Feeling depressed? Ask not what your parents did or didn’t do when you were a child. Ask yourself what you had for dinner last night, and the night before, and the night before that.
Brain Scanning and OCD
The sophisticated science of brain scanning may be on the brink of revolutionizing the intuitive art of psychiatry, one of the few domains left in medicine in which a doctor’s educated guess is still the most common way to figure out what’s wrong
Meditation and the Brain ….?
For decades, open-minded Westerners – patients and doctors alike – have been touting the medical benefits of meditation, an ancient Eastern practice that comes in hundreds if not thousands of different flavors but consists basically of quieting the mind through moment-to-moment nonjudgmental awareness.
A New Understanding of Depression
At McLean Hospital in Belmont, brain researchers have hit upon what could become a totally new way to treat depression – blocking a brain chemical called dynorphin, the “evil cousin” of endorphin, which triggers the “runner’s high.”
Rushing Off Antidepressants Can Bring On More Distress
At first, Zoloft seemed like “manna from heaven,” says this 53-year-old woman, a teacher who lives in Watertown.
It was the summer of 1999 and, for reasons she still doesn’t fully understand, she had slipped into a “terrible slump.” Her doctor suggested Zoloft, America’s second most popular antidepressant, after Prozac. And for a while, it was great, says the woman, who does not want her name used.
Treatments For Manic Depression Are Improving
Michael Penney, 53, of Holliston used to have, as he puts it, “a charmed life.” Marriage. A son. A master’s degree in marine economics and law, and good jobs, including an eight-year stint at the state office of Coastal Zone Management.
FDA loosens reins
The US Food and Drug Administration once had the power to force manufacturers of over-the-counter dietary supplements, including herbal remedies, to prove those products were safe, if the agency felt such a pre-market review was warranted.
Go the medical route if herb doesn’t relieve depression
So, you’re depressed. Given that the Globe’s analysis showed that, at least in lab tests, there is considerable variation among St. John’s wort brands, should you take it at all?
St. John’s Wort: Less Than Meets The Eye
Globe Analysis Shows Popular Herbal Antidepressant Varies Widely In Content, Quality.
We thought it would be easy.
After all, we had just two seemingly simple questions: Does St. John’s wort, the popular herbal adtidepressant on which Americans spend $250 million a year, work – at least on rat brain cells in a test tube? And do the product labels accurately reflect what’s inside the tablets?
Trendy pill should be taken with a grain of salt
She’s a young woman from the South Shore, finally able both to work and to study for an advanced degree.
But for years, she’s been plagued by severe depression that stems, she says, from physical abuse she suffered as a child, and from sexual abuse when she was 17.