The effects of parental mental illness on children

There is not enough research in this field but enough clinical evidence that parents who are unwell, effect their children. Common sense would also confirm the truth of this statement.
The effect varies with the type, length and severity of the illness.The effect varies with the child's age, developmental stage, intellectual capacity, resilience and other supports available.
The effects range from psychological, physical, developmental, social and educational impacts

Anxiety disorder is common, 30% of the general population and anxious parents usually have anxious children. The children do not feed or sleep well in early infancy, suffer reflux and separation anxiety later in childhood. The children suffer nightmares, anxieties of their own or shared with their parents. these children often are anxious about their parents as much as their parents are anxious about them. Adolescence can be difficult as separation anxiety, social anxiety, performance anxiety can affect the normal separation from parents and finding a sense of identity and place in society.
Depression is very distressing for infants who can only communicate by feeling the emotions of their parents and expressing their own emotions. Without external support and opportunity to have fun and play with other people or siblings, they often become depressed too. They often worry about their parents, and feel a sense of responsibility for the state of play or guilt that they may have caused the problem.
Substance abuse disorder has major problems for children as it is usually chronic, severe and affects all levels of family function from maintaining family denial, avoiding social groups, not able to take friends home, suffering neglect, lack of money, domestic fighting and violence, secondary effects of physical, mental complications in the parent and loss of employment and housing Frequent changes in accommodation and schools are common and this affects social, emotional and educational development. 50 % of children of alcoholics will abuse alcohol as well.
Psychotic disorders have been found to have a smaller effect on children so long as they are not neglected or abused.
Clearly the effects of prolonged illness, hospital admissions, side effects to medications and effects on capacity to work and provide family time have a greater impact on children than mild or short term illness. Suicide or attempts are particularly malignant for everyone in society but more so for children show have a sense of responsibility, guilt, abandonment and are more likely to copy a parent or try to be with them. Supporting a grieving parent can be very difficult for children. Some will try to take over the parent role and others will disengage.
Work in the field is mostly looking at how to build resilience and support systems for at risk children. 

Post traumatic stress

It seems like a long time since I penned a letter on my blog.
The current storm season, hail, winds, rain, electricity outages, damage to houses and cars as well as fires are hitting our news recently. It is that time of the year in Australia, a land of droughts and flooding rains.
My thoughts turn to those 20 % of people who when traumatic events happen will develop symptoms of acute stress reactions and post traumatic stress disorder. We used to think, hope, that this could be prevented with emergency therapy, critical stress debriefing, but research evidence seemed to prove otherwise. We certainly know that family and friend support, communities pulling together and sharing their grief and sorrows as well as their triumphs and joy is the best way to cope with the issues life throws at us. It is at these times that she discover our neighbours and community supports.
Early detection of stress disorder is now thought to be the best approach. If you have nightmares, can't sleep, have recurring memories of bad events, this can be the warning signs of post traumatic stress disorder.  Erratic moods with tears, sadness, irritability and frustration are also common signs of difficulty. Anxiety, agitation, worrying, are common. Withdrawing from people and activities you normally enjoy are also warning signs.
If these things happen, see your local doctor. Ask for referral to see a psychiatrist. Your doctor may also send you to a psychologist. There are also medications that can help. Getting sleep back in order is essential as lack of sleep can make the whole problem much worse.  Look after each other too. If a friend or family member is suffering suggest that help is available.
Knowledge of the problems is like a preparation plan for disasters. Not only do we need to have a fire, flood, evacuation plan with stores of batteries, a radio, food and fresh water available but a mental health plan as well. 

Gender Identity Dysphoria

GID has made some news recently in the highly publicised account of Bradely/Chelsea Manning
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/convicted-wikileaks-soldier-prison-20109354
Such distress about identity, especially the sensitive field of sexuality and gender is acute and pervasive.
It was interesting to note that inter-sex disorder, children born with ambiguous genitals were a rare case of gender identity dysphoria. These issues are more easily dealt with with chromosomal analysis.
Many people feel they are in the wrong body  from early childhood but most delay seeking help until early adulthood. It can then be a complex issue to deal with reassignment from a psychological point of view. Depression, anxiety are often part of the process. Relationships and family ties, work place issues and friends all have to be coped with.
Help is available however by going to see your local doctor.

