What’s Love Got to Do With It? Everything!
Love is the force that binds us, one to another. A husband’s love for his wife, a mother’s love for her child, the love shared by siblings, the love of lifelong friendships — these are the ties that define us as human beings. Love gives us the courage to persevere in the face of life’s challenges. It gives us the resilience to bounce back from disappointments and comforts us in times of tragedy. Love adds sweetness to life’s successes and allows us to share its joys. What’s love got to do with life? Everything!
So, what happens when love ends? When a spouse or partner dies? Or love crashes on the jagged reef of divorce? The loss of love can have dangerous mental and physical repercussions that exact a toll beyond normal grief. A new study found that the lingering stress caused by the loss of a spouse or partner to death or divorce increased the risk of chronic illness. Men and women who were divorced or widowed were 20% more likely than married people to develop heart disease, diabetes or cancer, according to a recent survey of 8,600 adults from 51 to 61 years old by University of Chicago researchers.
The ending of a long-term relationship, whether from death or divorce, “really destroys financial assets, and it destroys health assets in the same way,” said University of Chicago sociologist Linda Waite, a co-author of the study. Financial strain, loneliness and uncertainty about the future create significant emotional stress. For some, the necessity of moving into more affordable housing or housing that is physically easier to maintain adds additional loss to their grief. Divorcing couples must cope with their children’s feelings of loss as well as their own. The duties once shared by two parents can feel overwhelming when only one parent is shouldering the burden. Combined, these things add to the burden of grief that follows the loss of a loved one, creating a persistent, overwhelming feeling of stress.
Over time, continuous stress erodes both our physical and mental health. Stress from grief or marital strife weakens the immune system, making us more susceptible to chronic disease, depression and anxiety. Strengthening existing relationships and building new relationships can help ease the strain, but some people will need professional psychiatric help to weather the storm and deal with their loss.
Cornerstones of Good Mental Health
Two important cornerstones of good mental health are resiliency and the ability to develop supportive relationships. Even though disappointment, loss and change are normal events in life; they often cause feelings of stress, sadness and anxiety. People who lack good mental health can be overwhelmed by these feelings. Resiliency, the ability to persevere in the face of adversity and bounce back after traumatic or stressful events, is a vital component of good mental health. Resiliency provides the coping mechanisms people rely on to maintain the focus, flexibility and creativity necessary to weather difficult events.
The ability to recognize emotions and express them appropriately is a key component of resiliency. Resiliency allows people to balance negative emotions with positive ones, preventing a slide into depression, anxiety or other mental health issues. Increasing flexibility and providing balance in your life can improve resiliency. The following actions suggested by the American Psychological Association can help you build resiliency:
- Allow yourself to experience strong emotions. However, be aware that strong emotions may need to be avoided if they threaten to interfere with your ability to function.
- Be proactive about addressing problems as they occur, but learn to stop and relax when you need to reenergize.
- Spend time with loved ones and allow their support and encouragement to nurture you.
- Cultivate the ability to rely on others, but learn to rely on yourself, too.
Like resiliency, supportive relationships are important to good mental health. We are social creatures who crave companionship. We draw emotional strength from the support of other people. Developing an ability to forge positive relationships with others may take time and effort, but those connections are vital to our emotional health. Use these tips to help build strong, supportive relationships:
- Turn off the computer or television and socialize with family, friends and neighbors. Facebook and Twitter will never give you the same feeling of comfort or understanding as real, face-to-face human contact. So much of communication is expression and touch; things that are lost in the virtual world. To build supportive relationships, you need to connect with other people personally.
- Shared interests and helping others can forge bonds between people. To meet people who share your interests, join clubs or volunteer. Invite someone you enjoy to continue a conversation over a cup of coffee. It could be the start of a beautiful friendship!
Lack of Sleep Increases Risk of Dying
That sleepless night that makes you grouchy and tired the next day can be a killer — literally. New research shows that getting less than 5 hours of sleep a night increases your risk of death from cardiovascular disease. In a study of 4,600 men and women aged 35 to 55, researchers at University College London and the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom found that women who slept less than 8 hours per night had a higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease than men. Differences in hormone levels may play a role.
According to data recently published in the journal Sleep, women who slept less than 5 hours per night had significantly higher levels of the inflammatory markers that are indicators for heart disease. Compared to women who were able to achieve a full 8 hours of sleep, risk levels increased dramatically with every hour of sleep lost. Even women who received 7 hours of sleep a night showed much higher levels of risk indicators than those who slept 8 hours.
A growing body of research indicates that sleep is a vital component to good physical and mental health. Chronic insomnia is also known to increase anxiety and contribute to depression, particularly in women. Another study reported in Sleep indicates a relationship between postpartum depression and the lack of sleep common to new mothers. In the Norwegian study, 60% of new mothers reported sleep problems with 16.5% showing symptoms of depression.
