In her book, The Age of Miracles: Embracing the New Midlife, Marianne Williams suggests that midlife is a time of transition “for one part of ourselves to die and for something new to be born.”  This seems to be particularly true for Americans over the age of sixty-five and is a reality that leads to geriatric [...]

Happiness is a key ingredient to total health. In fact, if you suffer from chronic unhappiness, it can weaken your immune system, reduce your coping skills, and limit your success in life. It can also cut your life short and undermine social relationships. So, if you’ve been getting up on the wrong side of the bed, here’s seven tips [...]

What causes depression is often unclear. It can be caused by a variety of biological, environmental, or psychological reasons. Some individuals may have a genetic proclivity for depression; they may experience debilitating illnesses; or they may find their body doesn’t work as well as it once did. Sometimes family members, spouses, or friends die or move [...]

Treatment for depression in the elderly is generally focused on a single approach rather than a comprehensive one. Physical or mental treatment options abound in the literature, and the old adage “seeing is believing,” may be changing to “believing is seeing,” which leads us to consider the spiritual and emotional aspects of depression.

The word “depression” is used to describe both a temporary mood where a person feels sad or blue and a serious illness that cannot be willed away and involves the body, mood, and thoughts. When it’s a disabling disorder it can affect a person’s work, sleep, eating, and health patterns, as well as the ability to enjoy normally pleasurable activities. Generally speaking, I [...]

If you have a loved one who is experiencing depression, the first thing you want to do is rule out physical ailments. Physical ailments might include heart problems, Parkinson’s disease, hypothyroidism, or a dozen other ailments. If the depressed person has not had an annual checkup, or if it has been some time since he [...]

With the economy being what it is, many of you may be feeling more down that up…even if you don’t follow the stock market! But—unlike the stock market—being down is a condition you can control. That is, assuming you are not clinically depressed.
We make ourselves depressed by comparing situations or events in our lives unfavorably [...]

When people are down, researchers from the Autoimmune Disease at Tel Aviv University have just the right pick me up, and it doesn’t involve drugs. The researchers, lead by immunologist Yehuda Shoenfeld, PhD, discovered there’s a link between depression and smell.

If you are depressed, you are definitely feeling more than blue. Depression can affect everyone—men, women, children, the young, and the old—and it can affect every aspect of your life—from work to your physical health to your intimate relationships. In fact, depression affects approximately 19 million Americans, with twice as many women affected as men, according [...]