PMS

One of the most interesting things about pre-menstrual syndrome is that it is a depression (Mood disorder). The best results available are with antidepressant medications. I realise that it is hormonal and therefore logically should respond to hormone treatment. Unfortunately many women are sensitive to the oral contraceptive, implant or patches and their mood disorder becomes worse.
PMS can be very severe, not just for the sufferer but their family and friends as well. There is ample evidence that it affects cognitive functioning and the likelihood of breaking the law or precipitating significant social effects is high.
There is little data as to whether it increases the chances of a major depressive disorder. There is anecdotal evidence that it settles somewhat after having a child. but I do not see pregnancy as a 'cure'. It has been noted in Bipolar Disorder as well as unipolar depression. Anxiety symptoms have not been recorded as related to menstrual cycle although this seems unusual.
Antidepressants are the best treatment. Pulse therapy, an increased dose two weeks before a period and reduced dose on the first day of menses, has the best outcomes if mood still varies with the monthly cycle.
It is all related to the hypothalamic/pituitary/immune axis of brain function.
So there is help available. You don;t have to suffer in silence.

Controlled drinking

Recent reports have promoted controlled drinking as a more appealing prospect than total abstinence.
Alcoholism is a terrible disorder that not only robs the sufferer but their family as well. Families often leave as they cannot cope. Patients often lose their health and job. They get depression, anxiety and brain disease from alcohol abuse. The current government guidelines is for controlled drinking, that is one standard drink per 24 hours. Any more than that is an alcohol related problem drinking.
One of the major problems facing a person who is addicted to alcohol is total abstinence. it seems harsh and the pull of the alcohol makes it seem doomed to failure. Most people addicted to alcohol can tell you however that one drink is all it takes to fall into old habits again. One drink and the alcohol starts overtaking sensible thinking about the effects of too much alcohol. One drink, controlled drinking, rarely works for this reason and is actually harder to do than total abstinence.
Controlled drinking seems easier. You can continue to drink with your friends and go to all the same places. Total abstinence usually means  new places to go out to and new friends who don't drink.  It is however a continual pull towards drinking if you still go to the same places and drink with the same people where alcohol is freely available.
It is also easier to continue fooling yourself about how much you have been drinking if you do not change your environment. There will always be someone who will say, come on one more cant harm or you have been so good, you deserve a drink for that.
Therefore I suggest total abstinence is a safer and easier way to attempt to control alcohol abuse than controlled drinking. Ultimately you have to choose for yourself which way you want to take control Either way is better than not choosing at all.

Pharmacy costs

Firstly I would like to thank all my readers. Please take the time to comment or add to the discussion.
Australia is the only country in the world with its PBS, Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. The government buys bulk order medicines directly from the companies and then on sells then to the public at controlled prices. Mostly that means a reduced price by the government and reduced due to the benefits of bargaining for bulk orders. In other countries when you enter the pharmacy the pharmacist is a middle man between you and the pharmaceutical company. Most pharmaceutical companies are multinationals and drive profit margins high for their investors. They also have high research and development costs and huge insurance costs. As most of them have offices in the United states of America they have large litigation bills to cover. All these things drives up the cost of medicines. Protection from the government, especially with pensioner and health care plans  means that people can afford medicines.
Once the pharmaceutical company loses its rights over a medicine it has developed, about five years, anyone can copy the drug. hence the pharmaceutical company needs to drive up the costs in the first five years as it loses most of its market share after this. It is good for society as it forces the pharmaceutical companies to continually research and find new drugs and treatments. It is not so good that the whole research industry is driven by profit making companies. This skews research towards profitable. There is little money left for independent research.
This is different in the Translational centre in Brisbane, led by Professor Ian Frazer, where research is the key focus but to make it profitable and keep it in Australia, the research feeds directly to the manufacture part of the complex. This ethical approach is not the normal for most pharmaceuticals.
Of course the government want to pay less for the medicines and so pass the savings onto the consumers and the general public. Its approach is that cheaper manufacturers who essentially steal the research and development from the pharmaceutical companies can make the drugs at cheaper price. It would seem logical that the generic and the original are the same. They are not always in fact but very little research is available to test the hypothesis as no-one would pay for this research.
The government is now wanting to cut the rebate cost to pharmacists. Of course we all want to pay less. We all want quality. We all want quality services. The pharmacist is a professional who needs adequate compensation or income but the government is controlling it. Already pharmacists have to supplement their income and business viability by selling other items like cosmetics and perfumes, after hours service and discount competition. We need our pharmacies. Lets not squeeze them out of existence. Lets protect this industry which is the envy of the world. 

