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A new research study has found a link between parental depression and asthma in children, showing that when a parent receives treatment for depression there is a good possibility that the child’s asthma will improve. Studies have shown that kids with asthma are more likely to experience depression, and when a caregiver or parent for a child with asthma is depressed then the child will typically experience worsening symptoms. The latest study on this topic had led researchers from the University of Texas, Dallas, and the University of Buffalo to recruit 200 individual families so that further research and studies can be performed. The studies will take place at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and the Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo.
The new research on children with asthma and depression in a parent or caregiver will screen the caregivers of children diagnosed with asthma to identify caregiver or parental depression. According to psychiatry and pediatrics professors Beatrice Wood, Ph.D. and Bruce Miller, M.D., “We are hypothesizing that an improvement in the caregiver’s depression will lead to a subsequent improvement in the child’s asthma. We have continuously found associations between emotional stress and worsening asthma, and that family relational stress plays a key role. We have specifically shown that a negative family emotional climate predicts worse asthma disease activity.”
Wood and Miller continued to explain the link with worsening asthma symptoms in children and parental depression, saying “When the parents’ depression got better, the children’s asthma got better. If a caregiver is depressed he or she may be less able to carry out the care of a child, especially a fragile child who is vulnerable with illness, They may not be able to manage the child’s medications or get the child to the doctor when necessary. At the same time our previous studies have shown that depression in the parent cascades into negative parent-child relationships, child depression, and worse asthma.”
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A new study from the University of California Davis Health System that involved imaging showed that intense exercise could help fight depression and promote overall better mental health. What researchers found was that two of the critical neurotransmitters that are associated with depression, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate, are boosted by intense exercise and that this can help fight depression. These neurotransmitters are important for good mental health and individuals with depression are usually deficient in these compounds in the brain. The study has been published in the scientific publication The Journal of Neuroscience. Researchers believe that intense exercise could be an important component of treatment for those who suffer from depression or other psychiatric disorders that have been associated with neurotransmitter deficiencies in the brain.
The study in intense exercise and depression showed that a deficiency in neurotransmitters which drive communications between different brain cells will have an impact on mental, physical, and emotional health. According to Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California Davis Health System professor and lead study author Dr. Richard Maddock “Major depressive disorder is often characterized by depleted glutamate and GABA, which return to normal when mental health is restored. Our study shows that exercise activates the metabolic pathway that replenishes these neurotransmitters.” Maddock went on to say “From a metabolic standpoint, vigorous exercise is the most demanding activity the brain encounters, much more intense than calculus or chess, but nobody knows what happens with all that energy. Apparently, one of the things it’s doing is making more neurotransmitters.”
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If you know someone who is suffering from depression or similar mental disorders there are some things that you should always avoid saying. These phrases and responses can be very harmful and cause your loved one to suffer even more pain and other negative emotions.
1. All you need is ……. This response can be especially harmful and damaging because you are minimizing the experience that the person is having. Someone who is depressed does not want to be that way, but they can not change their emotions and thoughts. Refusing to acknowledge the seriousness of the situation can make things worse instead of better.
2. Think about people who have it worse than you do. This is a response that basically says the person with mental disorders like depression chooses to feel and think the way that they do. If this condition was voluntary no one would ever be depressed. Wealth, material things, and even love from friends and family alone can not make depression go away.
3. I know what you are feeling because one time I was depressed too. Just because you felt sad when a favorite pet died or you had a rough patch when things didn’t go your way this is not the same as being clinically depressed. Comparing a brief period of sadness to profound depression is like comparing apples and cars, it is not possible because they are two completely different things.
Someone who is depressed needs professional help, not tough talk or fake sympathy. If you can not say something supportive it may be better to say nothing at all.
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Depression is an equal opportunity mental disorder, and it affects both sexes, all ages, and all income levels without discrimination. Some of the most supportive things to say if someone that you know and care about suffers from this condition include:
1. Nothing. If your friend or loved one is having a tough time and is depressed sometimes the best thing to say and the most supportive solution is to say nothing at all and just listen instead. We all need a sympathetic ear and a sounding board once in a while, and just being there and listening can be incredibly helpful for someone who is depressed.
2. I am always available if you need me. This statement lets the individual know that you care and that you want to help, but make sure to follow up and check in on the individual often to see if you are needed.
3. Lets go somewhere and do something together. Someone who is depressed may start to withdraw socially, isolating themselves. In addition the person who is depressed may end up in a negative cycle, obsessing over the past or certain events. Offer to do something together that you both enjoy. Go to a movie, play a game, or even just go for a walk through your local park.
4. I don’t know what depression is like but I know it is hard for you. These simple words can have an enormous impact, and they can be one of the most supportive things to say. You are acknowledging the pain, loneliness, and withdrawal that the person feels without trying to pretend that you understand these feelings and emotions.
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Science is discovering that the bacteria normally found in your digestive system can help treat depression, in a field of study called psychobiotics which is relatively new. You have roughly 100 trillion different bacteria and other microbes in your body, and these microbes carry out a number of vital functions. Many believe that the microbes in the body also have a link to mental health. It is possible that these bacteria and other microbes may be able to treat more than just digestive system disorders, and the could hold the key to an effective treatment for chronic depression. University College Cork in Ireland microbiome specialist and neuropharmacologist Dr. John F. Cryan , PhD, is one of the leading researchers in the link between your digestive system and your mental health.
Studies have been performed on mice in the lab which show that a disruption in the usual microbes in the body can lead to both mental and physical problems. Some of these studies have shown that mice which are bred in conditions with no beneficial bacteria at all have social awkwardness, and when the natural biome in the mice is disrupted the mice will display signs of depression, anxiety, and even autism. Dr. Cryan has worked very closely with a range of specialists during his research on the link between mental health and beneficial bacteria and other microbes, including psychiatrists, gastroenterologists, and microbiologists. Another study on mental health and bacteria in the digestive system was performed by Dr. Mazmanian in 2013. This study showed that mice with certain symptoms of autism had a lot fewer of the bacteria Bacteroides fragilis in their gut than the normal mice.
