's claim that only 0.5 percent (1 in 200) of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) patients suffer memory loss, statistics from California show that the actual figure is 40 times that amount. California is one of a small number of states that require reporting of ECT statistics." This article reviews the California statistics including the other complications reported from ECT. |
| Does Electroconvulsive Therapy Prevent Suicide? by Victor Milstein, Ph.D., Joyce G. Small, M.D., Iver F. Small, M.D., and Grace E. Green, B.A. "From Convulsive Therapy, 1986. This article examines whether or not ECT protects against suicide. The authors conclude, with some disappointment that ECT does NOT offer any long-term protection against suicide. In fact, say the authors, 'patients who committed suicide were more apt to have received ECT than those who died from other causes...'" |
| Treatment-Resistant Depression: Results of Latest Electromagnetic Stimulation Study Show Promise A press release announcing that an investigational treatment employing electromagnetic stimulation relieved depression in 25 patients whose depression failed to respond to conventional treatment, as reported by Emory University. |
| A Bright Spot on the Horizon:
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Psychiatry by Matthew Kirkcaldie and Saxby Pridmore An article discussing the promising avenue for influencing the living brain based on the use of pulsed magnetic fields and includes a discussion of how the treatment works and its safety. |
| Magnetic Stimulation Studied as Alternative to ECT for Depression from the National Institutes of Health Study suggests Magnetic Stimulation of the brain's left prefrontal cortex may help some depressed patients in much the same way as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), but without its side effects. This article compares the two treatments. |
| APA Meeting: Electromagnetic Stimulation Shows Promise For Treatment-Resistant Depression A report on a 1999 study of the effectiveness of TMS treatments for lessening depression. The report concludes that TMS "may be a viable option for patients with treatment-resistant depression." |
| Vagus Nerve Stimulation Successful For Depression A press release discussing a nationwide clinical trial showing that Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS), an electrical stimulation therapy currently used to combat epilepsy, is a promising new method for treating patients with severe treatment-resistant depression. |
| Treating Depression Electrically from the National Institutes of Health A discussion of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) and its use in the treatment of depression. The treatment is detailed including a study of it effectiveness. |
| Vagus Nerve Stimulation: A New Tool for Brain Research and Therapy by Mark S. George, et. al. An extensive discussion of VNS including a history of somatic interventions including ECT and TMS, a history of VNS, the vagus nerve anatomy, a description of VNS, and studies of VNS safety, cost and effectiveness. (PDF only) |
| Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) for Treatment-Resistant Depressions: A Multicenter Study by A. John Rush, et. al. Extensive documentation of a study of VNS to treat depression. The study concluded that VNS has anti-depression effects in treatment-resistant depressions. (PDF only) |
| Study Expands on Vagus Nerve Stimulation for Depression by Kenneth J. Bender, Pharm.D., M.A. "In response to encouraging results from a small pilot study of vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) for treatment-resistant depression, researchers are now expanding the study to approximately 200 patients in 20 sites across the United States." Article discusses the promising results of previous VNS studies and what is hoped with the expanded study that includes Stanford University and the University of Pittsburgh. |
| Sugar-sensitive people may have a hard time getting mobilized. You may feel frequently sad and apathetic. You may be depressed and crawl through the day with very little energy. For women, the depression may get worse just before menstruation. Often, sugar-sensitive people are miserable in the winter because the decrease in daylight affects their already impaired brain chemicals. You may self-medicate your depression by eating sweet foods since sweets are one of the few things that make you feel better. You may be taking an antidepressant like Prozac but still have symptoms of depression. If that's the case, you likely have a sugar-sensitivity aspect to your depression that neither you nor your doctor has recognized. Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D. |
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