Mental Health Politics

Now is the time to ask the prospective new Prime Ministers of Australia and their parties, what do they plan for mental health services for Australians. How much funding will go to children and adolescents given the bed closures and mass sackings in the public sector. What programs are they going to support? How will they integrate public and private health care? What funds are going to be made available for research in Australia in the field of mental health?
What are the plans for State/ Federal cooperation and organisation? How has Australian registration worked given State mental health laws and State control of services? What about Medicare levies and PBS costs?
I hope that the real questions will be put to these would-be leaders and real answers will be given rather than character assassinations and point scoring. We have , as the public, a huge advantage at this point in time and it will only last a month, to promote our citizen rights, ask the difficult questions, force the public debate and then choose the right candidate. May the best person win because our mental health care needs are huge.

Communication Disorder

This problem is much missed and misunderstood. It is the central tenet of Autism and Asperger's syndrome. Much over diagnosing of these conditions misdiagnoses Communication Disorder without autistic features but many of these diagnoses are false because there is no communication disorder. Sadly many children/adults do not have proper speech therapy and social skills training because people do not understand the Communication problems.
There are four basic components to Communication disorder-
1. Receptive. This means that the person can hear but does not understand spoken and non-verbal language. They are often described as selectively deaf.
2. Expressive. Difficulties saying or the non-verbal component of language causes frustration. This disorder is often seen as aggressive behaviour when the frustration becomes overwhelming
3 Pragmatic. The nuances of communication with grammar, full stops, emphases, rules of turn taking and flow of language are affected. At the severe end of the scale speech is robotic with little eye regard and lack of associated movements.
4 Narrative. This is the lack of understanding context and the whole aspect of communication. It means not understanding that people cannot read your mind and you have to introduce a topic, build a story and have an ending.
Most sufferers have problems in all four areas.
One can see why these problems cause learning difficulties. They also cause social skills problems.
The diagnosis and treatment is for the speech pathologist but many children see the child psychiatrist due to associated learning and behaviour problems or concern about the autistic spectrum of illness.
There is an overwhelming number of boys rather than girls who have this disorder so probably genetic rather than birth trauma (or lack of oxygen) that these 'soft brain' signs used to be the problem. There is an increased risk however in those babies who suffer lack of oxygen, breathing difficulties which means the premature baby. These babies have difficulty sucking, the same nerves that are needed for speech.
There is an acquired form related to chronic middle ear infections and glue ear. It is thought that the loss of effective hearing in the early developmental stages of communication can mean that that part of the brain lacks stimulation to develop normally.
Help is important. These children are picked on by other kids who recognise their problems as 'nerdy'and self esteem becomes a major problem. They are often in trouble for fighting back and do not cope with school work as well as they could.

