Monday, August 18, 2008

Marcus Trescothick speaks of battle with depression

Cricket star Mark Trescothick has spoken about suffering from depression and how it ended his England career.

The opening batsman, 32, described the bouts of homesickness, sleeplessness and anxiety which forced him to fly home during Test series against India in February 2006 and from Australia in November of the same year.

Trescothick, who remains England's 11th best run scorer, with an average of 43.75, said: "I would not have wished my illness on my worst enemy ... Depression is not the same as feeling down or fed up. People might say 'I'm a bit depressed today,' but true depression is quite different."

In his autobiography, Coming Back to Me, he describes how he saw Indian beggars who made him think about his wife Hayley and new daughter Ellie and triggered the breakdown.

"My mind was pulling itself apart. What was happening at home? Was Hayley OK? Was Ellie all right?"

Earlier this year Trescothick was found slumped in a corner of a shop at Heathrow, unable to board a plane to join his Somerset team-mates for a pre-season tour of Dubai. He announced his retirement from international cricket a few days later.

His GP diagnosed him with depression. The batsman has now returned to county cricket, helping Somerset close in on the Division Two championship. He said that while he has not cured his depression he has built up strategies to help him cope.




source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk
Posted by Tom at 06:06:08 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Monday, July 21, 2008

Eyewitnesses May Misidentify Perpetrator Of A Crime Due To Stress Or Fear

A study about the fragility of eyewitness identification used within the criminal justice system, has conducted by researchers at Goldsmiths, University of London. According to this study, stress and fear reduce the likelihood of successful identification, bringing into question a victim’s ability to identify the perpetrator of a crime.

Visitors to the London Dungeon were asked to describe and identify an actor encountered in the ‘Labyrinth of the Lost’ who stepped out to block their path. Whilst they were in the labyrinth, some participants wore a heart rate monitor to measure the level of their anxiety.

The researchers found that participants who had experienced a higher state of anxiety were less likely to report correct descriptions of the actor and were less likely to correctly identify him/her in a line-up than participants who had experienced less anxiety.

Most research on the effectiveness of eyewitness identification is likely to overestimate accuracy because the participant witnesses do not feel the fear or stress evoked by crime that would be present in real situations.

For ethical reasons, participants in experiments cannot be subjected to the same stress that a victim of crime may experience. This study sought to recreate a similar level of fear and stress, however, by using the scare in the London Dungeon so as to understand what effect such stress may have on memory.

Professor of Psychology, Tim Valentine, who headed the research, emphasised the significance of the results: "We know already that mistaken eyewitness identification is the leading cause of wrongful convictions in the USA. This research takes us a step closer to understanding the problem.”

“The experience in the Labyrinth of the Lost is much less extreme than the stress a victim of crime may experience, but we still observed a catastrophic failure of identification by visitors who found the experience stressful.”

“The research doesn't suggest there is anything wrong with the identification procedures that the police use, but does demonstrate just how difficult it can be for a victim to identify the offender."

Evidence shows that mistaken eyewitness identification is a common cause of miscarriages of justice. 218 people wrongly convicted in the USA have been exonerated by new DNA analysis from crime scene samples. 75% of these cases were the result of mistaken eyewitness identification.

source: http://www.sciencedaily.com

Posted by Tom at 04:14:51 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Postpartum depression

It is nothing but the depression occurs after the pregnancy is called Postpartum depression. It makes the women feel restless, anxious, fatigued and worthless. Some new moms worry they will hurt themselves or their babies. It is caused by changes occurred in hormones and can run in families. Women with severe premenstrual syndrome are more likely to suffer from it.

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a condition that describes a range of Physical and emotional changes that many mothers can have after having a baby. PPD can be treated with medication and counseling. If you think you have suffer from PPD than talk to your family doctor or health-care that provide you right away.

There are three types of PPD women can have after giving birth:

1. The so called “baby blue” happens in many women in the days right after childbirth. A new mother can have sudden mood swings, such as feeling very happy and then feeling sad.She may cry for no reason and can feel impatient, restless, irritable, lonely and sad. The baby blue may last only a few hours or as long as one to two weeks after delivery.


2. Postpartum depression (PPD) can happen a few days or even months after child birth. PPD can happen after the birth of any child, not just the first child. A women can have feelings similar to the baby blues- sadness, despair, anxiety, irritability- but she feels them much more strongly than she would with the baby blues. PPD often keeps a woman from doing the things she needs to do every day. When a woman’s ability to function is affected, this is a sure that she needs health care.


3. Postpartum psychosis is a very serious mental illness that can affect new mothers. This illness can happen quickly, often within the first three months after childbirth. Women can lose touch with reality, often having auditory hallucinations (seeing things that aren’t actually happening, like a person talking) and delusions (seeing things differently from what they are). Other symptoms include insomnia (not being able to sleep), feeling agitated and angry and strange feelings and behaviors. Women who have postpartum psychosis need treatment right away and almost always need medication. Sometimes women are put into the hospital because they are at risk for hurting themselves or someone else.


Postpartum Depression

Almost every person may know what postpartum depression is, but for the sake of people who do not know about it here is the definition. Postpartum depression is the state which related to the pregnancy of the women, generally it is caused by changes occur in the hormones.

The birth of a baby can trigger a jumble of powerful emotions, from excitement and joy to fear and anxiety. But it can also result in something you might not expect- depression.
Many new moms experience the baby blues – a mild, short – lived depression – for a few days or weeks after childbirth. According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, about 10 percent of new moms experience postpartum depression – a more severe from of depression that can develop within the first six months after giving birth.

Postpartum depression affects 10-15% of women any time from a month to a year after childbirth. Women with postpartum depression may feel restless, anxious, fatigued and worthless. They may also have sleep difficulties and undergo unexplained weight loss or gain. Some new moms worry they will hurt themselves or their babies. Unlike the “baby blues” postpartum depression does not go away quickly. Very rarely, new moms develop something even more serious. They may stop eating, have trouble sleeping and became frantic or paranoid. Women with this condition usually need to be hospitalized.

Researchers aren’t sure what causes postpartum depression, but think that the dramatic shifts in hormone levels during pregnancy and immediately afterward may result in chemical change that can create ongoing stress and contribution to depression. The new mom’s responsibility for the baby, the household and her work duties upon returning after maternity leave may affect her risk of getting postpartum depression.

Researchers think that changes in women hormone levels during and after pregnancy may lead to postpartum depression. Researchers are making progress in understanding how changing hormone levels and other factors affect the brain after childbirth. They hope o develop better medications for treating postpartum depression b targeting the chemical pathways they’re uncovering.

Posted by Tom at 01:02:13 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |