Depression Hits Blacks Harder Than Whites
Black Americans are more likely than whites to suffer severe, untreated and disabling depression, U.S. research shows.
As reported elsewhere, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health analyzed data on 6,082 people who took part in a national survey conducted between 2001 and 2003.
They found that 17.9 percent of white Americans had depression at some point in their lives, compared with 10.4 percent of blacks of African descent and 12.9 percent of blacks of West Indian or Caribbean descent.
In addition, relative to whites, both black groups were more likely to rate their major depressive disorder as severe or very severe and more disabling, the researchers reported in the March issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry. It also appears that most Caribbean blacks diagnosed with depression do not receive adequate treatment.
So what can be done? If people aren’t receiving the right medication for their depression, then taking natural vitamin supplements can help in both the prevention and treatment of depression.
Supplements Useful in Depression Treatment:
Vitamin D
Vitamin D, a fat-soluble vitamin, is found in food, but also can be made in the body with the help of sunlight. The liver and kidney help convert Vitamin D into its active hormone form, calcitrol. The main function of Vitamin D is to maintain normal blood levels of calcium and phosphorus, and maintain strong bones. However, it can also play an important role in treating depression.
Supplementation of Vitamin D has been found to help patients suffering from depression and improve their condition.
B Vitamins
Any natural depression treatment must be able to target each one of the symptoms of depression and reduce them in the patient. This is where B vitamins come in, as their wide-ranging properties can effectively deal with all signs of depression.
B vitamins for feelings of sadness and dejection:
Pyridoxine, or vitamin B6, is an essential component in the production of SAM-e, a “feel-good” neurotransmitter that can significantly improve a person’s mood. Depression has been linked to deficiencies of vitamin B6 in the body.
B vitamins for an inability to concentrate and make decisions:
Depression has also been linked with anemia, and inability to concentrate, coupled with a feeling of tiredness, is consistent with a low red-blood cell count. Vitamin B12 can be used as a depression treatment because it helps in producing and maintaining red blood cells responsible in oxygen transportation in body, controlling mood swings.
B vitamins for feelings of fearfulness and anxiety:
Studies have shown that low levels of folic acid, or vitamin B9, can cause depression. Folic acid makes an effective depression treatment because it clears stress hormones from the liver, reducing feelings of anxiety.
B vitamins for mood swings:
A double-blind study conducted on women showed that vitamin B6 treatment for depression can bring emotional stability and hormonal balance. Supplements of vitamin B6 can help women get rid of their post menopause anxiety and depression. Folic acid is also important for the proper functioning of the brain and the maintenance of emotional stability.
DHEA
DHEA, (Dehydroepiandrosterone) is a hormone produced in the adrenal glands. It can also be manufactured by the gonads (ovaries for women; testes for men) when the adrenal gland is under stress. DHEA regulates the thyroid and pituitary glands besides exerting a powerful impact on the entire body by keeping up the physical and mental balance of the body.
Usually the level of DHEA hormone is at peak at the age of 25, after that, it starts decreasing at the rate of about 2% per year. Generally by the age of 40 its secretion declines considerably and you the effects of lower DHEA may be felt. DHEA hormone also declines rapidly when the body is suffering from disease. More importantly, if the body is put under stress for long periods of time then DHEA production can drop considerably – leading to fatigue, lowered energy levels, and anxiety depression. It is this connection between DHEA deficiency and anxiety depression that has led people to believe that DHEA can be an effective active anti depression treatment. Research done into DHEA appears to confirm this…
Mitamins Team
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/depression-hits-blacks-harder-than-whites-122433.html
Comments
Dealing with depression…After effects of mediation…What do you think?
I dunno, but since i’m still struggling with my depression i have, well quite noticed, funnily, that I have black-ringed sunken eyes, a pale complexion and rubbery, emotionless looking (cos when i pinch my face, i don’t c any pink tinge)
At night I can’t and won’t sleep no matter and will stay on till 12 midnight and sometimes later in the morning..Whether it’s hallucinations or not, I hear quiet, invisible strange footsteps and noises repetively out my door way sensitive to my ears, my door is next to the hallway, so i hear footsteps walking back and forth quitely outside my room…or some movement outside my room walls..I wondered if it was the trees because my room faces the front house garden, but it wasn’t…
It was a different sound and sometimes i could detect some sort of unexplained, invisible presence inside and out of my room..Dad slept with me for a week and said he could hear movements too, outside and around the walls but couldn’t seem to have any idea about the silent footsteps that would walk repetively in and out of the hallway, like someone thinking, walking backwards and forwards…I think he didn’t believe in me..
My inner voice says that there is nothing to be scared of this, it’s all part of being in a state of long grief, depression and moodswings…I take anti-depressants but sometimes it doesn’t neccesarily work when i hear these noises, i jerk awake from my semi-sleep state under my blanket while listening to BBC, my heart, my breathing thumps like mad…I use to sleep with no lights on, but this time i can’t seem to sleep without it…
Coming from asian ethnic background, but also a true-blue aussie, i have of course, naturally enherited our culture and religion…I’m still learning, still practicing as i’ve only just begun
last week dad and I sat in my room and he told me how to practice a way of meditating, an ancient tradition…well like the statues you see in Buddha with the thumb and index entwined together..right positions (as part of practice and helping me overcoming my (well more like manic depression cos i get hyper sometimes, full of energy than some other times I’m full of rage, hurt and frustration with myself and others around me)
As we lay their on the floor, Dad told me that after 10 days or a week or so of practice, with time and effort, concentration, mindfulness of breathing..
You will feel very different to the way you think/feel/conscienous about yourself and others mentally, physiologically and emotionally..