Attachment in infants

The mother and baby form an attachment during pregnancy. The mother feels the baby's movements and has dreams about the birth and holding the baby once it is born. The mother usually prepares clothes and baby gear for the baby due to this attachment. The baby hears the mother's heartbeat and voice and cues into the mother's emotional state.
This does not always happen and sometimes the attachment occurs some time after the baby is born.
The visual and tactile clues, holding and seeing the baby, make it much easier to fall in love with the baby. It is akin to a distance romance- wonderful but not as good as actually seeing someone and cuddling in reality.
In this attachment the language is emotion. The baby is keenly sensitive to emotion. It is of course a highly emotional state, the birth of a baby. There is anxiety about the job and responsibility and sadness at the loss of pregnancy, a relief for some people. There is loss of independence, loss of sleep, loss of body shape and loss of friends who do not have babies. There is often loss of work and social respect for your professional life is much more than for the role of a mother. After all the fuss and family and friends go home, it is boring and lonely to have no adult company to talk to. All these emotions, the child perceives.
The child is dependent upon the mother for everything, including emotional support. It needs the mother for safety and protection and the message that she is in charge and looking after the needs of both of them. A depressed mother finds that hard to do. The child needs to know that life is fun and people can play games with him. He needs to know that he does not need to be the centre of all attention but needs his fair share as well.
The baby needs attachment with the father but security that the parent's relationship is sturdy enough that the baby cannot take over and disrupt it. This is often the most fragile thing in a family who has to adjust to a new baby.
Through this attachment the baby learns trust, love, self esteem and the will to explore the world. Education starts here. social skills and future relationships are created in this early stage. Positive and real emotions, problem solving and creative thinking are all automatically shaped in this relationship with parents that we call attachment. The process is created in the parent's own attachment and the sense of 'rootedness' or belonging that supports the baby.
I invite comments to all my blogs. I am interested to hear your thoughts and experiences.

Physiological symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress disorder

Interesting research from Dr Phobe Tucker, U.S., has shown sustained changes following trauma of body responses in the flight fight mode. Increased blood pressure, heart rate, cortisol levels with subsequent autonomic, immune and neuro-endocrine changes were found years after a traumatic incident and even after the emotional aspects of PTSD had ceased. This raises the possibility of long term changes in the body and the subsequent medical effects of these.
It will be interesting to see the effects of treatment and resiliency factors on these long term changes.Israel has sadly had its fair share of trauma and leads the world in management of PTSD using psychotherapy. You can access their website   http://www.traumaweb.org/content.asp?PageId=163&lang=En
As we all experience traumas, some big some small, on a daily basis, I wonder if there is an accumulation process or a threshold for experience that triggers autonomic responses. More research into resiliency is needed, who and why has more inborn capacity and what are the protective factors. We know already that maturity plays a great role and trauma can be more difficult for children to understand and process. We know that people who do not have anxiety and depression before an incident will do better so this is a risk factor in trauma responses and critical incident stress debriefing. We know that those people who are in a relationship and have a supportive network of family, friends and colleagues will have better outcomes. It is often difficult for family and friends to know what to do or how to help. I think, just listen and accept that it is beyond understanding or help validates a person's experience and their response. There is a lot to be said for the warmth of human to human touch in the healing process.

Children who care for their parents

It must be tough to be a child in such a bewildering world. Thankfully most children rely on their parents for support. Parents are human too and they get sick and sometimes suffer mental illness. If one in five adults suffer depression and one in three suffer anxiety then there are probably many children whose parents are battling mental illness. Most are fabulous parents while coping with their problems. Many choose to share some of the information for their children, so their children understand, can have strategies in place to cope and monitor themselves in the case of genetic illness. Many discuss limits to their lives, like not going out, or meeting people or going in lifts so their children can understand.
Many parents keep the information to themselves and this is probably good to a level as too much information overloads children. Depending upon developmental level and maturity, some children  cope well and others worry, try to take control or feel guilty that they may have caused the problems. Some children develop separation anxiety as they are scared to leave their parent alone in case something bad happens.
A good thing is to get information. This website is good
http://www.copmi.net.au/parents-and-families/family-friends/advice-on-coping.html
There are a number of books and pamphlets available to help parents and children understand and cope.
Ask for help!

