Sleep Disturbances And Emotional Issues
The cortisol influx caused by depression can cause your amygdala to enlarge, increasing its activity. Since it helps control your emotions, damage to your amygdala can throw your emotions off balance. You may experience uncontrollable mood fluctuations as a result, causing you to experience both negative and positive emotions very intensely.
An enlarged amygdala doesnt just impede your emotional health and your mood stability its increased activity can also cause other issues, like sleep issues and disturbances. Sleep deprivation, in turn, can worsen your overreactions to stimuli. Poor sleep also causes you to develop a more negative mood and mindset, which can cause your depression to worsen.
Since this creates a feedback loop, issues with your amygdala can be one of the most dangerous things about major depressive disorder.
Depression Medications And Treatment
Some new and investigational treatments for depression include drugs that block the neurotransmitter glutamate, which can be toxic in large doses, or that help regulate hormones involved in sleep or the stress response. Some drugsas well as brain and nerve stimulation therapies that appear to have benefits in depressionmay work by promoting or regulating connectivity within certain parts of the brain. It appears that certain neuronal networks can be either overactive or underactive in depression.
The more researchers study the brains of depressed people, the more theyre able to pinpoint specific brain abnormalities associated with each aspect of depression. Several research projects, for instance, have linked specific features of depression, including disrupted or unbalanced feelings of guilt, the tendency to ruminate about negative thoughts, anhedonia, and disruptions in memory, with very specific brain imbalances or abnormalities.
The eventual goal is that people with specific depression types, or even specific genes associated with depression risk, will be matched with the treatments that are most likely to be helpful for them as individuals.
Originally published in 2016, this post is regularly updated.
What Is Generalized Anxiety Disorder
With GAD, you may feel extreme and unrealistic worry and tension even if theres nothing to trigger these feelings. Most days, you may worry a lot about various topics, including health, work, school and relationships. You may feel that the worry continues from one thing to the next.
Physical symptoms of GAD can include restlessness, difficulty concentrating and sleeping problems.
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The Blood Sugar Roller Coaster
Foods with a high glycemic index like sugar, high fructose corn syrup, or wheat cause blood sugar levels to spike.
Your body responds by making insulin which causes your blood sugar to drop.
Lowered blood sugar then causes your adrenal glands to release the stress hormones cortisol, norepinephrine, and epinephrine.
This gets your liver to release stored sugar to bring your blood sugar level back to normal.
But these hormones, the same ones released when you are in fight-or-flight stress mode, also ramp up anxiety.
Evidence From Neuroimaging Studies
The published literature of brain imaging findings in depression has had substantial growth over the past 15 years. Imaging studies can be divided by the imaging modality used i.e. magnetic resonance imaging , positron emission tomography , and single photon emission computed tomography . The findings from these studies can broadly be divided into whether regional brain abnormalities were being studied and found or whether brain circuits or connectivity between brain regions was studied.
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What Are The Long Term Effects Of Anxiety
Stress and anxiety can affect the body and mind for a long time. According to Harvard Health, anxiety is related to chronic illnesses like GI issues and heart disease. Sleep issues, headaches, and migraines are some of the worsening symptoms that were included in the Mayo Clinic.
The Role Sugar Plays In Depression And Anxiety
Last updated September 26, 2021.Edited and medically reviewed by Patrick Alban, DC. Written by Deane Alban.
A diet high in sugar contributes significantly to depression, anxiety, and stress. Learn how sugar affects the brain and what you can do about it.
We are born hardwired to like things that taste sweet.
A preference for sweetness is a survival mechanism that humans developed to protect us from eating toxic foods.
But if youre feeling anxious, depressed, or stressed out, this inborn preference works against you.
You may crave sweets and find that eating them makes you feel better. Temporarily.
But sugary and carb-rich foods are definitely harmful in the long run.
Theres a complicated relationship between sugar, the brain, and mental health.
Lets look at how sugar and other sweeteners affect your brain and fuel both depression and anxiety.
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Other Links Between Anxiety And The Brain
Another interesting relationship between anxiety and the brain is that long term anxiety may damage the brain in a way that could cause further anxiety. Researchers have found that when you leave your anxiety disorder untreated, the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate, hippocampus, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and orbitofrontal cortex all appear to decrease in size. The longer the anxiety goes untreated, the smaller and weaker they appear to be.
What’s interesting is that not only do these changes affect anxiety symptoms they also create anxious thoughts. Those with anxiety may feel their thoughts are completely natural, when in reality the brain contributes to that type of negative thinking.
How To Find Help
- Many mental health professionals are qualified to treat depression. Psychiatrists have specialized training in medication management and counseling for depression, and psychologists are trained to provide counseling for depression. Some social workers and licensed professional counselors are also trained to provide counseling for depression.
- Physicianssuch as primary care physicians, neurologists and physiatristsand nurse practitioners with experience in treating depression can often get treatment started.
