what is depression ? how to prevent it ?

Depression is a mental illness that causes psychological distress to the person suffering from it. It is generally described as a lowering of mood for a period of two weeks or more. This impairment can cause the victim much loss of normal physical and mental functioning and can be triggered at any time. There are causes such as distressing life events that are thought to trigger depression. Depression can fall into a number of categories depending on symptoms present. It can affect anyone at any stage in their life and does not discriminate against race, gender or socio-economic status.

Depression can be triggered by a life event. Depending on the nature of the life event, the length of time that the depression lasts for can be longer than 2 weeks, with some episodes taking longer than 8 months to resolve. Many life events can cause a depressive episode such as relationship difficulties, financial problems and health issues. The risk factors involved with depression are correlated with increased chance of suffering an episode, so its important to educate the public and bring awareness to individuals.

Being a psychological disorder depression affects the mind, and thus can affect a person's ability to function effectively in society. Depression can have take on three distinct forms, often going unnoticed by people not suffering from the disorder. Depression can affect a persons cognitive abilities, work performance and ability to socialise with others. Loss of interest in activities is also common which before the onset of the depression gave much pleasure, and the withdrawal of pleasure from these activities is a sure marker that something may be wrong.

The seriousness of depression can be dependent on many factors. A persons genetic history is a strong indicator, and if any family members have been diagnosed then the chances of depression are increased. The biological make-up of an individual also plays its part, with some people more prone to depressive episodes purely because of individual biology. Socio-economic factors such as lower incomes, drug and alcohol abuse and social isolation and vulnerability all play a role.

Depression affects both men and women, all ethnicities and adults and children. 1 in 4 women will experience depression, while 1 in 6 men will go through an episode at some point in their life. Due to the stigma and the taboo nature of depression, this mental disorder has gone relatively unnoticed in the past. With help from media attention it is now receiving much needed public attention.

There are three major types of depression that are diagnosed by mental health professionals.

Non-melancholic depression or clinical depression:

This is the most common form of depression. The nature of non-melancholic depression is thought to be psychological in origin, which is in stark difference to the other less well known and rare forms of this mental illness. This is a difficult form to diagnose as the boundaries of its symptoms are not well defined as opposed to the two other forms of depression which are discussed next.

Some common symptoms of clinical depression are:

- a depressed mood extending for a period of more than two weeks
- loss of interest in activities they were previously pleasurable
- low, miserable and/or sad feelings remaining through-out the day

The second less well known, and even less diagnosed form is melancholic depression. This form in contrast with clinical depression has its origins in biological factors. Individuals suffering from this illness are a minority with only 1 - 2% being diagnosed.

Common symptoms are:

- severe sleep disturbance
- marked changes in appetite and weight gain or loss
- changes in cognitive performance such as memory, concentration and problem solving.
- distinct loss of pleasure from activities that were previously found to be pleasurable

The third form is psychotic depression which is the most rare form of depression and is characterised by symptoms that share similarities with severe clinical depression and schizophrenia including:

- extreme depressed mood and loss of interest in pleasurable past-times
- hallucinations, psycho-motor problems and delusional thinking
- severe sleep disturbances

Depression is a wide-spread mental illness that may be affecting a loved one, friend or work colleague. On outward appearances it may be hard to tell if someone is suffering from depression. Certain risk factors are responsible for determining if a person will suffer from depression with women being at higher risk than men. If you are the one suffering, then hopefully this guide has given you an insight into what it is you may be experiencing. Take hope that treatments are available and many are discussed in articles on this site.

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How Do I Lose Weight Fast With Fast Food And No Physical Activity At Work

It's a sad fact that even though everyone knows that good health is something to be treasured and thankful for, most people don't pay any attention to their health and fitness until red flags appear, and then they try to do something. Sadly by that time these conditions are not reversible because they are too far along.

If everyone kept up a healthy diet and lifestyle from a very young age the percentage of ill unhealthy people would be kept to a minimum. The risk of contacting chronic diseases, experiencing injuries, and generally getting sick, could be greatly controlled and avoided. If you did this you would never have to worry about losing weight and getting fit. You would already be at the optimum weight for your good health.

