Depression

What is depression?

Depression is a serious medical illness. In contrast to the normal emotional experiences of sadness, loss, or passing mood states, clinical depression is persistent and can interfere significantly with an individual's ability to function.

Depression can be devastating to all areas of a person's everyday life, including family relationships, friendships, and the ability to work or go to school. Many people still believe that the emotional symptoms caused by depression are "not real," and that a person should be able to shake off the symptoms if only he or she were trying hard enough. Because of these inaccurate beliefs, people with depression either may not recognize that they have a treatable disorder or may be discouraged from seeking or staying on treatment because of feelings of shame and stigma. Too often, untreated or inadequately treated depression leads to suicide.

http://www.pioneerthinking.com/depression.html

Depression is a mental health disorder that can cause significant physical and emotional symptoms when left untreated. There are multiple cause of depression but research indicates depression can be caused by biological factors. The diagnosis of depression by a physician indicates a significant problem and warrants immediate attention. Depression can be classified as a disease, however it is better described as a disorder. Disease often implies a condition is contagious which depression is not.

http://www.ehow.com/about_5087293_depression-disease.html

PET (positron emission tomography)

“show brain areas that increased (red) or decreased (yellow) in activity in men who responded to placebo (top row) and fluoxetine (bottom row).”

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/science-news/2002/placebo-antidepressant-may-lift-depression-via-common-mechanism.shtml

MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)

http://www.p1vital.com/therapeutic_models/depression_fMRI.html

Famous people in history with depression:

· Rod Steiger, Actor

· William Styron, Writer

· Wallace, Television Journalist

· Tennessee Williams, Playwright

· Sylvia Plath, Writer

· Eugene O'Neill, Playwright

· Isaac Newton, Scientist

· Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States

· Ernest Hemingway, Writer

· Thomas Eagleton, Vice Presidential Candidate, 1972

· Tony Dow, Actor

· Charles Dickens, Writer

· Winston Churchill

· Drew Carey, Actor

· Art Buchwald, Columnist

· Diane Arbus, Photographer

http://www.naminh.org/action-famous-people.php

Famous people in history with depression:

· Rod Steiger, Actor

· William Styron, Writer

· Wallace, Television Journalist

· Tennessee Williams, Playwright

· Sylvia Plath, Writer

· Eugene O'Neill, Playwright

· Isaac Newton, Scientist

· Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States

· Ernest Hemingway, Writer

· Thomas Eagleton, Vice Presidential Candidate, 1972

· Tony Dow, Actor

· Charles Dickens, Writer

· Winston Churchill

· Drew Carey, Actor

· Art Buchwald, Columnist

· Diane Arbus, Photographer

http://www.naminh.org/action-famous-people.php

Famous people in history with depression:

· Rod Steiger, Actor

· William Styron, Writer

· Wallace, Television Journalist

· Tennessee Williams, Playwright

· Sylvia Plath, Writer

· Eugene O'Neill, Playwright

· Isaac Newton, Scientist

· Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States

· Ernest Hemingway, Writer

· Thomas Eagleton, Vice Presidential Candidate, 1972

· Tony Dow, Actor

· Charles Dickens, Writer

· Winston Churchill

· Drew Carey, Actor

· Art Buchwald, Columnist

· Diane Arbus, Photographer

http://www.naminh.org/action-famous-people.php

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeZCmqePLzM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVEueGutbSs&feature=channel

By: Daniela Morales and Sebastian Muñoz.

Anorexia and Bulimia

What Is Anorexia?

this eating disorder anorexia,is a unique reaction to a variety of external and internal conflicts.

Sympthoms:
-stress
-anxiety
-unhappines
-feeling like life is out of control
-sensitivity

People suffering anorexia maybe anormally sensitive about beign perceived as fat,or have
a massive fear ro becoming fat. not all people living with anorexia have this fear,they´r afraid of losing control.


ANOTHER SYMPTOMS:
- obssesive exsercice
- fat gram counting
-starvation and restriction of food.
-self-induceed vomiting
-use of pills
-laxatives or diuretics to attempt controling weight


BULIMIA:
Men and women suffering bulimia seek out binge and purge episodies they will eat a large major of food in a
relatively short period of time such as taking laxatives or self-induced vomite.

• regular changes in weight
• an obsessive attitude towards food and eating
• large amounts of money being spent on food
• disappearing soon after eating (usually visiting the toilet to vomit)
• episodes of over-eating
• periods of starvation
• scarred knuckles (from forcing fingers down the throat to bring on vomiting)
• depression and anxiety
• unrealistic opinions about body weight and shape
• isolation

http://www.something-fishy.org/whatarethey/anorexia.php

ANOREXIA AFFECTS YOUR HOLE BODY:

TREATING OF ANOREXIA:

• restoring the person to a healthy weight;
• treating the psychological issues related to the eating disorder; and reducing or eliminating behaviors or thoughts that lead to disordered eating, and preventing relapse.

http://helpguide.org/mental/anorexia_signs_symptoms_causes_treatment.htm

By: Daniela Montoya, Alejandra Duran and Manuela Escobar Gutierrez.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

OCD

Everyone has daily patterns in there life; you wake up, brush your teeth, take a shower, eat, and get dressed. Then the next day you do the same, and you might even switch the order in which these tasks are accomplished, but they don’t get in the way of doing anything important and living your life. Here’s were OCD comes in, people with OCD have no choice, they can’t focus and concentrate until that urged to touch or repeat or clean and wash is satisfied. OCD is an illness, a mental illness, and some may think those who suffer have the will to stop this, when in reality they don’t. Treatment for OCD is a long and tiring process, but to even begin to understand what OCD is we have to understand it in its totality.

