Depression & Alcohol Don’t Mix

By Marcus Clarke @psysci

7 Reasons Drinking Will Only Make Things Worse

Depression & Alcohol Don't MixThere have been songs written about it.  Relationships have begun, and ended, under it’s influence. We have some when we are happy, and when we are sad. There have even been, in the case of Dionysus, religious figures worshiped because of their connection with it. What is it? Yes, you’ve guessed it: alcohol.

Though we tend to associated alcohol with having a good time, and science backs this up, with research showing that alcohol stimulates dopamine neurons on the reward pathway, and opioid cells that release endorphins, there is a limit. After a certain amount of alcohol, it is speculated that it is about 0.05% blood alcohol level, this is no longer the case.

Your mood will drop, and things will go downhill. Though it is common for people who are depressed to use alcohol to make them feel better, and even to rely on it to get through the day, the negative effects will only be exacerbated in those with depression. Why is this? Below are seven reasons why drinking will only make your depression worse.

1. People who drink are more likely to harm themselves

According to the Royal College of Psychiatrists, self-harm and suicide are much more common in those with a drinking problem. This is further supported by the National Institute of Health, who claim “Alcohol abuse may lead to suicidality through disinhibition, impulsiveness and impaired judgment, but it may also be used as a means to ease the distress associated with committing an act of suicide.” So it may reduce inhibitions and allow someone to cope with the pain they go through as they contemplate suicide. These facts are both pretty compelling reasons for giving up drinking.

2. Could drinking be the cause of your depression?

According to the APA, Drinking problems also have a very negative impact on mental health. Alcohol abuse and alcoholism can worsen existing conditions such as depression or induce new problems such as serious memory loss, depression or anxiety.

Alcohol problems don’t just hurt the drinker. Spouses and children of heavy drinkers may face family violence; children may suffer physical and sexual abuse and neglect and develop psychological problems. Women who drink during pregnancy run a serious risk of damaging their fetuses. Relatives, friends and strangers can be injured or killed in alcohol-related accidents and assaults.

For example, Science Daily outlines a 30-year study of 400 men. Nearly 50% had a genetic predisposition towards alcoholism. Over a number of decades, almost half of the men with fathers who were alcoholics developed problems with alcohol, with one fifth suffering a bout of major depression.

3. Alcohol can exacerbate your symptoms

Though you may think a drink will make you feel better, and it may, transiently, it will actually make your symptoms worse in both the long and short term. Alcohol changes brain chemistry, which can make you more depressed. As well as this, hangovers increase feelings anxiety, worry and guilt. Also, alcohol consumption can affect your life in other ways: you may find yourself having arguments with family, quarreling about your drinking and you may make poor decisions under the influence. This will only make you feel more depressed.

4. Alcohol can increase Risky Behavior

In addition to exacerbating depression symptoms, alcohol increases impulsivity, decreases inhibitions and impairs judgment, so you’re essentially not thinking straight — or like yourself. You’re unable to make informed and rational decisions. This can put you in dangerous situations and lead you to do things that you later regret which only serves to deepen depression symptoms.

5. Alcohol affects your health in other ways, which will prevent you getting over your depression

As well as the effects on your mental health, alcohol can affect your physical health in many ways. The National Institute of Health lists a dizzying array of disorders, including cirrhosis, many cancers and heart problems that can be caused or made worse by drinking. Of course, if you are unhealthy, this will make you feel worse, and will make it harder for you to fight your depression. Also, there is a correlation between adequate nutrition, including getting the correct vitamins and minerals, and mood.

6. Alcohol can lead to other mental health problems in addition to your depression, such as anxiety and serious memory loss

According to the APA alcohol abuse and alcoholism can worsen existing conditions such as depression. Also, it can create new problems such as serious memory loss and anxiety. As you know, depression is hard enough to cope with, and you do not want to add another disorder to the things you have to cope with.

