Publications - Depression

Depression Has Spiked By 33% In the Last Five Years, a New Report Says, by Jamie Ducharme, TIME, May 10 2018.

“Diagnoses of clinical depression — also known as major depression — have risen by 33% since 2013, according to a new report from health insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield...Depression diagnoses were found to be rising in every demographic, but the uptick has been especially dramatic among young people. Since 2013, rates have spiked by 47% among Millennials, by 65% among adolescent girls and by 47% among adolescent boys, the report says. Women of any age are also more likely than men to be diagnosed with clinical depression. ”

Communication Issues Among Kids With Autism May Lead to Self-Harm, by Rick Nauert PhD, Psych Central, May 2 2018.

“A new study discovers communication problems among children can lead to depression and increase the risk of self-harm and suicidal intent during adolescence...The review comes in response to new findings that teen suicidality is under-recognized among children with ASD. Until now, community-based studies on suicidal thoughts and behaviors among children with symptoms of ASD have been limited...'Our study suggests that children who have difficulties with social communication are at higher risk for suicidal ideation and behavior in late adolescence,' said Dr. Iryna Culpin, senior research associate in the Bristol Medical School (PHS). 'Depressive symptoms in early adolescence partially explain this association.' ”

Three-Minute Brain Stimulation Found Effective for Hard-to-Treat Depression, by Janice Wood, Psych Central , Apr 29 2018.

“A new study finds that a three-minute version of a brain stimulation treatment is just as effective as the standard 37-minute version for hard-to-treat depression. The treatment is called repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), which uses magnetic field pulses to non-invasively stimulate a part of the brain called the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which is associated with mood regulation...'The main impact of this study is that the number of people who are able to be treated using theta burst stimulation compared to the standard form of rTMS can be increased by three to four fold,' said lead author Dr. Daniel Blumberger, co-director of the Temerty Centre for Therapeutic Brain Intervention at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto. ”

Mom's depression tied to kids' emotional, intellectual development, by Cheryl Platzman Weinstock, Reuters, Apr 25 2018.

“A mother’s depression is linked with her children’s development from infancy through adolescence, according to a new study. Researchers studied 875 middle- or lower-class mothers in Chile and their healthy children over a 16-year period, evaluating participants roughly every four years....At age five, children with severely depressed mothers had an average verbal IQ score of 7.3 (on a scale of 1 to 19), compared to a higher score of 7.8 in children without depressed mothers...These children will have a smaller vocabulary and poorer comprehension skills, East said...The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends screening new mothers for depression during the months after childbirth. ”

Irritability in childhood linked to teen suicide risk, by Cheryl Platzman Weinstock , Reuters, Apr 11 2018.

“Most children experience mood swings from time to time, but kids with chronic irritability and serious depression or anxiety are at increased risk for suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts in adolescence, suggests a large Canadian study. Based on records for 1,430 children followed for up to 17 years, researchers found that those who were particularly irritable and depressed or anxious between ages 6 and 12 were twice as likely as peers to think about suicide or make a suicide attempt between ages 13 and 17. ”

Antidepressants in pregnancy tied to changes in babies' brains, by Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, Apr 9 2018.

“Babies’ brains may develop differently when their mothers take antidepressants during pregnancy, a small U.S. study suggests. Researchers examined brain scans of 16 newborns whose mothers took medications known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) for depression during pregnancy. They also studied 21 babies whose mothers had untreated depression during pregnancy, and 61 infants born to women without depression. Infants whose mothers took SSRIs had greater brain volume in regions of the brain that are critical for emotional processing, compared to babies whose mothers had untreated depression or were not experiencing depression, the study found. ”

Addressing Depression Symptoms May Improve Memory & Cognition, by Rick Nauert, PhD, Psych Central, Mar 28 2018.

“New research suggests that evaluation and treatment of symptoms of depressionmay improve or maintain cognitive functioning in some older patients diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) researchers said that individuals with worse depression and mood symptoms are more likely to develop MCI and to progress from MCI to dementia...'The implication is that successfully identifying and providing effective treatment for these neuropsychiatric symptoms, including depression, may potentially improve or maintain cognitive functioning in many older adults,' explained corresponding author Robert Stern, Ph.D. ”

Men and Women With Depression Show Opposite Molecular Changes, by Rick Nauert, PhD, Psych Central, Mar 14 2018.

