Types and Causes of Depression

What is depression? What are the causes of depression? It is a syndrome that reflects a sad behavior exceeding normal grief. It is a very serious disorder and it is usually reported in the older people. The main cause of this disorder is still unknown. There are many types of depression but some important types are listed below

• Major depression
• Dysthymia
• Manic depression

These are very common types of depression. Major depression is a very severe type and it is characterized by avloss of appetite, weight changes, feelings of hopelessness and sleep changes. Similarly there are also many other symptoms of this disorder. This type of depressive disorder usually lasts for two to three weeks. Similarly the second important type of depression is Dysthymia and its symptoms are very different from other types. The most common symptom of this type of depressive disorder includes reckless behavior, pain in the different areas of body and loss of energy. The suicidal thoughts and loss of concentration is also possible in this condition. The symptoms of Dysthymia are very common and easy to observe. Similarly manic depression is characterized by loneliness, irritation and sleeping problems. The treatment of each type of depression is easy at early stages but after the appearance of complete symptoms it is difficult to cure.

If you want to treat depression then you should find out the main cause of this disease. This disease result due to several factors and reasons. But some very important causes of depressive disorder are listed below

• Stressful conditions
• Lack of confidence
• Accidental shocks
• Loss of any precious thing
• Severe injury
• Medical problems
• Divorce between life partners
• Loss of money
• Unemployment
• Loss of job
• Consumption of alcohol
• Smoking
• Headache
• Failure in the examination

These are very important causes of depression but this is not a complete list of causes of this disorder. There are also many other causes of this problem. The treatment of this problem includes the use of medicines and physical exercise. If you are suffering from this disease then you should act upon the following suggestions

• First of all you should ignore this disease and keep your mind in peace
• Create better communication and relationship with others
• Participate in sports activities like cricket, foot ball and baseball
• Avoid loneliness
• Have a better sleep
• Use nutritious food
• Use of exercise is very beneficial
• Avoid from alcohol and smoking
• Don't use medicine

If you want to treat depression without medicines then you should act upon these suggestions. The use of medications is not better at early stages of this disease. It is better to discuss this problem with your health provider because he can provide you better information.

DHA Supplements Improve Your Health, Concentration and Moods at Every Age

DHA supplements are aimed at eliminating what is probably the most common shortcoming in modern foods: lack of omega 3 fatty acids. These are essential fatty acids -- essential, meaning your body can't make them. And DHA is the most powerful omega 3.

By far the best DHA supplement is a quality fish oil.

Flaxseed oil is a very poor source of DHA

Please don't accept the claim that flaxseed or flaxseed oil is a good source of DHA. Some people will tell you that the alpha linolenic acid found in flaxseed oil is converted by our bodies into EPA and DHA, the two most important omega 3 fatty acids.

Don't bet on it.

The truth is, our bodies vary a bit in this respect, but none of us can convert anything but a tiny amount of flaxseed oil to make either EPA or DHA. That doesn't mean that flaxseed oil isn't a good food. It is a good and healthful oil -- but it's useless as a DHA source.

DHA supplements benefit our heart, brain, and moods.

-- There's a very long list of omega 3 benefits reported in thousands of clinical studies, with heart disease being one of them, and the American Heart Association has recommended fish oil for that reason.

-- DHA is also essential to the healthy development of a baby's brain, from the time he or she is in the mother's womb to the early months and years of rapid brain development. Studies have even indicated the babies given omega 3 supplements tend to have higher IQs than other babies.

This is not surprising, since the brain is 60 percent fat, and half of that is DHA.

And the benefit is not just for baby's brains. A fascinating study in France recently found that higher levels of omega 3 consumption protected against development of Alzheimer's disease.

-- Omega 3's appear to protect against clinical depression. For example, Japan, where omega 3 in the diet is among the world's highest, depression rates are extremely. The opposite is true in New Zealand, with very low rates of omega 3 in the diet, and depression rates among the highest in the world.

-- DHA has been shown to be the most potent omega 3 in fish oil, with stronger inflammatory effects than EPA, the other powerful omega 3 believed to be most beneficial.

