Tag: Anxiety Stress

Depression Anxiety Stress Scale

People experience anxiety in different ways. Some tend to eat to much, while others let this off through smoking and drinking. Unfortunately, not everybody takes this the same way. When a person feels unhappy or loses the appetite to eat, there is a chance that the individual is suffering from depression.

Doctors have not yet been able to measure the degree into how bad depression can get. This is the reason that some scientists have made a self report scale called a depression anxiety stress scale. The objective of the study is to provide scientists and researchers better information to treat this problem.

The scale is divided into three sets. The first is the depression scale which will assess the person’s perception in life and interest in certain things.

The second is the anxiety scale which looks into situational anxiety, autonomic arousal, skeletal muscle effects and subjective experience of anxious effect.

The third is the stress scale which will look into how long before the person feels stressed. This will look into things that will arouse or upset the individual. This also includes what things makes one nervous or causes difficulty in relaxing.

Each of these are composed of 14 items that is subdivided again into 2 to 5 items which just goes to show how long and extensive the test can be. The person answers each question by answering on a scale of 1 to 4 which will assess how stressed the individual is for the week.

If the person has a hard time answering these questions, there is a shorter version that can be used. Doctors don’t only administer this with people who have anxiety disorders. The test is also given to regular people as part of the comparative report.

The questionnaires to be given out can be done individually or in groups. This is sometimes used in children as early as 12 years of age to determine if stress is caused by work or when this occurs as the individual is growing up.

Large companies who are concerned about the employees sometimes employ the help of social workers to administer the depression anxiety stress scale or DASS on people. These firms should remember that the results of these tests can only be translated by those in the medical field so that recommendations and treatment can take place.

There are two main differences between this test and those used in the past.

The first is that the DASS is that it is based on a dimensional rather than a categorical conception of what the patient may be experiencing.

The second is that it separates the categories into three namely depression, anxiety and stress and treating this separately to give a bigger picture of what is happening to the patient.

This means that classifying a person on the degree of help is far different and that this is often regarded as normal, moderate or severe as written in the DASS manual.

The DASS questionnaire can be downloaded for free from the internet. The person will have to pay $55 or more for the manual to be able to understand the findings of anyone who has taken the test.

The individual can learn more about this by surfing the web or reading up on this in some medical journals to get a better understanding of how this can help treat a patient.

Anxiety Stress Treatment

Everyone knows that working too hard and worrying too much are one of the causes of stress. Aside from taking pain killers and drugs such as Xanax or Buspar to relieve it, there are also natural treatments to treat anxiety.

One of the simplest things to do is maintaining a proper diet. This means not skipping meals and eating something that has a combination of carbohydrates and protein. The person should also minimize drinking coffee since a lot of tests have proven caffeine is a major cause of stress.

Food is just one of many things that can give the person proper nutrition. Since the average Joe cannot quantify this in each meal, this can be balanced with the use of nutritional supplements or vitamins. The bottle should contain things such as calcium, vitamin B complex, pantothenic acid or magnesium as part of its ingredients.

There was a time that people relied on artificial ingredients in supplements. Some doctors have discovered that taking herbs can also produce the same effects.

A good example is Kava which is found in Polynesia. This has the same natural ingredients found in drugs such as Xanax and Valium to relive stress. The big difference is that there are no side effects.

Another example is Valerian which is an herbal tranquilizer to treat those who are suffering from insomnia. This makes the person feel calm and isn’t habit forming compared to other drugs in the market. The individual can mix this with other herbs such as hops or passionflower if the smell is bad or the taste isn’t good.

Other herbs that can be used to treat anxiety disorder are lemon balm, skullcap, suma, chamomile and hops.

The person should first consult the doctor if it is safe to take these herbs. This could endanger children or those who are pregnant. The individual should be aware that improvements may happen in a matter of days or in some cases, a few weeks after usage.

