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Features Related to Depression

Cognitive Therapy for Depression

Almost everyone has dark thoughts when his or her mood is bad. With depression, though, the thoughts can be extremely negative. They can also take over and distort your view of reality. Cognitive therapy can be an effective way to defuse those thoughts. When used for depression, cognitive therapy pr
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Depression: Coping With Anxiety Symptoms

Depression and anxiety might seem like opposites, but they often go together. More than half of the people diagnosed with depression also have anxiety. Either condition can be disabling on its own. Together, depression and anxiety can be especially hard to live with, hard to diagnose, and hard to tr
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Exercise for Depression: How It Helps

Five years ago, after ending a long-term relationship, Anita became seriously depressed. It benched the once-physically active writer, who asked that her last name be withheld to protect her privacy. She stopped running and began gaining weight and falling out of shape. It was not the first time she
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Can Antidepressants Work for Me?

How effective are antidepressants? That's a question that many people with depression have asked -- and research suggests that the answers aren't simple. It's a question that's relevant to millions. About one in 10 Americans takes an antidepressant, now the most commonly prescribed type of drug in
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Tempted to Quit Antidepressants?

Antidepressants are designed to boost mood and relieve sadness, but for some patients, their side effects fuel another emotion: frustration. Just ask Maryland resident Jane Niziol. Her doctor prescribed Paxil after a difficult breakup left her feeling depressed and overwhelmed. Niziol recalls the me
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Serotonin: 9 Questions and Answers

Serotonin acts as a neurotransmitter, a type of chemical that helps relay signals from one area of the brain to another. Although serotonin is manufactured in the brain, where it performs its primary functions, some 90% of our serotonin supply is found in the digestive tract and in blood platelets.
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25 Ways to Find Joy and Balance During the Holidays

Feeling down during the holidays can be tough, especially since you seem so out of step with the world. Everyone else seems to be beaming, ruddy-cheeked, bursting with holiday spirit. You’re feeling wretched and exhausted. But here’s something to cheer you up the next time you’re stuck in a room of
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What’s Stopping You From Seeing a Doctor About Depression?

Are you struggling with depression? Are you getting treatment for it? If not, you’re not alone. About two-thirds of people with major depression never seek appropriate treatment, and the consequences can be devastating: personal suffering, missed work, broken marriages, health problems and, in the w
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Seasonal Mood and Hormonal Changes

Many women report mood changes linked to their monthly menstrual cycles. Between 3% and 9% of women of reproductive age experience premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), often with severe depression symptoms. How are these monthly mood changes -- mild or severe -- affected by seasonal weather and
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Pets for Depression and Health

Traffic was unbearable, the workday was long, and the boss unreasonable. But minutes later, as your pet dog wags his tail and yips his welcome, your symptoms of depression lift. It's not a coincidence, according to psychologists, veterinarians, and researchers, who concur that pets can be good for o
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