-- Keep in mind that most fish oils draw quite a few complaints about "off" flavors, fishy taste, digestion problems, and smelly burps. If you're going to take a DHA supplement every day, which is a great idea, it must be a quality fish oil, so pure that it virtually eliminates any off flavors or odors.

The one I take myself overcomes all of these problems. It's the best of the many DHA supplements I've tried over the years.

Marriage Problems - Recognize the Common Signs of Female Depression

You had a great marriage but now you have marriage problems. You were happy, your husband was happy, and the children were happy. Then... you gave birth, there was a tragedy in the family, or just all of a sudden out of nowhere, you don't feel yourself and you don't act yourself. You started to feel guilty about all types of things, you started eating compulsively, or you just withdraw from things. It is very likely that this is the beginning of depression, and if you want to get better and fix up your marriage problems then you better get help as soon as possible before it gets even worse.

In this article I will show some of the common symptoms of depression so you will know to get the proper help.

Some of the common emotions that a depressed FEMALE feels (interestingly men have different symptoms) are:

Feelings of self blame, guilt, and worthlessness. It isn't clear if these feelings are symptoms of depression or the cause of the depression. However, for us laymen there is no practical difference. Since they come together with depression, if you experience such feelings for a few weeks, then it is a sign that you are depressed and you need help. This is regardless if these feeling caused the depression or are the result of the depression.

Some other common emotions that are telltale signs of female depression are feeling sad apathetic, or frightened.

The signs of depression are not limited to a change in mood and emotions. A change in the way you act could also be a sign that you are depressed.

For instance, a woman who gets depressed, loses her zest and liveliness and becomes very slow, lethargic.

They sleep much more than usual. (As opposed to men who suffer from depression, who sleep less.)

They don't jump into projects like they used to but rather they procrastinate and push off even simple household chores. And when they finally get around to doing what they have to do, they do it much slower then they ordinarily did.

Another group of behavior that points towards depression is conduct that is really a derivative of the feeling of worthlessness; they lose personal boundaries, give into other peoples wishes, and let people walk over them. They also avoid all types of conflict (feeling that they have no right to think what they think) and are very afraid of success.

Another typical sign of female depression is excessive eating. Here also it is not clear if the binge eating is a direct result of depression or that they binge eat to punish themselves for their mood.

Depression causes marriage problems and is dangerous. The good news is that it is also treatable. Recognize the signs of depression in order to get the help you need and fix up your marriage problems and start to life live once again.

Learn The One Great Secret That Every Successful Person Knows, But You Don't - Go With The Flow!

The truth is that it can happen. You can get hit with circumstances that almost seem to paralyze you in your tracks. Unfortunately when you get hit with something that is very difficult to work through you may not be able to continue to move forward. However, that does not have to be the case.

Instead, you can learn how to hang onto hope that you will find a happy place again. You want to learn how to go with the flow of every moment.

Let's say that you find out that you are diagnosed with cancer. This is a set of circumstances that could allow you to spiral into a state of self pity and unhappiness. No good can come from that.

You want to get into a state of hope so that your body has the strength to fight the disease. This is not to suggest that you should just slap on a happy face and make your way through life. You want to go with the flow!

Be realistic and put things into perspective. Yes, cancer is a scary disease, but it is not a death sentence. You need to focus on the hope of the medical technologies at your finger tips. You want to go with the flow!

Additionally, when you are going with the flow you find that you start to appreciate everything that you have and not worrying about what you are missing. In tough circumstances like this it is an opportunity to be grateful for the people in your life. To be thankful for what you have in your life. More importantly you can be grateful for the fact that you have an opportunity to live.

While living with cancer can be a challenge, you are still breathing. That means that you should be happy for each morning that you wake up because it is one more morning that you have the opportunity to walk the earth. Yet this can be difficult to do.

It is unrealistic to expect to be perfectly happy each and every day. Keeping in mind that everything in life is temporary can help you to make your way through more difficult moments without losing sight of how lucky you are to even be having those moments. Some lives are cut dramatically short, but yours has not been.