What is OCD?

OCD is the manifestation of anxiety at high levels, and these high levels of anxiety occur because the brain can’t properly deal with worry and doubt. OCD causes unwanted thoughts and the need to repeat certain behaviors. Those who suffer from OCD know that there compulsions and obsession don’t make any sense, and that they don’t need to be done, But that’s what makes OCD such a complex illness. Those who suffer from it, can distinguish what OCD is doing to them, how much it makes them suffer, but there own mind won’t allow them to stop. Thoughts of there own senseless rituals and compulsions will haunt them until they comply to there own mind.

OCD Is divided into two different manifestations obsessions and compulsions. Now a person who suffers from OCD and manifest through obsession will get random thoughts and images in there mind, that they can’t avoid. They will constantly be thinking about the thing they are obsessing about. Theses images and impulses will run through there mind over and over again. These thoughts can range from every once in a while, to almost all the time. This however varies on the anxiety and stress levels of the person.
Now compulsions are the actions brought on by these obsessive thoughts and high levels of anxiety. These compulsion are run by the rule of each individual, it may consist of counting to five every single time before you walk through a door, to turning counter clockwise every time you’re turning a corner. These compulsion are managed by there anxiety, and performing them only makes that anxiety go away for a few second to minutes, maybe a few hours, but once they return so will the compulsions, these compulsion are what make having a normal life and OCD so difficult because they are time consuming activities which can take away from the person.

Common Obsessions

-Fear of aging.
-Fear of dirt and germs.
-Fear of harming and hurting others.
-Concentrating on repeating certain numbers and touching things a number of times.


Common Compulsions.

-Washing your hands excessively.
-Ordering and organizing in strange ways.
-Checking door, locks, etc.
-touching things while looking a certain way.

What Causes OCD

OCD, was thought to be a rare mental illness and impossible to treat, But studies have shown that almost 3.3 million Americans from ages 18-54, and this study was only conducted in the US, it doesn’t include other countries and there statistics.
Now OCD is said to be caused by low levels of serotonin. Now serotonin is a chemical in the brain that prevents people from repeating things. It carries the message that an action has been performed, those who suffer from OCD don’t have enough serotonin so it is said that this is why they repeat things because there brain never gets the order that the action has been performed. This is why medicines that can reduce OCD symptoms have high levels of serotonin; however these pills do not permanently remove OCD. Only reduce the symptoms.

Treatment.

The most effective treatment for OCD to this day is cognitive response therapy and behavioral therapy or exposure therapy. In these therapy’s those that suffer from OCD are constantly exposed to there fear and obsession and must fight the urge to proceed with there rituals. They must withstand there anxiety until they feel comfortable with it, but this procedure only works when the person has the full will and mind power to recover. Those that can’t successfully remove there OCD will eventually go back to there starting point of worse. That is why therapist recommends that when starting cognitive response therapy or behavioral therapy they must be 100% committed. Of course they always have the option of taking prescribed drugs, however keep in mind that these only reduce the symptoms and not cure OCD completely.

Brain Chemistry of OCD.

Studies have shown that OCD occurs because of low serotonin level in the brain. However new studies have shown that OCD may also be hereditary, there isn’t much information on the possibilities of OCD actually being hereditary or what genes may cause it, but genes can be a cause of how the brain is influenced and if it may be able to or at risk of developing OCD. However many people with high risks genetically of getting OCD have not. Doctors are curious as to why this may happen, so some studies where conducted between families and patients. Those that did not have a history of OCD and where not a risk, Healthy relatives of those with a history of OCD, and those that had OCD and there relative didn’t. These are the results.

However doctors still don’t know what to make of it. There still wondering why those with a history have not developed OCD, and those without a history have, so further studies are being conducted by the University of Cambridge and Psychiatrics.

• Famous people who have had OCD.

Nikola Tesla may be famous for his Tesla Coil. However he is also believed to have suffered from OCD. With his obsession with the number three, his fear of germs and peoples hair.

Howard Hughes may be famous as an aviation pioneer and as a movie director. However he too is believed to have suffered from OCD. With his fear of germs and his compulsion to rearrange objects and constantly re-watch movies. In the end he completely isolated himself.

Donald trump famous for his catch phrase “You’re Fired” among other things. Has openly admitted to suffering from OCD. He fears shaking peoples hands and having contact with germs, He especially hates shaking teachers hands.

