Depressive symptoms are part of many physical illnesses that are associated with aging. In yet other physical illnesses, the depression results from the limitations and discomfort the illness causes. If you and your family are told to expect some depression with these illnesses, you may feel less alarmed when it happens. Post-Stroke Syndrome Just as Read more
Mothering requires a high emotional involvement, but restricts your freedom to plan your life as you please. If you are already vulnerable because of poor education, low self-esteem or a troubled marital state, you are more prone to develop depression. Serious social problems such as job loss, poor housing, overcrowding, threats of eviction, and physical Read more
A mood is a state of emotion sustained for a period of time. When we’re in a ‘good mood’ we feel buoyant, self-confident, and happy. We’re interested in what’s happening around us and want to explore new things. Usually something good has happened to us or we are having fun with people we like. We Read more
Drugs or foods competing for enzymes in the liver, or damage to the liver itself, can delay the metabolism of a drug so that the drug stays at a high level for a long time. Kidney damage can also raise the level of drug in the blood. Both the time of day the drug is Read more
If you recognize that your friend or relative has a depressive disorder, a bipolar illness, or an alcohol or substance abuse problem, you can help. At some point, 41 per cent of people suffering from depression are suicidal. Most suicides occur when the person is recovering from depression, six to nine months after leaving hospital. Read more
While you are waiting for the illness to go away, there are certain things you can do to make yourself feel better. You won’t feel like following all these suggestions right away, but start with a few of the more palatable ideas and build up graduÂally. It’s probably better to focus on doing some activities, Read more
Having difficulty conceiving can be emotionally draining for you and your partner. Generally speaking, if you have tried for a year without any luck, you should start looking for the reasons. About 50 per cent of women who have difficulty do conceive eventually. Infertility has doubled since the 1970s, and about 10 to 15 per Read more
Maintaining an active and healthy lifestyle, with exercise and lots of interests, can decrease the effects of aging. Still, memory does decline with age, although recall is usually affected more than recognition. (In other words, the person recognizes the face of a distant acquaintance, but is unable to recall the name.) People tend to exaggerate Read more
Jasmine was seventeen and in her third year of secondary school when her favourite aunt died suddenly. Her parents both worked, and she was often alone in the evenings, so she had been in the habit of visiting her aunt on her way home from school each day. They would have long talks about work Read more
Arteries are the vessels that carry blood with oxygen from the heart and lungs to all parts of the body, including the brain. Our cells require a steady supply of this oxygen in order to do their work. A lack of blood flow for more than four minutes can kill the cells of the body Read more
Phillipa was a sixty-eight-year-old widow who had lost her husband after a lengthy illness three years previously. She was lonely, fearful and desolate. She and her husband had been active politically, they had had lively dinner parties and discussion groups with colleagues, but all that had ceased with his death. She was convinced that she Read more
Esther, who is eighty and checks the obituaries daily, reported to her therapist that in the last month three people she had gone to elementary school with had died. She said she couldn’t remember so many people dying so often since World War Two. A single death can leave us sad and bereft for years; Read more