Researchers found that postpartum depression not only aggravated insomnia, but that complaints about sleep problems often interfered with the diagnosis of postpartum depression. Researchers found that many women who continued to report sleep problems two months after delivery were suffering from postpartum depression. However, because tiredness and lack of sleep are common complaints of new mothers, those suffering from postpartum depression often remained undiagnosed and untreated.
Researchers emphasized the importance of doctors discussing sleep problems with new mothers. Chronic lack of sleep that affects daytime functioning, results in a general lack of energy or that impacts other aspects of a new mother’s life could indicate postpartum depression. Depression screening is recommended to new mothers who continue to experience chronic insomnia. Treatment by a board certified psychiatrist can help women overcome postpartum depression, find solutions to chronic sleep problems, and enjoy their roles as new mothers.
Postpartum Depression Overwhelms New Moms
Postpartum depression interferes with a new mother’s ability to care for her baby. Despite the joy that accompanies their child’s birth, 10% to 15% of new moms feel overwhelmed by the stress and responsibility of caring for their child. They may experience negative emotions and anxiety, have trouble sleeping or lose their appetite. Depression can result with negative repercussions for the mother and her newborn.
Postpartum depression affects the entire family. Poor understanding of the condition by the woman’s spouse and family members can add to the stress, straining the marital relationship and in some instances leading to divorce. A $423,500 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health will fund a new study into the causes and a potential new treatment for postpartum depression by scientists at the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction, according to information posted on the Science Blog.
Working with researchers at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, Kinsey scientists hope their research will lead to better understanding of postpartum depression and possibly development of a preventive treatment for new mothers. The study will compare three groups: new mothers with postpartum depression, new mothers with no depression, and women who have never given birth. MRI technology will be used to study brain activity in the prefrontal-limbic system that scientists believe controls maternal behavior. New mothers show heightened activity in this area of the brain when responding to their infants. Depressed women who have not recently given birth also show greater brain activity in the prefrontal limbic system.
Researchers wonder if stress might be a trigger for postpartum depression. After giving birth, new mothers appear to be less sensitive to stress from the outside world. Concentration on their newborn seems to make them less responsive to negative pressures. The hormone oxytocin, which occurs at high levels in new moms, may play a role in this ability to screen out stress. It is stress that appears to trigger prefrontal-limbic brain activity in depressed women who have not recently given birth. While researchers expect to find a brain link between maternal behavior and depression, they don’t know whether the link will include postpartum depression.
Hypereaters Can’t Stop Craving Bad Foods
America’s love affair with unhealthy food may be more disturbing than we realized. According to research conducted by the former chief of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as many as 70 million Americans probably suffer from some degree of “conditioned hypereating.” Dr. David Kessler defines hypereating as a willpower-sapping compulsion to eat high-fat, high-sugar foods, even when you’re not hungry. Kessler says the phenomenon accounts for the unhealthy food cravings that plague most Americans.
Hypereaters aren’t lured by carrots and celery sticks. Analysis of numerous brain studies led Kessler to conclude that foods loaded with sugar, fat and salt override the brain’s normal hunger cues and trigger the desire to overindulge. Neuroscientists have found that fat and sugar combinations activate the brain’s dopamine pathway — the pleasure-sensing center — in the same way as addictive drugs and alcohol. Kessler says that, like addiction, hypereating is a conditioned response. Each pleasurable experience encourages repetition. The more sugary, fatty foods you eat, the harder they are to resist.
Kessler says it’s a vicious cycle, but one that provides a new way of looking at America’s obesity epidemic. Calling obesity America’s “next great public-health campaign,” Kessler hopes a new perspective will lead to new methods that will help people fight obesity and tame their food cravings. While the problem is multi-fold, Kessler says the food industry must share the blame for America’s widening waistline. “The food industry has figured out what works. They know what drives people to keep on eating,” Kessler told the Associated Press in an interview earlier this year.
Overeaters must also take responsibility for their actions, Kessler said, and retrain their brains to resist the lure of sugar and fat. Just like alcoholics and drug addicts need help leaving their addictions behind, hypereaters may need help from psychiatrists or addiction specialists to retrain their brains before they can successfully resist the fat and sugary foods they’ve been conditioned to crave.
Of course, physical activity, metabolism and hormones all play a role in obesity, and any campaign to fight obesity in America will have to address these contributory issues. But to successfully fight obesity, Kessler believes that America will first have to change its love affair with unhealthy food and recognize the deadliness of the health danger obesity presents.