This doesn't mean that you can't occasionally enjoy things that may be considered bad. You just have to discipline yourself and keep these occasions to a minimum. Self discipline in your decisions will play a vital role in ensuring your success.

In today's market everything that is sold or invented is designed to make things easier and faster for us. Very little physical effort is required to get things done at work or in our home. The unintended consequence of this is our bodies don't get enough physical exercise and we wind up overweight and out of shape.

When you're hungry today all you have to do is grab the nearest fast food or snack. It's easy, it's fast, and we don't hardly think anything of it. This may fill you up and satisfy your hunger but it definitely isn't good for you. You need to think about it before you just grab the first thing at hand. If you do this very often you will quickly become unfit and overweight. You need to seek out other more healthy alternatives. Keep healthy snacks at hand such as fruits, nuts, yogurt, or fruit bars so you can resist the urge to eat fast food.

The easiest and best way to stay healthy is to have a healthy diet. You need to keep it exciting and tasty with a large variety or you will wind up going back to the unhealthy alternatives.

However you can't rely on just diet alone. You need to add an exercise plan to your diet plan if you are going to maintain a healthy body. It needs to be comfortable and fun for you to do so that you will perform it consistently.

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Stop Elbow Injuries With These Easy Tips

First, some anatomy; the wrist flexor tendons attach to the medial aspect of the elbow while the wrist extensors attach at the lateral aspect.

I'll never forget the days of doing a tough arm workout, only to feel the ache of tendonitis in the elbows. That pain was associated with medial epicondylitis also known as Golfers Elbow. If you suffer from such a condition, ice the area for ten to fifteen minutes to reduce the inflammation. Be aware, however, that the ulnar nerve runs through the ulnar groove which is found at that medial aspect of the elbow. Icing that nerve directly will lead to numbness and tingling down into the pinky for an extended amount of time. This condition is called Golfers Elbow because it is often experienced by golfers due to the repetitive nature of the golf swing.

What about tennis elbow?

The game of tennis also has its infamous elbow injuries. Tennis Elbow, or lateral epicondylitis, is caused by the backhand stroke in the game... especially if the player uses a single handed grip. This puts an extreme amount of pressure on the wrist extensors of the forearm leading to tendonitis. Once again, icing for ten to fifteen minutes after a match is critical to relieving the dull ache of this elbow injury. So we have talked about treatment but what about prevention?

Elbow Injury Prevention...

Prevention of elbow injuries does not include quitting your favorite activity. It is actually quite simple. The wrist extensors are often much weaker than the flexors so strengthening those extensors is the key to restoring the muscular balance in the forearms. This is easily achieved, not with some fancy expensive workout equipment, but rather, a good rubber band. Curling the fingers with the rubber band near the tips of the fingers like a claw then extend your fingers. This is an extremely helpful and easy to do exercise. Keep a rubber band on your wrist to remind you to do the exercise in your spare time. Personally, I do a few sets while I am sitting at a stop light. You will feel the burn in your wrist extensors, which means you are doing it correctly!

It's true that you can do flexor and extensor strengthening exercises at the gym. Using a fairly light dumbell, sit on a bench and rest your arm on your leg. Hold the dumbell in your hand and either curl the wrist up with the palm facing the ceiling for the flexors, or extend the wrist up with the palm facing the floor for the wrist extensors.

The rubber band exercise is much easier, however... and there is no gym membership needed.

Using this little "trick" will help strengthen your forearms and alleviate your elbow injuries for good!

Dr. John DeWitt played twelve years of professional football and went on to become a chiropractor in Southern California. He has suffered a ruptured biceps tendon, left labrum and left deltoid ligaments. This information regarding prevention and cure of elbow injuries came from his first hand experience. 

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Why Men Lose Hair and What Steps Can Be Taken to Prevent It?

Male pattern baldness is the genetic form of going bald and the most frequent reason for hair loss among men. It is also known as androgenic alopecia and affects approximately 25 percent of men by age 30. By age 60, nearly two-thirds of men will have some degree of male pattern baldness.