7. It’s a vicious circle

With depression and anxiety, it’s a chicken or egg situation. Even the scientific evidence is unclear on whether alcohol causes depression, or whether depression will cause you to drink more. In fact, the reality is almost certainly much more complex. However, one thing is clear: if you stop drinking, your symptoms will probably improve, and perhaps go away completely.

Given this, the evidence is sobering (ahem). There are many reasons why if you are depressed, you should give up the drink. Drinking will only worsen your mental health issues and, according to some studies, abstinence may actually eliminate your depression.

Marcus regularly blogs at psysci, a psychology, science blog that examines the latest research and explains how findings can impact and improve people’s lives.

Related Online Continuing Education (CE) Courses:

Depression is a 1-hour online continuing education (CE) course that provides an introduction to the diagnosis, assessment, and treatment of depressive illness. Everyone occasionally feels blue or sad. But these feelings are usually short-lived and pass within a couple of days. When you have depression, it interferes with daily life and causes pain for both you and those who care about you. Depression is a common but serious illness. Many people with a depressive illness never seek treatment. But the majority, even those with the most severe depression, can get better with treatment. Medications, psychotherapies, and other methods can effectively treat people with depression. Some types of depression tend to run in families. However, depression can occur in people without family histories of depression too. Scientists are studying certain genes that may make some people more prone to depression. Some genetics research indicates that risk for depression results from the influence of several genes acting together with environmental or other factors. In addition, trauma, loss of a loved one, a difficult relationship, or any stressful situation may trigger a depressive episode. Other depressive episodes may occur with or without an obvious trigger. This introductory course provides an overview to the various forms of depression, including signs and symptoms, co-existing conditions, causes, gender and age differences, and diagnosis and treatment options. Closeout course #10-72 | 2014 | 14 pages | 10 posttest questions

Clergy Stress and Depression is a 4-hour online continuing education (CE) course that provides clinicians with an understanding of the complex factors that cause stress and depression in clergy, along with recommendations for prevention and treatment. According to the Schaeffer Institute, the ministry is perhaps the single most stressful and frustrating working profession, more than medical, legal, or political careers. Most statistics say that 60% to 80% of those who enter the ministry will not still be in it 10 years later, and only a fraction will stay in it as a lifetime career. One study found that over 70% of pastors are so stressed and burned out that they regularly consider leaving the ministry. What are the elements that conspire to produce such dire statistics? In addition to the job stressors that will be discussed in this course, the essential rub may be found in the daunting challenges of trying to accommodate two entities – the human being and the minister – within a single skin. Clergy stress and its links to depression have been identified in numerous studies and dissertations. However, the authors believe little research has been done linking the internal, external, and spiritual factors that are involved in stress and depression in clergy. This course, which is an adaptation of a doctoral dissertation, proposes to examine the role of these three factors in clergy stress and depression from a Judeo-Christian foundation, which would include Jewish rabbis, Catholic priests, and Protestant pastors. It is likely that most mental health professionals will encounter clergy among the clients they treat in their practices. Course #40-32 | 2013 | 52 pages | 30 posttest questions

Nutrition and Addiction: Advanced Clinical Concepts is a 2-hour online continuing education (CE) course that examines addiction from a nutritional perspective. Drug addiction is an alarming problem in America, and one that is not receiving the treatment it needs. Compounding the problem is that addiction often leads to nutritional deficiencies, which predisposes the addict to a host of related health complications. Treatment recovery programs that also offer nutritional education have been found to significantly improve three-month sobriety success rates. The first section of this course will take a look at the etiology of addiction, related neurochemical factors and physiological components. The second section will focus on the nutrient deficiencies associated with addiction, along with the resultant effects on mood, cognition and behavior. The last section – the clinician’s toolbox – will give you, the clinician, targeted nutritional interventions and exercises that you can use with your clients to not just improve their recovery rates, but their overall mental health and wellbeing. Course #21-14 | 2017 | 30 pages | 15 posttest questions

