This week's depression links - 1/29/08

• Clinical Psychology and Psychiatry: A Closer Look: The Serotonin Monster Strikes Again ( Wednesday, Jan 30 at 02:43 AM )

  Continued reporting on whether there really is a chemical imbalance associated with depression or is it just a catch-phrase used by Big Pharma to persuade us to buy and use meds.

• The age of depression: 44 marks the start of that mid-life crisis - and scientists say it lasts years | the Daily Mail ( Wednesday, Jan 30 at 02:12 AM )

  "... while most of us enjoy a happy start and end to life, there is a trough in the middle, with 44 the year when depression peaks."

• Depression and dualism | Technovia ( Wednesday, Jan 30 at 12:46 AM )

  ... our best option is probably to look at environmental factors, the history of the experiences of the patient, and so on. In other words, psychiatry.

• Naturally and Surely Cure Depression and Neurosis ( Wednesday, Jan 30 at 12:43 AM )

  "Depression and neurosis can easily be cured through dream interpretation using the method discovered by Carl Jung in 1920, which I simplified in 1988." Today, these problems exist only for those who insist on suffering…

• Top 8 Tips for Living with Depression - Christianforums.com Forums ( Wednesday, Jan 30 at 12:41 AM )

  Grab a bucket and mop ....

• Don't Worry, Be Moderately Happy, Research Suggests ( Monday, Jan 28 at 07:09 PM )

  The people in our study who are the most successful in terms of things like income are mildly happy most of the time

• The new black: Mourning, Melancholia and Depression by Darian Leader review | Non-fiction book reviews - Times Online ( Sunday, Jan 27 at 07:45 PM )

  It’s nothing like as incoherent as the life we have to deal with while it happens.

• Bad science: Depression - the facts and the fables | Comment is free | The Guardian ( Sunday, Jan 27 at 07:44 PM )

  The serotonin hypothesis will always be a winner in popular culture, even when it has flailed in academia, because it speaks to us of a simple, abrogating explanation, and plays into our notions of a crudely dualistic world where there can only be weak pe

• Book - HOW SADNESS SURVIVED ( Friday, Jan 25 at 02:14 AM )

  "Do most types of depression represent an adaptation – an evolved mechanism which improved the survival and reproductive value of humans in our ancestral environment? Has depression been selected?" From http://www.geneticsandhealth.com/2008/01/23/dep

• Depression: How You Label Determines How You Feel | The Blog of Author Tim Ferriss ( Friday, Jan 25 at 01:59 AM )

  "Gratitude training can be used pre- or mid-depressive symptoms to moderate the extremes and speed the transition." Making a gratitude list is one of the quickest way to ground onself - you may hurt, but there are plenty people and ideas to hold on to.

• Getting out of depression (learned helplessness) by learning to be optimistic « Living an intentional Christian life ( Friday, Jan 25 at 12:02 AM )

  Start with your hair. Then your clothes. Then try avoiding hurtful people. Then go to a church where you feel loved. Then go to counselling and learn new skills. Then… then… then…

• Genetic Test To Predict Antidepressant Response ( Thursday, Jan 24 at 11:34 PM )

  "To our knowledge, our results provide for the first time evidence that genetic variants in the [gene for P-gp] account for differences in the clinical efficacy of antidepressants, most likely by influencing their access to the brain," they wrote.

• That Sinking Feeling: Depression Saps Workers, Employers | workforce.com ( Thursday, Jan 24 at 10:26 PM )

  That’s because while workers with behavioral health problems—a phrase that encompasses substance abuse and mental health problems—are a small percentage of the overall workforce, they are responsible for a large percentage of overall health expendit

• Black Dog Institute - Home - Black Dog Institute ( Thursday, Jan 24 at 07:54 PM )

• Neuropsychopharmacology - Abstract of article: Erythropoietin Improves Mood and Modulates the Cognitive and Neural Processing of Emotion 3 Days Post Administration ( Thursday, Jan 24 at 07:54 PM )

  Erythropoietin (Epo) has neuroprotective and neurotrophic effects and is a promising candidate for treatment of neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorder.

• ScienceDirect - Trends in Immunology : Cytokines sing the blues: inflammation and the pathogenesis of depression ( Wednesday, Jan 23 at 06:04 PM )

  Increasing amounts of data suggest that inflammatory responses have an important role in the pathophysiology of depression. Depressed patients have been found to have higher levels of proinflammatory cytokines, acute phase proteins, chemokines and cellula...