David Beckham Famous for his talent in soccer and his dashing good looks. He is also a sufferer of OCD. He has to have everything in complete order, and everything must be in pairs. If there are three things on a stand one must be removed or added.

Among others are Cameron Diaz, Jessica Alba, Leonardo DiCaprio, Howard stern, Charlie Sheen, Albert Einstein, Michael Angelo, and Beethoven.


References

http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/famous-ocd.shtml

http://www.ocdonline.com/

http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/common/mentalhealth/anxiety/133.html

http://kidshealth.org/kid/feeling/emotion/ocd.html#a_What%20Is%20OCD?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080717140456.htm

http://obsessive-compulsive-disorder.suite101.com/article.cfm/famous_people_with_ocd

Autism

Autism is a developmental problem that comes from the womb or at birth can be developed by unsuitable conditions in the environment.In many cases this disease can be of hereditary origin.
This disease is a syndrome that with the time is spoiling the mental agility of a human being.

simptoms

Kids with autism had difficulties to talk with other people, it’s very hard to them to express their feelings with words, they usually keep what they feel and think for them selves, many can’t communicate at all without any help.

They react in an unusual way in front of things that happens every day on a kids normal life, for example sounds that for other kids are normal, for them are really annoying with autism, this can bother them so much even to get to the point of cover their ears.

This kids have problems often with the words meanings, thay have trouble linking words with they meanings, that’s why they have problems to understand other people. It is doubly frustrating then if a kid can't come up with the right words to express his or her own thoughts.

This illness cause kids to act in an unusuall ways, Repeat the same words over and over again, play only with one particular toy many time, because most kids with autism don’t like the changes on their rutines, so that’s why they repeat the same anctions many times, and they get use to some things that later they would not left.

Causes:
Autism is a physical condition linked to abnormal biology and chemistry in the brain, whose exact causes are unknown, but this is a very active area of research. Probably a combination of factors that lead to autism.

Genetic factors appear to be important. For example, it is much more likely that identical twins both have autism in twins compared with twins or siblings. Similarly, language abnormalities are more common in relatives of autistic children and also the chromosomal abnormalities and other nervous system problems are more common in families with autism.
Some doctors believe the increased incidence of autism is due to new definitions of the disease. The term "autism" now includes a broader spectrum of children. For example, a child who is diagnosed with high-functioning autism today may have been thought to simply be odd or strange 30 years ago







U.S. scientists used sophisticated scans to examine the connections in the cerebral cortex, part departs of the cerebral cortex, the cells are too many connections. However, in other parts not sufficient.
voted to coordinating complex thoughts.
They found evidence of abnormalities in the connections of the brain cells of people with autism.

famous people with autism

•Christopher Knowles, American poet
•Jasmine O'Neill, author of Through the Eyes of Aliens


treatmet

Treatments with better results is the behavior modification is the most widely accepted because it has the ability to maintain control and ensure the child instructional focus.

Yet it is important to mention that there is evidence that progress is best achieved with a mixture or variety of treatments, some of them aimed at developing specific areas.

Tomatis and Berard Method: These methods are based on the auditory training of children with autism and thus open up channels in your brain. This therapy is suggested when the child shows excessive sensitivity to noise.

Musical Therapy: This method looks for a relationship with the child through music and rhythm. In some children has been successful
Gluten Free Diet and Casein: This treatment refers to the restriction of foods with these compounds, which are mainly found in wheat flour and dairy products. In some cases the results are favorable, it is a good choice because they have no side effects etc. ..

You're Not Crazy & You're Not Alone

Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD)

A person who has at least one alter personality that controls behavior is considered mentally sick. This psychiatric disorder is called multiple personality disorder, and it consists in having consciousness divided into different “alters”, or personalities. The person that is affected can do many things while being in a state, but this person won´t remembers its actions as soon as he changes its personality. This disease affects mostly, people with traumatic experiences, that unconscious built this other personalities to keep apart the pain, and to avoid accepting their real emotions.

Symptoms and diagnosis

 People with MPD lose their memory, they don’t
remember anything done while they were in certain state.


 The patient feels like he hasn’t control of their own body,
as they were outside of it, sometimes they feel that their body
is changing, but they cannot do anything to stop it.

 People start feeling that what they are seeing isn’t real.

 People without the disease might see that during stressful situations the person affected changes its personality.

Treatment
The treatment can last months or years and there are different methods to proceed, psychotherapy and hypnosis.
On one hand we have the psychotherapy that is used to improve the condition of the patient with his help, this way doctors can prescript a type of medication that changes during therapy, and by this method also, the medic can check in the development of the person that is receiving the treatment.
On the other hand we have hypnosis, that Is really common in this type of treatments because is the way doctors can search for the roots of the problem and start to work about it in therapy.

The real personality of a person
can die, and the body will keep
working with the other ones that
he has left.

The Multiple Personality disorder in the television:
There are some TV shows and movies about people with this disorder. We can take as an example United States of Tara, this series is about a housewife who has this disorder, how this affects the whole family, and how she tries to find a balance between her different personalities.




http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/9-24-2004-59666.asp
http://www.skepdic.com/mpd.html