Nutrition and Mental Health: Advanced Clinical Concepts is a 1-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that examines how what we eat influences how we feel, both physically and mentally. While the role of adequate nutrition in maintaining mental health has been established for some time, just how clinicians go about providing the right nutritional information to the patient at the right time – to not just ensure good mental health, but actually optimize mood – has not been so clear. With myriad diets, weight loss supplements and programs, clients often find themselves reaching for the next best nutritional solution, all the while, unsure how they will feel, or even what to eat to feel better. On the other side of the equation, clinicians so often face not just a client’s emotional, situational, and relational concerns, but concerns that are clearly mired in how the client feels physically, and what impact his/her nutritional health may have on these concerns. For example, research into the role of blood sugar levels has demonstrated a clear crossover with client impulse control. Additionally, the gut microbiome, and its role in serotonin production and regulation has consistently made clear that without good gut health, mitigating anxiety and depression becomes close to impossible. So if good mental health begins with good nutritional health, where should clinicians start? What advice should they give to a depressed client? An anxious client? A client with impulse control problems? This course will answer these questions and more. Comprised of three sections, the course will begin with an overview of macronutrient intake and mental health, examining recent popular movements such as intermittent fasting, carb cycling and ketogenic diets, and their impact on mental health. In section two, we will look specifically at the role of blood sugar on mental health, and research that implicates blood sugar as both an emotional and behavioral regulator. Gut health, and specifically the gut microbiome, and its influence on mood and behavior will then be explored. Lastly, specific diagnoses and the way they are impacted by specific vitamins and minerals will be considered. Section three will deliver specific tools, you, the clinician, can use with your clients to assess, improve and maximize nutrition to optimize mental health. Course #11-06 | 2017 | 21 pages | 10 posttest questions

Professional Development Resources is a nonprofit educational corporation 501(c)(3) organized in 1992. We are approved to sponsor continuing education by the American Psychological Association (APA); the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC); the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB); the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA); the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA); the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR); the Alabama State Board of Occupational Therapy; the Florida Boards of Social Work, Mental Health Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy, Psychology & School Psychology, Dietetics & Nutrition, Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, and Occupational Therapy Practice; the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker & MFT Board and Board of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology; the South Carolina Board of Professional Counselors & MFTs; the Texas Board of Examiners of Marriage & Family Therapists and State Board of Social Worker Examiners; and are CE Broker compliant (all courses are reported within one week of completion).

 

March Madness CE Sale!

March Madness Continuing Education Sale @pdresources.org

March Madness is here and we’re celebrating with 30 CE Courses Under $30! How do you pick?

March Madness CE Sale

The following courses are included in the sale, all priced at $29 (savings of $10-$40 per course):

