Tag Archives | depression

Pet Prozac

Many pets today are said to be depressed and given Prozac. But none of us fare well in captivity.

I WATCHED an interesting show a while ago about a miserable parrot. In an episode of the program Bondi Vet, Chris Brown treated a self-mutilating parrot suffering depression.

The bird had fallen in love with its owner, and would self-mutilate by ripping out its feathers when it saw her with her husband, Brown said. The parrot would also charge at the man and act in an aggressive manner to intimidate the other male in the household.

The vet decided that ‘‘Harry’’ was seeking attention and sympathy, and put him on the antidepressant Prozac. Harry’s feathers started growing back after a few weeks and his hostility towards his male owner disappeared. Continue Reading →

Share
3

Depression is a broken arm

There’s a broken cog inside the minds of many depression sufferers but few understand what they can’t see.

WE read stories every week about murder-suicides, often involving the most unlikely people: good parents, the nice neighbour next door. ‘‘Why didn’t she ask for our help?’’, ‘‘I knew he was under pressure but I didn’t think that . . .’’ and ‘‘I didn’t know he/she was depressed!’’ are among the most common reactions from disbelieving family and friends.

As a community, we try to comprehend what goes on in the mind of a seemingly untroubled human being who feels they can’t go on, and then feels it’s right to take their loved ones with them. Are their minds different to ours? How is such a thing possible? Continue Reading →

Share
5

Depression at Work

Depression at work is becoming an epidemic around the world.

IT’s interesting that while people who haven’t got jobs or have been recently laid off tend to despair, actually having a job doesn’t ensure happiness.

A global study reported in The Wall Street Journal claims that almost a quarter of the global workforce is depressed. Apparently, 92 per cent of people surveyed linked the state of their mental health to job performance and only 12 per cent claimed to be optimistic on the work front. The respondents came from a variety of industries, but mainly in the financial and professional areas.

Continue Reading →

Share
9

SAD in the cold

I have SAD Seasonal Affective Disorder. I get the blues in Winter. How many others feel this way?

It’s not an imagined phenomenon according to health reports. Lack of light and sunshine alters the brain chemistry. This has been a proven phenomenon in colder climate countries where it stays dark much of the day. Special lights have been designed to try to inspire the brain’s natural creation of seratonin. But those of us who are prone to clinical depression are more at risk of SAD and I can speak from personal experience when I say that the absence of daylight savings when it is suddenly dark by 5 o’clock makes me feel very despondent and like not going out anywhere.

Today is a glorious day in Sydney and I have been walking on the beach which  is a translucent green like in Tahiti or Cuba. And my mood is light and carefree. I know that the sky and light have done wonders for my mindset. So strange isn’t it? But fiunny enough my ex used to become unhinged in Summer. It was his hypothalamus which couldn’t cope with the heat. How many of you are affected by the weather?

Please Comment click little “comments” button above

Share
3

System overload

DURING the first few days of the Japanese disaster, I was disturbed at some of my own behaviour.

Like most of us, I watched unfolding events with horror and many tears. But then my focus changed. When it came time to make dinner, the focus of my obsession became the process of cooking. My emotions were frayed – however this time it was because there was no garlic. And I was angry that my daughter didn’t want pasta after I’d put the pasta on. Moments before, I’d been trembling in front of the TV watching apocalyptic scenes of devastation, and the possibility of a nuclear holocaust. Suddenly the only thing consuming me was garlic. Continue Reading →

Share
6