Articles Index

What is Depression?
Information about depression and manic depression, including a list of symptoms.

How to get Help If You're Depressed
Getting less depressed takes time. There are steps that you can take that will eventually pay off.

Causes of Depression
Information about the different causes of depression and research into how depression develops.

Cymbalta gets Mixed Reception
Eli Lilly's antidepressant Cymbalta is a versitile medication approved to treat depression and certain types of pain. Cymbalta is one of a new class of antidepressants that targets both serotonin and norepinephrine. Cymbalta was also the first antidepressant to hit the market since the FDA began studying whether antidepressants can increase the risk of suicide.

How does Exercise Improve Mental Health?
We know that exercise has positive effects on the brain. Researchers at Duke University demonstrated several years ago that exercise can be an effective antidepressant. Other research has shown that exercise can improve the brain functioning of the elderly, and may even protect against dementia. How does exercise improve mental health?

Treating Mothers' Depression Helps Kids' Mental Health
Effectively treating a mother's depression decreases the likelihood of her children having mental disorders within the same time period. Mothers who remain depressed increase the risk of her children having these disorders.

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
Powerful electromagnets are being used to stimulate areas of the brain non-invasively. Scientists are studying the effects of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) on severe depression and other mental disorders.

Women Inherit Depression more often than Men
Genetic factors play a somewhat larger role in depression for women than for men.

Teens with Depression Show Improvement When Medication, Therapy Combined
Teenagers suffering from depression improved more with a combination of an antidepressant and cognitive-behavior therapy than they did when treated with either separately, according to a multicenter study.

Exercise Alone may Reduce Symptoms of Depression
The first study to look at exercise alone in treating mild to moderate depression showed depressive symptoms were reduced almost 50 percent in adults who participated in 30-minute aerobic exercise sessions three to five times a week, according to researchers.

Depression & Fatigue Fuel Each Other
Depression and fatigue reinforce each other in a vicious cycle, say European researchers.

People Who Choose their Depression Treatment Do Better
Patients who chose their own treatment for depression had better outcomes than patients whose treatment was determined by their physicians alone, a new study of veterans has found.

How Do You Know if You Have Manic-Depression?
Bipolar disorder or manic-depression is manifested by highs and lows. When a patient is manic side, there is a persistent feeling of euphoria or irritability associated with lack of need for sleep, excessive energy, agitation, fast and loud speech, increase in goal-directed activities such as spending sprees and establishing businesses with no appropriate plan, and hypersexuality. Patients with this disorder develop poor judgment and impulsivity.