- When available, it is best to get treatment from a comprehensive brain injury rehabilitation program that can address all aspects of TBI recovery.
- For more general information about depression, contact the National Institute of Mental Health at 1-866-615-6464 or visit their website at .
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What Is Brain Fog
Brain fog is not a medical condition but is instead a group of symptoms that are involved with cognitive decline. Brain fog is characterized by the inability to concentrate, difficulty with memory, and difficulty completing tasks. Depending on the severity of this group of symptoms, cognitive decline can begin to interfere with work, school, or daily functioning.
Brain fog is believed to be caused by high levels of inflammation and changes to hormones that determine mood, energy, and focus. The imbalance of hormone levels can negatively impact not only the brain but the whole body. Brain fog can lead to other conditions like obesity, abnormal menstruation, and diabetes.
A Long Road To Understanding Depression
For years and years, doctors and researchers assumed that depression stemmed from an abnormality within these neurotransmitters, particularly serotonin or norepinephrine. But over time, these two neurotransmitters did not seem to account for the symptoms associated with major depression. As a result, doctors began to look elsewhere.
The search proved fruitful. There are chemical messengers, which include glutamate and GABA, between the nerve cells in the higher centers of the brain involved in regulating mood and emotion, says John Krystal, MD, chair of Yales Department of Psychiatry, noting that these may be alternative causes for the symptoms of depression.
These two are the brains most common neurotransmitters. They regulate how the brain changes and develops over a lifetime. When a person experiences chronic stress and anxiety, some of these connections between nerve cells break apart. As a result, communication between the affected cells becomes noisy, according to Dr. Krystal. And its this noise, along with the overall loss of connections, that many believe contribute to the biology of depression.
There are clear differences between a healthy brain and a depressed brain, Dr. Katz says. And the exciting thing is, when you treat that depression effectively, the brain goes back to looking like a healthy brain.
In this video, Drs. Katz and Krystal explain how depression affects the brain.
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University College London Research Says Depression Is Not A Serotonin Imbalance And Drugs That Target It May Not Be The Answer
In this July 10, 2018, file photo, bottles of medications ride on a belt at a mail-in pharmacy warehouse in Florence, N.J. While many people take antidepressants, a new study raises doubt that chemical imbalance in the brain is responsible for depression.
Millions of Americans take antidepressants, but a new study suggests the theory underpinning their use may be entirely wrong. Research from the University College London raises doubt that chemical imbalance in the brain is responsible for depression.
A major review of previous studies on serotonins role in depression, just published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, concluded that serotonin level the target of antidepressants is not responsible for depression.
The researchers found no support for the hypothesis that depression is caused by lowered serotonin activity or concentrations.
They found stronger evidence that stressful life events can lead to depression.
The question is, do antidepressants help, and if so, how? If not, could they be doing harm?
Experts are divided and the study has drawn some pushback.
Most antidepressants are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, which were originally said to work by correcting abnormally low serotonin levels. There is no other accepted pharmacological mechanism by which antidepressants affect the symptoms of depression, the researchers said in a news release.
Permanent Changes Take Consistency Persistence And Repetition
It does work, but it takes persistence, practice, and repetition. The brains neural pathways must change so that your beliefs, thoughts, and perceptions become more rational. This can only occur if you change your neural pathways by practicing repetitiously the new methods and concepts learned in cognitive therapy.
Cognitive therapy is nothing more than learning the appropriate methods, strategies, and concepts to help your brain develop new neural pathways that are more rational than the old anxiety-ridden pathways.
This is more fully explained in the audio therapy series, Overcoming Social Anxiety: Step By Step and the cognitive therapy provided throughout this series directly relates to overcoming social anxiety altogether.
This, as you can see, takes practice, persistence, and repetition. But, it works. It has to work because, as you continue, your mind really does change. You are developing new neural pathways and associations as you learn appropriate cognitive strategies.
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How Untreated Depression & Anxiety Affect The Brain
Without treatment, depression and anxiety disorders can cause measurable changes in key areas of your brain. Experts arent entirely sure all the ways in which these conditions can affect the brain, but heres what they know so far.
Anxiety & Depression Can Shrink Areas of the Brain That Regulate Cognitive Function
Brain imaging tests, such as MRIs, show that people living with depression and anxiety disorders have abnormalities in areas of the brain responsible for cognitive functions like problem-solving, memory, and planning and executing activities. But thats not all. Untreated anxiety and depression can actually shrink regions of the brain, including:
- Hippocampus, the region of the brain primarily responsible for long-term memory. The hippocampus also plays an important role in regulating our emotional responses. Constant, severe mood-altering symptoms cause this part of the brain to shrink. Doctors call this shrinkage atrophy, and its associated with Alzheimers disease and dementia. A 2014 study revealed that damage to the hippocampus can also hinder social behavior by preventing you from accurately interpreting and responding to information. Hippocampus atrophy can even affect your ability to use language effectively.