  1. Clinical Supervision for Healthcare Professionals is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that will outline best practices in psychotherapy supervision and review the structure of the supervisory relationship.
  2. Autism: The New Spectrum of Diagnostics, Treatment & Nutrition is a 4-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that reviews diagnostic changes in autism as well as treatment options and nutrition interventions – both theoretical and applied.
  3. Active Listening: Techniques that Work for Children and Parents is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that offers a valuable compilation of practical and ready-to-use strategies and techniques for achieving more effective communication through active listening.
  4. Gender Identity and Transgenderism is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that reviews issues in the formation of gender identity and the possible resultant condition of transgenderism, formerly transsexuality.
  5. E-Therapy: Ethics & Best Practices is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that examines the advantages, risks, technical issues, legalities and ethics of providing therapy online.
  6. Improving Social Skills in Children & Adolescents is a 4-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that discusses the social skills children and adolescents need to develop to be successful in school and beyond.
  7. Really Bizarre Sexual Behaviors is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that reviews a variety of infrequent and atypical sexual practices.
  8. When Your Young Client is Defiant is a 3-hour online CEU course that teaches clinicians effective and practical strategies to manage challenging and defiant behavior in their young clients.
  9. Animal-Assisted Therapy and the Healing Power of Pets is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that discusses the challenges and rewards of human-animal interactions.
  10. Medical Marijuana is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that presents a summary of the current literature on the various medical, legal, educational, occupational, and ethical aspects of marijuana.
  11. Codependency: Causes, Consequences and Cures is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that offers strategies for therapists to use in working with codependent clients.
  12. Improving Cultural Competence in Substance Abuse Treatment is a 4-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that proposes strategies to engage clients of diverse racial and ethnic groups in treatment.
  13. Ethics & Risk Management: Expert Tips VII is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that addresses a variety of ethics and risk management topics in psychotherapy practice.
  14. Improving Communication with Your Young Clients is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that teaches clinicians effective and practical communication and conversational skills to use with young clients and their families.
  15. HIV/AIDS: Therapy and Adherence is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that discusses adherence issues in populations at high risk for HIV infection and provides strategies for healthcare professionals to encourage people with HIV to seek and maintain medical treatment.
  16. Visuals for Autism: Beyond the Basic Symbols is a 2-hour online video continuing education (CE/CEU) course that demonstrates when, how, and why to use visuals with students with autism.
  17. Helping Your Young Client Persevere in the Face of Learning Differences is a 3-hour online video CE course that provides new strategies and techniques for helping students develop a love of learning
  18. Unusual Psychosexual Syndromes, Part 1: Koro, Autoerotic Asphyxia, and Necrophilia is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE) course that presents three of the most unusual human sexual behavior disorders.
  19. Building Resilience in your Young Client is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that offers a wide variety of resilience interventions that can be used in therapy, school, and home settings.
  20. Beyond Calories & Exercise: Eliminating Self-Defeating Behaviors is a 5-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that “walks” readers through the process of replacing their self-defeating weight issues with healthy, positive, and productive life-style behaviors.
  21. Clergy Stress and Depression is a 4-hour online CEU course that provides clinicians with an understanding of the complex factors that cause stress and depression in clergy, along with recommendations for prevention and treatment.
  22. Prescription Drug Abuse is a 3-hour online CEU course that examines the effects of the rise in prescription drug abuse, as well as treatment options for abusers.
  23. Anti-Social Youth & Conduct Disorders is a 3-hour online CEU course that offers tailored tools that you need to manage and help anti-social and conduct disordered youth and children.
  24. School Refusal Behavior: Children Who Can’t or Won’t Go to School is a 4-hour online CEU course that breaks down the distinction between truancy and school refusal and examines a number of psychological disorders that may be causing – or comorbid with – school refusal.
  25. Emotional Overeating: Practical Management Techniques is a 4-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that disusses the causes of emotional eating and provides cognitive and behavioral exercises that can help to eliminate the addictive pattern.
  26. Couples No-Fault Counseling is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that teaches how to help couples to give up their BAD (blame, argue & defend) communication style and replace it with active listening.
  27. The Grieving Self is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that looks at stories of the bereaved to determine the major issues to address to reconnect those who grieve to a stable sense of self.
  28. Mindfulness: The Healing Power of Compassionate Presence is a 6-hour online continuing education (CE) course that will give you the mindfulness skills necessary to work directly, effectively and courageously, with your own and your client’s life struggles.
  29. Nutrition in Mental Health is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that discusses how good nutrition impacts a person’s mental health and well being.
  30. Anxiety: Practical Management Techniques is a 4-hour online continuing education (CE) course that offers a collection of ready-to-use anxiety management tools.


Sale prices are valid Tuesday, March 14, 2017 through Monday, April 3, 2017. Offers valid on future orders only.

Click here to view sale courses available per profession.

 

Probiotics To Treat Depression?

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What you eat can have a major impact on how you feel emotionally.

Probiotics to Treat DepressionA diet rich in probiotics — which support the growth of “healthy” bacteria in the gut — is known to boost digestive health and can even improve a person’s immune system. But now an increasingly robust body of evidence suggests that gut bacteria may exert a significant effect on brain function and mental health.

