Social Issues: Depression

" .. One of the leading causes of disability today, according to the World Health Organization, is depression .. the problem is underdiagnosed and undertreated. Many sufferers may not even consider that they are depressed, instead seeking help for physical symptoms such as sleeplessness, aches and pains, or lack of energy.

Depression is a mood disorder and should not be confused with the ups and downs that are a part of normal life. Clinical depression is characterized by extended periods of feeling sad or empty, where nothing is enjoyable and physical activity declines. Symptoms include mood swings, feeling numb, changes in eating and sleeping patterns, a lack of energy, and a sense of worthlessness or inadequacy. In the case of chronic mild depression (dysthymia), a person can function but not to full capacity, which often allows the problem to go unrecognized .. "

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Book Review: Hooked On The Story of Getting Hooked

" .. portrait of addiction offered by the Canadian author and physician Gabor Maté in In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts
.. Addiction is dangerous in any form. "There is no such thing as a good addiction. Everything a person can do is better done if there is no addictive attachment that pollutes it. For every addiction – no matter how benign or even laudable it seems from the outside – someone pays a price."
All addiction, whether accounted for by neurological, social, moral, emotional or spiritual factors, is based on the desire to escape one void and plunge into another. Addiction, which Maté cogently defines as "any repeated behaviour, substance-related or not, in which a person feels compelled to persist, regardless of its negative impact on his life and the lives of others" – is what happens when the only reasonable alternative to living with an incomplete self is oblivion

.. Dr. Maté's book is especially compelling for its expansive account of addiction as consisting of all these factors in infinitely variable degrees – addiction is a condition based on a fundamental misperception: that inside us there's a darkness, and that darkness can only be evaded by something outside of ourselves .. "

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Former ‘Idol’ Contestant Gets Skinny

" .. Mandisa’s weight has always been a painful topic for her, originating from childhood trauma. The Grammy nominee was sexually molested as a child and a rape at age 16 only added to her struggle. "A lot of girls turn to men to fill that void and some turn to drugs," the singer, 32, told People. "I turned to food as my drug of choice." .. "

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Abuse Victims Have Long Term Bad Health

" .. New research shows that abuse victims feel the impact of violence long after it occurred. A recent study in the Journal of Women's Health found that older African-American women who were exposed to high levels of family violence at some point in their lifetimes -- whether by a partner or family member -- are at a greater risk of poor mental and physical health status.
"Not just ongoing violence, which everybody thinks about, but even when it's over, there's something about what happens that seems to have a lingering effect that we don't quite understand yet," said Dr. Anuradha Paranjape, co-author of the study and associate professor at Temple University School of Medicine.
It makes sense that abused women would report worse health, given that people in stressful situations have higher levels of stress hormones, which interfere with immune function, Crawford said.
Other studies show a clear connection between depression and abuse. Adult women who have been abused in a relationship in the past five years have rates of depression 2½ times greater than women who have never been abused, according to a different study of more than 3,000 women. They are also more likely to be socially isolated, said author Amy Bonomi, associate professor at The Ohio State University .. "

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Is He Hurting You? Love Doesn't Hurt.

" .. Abusive people usually start with isolating you. Actually you may feel flattered and that he loves you so much that he wants you all to himself. Don't be fooled...this will not last. He actually wants to control you .. "

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