Publications - Depression

Many depressed teens don’t get needed treatment, by Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, Feb 1 2016.

“Many teens diagnosed with depression don’t immediately receive needed follow-up care even when therapy is recommended or medication is prescribed, a U.S. study suggests.   Three months after diagnosis, more than one third of the roughly 4,600 adolescents with depression in the study didn’t receive any treatment at all, and more than two thirds didn’t get a follow-up symptom evaluation with a specialist. ”

Depression Management, by Health Promotion Research Center, University of Washington, 2016.

“PEARLS is an in-home, brief counseling program that empowers adults to manage depression and improve their quality of life. It teaches three depression management techniques: problem solving, planning social and physical activities, and scheduling pleasant events. In the original PEARLS randomized controlled trial (1999-2003), participants were three times more likely to significantly reduce depressive symptoms or completely eliminate their depression. Participants also improved their functional and emotional well-being. Study results also showed a strong trend toward reduced hospitalization. ”

Mindfulness for Teen Depression: A Workbook for Improving Your Mood, by Mitch Abblett and Christopher Willard, 2016.

Older Adults and Depression, by National Institute of Mental Health Science Writing, Press & Dissemination Branch, NIMH, 2016.

“Depression is a common problem among older adults, but it is not a normal part of aging. It may be overlooked because for some older adults who have depression, sadness is not their main symptom. They may have other, less obvious symptoms of depression or they may not be willing to talk about their feelings. Therefore, doctors may be less likely to recognize that their patient has depression. ”

Resilience factors may protect teen children of depressed parents, by Kathryn Doyle, Reuters, Dec 16 2015.

“Many teen children of parents with depression also suffer from mental health problems, but about one in five kids show traits or behaviors that seem to protect them, a recent study suggests. Researchers found that among high-risk adolescents, having warm and supportive parents, good quality social relationships, a sense of self-efficacy or getting regular exercise were all tied to a higher likelihood of having good mental health. The more of these factors were present, the greater the protection. ”

Light May Work on Nonseasonal Depression, Study Finds, by Nicholas Bakalar, New York Times, Nov 24 2015.

“Bright light therapy has been used effectively for seasonal affective disorder, the kind of depression that comes on at a specific time every year, often the dark days of late fall and winter, and then lifts. Now a new study has found that it may work to treat nonseasonal depression as well. ”

Could Depression Be Caused By An Infection?, by Bret Stetka, NPR , Oct 25 2015.

“Late last year, Turhan Canli, an associate professor of psychology and radiology at Stony Brook University, published a paper in the journal Biology of Mood and Anxiety Disorders asserting that depression should be thought of as an infectious disease. "Depressed patients act physically sick," says Canli. "They're tired, they lose their appetite, they don't want to get out of bed." He notes that while Western medicine practitioners tend to focus on the psychological symptoms of depression, in many non-Western cultures, patients who would qualify for a depression diagnosis report primarily physical symptoms, in part because of the stigmatization of mental illness. "The idea that depression is caused simply by changes in serotonin is not panning out. We need to think about other possible causes and treatments for psychiatric disorders," says Canli. ”

Therapy program may improve function for depressed kids, by Kathryn Doyle, Reuters , Oct 5 2015.

“A cognitive-behavioral prevention program to prevent depressive symptoms among at-risk youth may still be effective years later, according to a new study. ”

Drugs and Talk Therapy Affect the Brain in Different Ways, by Christian Jarrett, New York Magazine , Sep 30 2015.

“This raises an interesting question: Are the brain changes induced by psychotherapy the same or different from those induced by antidepressant medication? A new meta-analysis (the kind of research that looks at results across many previous studies) published recently in Brain Imaging and Behavior looks at this very question in relation to major depression. The researchers, based at several institutions in Italy, say their results suggest psychotherapy and drugs affect the brain in different but complementary ways. ”

Campus Suicide and the Pressure of Perfection, by Julie Scelfo, New York Times , Jul 27 2015.

“Nationally, the suicide rate among 15- to 24-year-olds has increased modestly but steadily since 2007: from 9.6 deaths per 100,000 to 11.1, in 2013 (the latest year available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). But a survey of college counseling centers has found that more than half their clients have severe psychological problems, an increase of 13 percent in just two years. Anxiety and depression, in that order, are now the most common mental health diagnoses among college students. ”

Bullied kids are more likely to be depressed years later, by Kathryn Doyle, Reuters , Jun 12 2015.

“Being bullied in adolescence may make kids more vulnerable to depression in early adulthood and explain almost a third of depression burden at that age, according to a new study in the U.K. Among nearly 4,000 children in southwest England followed from birth, kids who were frequently bullied at age 13 were more than twice as likely to be depressed at age 18 as those who were not bullied – even after accounting for other factors that could contribute to depression risk. ”

Depression Treatments Inspired By Club Drug Move Ahead In Tests, by Jon Hamilton, NPR , May 28 2015.

“Antidepressant drugs that work in hours instead of weeks could be on the market within three years, researchers say. The new drugs are based on the anesthetic ketamine, which is also a popular club drug known as Special K. Unlike current antidepressants, which can take weeks to work, ketamine-like drugs have an immediate effect. They also have helped people with depression who didn't respond to other medications. The drug that is furthest along is esketamine, a chemical variant of ketamine that has been designated a potential breakthrough by the Food and Drug Administration. Esketamine is poised to begin Phase 3 trials, and the drug's maker, Johnson & Johnson, plans to seek FDA approval in 2018. ”

Helping college students suffering from depression, anxiety and stress, by Springer Science+Business Media, Reuters , Apr 22 2015.

“Is it possible to prevent mental health problems in higher education students? The answer is "yes" according to a team of psychologists who conducted a careful, systematic review of 103 universal interventions involving over 10,000 students enrolled in 2- and 4-year colleges and universities and graduate programs. They conclude that effective programs to prevent emotional distress and promote psychosocial assets warrant more widespread use. ”

Depression is Not a Normal Part of Growing Older, by Center for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, Mar 5 2015.

“Depression is a true and treatable medical condition, not a normal part of aging. However older adults are at an increased risk for experiencing depression. If you are concerned about a loved one, offer to go with him or her to see a health care provider to be diagnosed and treated. Depression is not just having "the blues" or the emotions we feel when grieving the loss of a loved one. It is a true medical condition that is treatable, like diabetes or hypertension. ”

Elementary teachers' depression symptoms related to students' learning, by Society for Research in Child Development, ScienceDaily , Feb 11 2015.

“A new study has found that teachers who report having more symptoms of depression had classrooms that were of lesser quality, and that students in these classrooms had fewer performance gains. Researchers looked at 27 teachers and their 523 third-grade students in a Florida school district. Teachers reported the frequency of their symptoms of clinical depression, and students' basic reading and math skills were assessed throughout the year. ”