Symptoms Of Depressive Illness Research Articles

CLINICAL EVALUATION OF BRAHMYADI YOGA IN SYMPTOMS OF DEPRESSIVE ILLNESS

Depressive illness is one of the most common psychiatric disorders. In recent years its prevalence is high throughout the world and is a major challenge to the medical profession. There are many formulations recommended for mental disorders in the classics of Ayurveda. But scientific evaluations are less to establish the effect of these formulations in various types of mental disorders. The present study is to evaluate the effect of Brahmyadi yoga in symptoms of Depressive illness. The study was an open trial done in ten patients, without control group. It was done in OPD, Department of Kayachikitsa, Government Ayurveda College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram. Patients were selected as per ICD10 diagnostic criteria with proper exclusion. Participants were administered Brahmyadi yoga, 6gm twice daily before food, with honey for a period of three months. Clinical assessment was done using Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, before and after the intervention. Data obtained were statistically analyzed. There was significant reduction in the total score of HRSD (p 0.05. The study concluded that the study drug Brahmyadi yoga is significantly reducing some major symptoms of depression and not reducing some other symptoms.

Insomnia and depression: A multifaceted interplay

Historically, insomnia has been viewed as a symptom of depressive illness that is expected to resolve with adequate treatment of the depressive disorder. This article reviews the evidence that increasingly challenges this simplistic view and summarizes research demonstrating the multifaceted interplay between insomnia and depression. It discusses the prevalence, clinical significance, and time course of insomnia, distinguishing between poor sleep and an insomnia disorder. The article also discusses abnormalities in sleep architecture in major depressive disorder and theories about the pathways connecting sleep and depression. It concludes with a discussion of issues related to treatment, including the effects of antidepressants on sleep and new evidence of the utility of adding an insomnia-specific therapy for improved management of depressed patients with comorbid insomnia.

Alterations in family psychodynamics following a ventriculoperitoneal shunt placement

Background: The emotional stress of a young couple whose child has hydrocephalus can be immense. When a shunt has to be inserted without the parents being thoroughly educated on every aspect of the procedure, the situation can be overwhelming and significant psychosocial problems can develop. Aim: To report the case of behavioural change in the father of a hydrocephalic child who underwent shunt placement and the threat of family collapse due to misconceptions about the procedure. Method: The records of the child, including history, examination, investigations and treatment were evaluated. The mother was extensively interviewed during follow-up out-patient visits. Relevant literature on shunt complications was reviewed. Result: Following shunt insertion for hydrocephalus in an only child of a young couple born after 3 years of marriage, the father started withdrawing from his family and gradually began to manifest symptoms of depressive illness. Recommendations: The parents of every child scheduled to have shunt insertion should be properly counselled together on all aspects of the procedure preoperatively. This would help ensure that any consent given is on the basis of their mutual understanding and acceptance of the situation. Where problems are anticipated, it might be necessary to take pre-emptive measures to forestall their occurrence. Keywords : Behavioural change, Complications, Family psychodynamics, Foreign body, Hydrocephalus, Ventriculoperitoneal shunt Port Harcourt Medical Journal Vol. 1 (2) 2007: pp. 130-132

Interferon-α effects are exaggerated when administered on a psychosocial stressor backdrop: Cytokine, corticosterone and brain monoamine variations

Immunotherapy involving interferon-α (IFN-α) treatment is often accompanied by symptoms of depressive illness. These effects may stem from the direct actions of the cytokine, or may be unique to individuals undergoing considerable strain. In two experiments using CD-1 mice, we demonstrate that intraperitoneal administration of IFN-α dose dependently influences plasma corticosterone and sickness behaviors, and modestly influences norepinephrine turnover in brain. However, when mice are exposed to a psychosocial stressor (social disruption by transferring mice from isolated to grouped conditions, and to a moderate extent a transfer from grouped housing to isolation), the effects of IFN-α on sickness, plasma corticosterone and hippocampal norepinephrine, as well as on the levels of circulating IL-6, TNF-α and IL-10 (but not IL-1β or IFN-γ) are greatly augmented. It is suggested that the depressive effects of immunotherapy in humans likewise reflects the synergistic actions of the cytokine and the ongoing distress experienced by patients.

Anxiety and depression in Iranian breast cancer patients before and after diagnosis.