Probiotics are live bacteria and yeast that can be found in your body, as well as in supplements and foods fermented with live active cultures such as some yogurts, kombucha, sauerkraut, kimchi, and kefir. These “good” bacteria are known to promote digestive and immune health, and researchers are discovering that they may support mental health as well.

Once considered a fringe idea, a growing number of scientists have become interested in probiotics and prebiotics as potential treatments for anxiety, depression and other mental health problems. And in a small, new study at Leiden University, researchers found additional support for the idea: they report that among 40 healthy subjects, those who underwent four weeks of probiotic treatment showed a decrease in negative thoughts and feelings.

For the study, the researchers administered multistrain probiotics — meaning that they contained different types of bacteria — to 20 healthy participants every day for four weeks. The other 20 participants received a placebo. At the outset of the study and then again after the month had gone by, the participants filled out a questionnaire assessing sensitivity to depression.

Participants who took the probiotics were significantly less reactive to sad moods. Improving the balance of healthy bacteria in the gut seemed to have a protective effect against rumination, the type of obsessive negative thinking that often predicts depression.

The researchers don’t yet know how probiotics reduce sad mood, but it’s possible that they increase levels of plasma tryptophan, a key neurochemical involved in mood, which can be found in the gut.

“Unquestionably, further research needs to be carried out,” the study’s lead author, Dr. Lorenza Colzato of Leiden University, told The Huffington Post in an email. “But the hope is that probiotics supplementation may work as a potential and effective preventive strategy for depression.”

Boosting healthy bacteria in the gut may also be an effective way to treat anxiety. In a recent study, neuroscientists at Cambridge University found a short course ofprebiotics — non-digestible dietary fiber that act as food for good bacteria — to have an anti-anxiety effect, lessening study subjects’ emotional responses to negative stimuli.

“It is likely that these compounds will help to manage mental illness,” the study’s lead author, Oxford neurobiologist Dr. Philip Burnet, told The Huffington Post in January. “They may also be used when there are metabolic and/or nutritional complications in mental illness, which may be caused by long-term use of current drugs.”

Leiden University’s findings were published in the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/17/probiotics-depression_n_7064030.html?ncid=newsltushpmg00000003

Related Online Continuing Education (CE/CEU) Courses:

Depression is a 1-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that provides an overview to the various forms of depression, including signs and symptoms, co-existing conditions, causes, gender and age differences, and diagnosis and treatment options.

Depression: What You Must Know is a 2-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that provides in depth information about the diagnosis and treatment of depression in a simple, straightforward way.

Clergy Stress and Depression is a 4-hour online CEU course that provides clinicians with an understanding of the complex factors that cause stress and depression in clergy, along with recommendations for prevention and treatment.

Caregiver Help: Depression and Grief is a 2-hour online video-based continuing education (CE/CEU) course that addresses caregiver depression and grief and provides a three-step process that can help develop an attitude of creative indifference toward the people, situations and events that cause emotional stress.

Nutrition in Mental Health & Substance Abuse is a 3-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that discusses how good nutrition impacts a person’s mental health and well being.

Professional Development Resources is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Professional Development Resources maintains responsibility for all programs and content. Professional Development Resources is also approved by the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC); the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB); the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA); the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA); the Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR); the California Board of Behavioral Sciences; the Florida Boards of Social Work, Mental Health Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy, Psychology & School Psychology, Dietetics & Nutrition, Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, and Occupational Therapy Practice; the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker & MFT Board; the South Carolina Board of Professional Counselors & MFTs; and by theTexas Board of Examiners of Marriage & Family Therapists and State Board of Social Worker Examiners.

Robin Williams’ Death Reveals How Hard It Can Be To Climb Out Of Depression

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Robin Williams' Death Reveals How Hard It Can Be To Climb Out Of DepressionThe suicide death of beloved comedian and actor Robin Williams shocked many of his fans. But those who knew him were aware of his ongoing struggle with depression.

According to his publicist, Williams, 63, was completing a 12-step program for drug abuse and had been battling severe depression.