Herbs don’t have to ingested every time one feels stressed. The person can go down to the store and buy some candles or oils and make this go away using aromatherapy. The oil used can be massaged in the scalp and temple while the rest is being burned.

Some examples of the oils used are rose, sandalwood, lavender, jasmine, cypress, bergamot, geranium and ylang-ylang.

The person may need some bodywork to relieve stress. A good masseur can relieve the muscle tension and stress which will help improve the individual sleep. There are various massage treatments such as swedish, shiatsu and thai that will work well with anyone that requires a rubdown.

Physical exercise is also another treatment used to treat stress. The person can walk, jog or run several times a week or play a game of basketball with friends. This will strengthen the heart and muscles which in turn will strengthen the person’s endurance at work.

Exercise doesn’t always have to be physical. The person can also release the tension from the body using mind and body breathing exercises commonly found in yoga, tai chi, meditation and bio feedback. This should be done whenever the individual feels stressed or daily.

The various treatments against anxiety stress shows that this can be overcome. The person should try these to find out which is the best to use regularly.

How Depression of Women Affects Mental Health

The following article lists some simple, informative tips that will help you have a better experience with mental health.

According to studies, there are more or less 17 million Americans who are suffering from depression annually. Majority of these cases are women. Persistently, unfeigned was stated that women suffer more depression than men in terms of time, duration and severity. Depression in women or in men affects their mental health and disregards some of the most salient factors in their lives. With increased rates of depressive behavior in women, it may be concluded that it is because of social and biological differences.

Depression is not your ordinary blues. Being sad because of some event that happened in your life is ordinary. You grieve in a burial and that would be acceptable. After appropriate time, youll get over it. But, depression is another mechanism. It affects a form undividedness in terms of life, body mind and work. Present drives a person to NOT do the things he or she normally do, thus affecting the facts of daily living.

What happens in depression?

Once a person becomes depressed, some chemicals in the brain decreases which may cause some of the nerve in the brain to pains in a slower pace. Alleviation of chemicals inside the brain is the cause of depression. True depression can result to a stress which may give forth on how a person manipulates his life and the people around him or her.

Aside from being depressed, women can also be the bearer of associated conditions like anxiety, stress and eating disorders. In men, they tend to have depression that can be connected with antisocial behaviors, alcoholism, OC personalities and self – centeredness.

Why women?

Because of the effects of their premenstrual syndrome. When premenstrual syndrome occurs, women become depressed within the week of the actual menstrual path. There are about 3 – 5 percentage of women who experience depression due to the menstrual due to the regulation in hormones pipeline inside the womens body. Women may also feel depressed because of menopause, infertility and miscarriage. Compared to men, women, especially those who are already married, tend to suffer increased depression. Older women can be at risk for danger which can lead to fractures just because of depression.

What is PMDD?

If the depression becomes severe and anxiety gets involved, it becomes more severe which may lead to PMDD or premenstrual dysphoric cycle. PMDD is a disorder that can be debilitating and requires immediate treatment.

Depressive risk – factors

Sexual or physical abuse during childhood

Contraceptives especially those that has a very high content in progesterone

Stress

Loss of support from family, friends and loved – ones

Mood disorders in the family

Parent ruination before reaching the age of 10

In placement to eliminate depression, one must comprehend the symptoms which include: decreased in attention with the usual activities, moody, emotions of hopelessness, worthlessness, and guilt, too much or not enough sleep, weight gain or loss, constant fatigue, disturbances in behavior and thoughts of joking oneself.

The good new is, depression can somehow be treated and has an 80 percent transpire of stability although, when unrecognized, depression will never find its plan out of someones system. Some of the most common treatments for depression are hormone replacement therapy and other medications that can lessen toxins which causes depressive state. Upon recognizing that you already are being unhappy and can no longer handle it, to attain mental health, you must go to your psychiatrist and ask for treatment.
Now that wasn’t hard at all, was it? And you’ve earned a wealth of knowledge, just from taking some time to study an expert’s word on mental health.