The meaning of life

This topic sounds something between a heavy philosophical tome and Monty Python.
Victor Frankl wrote on this topic extensively following WWII. He started a following of people who felt that this was a very important aspect of life and cause of mental illness called logotherapy. His book, Man's search for meaning, (1946 in the original title and in German) was followed by The Will to Meaning (1988). He died in 1997.
His work started from Vienna in Freud's circle but he was placed in a number of concentration camps during the war. He was bound for America to escape but on the morning of his departure he was torn between staying with his elderly parents and leaving for a new future. he saw the words, Honour thy father and thy mother  and so decided to stay with them. During his many years in the concentration camp, as a psychiatrist, he tried to help his fellow inmates. He also studied the human mind under such oppressive conditions. His books make sobering reading. He came to the existentialist position that to survive this, and normal life, you had to create a meaning for your existence. Poor self esteem, lack of self confidence, subsequent abuse of drugs and alcohol, depression, nihilism and suicide all stem from a lack of understanding your role in the world and the purpose of your life he says.
This seems to me to be very relevant today. We, in a consumerist society have everything we could want and yet we are increasingly unhappy. All this hedonism, individualism, and narcissism has failed to make us complete.  It reminds me of the saying  Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country ( JF Kennedy 1961).
Search for meaning is about what you can do to make the world a better place, using the skills and talents you have.  It sometimes means standing alone and battling to achieve against the odds but it can be in a group and achieving small goals. For some people it is climbing a mountain or sailing around the world, solving world hunger or curing childhood cancer. For most of us it is helping someone else, raising funds for medical research, saying hello to new neighbours and switching off a light to reduce carbon emissions. If you buy a magazine from a homeless person, donate a dollar to a charity, give a dinner to a homeless person, the giving bounces back on you as well, a win / win situation.
I suggest that you think about these goals on a regular basis, update them and work at upholding your personal meaning.

Tele-psychiatry

Technology!
So much technology and so much bad press.
But here is a good use of social media.
Medicine by social media has a long history. Queensland has been investing in tele-psychiatry for over twenty years and legislation covers its use, validity and re-reimbursement through Medicare.
This allows quick, easy access to specialist services across the nation which is especially good for rural and remote, even regional areas where specialist services either do not exist or are limited. It provides support to local doctors and allied health professionals.
Although it is never as good as meeting F2F, the picture and sound quality is very good these days. I use Skype as it is free to use and download and anyone with a computer and Internet connection can use it. Most doctor's surgeries have the capacity to use Skype and people can access services here if they do not have their own computer.



Image thanks to Skype.
If you want to look at Skype- www.skype.com/‎
It allows help for housebound people and those who have difficulty travelling.

One can have privacy of their own home and with a few twiddles of the dials, a family can be seen together if needs be. 

 

Photo courtesy of Skype.

Should this seem like a useful tool for you- contact your family doctor for a referral

contact us at drjoycearnold6120a@gmail.com 

or phone 07 32215371.

add me to your Skype address book, joyce.arnold

Don't we live in an amazing world?

Synthetic drug ban

News of a Government crackdown on synthetic drugs is welcome
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/national-ban-imposed-on-synthetic-drugs/story-e6frg6nf-1226664529398
How sad for the family of the young man who took these drugs and subsequently became acutely psychotic and died. What a waste of a precious young life. My condolences to the family.
However I am perplexed that the government is shamed to act on this problem that on the case of one person they should act so quickly when they have the statistics of huge numbers of people who die from acute psychosis from alcohol abuse, and yet do not act.
Now clearly these are legalised, taxed drugs and one can become cynical and say this is due to economics and vote gathering. The alcohol and tobacco lobby is huge and the taxes important to our economy. But decisions need to be made based on care rather than money or votes.The experience of prohibition showed us that outlawing something does not work. It just forces the problem underground, to the criminal element who increase their operations. People can easily make their own. The case of four people who died of acute alcohol poisoning in Queensland this week, is a case in point.So many people die of tobacco use and yet no ban.here.
Education seems to have universally failed and in fact education in schools seems to have increased the rate of alcohol abuse, suicide and unsafe sex behaviours in young people.
I don't have an answer but all citizens in a democratic process needs to have input into these issues, not just a knee-jerk reaction by political parties.