“You’re standing at a precipice and you look down, there’s a voice and it’s a little quiet voice that goes, ‘Jump,'” Williams told Diane Sawyer during an interview about his struggle with addiction in 2006. “The same voice that goes, ‘Just one.’ … And the idea of ‘just one’ for someone who has no tolerance for it, that’s not the possibility.”

More recently, Williams talked about the overwhelming fear and anxiety that led him to seek solace in alcohol.

“Having depression and being in a suicidal state twists reality. It doesn’t matter if someone has a wife or is well loved,” Julie Cerel, a psychologist and board chair of American Association of Suicidology, told USA Today. “They get so consumed by the depression and by the feelings of not being worthy that they forget all the wonderful things in their lives.”

Indeed, a major reason people with suicidal thoughts don’t seek help is the belief that nothing could possibly make things better, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Ariane Sherine, a writer for The Guardian, recently spoke with The Huffington Postabout her struggle.

“When I was suicidal and having suicidal ideations daily, hourly, I never imagined that I would be this happy and this stable again,” said Sherine.

“Please don’t give up,” she told HuffPost Live’s Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani. “Life can get better … It might involve a lot of trial and error, but it’s possible to feel normal again, or almost normal again.”

Though we can never know what took place in Williams’ personal life, the actor’s now-public struggles have many people thinking about the difficulties faced by those battling depression and addiction. That’s especially important in light of recent evidence that high-profile suicides may inspire young people to take their own lives.

BY THE NUMBERS

Each year, 34,000 people commit suicide, about twice as many deaths as caused by homicide — about one death per 15 minutes. By 2030, depression will outpace cancer, stroke, war and accidents as the world’s leading cause of disability and death, according to the the World Health Organization.

While the elderly have the highest rate of suicide, anyone can be suicidal. Men, in general, are more likely to complete suicide, even though women are more likely to attempt it. About half of all suicides occur in men ages 25 to 65. Risk factors include overwhelming situations, such as aging, substance abuse, emotional trauma, unemployment or financial problems, according to the NIH.

Fully 90 percent of those who take their own lives struggle with an underlying mental health issue. According to the latest estimate, 13 percent of people will experience depression at some point in their lives. And about 15 percent of those with clinical depression will die by suicide.

THE SUBSTANCE ABUSE FACTOR

Substance abuse in combination with a preexisting mental health condition, such as depression or bipolar disorder, can be deadly, according to the website of Suicide Awareness Voices of Education, a suicide prevention organization. Often, someone suffering from mental illness will seek alcohol or drugs to relieve symptoms, but this can lead to impaired judgment and impulsive behavior.

Williams discussed the interplay of substance abuse and suicidal thoughts during a 2010 interview on the comedy podcast WTF with Mark Maron [at 52:00]. Describing a dark period of drinking alone in his hotel room two years earlier and briefly considering suicide, Williams said his “conscious brain” told his drunk brain to “put the suicide over here in ‘discussable.’ Let’s leave it over here in the discussion area” until he was sober.

SIGNS OF TROUBLE

It can be difficult to determine when a depressed loved one has progressed to suicidal tendencies. The SAVE network recommends asking the following questions in a non-judgmental and non-confrontational manner:

Do you ever feel so badly that you think about suicide?
Do you have a plan to commit suicide or take your life?
Have you thought about when you would do it (today, tomorrow, next week)?
Have you thought about what method you would use?

Suicidal individuals may talk about feeling hopeless or guilty, pull away from loved ones and complete tasks that seem geared toward getting affairs in order, giving away possessions or otherwise arranging for family, according to the NIH.

OFFERING HELP

If you or anyone you know has threatened suicide or is displaying tendencies, it is important to seek immediate help.

For a loved one struggling with depression, there are ways to offer support. (Though it is essential to know that depression is not due to a failure of support on the family’s part.)