Common Forms of Hair Loss and why it happens

Baldness mostly occurs because of a natural steroid and hormone combination named DHT. When hair follicles come in contact with DHT they become weakened and shrink. If nothing is done to inhibit the DHT, the follicles inevitably become so small and weak they can longer produce or hold hair. Hence, male pattern baldness is often somewhat gradual because it is not so much of a massive loss of hair as it is a lack of growing hair back.

There are other forms of hair loss including telogen effluvium. This is when large amounts of hair fall out at once. Sometimes, you will see a rapid and noticeable thinning within a few months. Unlike the pattern baldness that usually occurs on the top of the scalp, telogen effluvium usually occurs throughout the entire scalp. Reasons for this kind of hair loss are mostly due to stress and sudden hormonal changes.

Help for Male Pattern Baldness and Hair Loss

Hair loss of any kind can be emotionally and financially devastating. Thankfully, there has been much research done to help those who suffer with all types of alopecia.

Leading a healthy lifestyle with plenty of exercise and eating a nutrient rich diet will certainly help. Vitamins A, B, C and E are all commonly found nutrients that you need for healthy hair and skin. Even if DHT begins to take over, you will have a better chance at keeping follicles alive even if they are dormant if you have healthy skin.

Exercise increases circulation which is great to get the blood pumping and help keep follicles healthy. In addition, make sure you use a gentle and effective shampoo that will clean the scalp of excess sebum and other things that can clog follicles. Doing some light massaging to get the blood really pumping on the scalp is also great for keeping healthy follicles.

Sometimes, doing all this isn't enough. That is when it's time to look into products specifically made to inhibit or halt DHT. Various options are available. Topical forms can be quite effective and work directly at the follicle level, usually by blocking the formation of the DHT. Other topical variations, such as specialized shampoos may work mostly by cleaning the follicle from DHT, sebum and other forms of blockage. When used together, they are twice as effective.

Even though hair loss is a common problem for men, it doesn't make it any easier to deal with. If you are a man who doesn't want to see his hair go away for good, you don't have to. For many, there are solutions and finding the right combination that will work for you will be well worth the effort!

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Healthy eating better lunch option

When it comes to eating, there are many choices to be made. Every day, we have to decide what we want to eat and what we don't want to eat. It's not always easy to make the best choices. Factors like time, access and knowledge can make it even more difficult to make healthy choices on a day to day basis.

I have some good news: It doesn't have to be all or nothing. You can make better choices no matter where you go. Whether you get food at the grocery store or you are at a restaurant, you can always choose something that is better than other options. You can also find options that are far worse. There are two keys to making these choices:

1. Know the difference between bad, better and best

2. Trusting yourself to make healthy choices even if you have to compromise

The first key: Know the difference between bad, better and best. Here are some examples of what you can choose and how these choices impact your day to day health:

Quarter Pounder w/ cheese
Calories: 510
Fat: 26 grams (Saturated fat: 12 grams)
Sodium: 1190 milligrams

Better- Roast Beef Sandwich
Calories: 350
Fat: 13 g (Saturated fat: 4.5 g)
Sodium: 960 mg

Best- Roast Beef Sandwich (homemade)
Calories: 225
Fat: 5 g (saturated fat: 2 g)
Sodium: 300 mg

Spicy Chicken Sandwich
Calories: 430
Fat: 15 g (Saturated fat: 3 g)
Sodium: 1240 mg

Better- Grilled Chicken Sandwich
Calories: 300
Fat: 7 g (Saturated fat: 2 g)
Sodium: 740 mg

Best- Chicken Breast Sandwich (sliced/homemade)
Calories: 220
Fat: 2 g (saturated fat: less than 1 g)
Sodium: 260 mg

As you can see, the leaner the meat, the lower the calories and healthier the sandwich is for you. Making a sandwich at home is not only cheaper, but it is much healthier for you.

Other substitutes that can save you some calories:

No cheese: save 50-100 calories, No mayo: save 50-150 calories, No soda: save 150-500 calories!

Portion Control: take part of your food home or back to work. Even splitting a meal into smaller segments can give you a lower calorie total for each meal, but allow you to keep metabolism burning and keep hunger under control throughout the day.

The best options will always be found at the grocery store, but if you have to choose between bad and better, at least you will have some options. Try these tricks and see the benefits of eating healthier! And remember: You don't have to be perfect to eat better.