- Prefrontal cortex, which helps regulate your short-term memory and how well you plan and prepare for activities. A shrunken prefrontal cortex can cause short-term memory loss, difficulty planning and executing events, and increased irritability.
How Is Depression Syndrome Treated
Depression can be serious, but its also treatable. Treatment for depression includes:
- Self-help: Regular exercise, getting enough sleep, and spending time with people you care about can improve depression symptoms.
- Counseling: Counseling or psychotherapy is talking with a mental health professional. Your counselor helps you address your problems and develop coping skills. Sometimes brief therapy is all you need. Other people continue therapy longer.
- Alternative medicine: People with mild depression or ongoing symptoms can improve their well-being with complementary therapy. Therapy may include massage, acupuncture, hypnosis and biofeedback.
- Medication: Prescription medicine called antidepressants can help change brain chemistry that causes depression. Antidepressants can take a few weeks to have an effect. Some antidepressants have side effects, which often improve with time. If they dont, talk to your provider. A different medications may work better for you.
- Brain stimulation therapy: Brain stimulation therapy can help people who have severe depression or depression with psychosis. Types of brain stimulation therapy include electroconvulsive therapy , transcranial magnetic stimulation and vagus nerve stimulation .
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Does Anxiety & Depression Cause Brain Fog
Anxiety and depression are among the most common mental health disorders experienced in the US. In fact, over 40 million adults in the US have an anxiety disorder, and 17.3 million struggle with major depressive disorder . Anxiety and depression can impact physical health and have long-lasting effects on the individual and their loved ones.
Brain fog can occur as a result of these mental health conditions or stress. Brain fog from time to time is a normal experience. However, brain fog can become a recurrent problem that interferes with daily functioning when it is caused by depression or anxiety.
Residential Treatment Provides A Space To Heal
One of the most important reasons to choose residential care for depression treatment is that it gives you the space, the time, and the opportunity to truly focus on healing. There are no distractions of home, work, and other responsibilities, only a safe place to get better. The damage that depression has done to your brain and body can be slowed, stopped, and even reversed with good care.
The most effective treatment for depression is a combination of therapy and medications, both of which take time to work. This is another reason that residential treatment is a smart choice for depression care. It gives you time to develop a rapport with a therapist and to make positive changes. It also gives you a chance to try one or more antidepressants to find the medication that will adjust your brain chemicals in just the right way for maximum impact with fewest side effects.
Getting relief from depression through treatment will immediately begin to help your brain, reversing the shrinking of certain areas, the inflammation, and the overflow of cortisol. This in turn will help you feel better overall, and you will begin to get relief for the physical symptoms.
Bridges to Recovery offers comprehensive treatment for people struggling with mental health disorders as well as co-occurring substance use disorders. Contact us to learn more about our renowned Los Angeles-based program and how we can help you or your loved one start on the path to lasting wellness.
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Analysis: Depression Is Probably Not Caused By A Chemical Imbalance In The Brain New Study
20 July 2022
Writing in The Conversation, Professor Joanna Moncrieff and Dr Mark Horowitz report on their new research showing no clear evidence that serotonin levels or serotonin activity are responsible for depression.
For three decades, people have been deluged with information suggesting that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain namely an imbalance of a brain chemical called serotonin. However, our latest research review shows that the evidence does not support it.
Although first proposed in the 1960s, the serotonin theory of depression started to be widely promoted by the pharmaceutical industry in the 1990s in association with its efforts to market a new range of antidepressants, known as selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs. The idea was also endorsed by official institutions such as the American Psychiatric Association, which still tells the public that differences in certain chemicals in the brain may contribute to symptoms of depression.
Countless doctors have repeated the message all over the world, in their private surgeries and in the media. People accepted what they were told. And many started taking antidepressants because they believed they had something wrong with their brain that required an antidepressant to put right. In the period of this marketing push, antidepressant use climbed dramatically, and they are now prescribed to one in six of the adult population in England, for example.
What Can I Do If I Have Depression
If you have symptoms of depression, see your healthcare provider. They can give you an accurate diagnosis, refer you to a specialist or suggest treatment options.
If you or someone you know is thinking of hurting themselves or taking their own life:
- Go to the emergency department of your hospital.
- Contact a healthcare provider.
- Speak to a trusted friend, family member or spiritual leader.
A note from Cleveland Clinic
Depression is a common condition that affects millions of Americans every year. Anyone can experience depression even if there doesnt seem to be a reason for it. Causes of depression include difficulties in life, brain chemistry abnormalities, some medications and physical conditions. The good news is that depression is treatable. If you have symptoms of depression, talk to your healthcare provider. The sooner you get help, the sooner you can feel better
Last reviewed by a Cleveland Clinic medical professional on 12/31/2020.
References
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