Depression Is Less Likely To Occur, As Well As Quicker To Remit, Among Those Who Are Religious.

By Pedro Toledo

Depression can be a very difficult health issue to understand and this lack of awareness and understanding can create situations of suicidal attempts that could easily be prevented. Current health events give us a lot of information on the symptoms and characteristics of problems related to disorders like depression. Depression has now being accepted as a disease and therefore, a treatment for this disease is also available.

Genetic factors: According to WHO, it has been consistently observed that depression tends to run in families. For the uninitiated, genes are like computer chips within our body that hardwire or pre-program us towards certain physical or physiological predispositions. The BlackDog Institute (Australia) suggests that "the genetic risk of developing depression is about 40%, with the remaining 60% being due to factors in the individual's own environment". For example, in 2003, a New Zealand study suggested a certain gene - responsible for the transportation of serotonin - in conjunction with a serious life stressor was responsible for depression (Caspi A et. al. Science 301: 386-389). At the time, this was heralded as a significant breakthrough in the understanding and treatment depression.

Overcoming depression the natural way should be one of the first solutions that people resort to today. It can range from the simplest and most practical solutions that do not require much effort. It can simply begin by changing a chaotic lifestyle. This simple treatment does not include long term medications and clinical treatments.

However, if you are a person who usually pays attention to the current health events, then you will definitely come across the symptoms and cures of depression and then you will understand that what you have is a health problem which can be cured. This is the first and most important step to be taken when it comes to depression or any kind of disease.

Even more concerning is the latest report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association examining the effectiveness of antidepressants, which demonstrated that there was no real difference between antidepressants and a placebo in the treatment outcomes of mild and moderate depression (Antidepressants aren't the only remedy for milder forms of depression: Robert DeRubeis; Jan 2010). In other words, treating mild or moderate depression with a sugar pill was just as effective! Furthermore, in the treatment of patients with severe depression, there was only a 4 point difference on the scale used to measure the severity of an individual's depression between the antidepressant and a placebo. Strangely, a recent newspaper article in the New York Times was extremely critical of the undue media attention of the results from this study. Its' main argument was that it is the mental health system to blame for over-prescription of antidepressants for mild and moderate depression. Further, it cited that antidepressants are effective in the treatment of severe depression. However, it failed to mention that even in the treatment of severe depression there was only that 4 point difference between the use of the pill and the placebo. Of note, for pharmaceutical companies, depression is big business. The number of Americans taking antidepressants since the mid-1990's has nearly doubled, with at least 27 million taking pills to combat depression (Archives of General Psychiatry). Further, in 2008 alone, 164 million prescriptions were written adding up to almost $10 billion in sales (IMS Health).

Resorting to the practical and natural ways to get rid of depression instead of using medications is far more effective in the long term. Natural and practical remedies to depression lead to self improvement without the costs and without the hassles. - 30415

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