A Fresh Look at Depression

Yet, take heart that you are not alone. In his book Lincoln’s Melancholy, Joshua Shenk tells us, “Affecting more than 100 million people a year, depression is the world’s leading cause of disability. In 2000, about a million people worldwide killed themselves—about equal to the number of deaths from war and homicide that year put together. Adjusting for population growth, unipolar depression is 10 times more prevalent than it was 10 years ago.” Depression is at epidemic proportions. Alarmingly, depression is even moving into the ranks of the very young—our teens and preteens.

Even though medical science is researching a cure for this mind-altering, personality-changing malady, the cause remains mysteriously elusive. The truth is, depression is not like any other infirmity. It is estimated that over 10 million people in the United States are taking anti-depressant drugs. These drugs are admittedly dangerous—just listen to the list of warnings in a commercial—and they treat the symptoms, not the problem.

You cannot wait for science to provide a cure. You can escape this horrible, debilitating black plague, and suicide is not your only option.

Want to break free from the black cloud crowd?

We have good news for you: There is a way out of depression! Here is even better news: You will not have to invest a lot of money in psychiatric sessions, medical doctor visits or dangerous drugs to find the way out. However, you will have to work very hard at times to change your thinking and your behavior—how you conduct your life. Prepare yourself for some joyful, positive change. Let’s get started.

Many Have Found a Way Out

Men and women—the great and the not-so-great—have found the way out of depression.

Abraham Lincoln, one of America’s truly great presidents, survived severely debilitating depression, or what today’s mental health professionals call major depressive episode. Mr. Lincoln told Robert L. Wilson, a political associate, that mental depression overwhelmed him so much at times that he never dared carry a knife in his pocket. Yet this gentle giant was able to lead the United States of America through one of the most critical crises in its history, the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln became world renowned for his wit, wisdom and leadership.

Comparison of thyroid analytes in dogs aggressive to familiar ...

A cross-sectional study was performed in order to examine the association between canine aggression to familiar people and serum concentrations of total thyroxine (TT4), free thyroxine (fT4), thyroxine autoantibodies (T4AA), total triiodothyronine (TT3), free triiodothyronine (fT3), triiodothyronine autoantibodies (T3AA), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), and thyroglobulin autoantibodies (TgAA). The subjects were 31 dogs historically aggressive to familiar people and 31 dogs with no history of aggression. Behavioral evaluation and physical examination were completed for each dog in addition to a complete blood count, serum chemistry panel, TT4, fT4 by equilibrium dialysis, TT3, fT3, TgAA, T3AA, and T4AA. Significant differences were found between the two groups with respect to only T4AA, which was increased in the aggressive group, but the concentrations for both groups were within the normal reference range. There were no differences between the two groups in the thyroid analytes most commonly measured by veterinary practitioners evaluating thyroid function in dogs. The results of this study revealed no significant difference between aggressive and non-aggressive dogs in the thyroid concentrations most commonly used to diagnose canine hypothyroidism.

Small animal dermatology

Clinical Medicine of the Dog and Cat

Textbook of small animal surgery

Veterinary medical specialization, bridging science and medicine

Journal of veterinary medicine, Zentralblatt für Veterinärmedizin. Reihe A.. Series A