Joe works as a Business Health Expert to help companies save money by improving employee health. There is corporate wellness and there is the next level: Business Health Strategy. Joe helps his clients get to the next level. When companies invest in their most valuable asset, the workforce benefits and the company benefits. Everybody wins!

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If You Really Want To Count Calories Then This Will Help

I know that counting calories is a popular way to lose weight - even though I don't agree with it. What I do agree with is actually cutting down on the number of calories you eat. Now that might seem like the same thing but it isn't and I'll get to why it's different in a little while, because I want to tell you about some interesting news first.

Anne McTiernan from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre ran a 12-month study, with over 120 women, looking at what helped participants to lose more weight. What she found was that women, who kept a food diary over the period of the trial, lost about 6lbs more than people who didn't. Skipping meals was also a significant factor. Those women who skipped meals ended up 8lbs heavier than those who ate regularly.

Those who went out for lunch just once a week ended up 5lbs heavier than those who didn't. The more you eat out the heavier you get - even when you are on a calorie controlled diet.

"For individuals who are trying to lose weight, the No. 1 piece of advice based on these study results would be to keep a food journal to help meet daily calorie goals"

Anne McTiernan, director of the Hutchinson Centre.

Of course keeping a Food Diary only works when you are honest and record everything you eat. So you need to carry it with you at all times.

So their advice is pretty much: vigilant self-monitoring of what you eat; cook all your own food; and eat regular meals. That's good advice, but I need to get back to why counting calories and cutting down on calorie intake are not the same thing.

When you count calories you have a daily limit so you have to monitor absolutely everything you eat. You need to obsess over food labels. You need to engage in a constant battle with yourself over whether or not to have something delicious, that you really fancy, but which is high in calories, or lots and lots of much lower calorie stuff. Hunger is a frequent accompaniment to this process, along with a perpetual thinking about food and the next meal. Willpower, that is mental force, is what is essential to succeed and willpower never works when you are tired, fed-up, emotionally exhausted, or just plain feeling sorry for yourself. So this method is bound to fail - or at least take very much longer to attain the target weight. Around half of people give up on their diet in less than 12 months.

"You can initially lose 5 to 10% of your weight on any number of diets, but then the weight comes back."

Traci Mann, Psychologist, University of California, Los Angeles

Cutting down on calories is very different. You get to enjoy whatever you fancy, but that's not a recipe for crazy eating, nor a suggestion that you can binge constantly and lose weight. It's a suggestion that shifts the focus away from food so the obsessive thoughts and cravings have no reason to be there.

It's a way to lose weight and enjoy life at the same time. I mean, if you can have what you want how can you crave it? Knowing you can have it actually reduces the desire for it, so although you still have it, you eat less of it.

Michael Hadfield, author of 'How to Lose Weight Easily', has been helping people to lose weight for around 14 years. If you'd like a free food diary template then visit http://www.HypnosisIsEasy.com/weight-loss-food-diary.htm

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Healthy Eating Technique guided by pyramid picture

1. Start with Exercise. A healthy diet is built on a base of regular and constant  exercise, which keeps you calories in balance and weight in check. Read five quick tips for staying be active and getting to your healthy weight, and a dozen ideas for fitting exercise into your life.

2. Make Focus on Eating food, not grams. The Healthy eating pyramid doesn't worry about grams of food or specific serving so neither should you. It's a simple statistics that guide to how you should eat and which time for eat.

3. Go with plants based eating. Means eating a plant based food/diet is healthiest. Choose many of vegetables, fruit, whole grains and healthy fats like olive and canola oil and also eat salty snac which part of american culture but they are also a really unhealthy things. Go for a plant based diet rich in non starchy vegetables, fruits, foods, and whole grains.  And if you eat meat fish and poultry are one of the best choice.
5. Take food about multivitamin and also many be have drink. Taking a multivitamin food and drinks can be a good nutrition insurance policy. Moderate drinking for works many people can have real health benefits, but it's not for everyone  and everypeople get benefit. Those who don’t drink shouldn’t feel that they need to start. Read about balancing alcohol's risks and benefits.

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