A prospective study was conducted to measure anxiety and depression in Iranian breast cancer patients before and after diagnosis using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The HADS was administered at two points in time: before diagnosis and 3 months after. In all, 168 breast cancer patients were interviewed. While 48% of patients had severe symptoms of anxiety at both baseline and follow-up, more than 60% of patients had no symptoms of depressive illness at pre-and post-diagnosis assessments. Comparing anxiety and depression before diagnosis and after 3 months, there were no significant differences between patients' scores on anxiety (P = 0.42) and depression (P = 0.98) subscales. The results showed that patients with advanced disease and a lower performance status were more anxious and experienced more depression. The study findings suggest that severe symptoms of anxiety are the most frequent symptoms in Iranian breast cancer patients. It seems that during the process of diagnosis and 3 months after psychological morbidity persists in patients who suffer from breast cancer.

The course of depression

The increasing array of available therapeutic tools for the treatment of depression has been accompanied by an increasing number of scientific articles emphasizing the recognition of depression and the classification of depressive illness and masked depressions. These articles, appearing both nationally and internationally, commonly express the need of improved classification by means of a variety of devices so that the current therapeutic potential might be realized. 1–12 Many community surveys have assessed psychopathology and psychiatric impairment in a population. Correlates of mental health measures have been examined in an attempt to discover more about the circumstances under which impairment occurs or to look for etiologic clues. What has been avoided or obscured in many discussions is the natural history of depression. This question is seemingly answered with explanations about different kinds of depression and the usage of the word depression, connoting a mood, a syndrome, or a symptom of depressive illness. The Community Mental Health Assessment project was a weekly survey that focused on depression and level of depression in the community over time. The relationship between life events and depression was also a major area of interest. In this article we will examine the scores on measures of depression and symptomatology and life events obtained in an initial interview and a 1-year follow-up interview for two community samples that provide data on the course of depression. The findings are discussed against the background of the clinical knowledge about chronic depression, situational depression, and depressive life style.

A functional classification of hypochondriasis with specific recommendations for treatment.

A review of both past and present psychiatric literature reveals that the concept of hypochondriasis is inexact and confusing. In an attempt to make hypochondriasis a meaningful and useful concept for practicing clinicans, a functional classification is presented that views hypochondriasis from four aspects--(1) as a "warning signal," (2) as a symptom of psychosis, (3) as a symptom of depressive illness, and (4) as a syndrome labelled "true hypochondriasis." Each of these aspects is discussed, with emphasis placed on specific and practical recommendations for treatment.

The Relationship between Personality and the Symptoms of Depressive Illness

The Maudsley Personality Inventory and the Beck Depression Inventory, with additional items to assess depressive functional shift features and outlook on life values, were administered to 100 patients diagnosed as suffering from depressive illness. Patients' scores for questions eliciting information about symptoms assumed to be dependent on personality correlated at substantial and significant levels with N scale scores of the Maudsley Personality Inventory. Similar levels of correlation were found for the added items for assessing life values. Items believed to assess changes in functions independent of personality, such as the features of the Depressive Functional Shift, showed no correlation with either N or E scales of the Maudsley Personality Inventory, while demonstrating a substantial level of correlation with the depression scale. It is concluded that whereas changes in innate biological functions independent of environment are direct indications of the depressive illness process, psychological symptoms of the illness may reflect changes in personality dependent on upbringing, education and cultural background, thereby producing greater variation in this group of psychological symptoms.

PSYCHIATRIC ILLNESS???MARITAL UNITS AND DIVORCE

This is the third in a series of reports from a controlled study of divorce. Using only marital units in which both members of the unit were interviewed, 40 divorced couples and 28 control couples, we found that the frequency of occurrence of a psychiatric disorder in one or both members of the units was significantly greater for the divorced couples (92 per cent vs. 43 per cent respectively, p There were discrepancies in the reporting of symptoms of psychiatric illness for the divorced probands when the probands' interviews were compared to the psychiatric symptoms reported for them by their interviewed ex-spouses. The ex-husbands reported fewer symptoms of depressive illness for their ex-wives, and the ex-wives reported more symptoms of excessive drinking for their ex-husbands than were found when interviewing the divorced probands themselves. Information obtained from our divorced probands indicates that the incidence of psychiatric illness is approximately the same in their ex-spouses not interviewed as in the interviewed divorced probands. However, a greater proportion of these noninterviewed ex-spouses were antisocial personalities than were the interviewed divorced probands.