Tag Archives: depressive symptoms

How a Concussion Can Lead to Depression Years Later

After brain injury, cells on ‘high alert’ prolong immune response, affecting behavior

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A head injury can lead immune-system brain cells to go on “high alert” and overreact to later immune challenges by becoming excessively inflammatory – a condition linked with depressive complications, a new animal study suggests.

The findings could help explain some of the midlife mental-health issues suffered by individuals who experience multiple concussions as young adults, researchers say. And these depressive symptoms are likely inflammation-related, which means they may not respond to common antidepressants. (more…)

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UCLA Psychologists Discover a Gene’s Link to Optimism, Self-Esteem

UCLA life scientists have identified for the first time a particular gene’s link to optimism, self-esteem and “mastery,” the belief that one has control over one’s own life — three critical psychological resources for coping well with stress and depression.

“I have been looking for this gene for a few years, and it is not the gene I expected,” said Shelley E. Taylor, a distinguished professor of psychology at UCLA and senior author of the new research. “I knew there had to be a gene for these psychological resources.” (more…)

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Smoking Increases Depressive Symptoms in Teens

While some teenagers may puff on cigarettes to “self-medicate” against the blues, scientists at the University of Toronto and the University of Montreal have found that smoking may actually increase depressive symptoms in some adolescents. Published in the journal Addictive Behaviors, the findings are part of the long-term Nicotine Dependence in Teens (NDIT) study based at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre.

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