Representation for children

Over one third of our community are under eighteen years of age, but do not have the right to vote. No , I am not about to advocate that two year olds get to vote. This one third has many of the same mental health problems as adults, plus a range of childhood specific ones. They often do not have the maturity to cope with mental health issues as an adult can. They certainly do not have the access to help that adults have. They are not aware they have problems and often see illness as shameful, scary and blameworthy. I can only report one person under eighteen years of age who made an appointment  and asked for help all by themselves in over thirty years of work with young people. Most children resist treatment, just as they have elementary fears about seeing a doctor, have been threatened for a long time that if they don't behave they will be taken to see the doctor. Most children then enter the doctor's office very bravely facing their punishment. Luckily many parents prepare their children well to cope.
Children, like us all, are affected by family conflict, illness, financial problems, marital conflict,domestic violence. Most adults have good coping mechanisms to deal with these issues and if needed can leave or find a safe place. Children do not have these skills, capacity or rights,so they are very much in the victim position in these problems.
Children have to cope with academics, social skills and the competitiveness of school life as well. Bullying and conflict here often reflect home based problems. The school community can also have its own problems as teachers, administration, parent bodies, government inputs and organisational issues all intermingle with the child's mind.  Children who move schools or home school have added issues.
So this is a plea to understand that our most vulnerable citizens, with the least capacity to deal with problems, often have more issues to deal with than adults. Yet, they have no say and little access to help without parental approval. As they don't vote, they have no say and can be forgotten as we all try to deal with the everyday problems in life.

Male depression

After many years of understanding that depression is ten times more common in women, the balancing act has revealed more details. Who would have thought that men were different to women but it is true for depression. Women internalise, get sad and cry, blaming themselves. Men externalise, get angry and blame others. Men are more likely to drink alcohol to self manage depression, not understanding that alcohol is a depressant.
If you add the numbers of angry men who abuse alcohol to the list, men and women suffer depression in equal numbers but express them differently. Now such a sweeping statement needs a little closer look. Women with depression also use alcohol to self medicate . Of the two emotions, anger and sadness, women are more likely to have anger than sadness too when they are depressed. Men also commonly feel sad when they suffer depression. Anger seems to be one of the first symptoms of depression. As the illness progresses, people become more withdrawn and sad. In its worst stage, people withdraw and have no feelings, just empty, wooden dullness. As people improve they become angry, always a good sign.
Alcohol, well it is a seducer. It offers a temporary relief as it stimulates endorphins, the happy chemicals in our brain. That lasts about 20 minutes. Then it causes many hours to days of depression.That of course stirs people to drink more and so you get caught in the cycle. Of course socially, economically, health wise, legally you may have complications from the alcohol which then generates more depression.
So when men are depressed, they traditionally get buoyed up by having a drink with a mate. The company is always helpful.
Men are more physically able. Not all men and some women of course are physically stronger but it is a truism. That means that when men decide that suicide is their only way to cope, rather than get help, they are more likely to do something more lethal than women. They are more likely to die than women of their suicide attempt. So for many who fail to see that they have depression, suicide is a last attempt for release or help seeking but men are least likely to survive in order to obtain treatment. Sadly we know this is more true for young men as they are more impulsive. Older people take more time to consider most things in their life so often find other solutions to problems. Men in the rural areas of Australia are more likely to die by suicide as they have more access to guns but also less social supports.
Have you heard of tele-psychiatry? Anywhere in the world, using technology which is often free, you can access a psychiatrist in Australia. Clearly not as good as seeing one in person but provides access to mental health care for everyone.