So the next time that you come up against upsetting news try to remember that it is only temporary. You are lucky to be alive. If you can do this you will find yourself significantly more happy. By setting that example of flexibility those around you may learn from your example, and you may inherently help make their lives even better. Go with the flow!

8 Questions To Evaluate Your Inner Circle

"There are 3 types of people in the world today. There are 'well poisoners' who discourage you and stomp on your creativity and tell you what you can't do. There are 'lawn mowers', people who are well-intentioned but self-absorbed; they tend to their own needs, mow their own lawns and never leave their yards to help another person. Finally there are 'life enhancers', people who reach out to enrich the lives of others, to lift them up and inspire them. We need to be life-enhancers and we need to surround ourselves with life-enhancers."Walt Disney

One of the most crucial decisions we make in life is who to include in our Inner Circle. An Inner Circle can be a group of professionals, such as one's tax attorney, accountant, health and fitness trainer, or success and leadership coach. It can also include our work teams which we build and create. And of course, it will include close friends and family.

Years ago, when I worked with an architectural firm, our firm often participated in what our city called The Showcase of Homes. It was often required that we bar the entrance to each "showcase room" with a red velvet rope. You could see into the room or space, however, you were not allowed to enter.

Likewise as you and I choose who we will allow into our Inner Circle, we want to be discerning as to whom we allow to influence us. Consider your current team members, friends, and professional associates. If you were to use Walt Disney's descriptions utilized in the above quotes, how would you describe them?

Here are 8 great questions to ask as you consider your Inner Circle:?

• Who encourages you?


• Who speaks truth into your life? One of our friends describes a true friend as one who... "hurts me with a Truth, but never comforts me with a lie!"


• Who believes in you, even when you find it hard to believe in yourself?


• Who listens deeply to you? Who knows your heart?


• Who is there for you when you've failed?


• Who do you seek out when you need mercy, compassion, or comfort?


• Who can you turn to when you need emotional support in times of discouragement or depression?


• Professionally, who do you turn to for skills training and trustworthy advice? For leadership support?

Sure, it can be challenging and sometimes lonely to let go of friends and associates who have been a part of your life. Yet, as professional speaker Les Brown encourages us: "Some people should remain in our heart, but not in our life." In a recent video, Les Brown also declared: "Some people are so negative, if they walked into a dark-room they would develop themselves!"

"You need OQP in your life. OQP? Only. Quality. People"- Ed Decosta Executive Coach

As we evaluate our friends and associates-we may also ask ourselves: Which type of friend and associate are we? And... as we make the tough decisions as to who to include in our Inner Circle, we might ask: "Are we worth it?" And of course we would say to YOU... Smile friend... you have great worth and value. YES... you are worth it!

Your Friends and Fans,

Steve and Libba

Empowering Yourself - Improve Your Quality of Life

One of the most challenging things to understand is that only one person is responsible for the quality of your life, and that is you. In order to be successful and fulfill your dreams, you have to take 100% responsibility. This is a foundation principle that you must embrace in order to have success. This isn't always easy because many people are accustomed to blaming events for their lack of success. In other words, you blame the economy, the President, racism, your lack of money, your lack of education, etc.

Instead of blaming events, you need to change your responses to those events. There are many examples of successful people who've experienced terrible events in their lives. Robert Kiyosaki, best selling author of Rich Dad, Poor Dad was once homeless. Frank Bettger, best selling author of How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling, was a top insurance salesman during the Great Depression. Gurbaksh Chahal, best selling author of The Dream, dropped out of high school, but he went on to become a millionaire by age 18. Tyler Perry, who has written, produced, directed and starred in many plays and movies like "Madea Goes to Jail" and "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," once lived in his car.

In the movie, "The Pursuit of Happyness," it tells the true story of Chris Gardner, who was once homeless. Chris and his 5 yr old son slept on the streets, in homeless shelters, and in metro station bathrooms. However, today, Chris Gardner is a millionaire.