“New research finds that men and women with major depressive disorder (MDD) have opposite changes in the expression of the same genes. If true, the discovery suggests that men and women may need different types of treatment for depression...The findings, published in Biological Psychiatry, indicate distinct pathology for men and women. This important paper highlights the divergent molecular mechanisms contributing to depression in men and women. It challenges the assumption that a similar diagnosis across people has the same biology,' said John Krystal, M.D., editor of Biological Psychiatry. ”

Study seeks to end antidepressant debate: the drugs do work, by Kate Kelland, Reuters, Feb 21 2018.

“A vast research study that sought to settle a long-standing debate about whether or not anti-depressant drugs really work has found they are indeed effective in relieving acute depression in adults. The international study - a meta-analysis pooling results of 522 trials covering 21 commonly-used antidepressants and almost 120,000 patients - uncovered a range of outcomes, with some drugs proving more effective than others and some having fewer side effects. But all 21 drugs - including both off-patent generic and newer, patented drugs - were more effective than placebos, or dummy pills, the results showed. ”

New acne diagnoses linked to increased depression risk, by Shereen Lehman, Reuters, Feb 19 2018.

“In the first year after being told by a doctor that they have acne, patients’ risk for a diagnosis of major depressive disorder spikes by more than 60 percent compared to the general population, a new study shows...'We found that acne increased the risk of developing clinical depression by 63 percent in the first year following an acne diagnosis and that this risk remained elevated for five years after the initial acne diagnosis,' Vallerand said.   ”

Physician burnout takes a toll on U.S. patients, by Marilynn Larkin, Reuters, Jan 17 2018.

“Nearly two-thirds of U.S. doctors feel burned out, depressed, or both – and those feelings affect how they relate to patients, according to a survey conducted by Medscape...What’s more, nearly 15 percent of depressed doctors said their depression might cause them to make errors they wouldn’t ordinarily make, while 5 percent said depression led them to make errors that might have harmed patients. More than 15,000 doctors across 29 specialties responded to survey questions about depression and burnout, which was defined as feelings of physical, emotional or mental exhaustion; frustration or cynicism about work; and doubts about the value of their work. Critical care doctors and neurologists had the highest rates of burnout (48 percent), followed by family doctors (47 percent) and ob/gyns and internists (46 percent). ”

Childhood bullying linked to suicide risk for teens, by Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, Jan 16 2018.

“Adolescents who experienced severe bullying by their peers earlier in childhood may be more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts than teens who weren’t routinely victimized by other kids, a Canadian study suggests...Compared to teens who experienced little or no bullying as kids, adolescents who suffered chronic tormenting by their peers were more than twice as likely to be depressed and more than three times more likely to be anxious or seriously consider suicide, the study found...Adolescents who were chronically bullied as kids were also much more likely to experience social anxiety, eating problems, conduct issues and behavior challenges, the study found. ”

Depression in late teens linked to high school drop out, by Cheryl Platzman Weinstock, Reuters, Dec 8 2017.

“Older teens struggling with depression are more than twice as likely to drop out of high school as peers without that mental illness or those who recovered from a bout of depression earlier in life, Canadian researchers say. Understanding that current or recent depression raises dropout risk may encourage schools to put a higher priority on mental health services, the study team writes in the Journal of Adolescent Health. ”

Increased Hours Online Correlate With An Uptick In Teen Depression, Suicidal Thoughts, by Patti Neighmond, NPR, Nov 14 2017.

“A study published Tuesday in the journal Clinical Psychological Science finds that increased time spent with popular electronic devices — whether a computer, cell phone or tablet — might have contributed to an uptick in symptoms of depression and suicidal thoughts over the last several years among teens, especially among girls. Though San Diego State University psychologist Jean Twenge, who led the study, agrees this sort of research can only establish a correlation between long hours of daily screen time and symptoms of alienation — it can't prove one causes the other — she thinks the findings should be a warning to parents. ”

Teen Depression in US Jumps By Nearly Half in 10 Years, by Rick Nauert, PhD, Psych Central, Oct 31 2017.

“A new study finds a startling rise in depression among all Americans, with youth demonstrating the most rapid increase over the last decade. Researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy found that from 2005 to 2015, depression rose significantly among Americans age 12 and older. Young people between the ages of 12 and 17 experienced a 46 percent increase in reported depression over this time span...Specifically, the increase in rates of depression was most rapid among the youngest and oldest age groups, whites, the lowest income and highest income groups, and those with the highest education levels. ”