Obsessive compulsive disorder

The great hidden disorder.
Obsessions are intrusive thoughts embarrassingly silly but cause great anxiety- did I leave the electricity on? Are there some germs I left on my hands? Will asbestos filter through the door and infect me?
Compulsions are behaviours designed to reduce anxiety and appease the obsessional thoughts, like checking the doors, switches,washing hands, counting magic numbers.
Hidden disorder because most of those who suffer realise that other people will think they are silly.
It is highly related to hoarding disorders, tics and Gilles de la Tourette syndrome, trichotillomania (hair pulling) as well as habits like nail biting and skin picking.
It is often confused with a totally unrelated issue - the obsessional person. This person is a born neat person, likes to be a perfectionist but this is not the same as OCD.
Most people are so embarrassed that they do not seek help. A pity really as treatments work well and there is no need to suffer. Treatments include psychological approaches and some people may .need medications.
What causes OCD? It has genetic links to family members who suffer the same. Interestingly there is evidence of some cases caused by the immune system attacking the brain (basal ganglia) sometimes after a sore throat. Stressful events can bring on an attack and psychoanalytic theories discuss repressed anger as the source of the problem.
Seek help if you suffer this disorder. Not only do you suffer but your family does too.

Mind/body and psychosomatics

An interesting study from germany
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130516063839.htm
Shows a relationship between the illness of Post Traumatic stress disorder and the secondary high risk of developing Diabetes mellitus.
Psychosomatic illnesses have been known for a long time. Stress, depression, anxiety are more likely to be associated with increased risk of asthma, diabetes, ulcerative colitis, and  migraine. More recent studies have shown an increased risk of infertility, heart attack, cancer and common influenza. It is also known that numerous illnesses have a secondary psychiatric illness such as depression and anxiety. Many people following a heart attack, cancer, HIV, thyroid illness, Vitamin B12 deficiency, anaemia, autoimmune disorders such as SLE, and viral infections such as Epstein barr and Ross river,  suffer depression and anxiety. Depression and anxiety can be common early warning symptoms of these illnesses.
It was always a mystery how a mind problem could affect a body problem.
Psychiatrists use a more holistic approach to the mind/body problem. Before Descartes wrote about the differences of the mind and the body duality, the person was seen as a whole. Mind and soul were one with body. We are coming back to realise that the duality is false. Let me give you an example. If I have a thought- that is a mind at work. Without a brain, neurones, electrical and chemical changes, the thought cannot exist. We cannot differentiate where the thought and the mental process can be divided. Hence research into the mechanism of stress and the neuro-immuno-hormonal axis has been developing for some years.
The take home message.
Be aware that many things you think are depression and anxiety may in fact be a medical illness in its early stages and get a health check from your doctor.
Think happy thoughts; have a nice fun life/work balance; laughter may be the best medicine; relaxation; are all important aspects of health.
Treat your mental illness with respect and have it well cared for.

Winter and the pineal

The once thought vestigial part of the brain, called the pineal gland is actually very important. Vestigial means, no longer used from an evolutionary point of view. We know animals hibernate to conserve energy over winter when there is limited food sources. Not an issue in Australia perhaps.The pineal gland tracks the daylight hours to switch our brains in and out of sleep, as well as hibernation. It also uses many other clues to 'know' the time of day and the season of year to make adjustments in our responses to our environment which seem automatic to us. On a rainy day it will adjust to the difference in light by cloud cover, even if we only hear the rain. It has learned to cope with electric lights which give a false sense about daylight.
Interesting.
Important because the pineal gland seems to malfunction in depression. It stops people switching off for sleep or increases sleep in depression. In fact this sleep disorder could be the cause of all the other symptoms of depression like abnormal eating and sex drive patterns; lack of motivation and energy. Depression seems to be a process of hibernation triggered by the pineal gland often in response to stress that it may be better to withdraw from.
So in winter when we are more likely to sleep or hibernate, we are more likely to suffer depression. There is evidence for increased rates of new diagnosis and recurrent episodes of depression in winter, even in Australia where the daylight hours are not so changed in winter as other parts of the world. SAD, acronym for seasonal affective disorder, occurs in the polar extremes, well North Pole where more humans live. Every winter these people have depression and this is treated by a wide brimmed hat with lights attached. Turning them on before the sun goes down to trick the pineal gland into thinking it is still daylight, prevents the winter depression.
So as you shiver under the blankets and tuck into comfort food these cold mornings, pay homage to your pineal gland.