A group of investigators at the Medical Research Council, London, England, led by Shreya Dave, Ph.D., studied the incidence of parental depression in 86,957 families in the U.K. The data was taken from primary care clinic medical and pharmacy records during the period 1993-2007. Between their child’s birth and their child turning age 12 more than one-third of all mothers and about one-fifth of all fathers became depressed, with the highest rates of depression for mothers and fathers occurring within the first year of their child’s birth.
During their child’s first 12 years of life 19,286 mothers had a total of 25,176 episodes of depression and 8,012 fathers had a total of 9,683 episodes of depression. The overall rate of depression was 7.53 per 100 mothers and 2.69 per 100 fathers per year. In the first year after the child’s birth the depression rate was 13.93 per 100 mothers and 3.56 per 100 fathers.
Dr. Dave said the most likely factors for these high rates of post-partum depression shared by all parents are poor parental sleep, extra demands on parents and the negative effects of stress on spousal intimacy. Some specific factors that would apply to some but not all parents include being young parents, having an unplanned pregnancy, being low wage earners unable to afford child care, having a limited social support network, and the temporary discontinuation of mothers taking anti-depressants while pregnant and breastfeeding. Dr. Dave’s study was published in the September 6, 2010, online version of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
Lawyers should be aware of theses findings, because they may tend to attribute all feelings of depression to their work even when those feelings are coming from raising a new child. Let’s face it, raising a new child is stressful for anyone but especially so when you have to be up early for court, completely prepared for argument, well groomed, bright-eyed and alert – instead of exhausted, bleary eyed and covered in baby vomit.
Despite our high earning potential, lawyers are living in weird economic times – a stagnant recession – when jobs are scarce for new lawyers and layoffs are plentiful for older lawyers. The financial stress of unemployment or underemployment for a lawyer can add fuel to depression associated with raising a child.
Once you realize and acknowledge that raising your child is contributing to an episode of depression for you and/or your spouse, then you are in a position to deal with it by seeing a psychologist, getting counseling, going on temporary medication and learning how to develop a stronger social support network.
It’s also a time to open your perspective to include you, your spouse and your child. Maternal or paternal depression during a child’s first years can cause permanent emotional damage to a child and raise his or her lifetime risk for depression and other psychiatric problems. Yes your career is important and yes it’s important to earn money, but your child is very important too. If you’re stuck at home due to a lousy job market, rather than spend all your time brooding and being resentful of your parental responsibilities which limit your time for job hunting, relax into parenting, enjoy it and create a beautiful bond with your child. This can ease your depression by creating meaning and pleasure during a layoff which would otherwise by somewhat tense and joyless. Yes children are burdensome (in some respects), but they are also a gift, the greatest gift I know.
SAMe stands for S-adenosyl methionine. It is a naturally occurring molecule first discovered in Italy in 1952 by G.L. Cantoni. Most of it is produced and consumed in the human liver. It is involved in over 40 metabolic reactions including biosynthesis of certain nucleic acids and proteins. A company called Pharmavite makes and sells SAMe as a dietary (non-drug) supplement for depression help.
In AA they have a saying which goes, “When you point a finger at someone else you’re pointing three back at yourself.” The saying is meant to expose hypocrisy (faulting another for what you’re guilty of); and also to help AA members have more tolerance for and acceptance of others. Dustin Wood, Ph.D., assistant professor psychology at Wake Forest University, has just published a valuable study on the mental health aspects of what we say about other people in the July 2010 issue the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Human beings have a 24 hour biological rhythm cued by changes in daylight called a circadian rhythm. The mammalian clock that regulates our sleep-wake cycle lies in the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus. Temporary disruption of circadian rhythm by international flights causes a combination of insomnia and fatigue known as jet lag.
Do you consider yourself an optimist or pessimist? An optimist is someone who is hopeful and confident that things will turn out well. He has a sense of personal power and expects to obtain a favorable outcome from his efforts. An optimist does not view failure as sign that he is defective or that the universe is against him. When he meets with defeat he regards it as a temporary setback and he looks for new strategies to succeed.
Integrative body mind training (IBMT) is a specific mind relaxation technique which incorporates aspects of traditional meditation practice, but can be learned in a matter of days rather than years. It helps users achieve a high degree of mind-body awareness within a state of restful alertness. A coach guides trainees in posture and balanced breathing while providing mental imagery and soothing music conducive to mind-body harmony in the Taoist tradition. Trainees are helped to keep their minds focused on the present moment instead of allowing their minds to switch rapidly back and forth between past and future.
Being depressed is hard enough. You feel sad, inadequate and worthless. You feel as if nothing you’ve ever done, can do or will do matters. You don’t feel like getting up, eating, getting dressed, going outside, working or playing. You just want to stay in bed and sleep. You’re listless, apathetic and de-energized. But, to make matters worse, people who are severely depressed tend to feel a great deal of guilt. I know this only too well. I know it because I’ve been severely depressed and felt this guilt, and I know it because I have sat in groups of depressed adults who speak of feeling this guilt with shame and pain written all over their faces.
While I was recovering from my own severe depression my beloved Bull Mastiff Rosie died. Poor Rosie had been my stalwart companion for nine years. For her first eight years she was a big, playful and bouncy dog covered from black nose to brown wagging tail with powerful muscles. In her ninth year she developed epilepsy which wracked her body in frequent, violent seizures. I had to put her on Dilantin. She lost a lot of weight and looked emaciated (the way I did when I came out of the hospital). Rosie slurped water from the toilets as if her life depended on it, but the poor dog could barely pee. As time passed her eyes looked vacant and she became listless.
Many Americans suffering from anxiety or depression are never diagnosed because they don’t understand what’s wrong and their family doctor doesn’t pick it up. To remedy this problem a group of psychiatrists came up with a one page 27 item questionnaire called the My Mood Monitor. They designed the M-3 screener for family physicians to use as a quick but accurate test for anxiety disorders, depression, bipolar disorder and PTSD. Bradley Gaynes, M.D., M.P.H., an Associate Professor Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill did a study to confirm the validity of the M-3. The results of his study were published in the March/April 2010 issue of Annals of Family Medicine.
The rate of depression in American society today is approximately 10 times what it was during World War II. There are many different explanations for this, but it is generally agreed that the rise in depression reflects changes in life style. One change in life style which has contributed to this increase in the rate of depression is what we eat. Changes in our eating patterns have caused soaring rates of obesity, heart disease, stroke and depression. During WWII people were much more likely to engage in daily consumption of whole foods (fruits, vegetables and whole grains) than they are today. We are now living in a time when 70% of the food supply is made of processed and refined foods stripped of all virtually nutrients.