Sleeping in helps Depression?
Teenagers are going to love this finding – in a trial where school started half an hour later than usual, there was a decrease in self-reported depression and unhappiness. Apparently the ideal time for a teenager to get up is 8am, which often doesn’t allow teenagers enough time to get their sleep. So in order to see how teenagers would respond with more sleep in the morning,...
Read MoreDepression and Marijuana
After the previous post which touched on recreational drug use and depression, I thought this recent article from Reuters Health was particularly relevant. They report a study which showed a 50% increase in depression for those who had smoked pot before the age of 17. More research may be needed in order to make sure that smoking pot and depression weren’t the product of some other process,...
Read MoreWebcomics and Mental Health
I came across a recent video looking at anxiety and drugs by the makers of penny arcade. Penny arcade is a webcomic, mostly revolving around computer gaming. The authors, Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik were recently named in the time 100. It’s a sizable video, so apologies for people on slower internet connections, but I found it to be a particularly interesting look at mental illness. I...
Read MoreDiet and Depression
There’s quite a comprehensive article in the British newspaper, the independent, looking at a number of factors that make up a good diet. The article is quite comprehensive, so I’m not going to summarize it all, though to give you a taste of what it’s about, the subsections are as follows: Follow a Mediterranean diet Eat selenium Watch your blood sugar Boost your serotonin Get...
Read MorePredicting anti-depressant response
Anti-depressant drugs can be one way to deal with depression. One issue with anti-depressants is that there is not one anti-depressant that is effective for everyone. While many may find relief with the first anti-depressant, others need to ‘shop around’ for the right anti-depressant, and still others don’t find one that works for them. Add to this the delay – a number of...
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