Category: depression

Serotonin-Your Brain’s Happiness Chemical

Many people take SSRI antidepressants for depression. However, it’s important to ask why you are feeling depression in the first place. Many important research strides have been made linking chronic inflammation, poor gut health, gut bacteria, and general brain health with depression. However, we still need healthy serotonin activity, the target of Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), to…


Australian Academics Find Depression Negatively Impacts Academic Outcomes but Anxiety Can Improve Them

A study conducted by the Australian National University has demonstrated that mental wellbeing of a student is a strong predictor of academic success. The study, led by Diana Cardenas showed that though depression is a strong predictor of poorer academic outcomes, anxiety in certain cases can improve student outcomes. The study examined numeracy and reading…


Why Are Liberals So Miserable?

Commentary I’m the kind of guy Who never used to cry The world is treatin’ me bad Misery—The Beatles Replacing former President Donald Trump with President Joe Biden was supposed to bring joy to the land from sea to sea. We were going to be a united people at last. Every problem known to man…


Brain Inflammation Underlies Chronic Depression

Traditional treatment for chronic depression typically involves medications that impact brain neurotransmitters — brain chemicals responsible for mood, motivation, behavior, and mental activity. However, many patients with depression do not respond well to pharmaceutical treatment or natural remedies such as 5-HTP or Saint John’s Wort. While the conventional medical model insists on sticking with these…


Behavioural Activation Therapy for Depression: What’s the Evidence?

“I felt as if I had lost myself and wouldn’t ever be the same again” . Amy’s experience of depression is common, and it can cause a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest in things you once found enjoyable (Uphoff et al., 2020a). Depression can have a long-lasting effect on patients and their families,…


Mental Health-Related Prescriptions to Australian Children On the Rise

Despite the known risks of adverse effects in children and adolescents and potential consequences for children’s developing bodies and brains, researchers have found a steady increase in the prescriptions of psychiatric drugs by Australian doctors to young people. The study published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry examined the prescription to over…


What We Can Do About the Rise of Depression in Kids

I just returned from a funeral of a patient who died from a drug overdose. I’m a pediatrician, not an internist. This girl was too young to die and to be depressed. Her life was filled with trials but she had great parents and supportive siblings. And I want to be very clear here: Her…


More Canadians Struggling with Mental Health Entering Third Year of Pandemic, Studies Show

As the COVID-19 pandemic stretches into its third year, Canadians are experiencing negative emotions of anxiety and depression, with a growing number of them struggling with mental health conditions, new studies reveal. A new study, conducted by the Angus Reid Institute (ARI) Jan. 18–22, 2022, has found that out of the 1,509 adults surveyed, one-in-three…


How To Help A Relative With Their Anxieties And Depression

Do you know a friend or loved one who suffers from fear, anxiety, and depression and do not know what to do to help them? It can be frustrating to watch someone you know struggle with their mental health and not be able to do anything to relieve their suffering. With this in mind, here…


2 Years Into the Pandemic, How Much More Must Youth Suffer?

Commentary As we enter 2022, we approach the two-year anniversary of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s quite shocking for me; I was 16 at the start of this and I’m now old enough to be able to vote. Despite this gap of time having passed, it feels as though we haven’t progressed. A…