When talking to someone suffering depression, “it’s best not to say anything that is going to make them think that what they’re dealing with is because of a lack of coping skills, personal weakness or a character flaw,” Dr. Adam Kaplin, an associate professor in the departments of psychiatry and neurology at Johns Hopkins University, told The Huffington Post for a previous article. “The worst part of depression is that it narrows the field of vision into a very small tube so they can’t see the options. A lot of [the goal of helping] is giving people a hope that things will get better.”

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/11/robin-williams-depression_n_5670256.html

Related Online Continuing Education (CE/CEU) Courses:

Depression is a free 1-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that provides an overview to the various forms of depression, including signs and symptoms, co-existing conditions, causes, gender and age differences, and diagnosis and treatment options.

Depression: What You Must Know is a 2-hour online continuing education (CE/CEU) course that provides in depth information about the diagnosis and treatment of depression in a simple, straightforward way.

Clergy Stress and Depression is a 4-hour online CEU course that provides clinicians with an understanding of the complex factors that cause stress and depression in clergy, along with recommendations for prevention and treatment.

Professional Development Resources is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to sponsor continuing education for psychologists; by the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC) to offer home study continuing education for NCCs (#5590); the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB #1046, ACE Program); the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (#PCE1625); the Florida Boards of Clinical Social Work, Marriage & Family Therapy, and Mental Health Counseling (#BAP346) and Psychology & School Psychology (#50-1635); the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker & MFT Board (#RCST100501); the South Carolina Board of Professional Counselors & MFTs (#193); and the Texas Board of Examiners of Marriage & Family Therapists (#114) and State Board of Social Worker Examiners (#5678).

The Perfect Amount of Stress

By Thea Singer

Stress is a killer and a life force. How can you tell the good from the bad, and too little from too much?

The Perfect Amount of StressYour company’s revenues are shrinking. Your kids need braces—and hundreds of thousands of dollars for college just down the road. Your aging father has landed in the hospital again. And now that idiot driver on your left is swerving into your lane as he yaks on his cell phone. You might just snap.

Stress, when it’s chronic or repeated, does more than unnerve us; it can make us physically sick. It dampens the immune system and dries out the digestive tract, setting the stage for disorders from irritable bowel syndrome to ulcerative colitis. It impairs memory and in extreme cases fuels anxiety. It can even gnaw away at the ends of chromosomes, thereby accelerating cellular aging.

It may come as a surprise, then, to learn that this villain is also—paradoxically—a wellspring of life. Without stress, we’d be as good as dead. We wouldn’t have the gumption to slalom down Whistler’s mountains to Olympic gold, to play Juliet to our Romeo, to ask the boss for a raise, or even to get out of bed.

That’s because stress in appropriate amounts is the very stimulation that keeps us engaged with the world moment to moment.

When the brain perceives a stimulus, the sympathetic nervous system kicks into gear. It tells the adrenal glands to release the first stress hormone, epinephrine (aka adrenaline). Epinephrine dilates the bronchial tubes in the lungs to make space for more oxygen and charges the heart, enabling more blood to push through. It dilates the blood vessels leading away from the heart, too, so that oxygenated blood can flow freely to where it’s needed most: the brain and the muscles, which must be ready to flee or fight.

Next, the hormone norepinephrine spurts from the nerve endings of the sympathetic nervous system. Norepinephrine constricts the veins leading to the heart so returning blood can slam more powerfully into the chamber and exit with even more force. It constricts the arteries leading to the skin, too, to slow down bleeding in the event of an injury.

Finally, the third—and major—stress hormone, cortisol, joins the party, also emanating from the adrenal glands, to mobilize cells’ stored energy and to keep the rations coming for the duration of the stressor. In nonemergency situations, cortisol follows the body’s circadian rhythms: It’s highest in the early morning—time to wake up—and lowest at night.

“Our goal isn’t a life without stress,” Stanford University neurobiologist Robert M. Sapolsky says. “The idea is to have the right amount of stress.” That means stressors that are short-lived and manageable.

Read more: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201203/the-perfect-amount-stress

Related Online CEU Courses: