Suicide Prevention

admin Depression, General, Major Depression, Mental Health, Self Care Leave a Comment

10 USEFUL* things you can do for suicide prevention *Spoiler: none of these things are about “fixing” a suicidal person. I’d like to apologize for missing the actual National Suicide Prevention Day, which was September 10, but, really, any day is a good day to talk about suicide prevention.  Suicide prevention is not a matter of telling your distressed friend …

Inflammation and Depression – Specific Symptom Cluster

admin Basic Science, Depression, Diagnosis, Major Depression, Physical Conditions and Health, Psychobiology Leave a Comment

A study of 15 population-based cohorts, totalling 56,351 individuals, suggests that there is a correlation between inflammation as measured by elevated  C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) and a specific sub-group of symptoms of depression. The inflammation cluster consisted of four physical symptoms: changes in appetite, felt everything was an effort, loss of energy, sleep problems; and one cognitive symptom: little …

Depressive Symptoms COVID

admin Depression, Major Depression, Mental Health Leave a Comment

The COVID-19 pandemic appears to be associated with a higher burden of depressive symptoms than might have been predicted in comparison with earlier disasters and society-wide disruptive events, such as the September 11th attacks.  Since April 2020, self-reported symptoms of depression have increased over the previous year, and remain high.  A survey1 published in The Lancet Regional Health – Americas …