As I read the article about treating severe depression with deep brain stimulation (DBS), I couldn’t help but wonder if it might offer hope for other disorders. Could it possibly help severe cases of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), too. Originally used to treat people with Parkinson’s disease, researchers found that 50 percent of those treated with DBS also showed a reduction in depression symptoms. Requiring a minimally invasive surgical procedure, deep brain stimulation is achieved by the placement... more

An eye problem caused by diabetes, called diabetic retinopathy, is the number one cause of blindness in adults in the United States., If your child has diabetes then his or her blood sugar levels are too high. High blood sugar can damage nerves or blood vessels over time. Diabetic retinopathy happens when the tiny blood vessels inside the retina are damaged from high blood sugar. The damage that can occur may include blood vessels swelling and leaking fluid or new abnormal blood vessels may grow... more

Raising a special needs child can offer quite a challenge to parents. Last week, in a town nearby, a 28-year-old woman went missing from her family home. The family described their daughter as very intelligent and loving. Many people from surrounding areas are diligently searching for this young woman. Our temperatures here in Michigan have hovered around a bitter zero degrees Fahrenheit over the past week. It definitely is not safe to spend much time outside unless... more

A supportive friend made this observation recently, “Depression is the occupational hazard of raising damaged children.” I had never thought of it that way, but I have to agree with him. The clinical definition of depression is a disorder that affects your thoughts, moods, feelings, behavior, and even your physical health. The Mayo Clinic’s website goes on to say that sometimes a stressful life event triggers depression. It makes you feel sad, helpless, or hopeless, and may cause crying spells.

You... more

Children who have been adopted at an age older than newborn frequently struggle with self-esteem issues. They may come across as if they are superior to everyone they encounter including family members. Is that really a mask for a fragile self-esteem that is vulnerable to even the slightest criticism? People who suffer from a mental disorder called Narcissistic personality disorder have a deep need for admiration and an inflated sense of their own importance. While initially, you may think that the older adopted child suffering from a narcissistic personality disorder has healthy self-confidence and self-esteem it may soon become obvious that your child has crossed a fine line. People who... more

In those cases where typical or standard treatments for depression just are not working, a new option for treatment is available. However, the long-term effects of this new treatment are not known because the Food and Drug Administration only approved it in 2005. Brain stimulation is used to improve symptoms with this new procedure called vagus or vagal nerve stimulation.

Apparently, your body has two vagus nerves, one on each side of your body that run from your brainstem through... more

Cyclothymia, also called cyclothymic disorder, is similar to bipolar disorder except the episodes of highs and lows are generally less severe and shorter in duration. The condition is chronic, a mood disorder characterized by alternating episodes of mild emotional and behavioral "highs" followed by mild to moderate depression, interspersed with episodes of emotional and behavioral stability. Cyclothymia does not necessarily predispose one to developing bipolar disorder nor is it the onset of bipolar disorder. However,... more

Are you eating or sleeping more than you usually do now that the temperature has begun to drop and it is getting dark earlier? While it could be a normal reaction to the changing seasons, it might be something more serious like seasonal affective disorder (SAD). If your increase in eating and sleeping is accompanied by feelings of depression, lethargy, fatigue and other problems you may want to talk to your doctor about seasonal affective disorder. SAD is a form... more

Depression is a tricky thing. For some people, it can hit them all at once, like a paralyzing wave. But for most it just sneaks up on you. If you’re like me, you have lots of external reasons to be depressed – raising a challenging child, coming to terms with that child’s disabilities and what the future might hold, financial strain due to the need to quit my job to care for my child, the emotional and financial burden of a lawsuit with the school system…just to name a few.

So, I’ve got lots of reasons to be depressed. But my goofy thought... more

A survey given to high school seniors would indicate that maybe your teenagers shouldn’t be employed during their high school years. The results of the study indicated that students who were employed during high school years were more likely to be depressed. These same students had lower grade point averages, which may have been because they had less time to spend on homework, the researchers surmised.

The working teens were also... more