Depression Medication Linked to Gestational Hypertension
Currently SSRI’s (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) are commonly prescribed during pregnancy for those who have been previously responsive to SSRI’s and those who have severe depression or anxiety. A March 2009 study in the American Journal of Psychiatry reported increased incidence of gestational hypertension and preeclampsia in women who took SSRI’s during the last trimester of pregnancy.
Should pregnant women take depression medications? This is a complicated question and requires an individual assessment of the woman’s needs. The risks of taking depression medication have to be weighed against the risks of not taking it. We know that some drugs can cause birth defects especially if taken during the first trimester. Some babies experience medication withdrawal after birth if their mothers took antidepressants during pregnancy. On the other hand, we also know that untreated depression during pregnancy carries its own risk to the baby such as preterm labor, smaller head size and lower birth weight. Also, babies born to untreated, anxious, depressed mothers are more difficult to soothe and may have slowed motor development.
So what’s a woman to do? I tend to be on the conservative side of the spectrum with regards to avoiding medication if at all possible, especially during the first trimester when the baby’s organs are forming. However, I think the general trend has been to use SSRI’s even in mild cases of depression. There are definitely women who cannot continue the rest of their pregnancy off depression medication without putting their life and the life of their unborn baby at risk. In general the findings seen in this study should make us give more consideration as to which women should continue on depression medication throughout their pregnancy and which ones should continue off depression medication and be monitored closely.
June Bride, July Blues
There’s something about June and brides. Surpassed only by Valentine’s Day as America’s most popular wedding date, thousands of brides choose to be married in June. For the typical year it takes to plan a modern American wedding, these women, and often their mothers (and to a slightly lesser extent their intended and both families), immerse themselves in the myriad details necessary to plan the perfect wedding.
Of course, weddings are exciting; and today’s typical wedding includes scores of intricate details and “crucial” decisions. It’s easy to get so caught up in the details of planning the wedding that brides and grooms forget to focus on the importance of the life change they are making. Though it often becomes an all-consuming event, in reality the wedding is just a small moment in a marriage. Moving from the autonomy of being single to the shared decision-making and compromise necessary to build a successful marriage is a major life change. Unfortunately, the cultural pressure to create the perfect wedding often overshadows the true meaning and challenges of this life-changing event.
Some women become so immersed in the bride role that the return to normalcy is such a let-down that it triggers a type of depression called “wedding withdrawal” or “post-wedding blues.” Once the big day is over and the honeymoon ended, the humdrum reality of newlywed life sets in. In a short week, brides go from being the center of attention with a full planning calendar and social agenda to the ho-hum daily reality of fixing meals, going back to work, and adjusting to married life. From sharing the bathroom to pooling money and making decisions together, marriage is filled with new challenges. Many newlyweds, however, find the role of wife less glamorous and exciting than the role of bride and depression can set in.
If you find yourself feeling sad after the wedding is over, talk to your spouse. Talk about the reasons you chose to get married, your commitment to each other, and your love for each other. Seek help from a psychiatrist skilled in cognitive-behavioral therapy if your depression lasts. As you plan your wedding, work to keep the event in its greater perspective. Your wedding day is just the first step in a lifelong celebration of your life together with your new spouse.
Depression Twice as Likely to Strike Women
Women are twice as likely as men to suffer major depression, according to a new report released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Analyzing the most recent research on women’s mental health issues, the report, Action Steps for Improving Women’s Mental Health, examines the role gender plans in treating and coping with mental illness issues such as depression, anxiety, and post traumatic stress disorder brought on by trauma and violence.
Analysis discovered that not only are women twice as likely as men to suffer depression, but women suffer anxiety disorders at a rate two to three times greater than men. Women are also at far greater risk than men for post traumatic stress disorder, a discovery that could significantly impact the treatment of female war veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, the study found that any history of violence, trauma or abuse increased a woman’s risk of developing depression, post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and panic disorders. It also increased the tendency to engage in risky behaviors.
In a press release, Acting Surgeon General Dr. Steven Galson said, “Mental illness is often incorrectly perceived as a weakness, which prevents women from recognizing the signs and symptoms and seeking treatment. In order to reduce stigma, we need to encourage open, honest conversations.”
Depression, anxiety, panic disorders, and post traumatic stress disorder are treatable conditions. In a key finding, the federal report found that family and interpersonal relationships in a woman’s life not only play a significant role in a woman’s ability to cope with and recover from mental illness, but that strong, positive relationships offer women some modicum of protection from mental illness.
In an effort to encourage dialog about women’s mental health issues and address stigmatizing misconceptions about mental illness, the U.S. Office of Women’s Health (OWH) has produced a free, downloadable booklet to educate women about steps they can take to improve their health and reduce their risk for many diseases, including depression, anxiety, panic disorders, and post traumatic stress disorder. Click here to download the free OWH consumer booklet Women’s Mental Health: What It Means to You.
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