41 In March

Depression risk 'highest in 40s'

Realistic aspirations may be the key to happiness Life may begin at 40, but research suggests that 44 is the age at which we are most vulnerable to depression. Data analysis on two million people from 80 countries found a remarkably consistent pattern around the world. The risk of depression was lowest in younger and older people, with the middle-aged years associated with the highest risk for both men and women. The study, by the University of Warwick and Dartmouth College in the US, will feature in Social Science & Medicine. One possibility is that individuals learn to adapt to their strengths and weaknesses, and in mid-life quell their infeasible aspirations Professor Andrew Oswald University of Warwick The only country which recorded a significant gender difference was the US, where unhappiness reached a peak around the age of 40 for women, and 50 for men. Previous research has suggested that the risk of unhappiness and depression stays relatively constant throughout life. However, the latest finding - of a peak risk in middle age - was consistent around the globe, and in all types of people. Researcher Professor Andrew Oswald, an economist at the University of Warwick, said: "It happens to men and women, to single and married people, to rich and poor, and to those with and without children." He said the reason why middle age was a universally vulnerable time was unclear. Count your blessings However, he said: "One possibility is that individuals learn to adapt to their strengths and weaknesses, and in mid-life quell their infeasible aspirations. Depression is a complex and challenging condition that remains poorly understood Marjorie Wallace SANE "Another possibility is that a kind of comparison process is at work in which people have seen similar-aged peers die and value more their own remaining years. Perhaps people somehow learn to count their blessings." Professor Oswald said for the average person, the dip in mental health and happiness comes on slowly, not suddenly in a single year. Only in their 50s do most people emerge from the low period. "But encouragingly, by the time you are 70, if you are still physically fit then on average you are as happy and mentally healthy as a 20-year-old. "Perhaps realizing that such feelings are completely normal in midlife might even help individuals survive this phase better." Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity Sane, said: "This study raises intriguing questions about the processes that lead to depression in mid-life, as well as indicating what a common experience it is worldwide. "Depression is a complex and challenging condition that remains poorly understood, with as many as one in ten people with severe depression taking their own life. "We welcome any scientific contribution to our understanding of this illness, particularly if the research can aid the development of better treatments, both therapeutic and pharmaceutical." Andy Bell, of the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health, said mental health problems were extremely common - but he stressed they could occur at any time in life.

Mania Moron

Weeee! I am flying high on manic roll in the cold heart of downtown Portland. I am trying not to make stupid comments on other blogs which I have done before during up cycling. My writing skills are so poor the comments can be painfully bad.

Frozen Hawaiian

Poorland is a cold place to be friends. My mood is up maybe because of the sunshine? I blurted out that Heath Ledger had died when I was at Hollywood Video and the clerk started to tear up. Big mouth strikes again! Fuck it's 22 degrees outside!

The Most Depressing Day of the Year

The Most Depressing Day of the Year

Friday, Jan. 18, 2008 By BILL TANCER

Mika / zefa / Corbis

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There's a lot to feel down about this month: the subprime mortgage crisis, stormy, unpredictable weather, rising gas prices, presidential primary free-for-alls. So, it would be easy to believe the theory set forth by Dr. Cliff Arnall, a researcher from Cardiff University, that the third Monday of the month (Jan. 21, this year) — a day he calls Blue Monday — will be our most depressing day of the year. Arnall bases his yearly prediction on a formula he developed, which factors in the weather, consumer debt from holiday spending and failed New Year's resolutions and arrives at that conclusion that we'll hit rock bottom on Monday the 21st. Aside from the fact that Arnall's theory has been discounted by many in the academic community, I've got a better way of finding the true nadir of depression: Look to our search behavior.

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In the digital age we're likely to turn to search engines just as often as we would confide in friends and medical professionals to gauge our psychological state. If we think we're suffering from a real bout of the blues or a mental crisis, we're likely to Google the symptoms or find a chat group in the hopes of performing a self-diagnosis. In fact, online searches for "depression" are among the most popular searches sending traffic to the 5,900 sites that we track in the Hitwise Health and Medical category — but the peak is not in January. According to our Internet behavior, our depression spikes reliably in mid-November every year, right in time for Thanksgiving, the launch of the holiday season.

To confirm this timing I took a look from a different perspective. If we're depressed, we're probably also seeking pharmacological help. By aggregating the traffic to the websites of the top antidepressants and charting visits to those sites over the last three years, a very interesting pattern emerges. The spike in traffic to the official websites for drugs like Lexapro, Prozac, Paxil and Cymbalta occurs in late October and early November, two weeks ahead of the height in searches on "depression." It's almost as if people anticipate their holiday depression and start shopping early for their drug of choice.

Another surprise lies in the demographics of visitors to antidepressant websites — they're not who you would expect. If visitors to Lexapro.com, for example, are at all representative of the typical depressed individual, depression during November is an affliction primarily of the young and the old, but not of the middle-aged. The two age groups that account for the largest portion of site visitors are 18 to 24 (26.2%) and over 55 (27.6%). Visitors to Lexapro's site also tend to have average to above-average incomes: 51% of visitors come from households earning between $60,000 and $150,000 per year, while 20% come from households that earn over $150,000 — a sample, perhaps, not of the depressed in general, but of those who can afford to seek treatment.

So, Dr. Arnall, despite the failing economy, the storm of the century here in Northern California, a disappointing roster of presidential candidates and deciding that New Year's resolutions aren't for me this year, I'm feeling pretty good about things. If search data is any indication, I'm not alone.

My stoned sad gay bear look!

Death

I like to search suicides for fun. There four ways to die. Car crash,murder,suicide,and illness.