All of these people became very successful. They didn't blame their lack of money, lack of education, homelessness, or the Great Depression. They responded to those events with determination, and they never lost site of their true purpose in life. Without a purpose in life, Tyler Perry may have thought: I have no money - I'm living out of my car - I'm never going to make it. Aren't we glad he didn't think like that? We would've missed out on all of his wonderful plays and movies.

Also, in times when the economy is bad, not all businesses slow down. Some businesses actually flourish. Did you realize that you can actually choose not to participate in a bad economy/recession? In Jack Canfield's book, The Success Principles, he tells the story of a friend of his that owned a Lexus dealership in Southern California, and when the Gulf War broke out, people stopped buying cars. Normally, they would place ads in newspapers and wait for customers to come in to buy; however, now with this new event, The Gulf War, they needed to change their response. So, they decided to take the cars to where the wealthy customers were (country clubs, marinas, polo grounds, etc). They let these customers test drive the cars. After the test drives, many people bought or leased a new Lexus. So, if you don't like a particular outcome, you need to change your response to the event. This involves simply being a little bit creative and coming up with some new ideas.

I can definitely relate to this concept. Several years ago, I had a dance business that I eventually had to close. Business started to slow down, and instead of changing my response, I thought there was nothing I could do. I should've developed some new marketing plans and ideas, but I didn't. Now, you can learn from my mistakes.

Always remember that you can't control other people or events like the weather, the economy, etc. There are only 3 things that everyone can control - the thoughts YOU think, the images YOU visualize, and the actions YOU take. That's it.

Start empowering yourself today. Don't make anymore excuses. Your life can change. Begin to improve your quality of life right now. Take 100% responsibility for your life and start focusing on those 3 things that you can control.

Early Diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder in Children is a Boon

Bipolar disorder can occur in children even at the young age of six. Although the percentage of children having the disorder is much lower than adults, adolescents tend to be more prone to it. Some mania-specified symptoms can be seen in children who show that they are suffering from bipolar disorder.

Children often have elated moods, grandiose behaviors, flight of ideas, decreased need for sleep and hyper sexuality. These symptoms occur mainly in mania and are common in bipolar disorders. Children sometimes laugh hysterically and behave as if they are infectiously happy with much reason. These symptoms could occur at home, in the school or anywhere.

Grandiose behaviors of children can be explained when they believe that they are very smart and no rules pertain to them. They are convinced that they can perform superhuman acts without anything happening to them. Children have flight of ideas when they move from one subject to another in quick succession. Sometimes it has no relevance to their surroundings.

Some children can sleep for just four to eight hours and still not be tired the next day. Playing on the computer or just rearranging furniture could be their activities when they stay up late. Hyper sexuality occurs often in adolescents who use explicit sexual language or act flirtatious beyond their years.

There are several drugs which are prescribed by doctors for the treatment of bipolar disorder in children. But there are many side effects which are particularly evident and troublesome for children. Children put on a lot of weight due to some drugs and weight gain could always lead to further glucose problems like diabetes or heart problems.

Some medication in children may cause infertility and even abnormalities. The medications are effective to prevent future episodes of mania and depression which would have led to suicide. But they can affect the thyroid and even the kidneys.

Hence it is important to monitor the development of serious side effects in children. The side effects and the dangers of the manic-depressive illness itself have to be weighed against each other, and the medication can be changed if any drastic changes are seen.

Unfortunately children take much longer to recover from bipolar disorder than adults. Children sometimes suffer from this illness for months or years. Often it can have an impact on their educational achievement, and hence the teachers should be made aware of the diagnosis, so that they can give special treatment to such children in school.

Suicide is a big risk with children, especially adolescents. All talk about not wanting to live or feeling neglected should be taken seriously. In a moment of depression a child can hang himself in the shower, shoot himself or complete suicide by some other means.

An early diagnosis and treatment can offer the best chance for children with bipolar disorder to achieve stability in life and gain the best possible level of wellness. Only then can they grow up and enjoy life and build up their strengths. Proper treatment can definitely reduce the effects of the illness on the patients and the people who surround them.