I did and prayed to Buddha, to God, to Goddess of Mercy, to whomever up there to give me hope and pray in times of darkness where i have no hope at all, where I’m sucked in by the dementors…
A strange thing happened, When i closed my eyes, I saw coloured lights like when you are in the glare of the sun, you see red when you close your eyes…I saw blue and parts of yellow in the middle of my iris…As i focus more deeply, i saw movements within, as a prayed. I saw an eye and i’m not sure if it’s a reflection of my own…I also saw as i squeezed my eyes, a starry black inky sky, like the galaxy (black background, with many white dots, moving)..The whole background was moving forward..but it had gone just as it came and went back to the blue and yellow colour..only when i blinked hard could i see the galaxy like thing, it’s frightening yet entrancing to me somehow..
After that night, I felt, i can’t describe it but full of energy and as i continued many days after that, still continuing, energy coursing through my body. An awareness, deep mindfulness of the present moment..
Sometimes people say things like it’s make-believing or a load of s-hit, but it’s different for everyone’s experience..
But within my heart and a belief that i do have a soul, i knew there was a slight sudden change in my body and mind, that if i coninued to meditate, this unexplained positive energy would become bigger and bigger…
p.s dad also told me that if there was any distractions like (feeling itchy, fidgety of noises and sounds, do not move but continue with your state-like meditation)..The best thing was when i did it for the first time, there was like an electric spark between my fingers, I don’t want to make it sound b-ulls-hit, but I swear, i felt a spark between my fingers…
I just wanted to know people’s opinions that’s all, if they are willing to read my thoughts thoughtfully and considerately, not for the purpose of getting points, or flinging my problems away..
BUDDHA IS NOT A GOD!
constant monks and zen masters have told people that…
budda was a human just like us, in search of ending sufferings and find peace and happiness, full enlightment…
You need to do the researt Chaos, Buddha is not a god…
We pray for our gratiude to his teachings and show our respects..He is not somebody to worship like Christianity, Buddha was a human being…
do your research…
It’s practice of compassion, loving kindness, peace, happiness and wisdom…
BUDDHA IS NOT A GOD!
Waaaaaaaaaay to long a question.
Short and simple keeps peoples attention.
talk to a professional, YA! and especially R&S is not a serious place.
References :
Looking deeper inside yourself can be amazing; as you’ve experienced. Meditation is always good. It’s helped me through a lot (similar to you, i battled with depression and got through it) and helped me really discover who I am beyond simply a physical body. It’s incredibly relaxing and makes things simple, therefore the increased positivity.
I don’t know if it’d be after-effects of medication or not – it’s probably best to research on the net the effects of the exact brand and type of medication you took.
The images you saw when your eyes were closed are somewhat normal. They always change, some say depending on your state, feelings and where you are.
I’d say to keep exploring yourself in a deeper way, as you’ve been doing. There’s so much to life
References :
Don’ worry it is only the corks popping on the wine bottles.
References :
Anyplace where people listen is a good place as that’s all you are asking for is somebody to listen and maybe contribute something. So ignore the first answer.
People are capable of many things. Meditation hasn’t been something I’ve been able to accomplish as I’m far too mentally active. I feel smothered in a meditive state. Too calm for the raging seas of my mind but what you are talking about is a doorway. Whether the manifestations are physically tangible or just exagerated sensations of things that happen too you every day but are just drowned out in the clutter really doesn’t matter. What does is that you’ve found this place.
Do take this caution to heart though. Doorways are not one way intersections. If you can go out it, other things can come in. Don’t let this spook you but never be oblivious to anything around and if something has a bad feel just skip the meditation that day. Think of it in the same terms as you don’t play golf in a thunder storm right? Doesn’t mean that golf is dangerous, doesn’t mean thunderstorms are evil. Just means be aware of your surroundings in that way.
Many people have expressed feeling that energy. What it is there are a million explanations. Each tied to various viewpoints of what the real nature of the world is. As for having a soul, if you love deep enough you can touch another’s soul and that to me is the best proof that a soul exists. It’s a touch you cannot mistake, though one that can be taken for granted. Love goes beyond the "chemical" reactions, beyond the emotions and is motivation to reach outside ourselves in a meaningful way.
You’ve found a meaningful way to reach into yourself and cleanse yourself of some of that pain you feel.
As for the manic episodes. That’s classic bipolar. If they continue and or get out of control you will want to get on meds for them. Most people never need meds and that has nothing to do with what you are experiencing in meditation. It does have something to do with quality of life and preventing yourself from hard wiring your brain into chronic depression. Again a totally seperate issue from the meditation but something you brought up.
As for points and flinging what if I fling the points at the problems?
I’ve got 20,000 some odd points. Might be enough to buy a piece of pizza you think? 
But what if pizza is my problem? Then I’d have to get more points to get more pizza and so on LOL.
References :
You are complicating things too much.
Meditation and Prayer will help you find your way. Keep at it daily for 15 minutes or so. But then-
Then, go out into this world and seek help for yourself by helping others. The best healling balm I’ve found for pain like you describe is to find a way out of myself by looking for ways to be of use.
Look for small ways at first, opening a door for someone struggling with a package, let someone else go ahead of you in a line, send a card to a friend to let them know you are thinking about them, help your dad around the house, ease his burdens by doing something kind and thoughtful like making dinner or doing a chore without being asked.
There are so many ways to be of use to others if you are looking, start paying attention to the world outside of your mind. We all tend to get stuck in our little microcosms, like Stephen Daedalus in Potrait of the Artist as a Young Man, by James Joyce. Stephen wore very thick glasses because he could not see well at all so a lot of the book happens within himself. Difficult reading but worth the time to think.
Good luck and God Bless.
References :
You need a night out with a good close friend and maybe a bottle of wine. You can sit back just the two of you and talk over all your problems.
References :
Fact
Leave a Comment