"Research has enabled many men, women, and young people with cancer to survive and to lead fuller, more productive lives, both while they are undergoing treatment, and afterwards."

"Minor depression is a common disorder that may impair a person's functioning and quality of life and is a serious risk factor for major depression."

Diagnostic Evaluation and Treatment


The first step to getting appropriate treatment for depression is a physical examination by a physician. Certain medications as well as some medical conditions such as a viral infection, thyroid disorder, or low testosterone level can cause the same symptoms as depression, and the physician should rule out these possibilities through examination, interview, and lab tests. If no such cause of the depressive symptoms is found, the physician should do a psychological evaluation or refer the patient to a mental health professional.

A good diagnostic evaluation will include a complete history of symptoms: i.e., when they started, how long they have lasted, their severity, and whether the patient had them before and, if so, if the symptoms were treated and what treatment was given. The doctor should ask about alcohol and drug use, and if the patient has thoughts about death or suicide. Further, a history should include questions about whether other family members have had a depressive illness and, if treated, what treatments they may have received and if they were effective. Last, a diagnostic evaluation should include a mental status examination to determine if speech, thought patterns, or memory has been affected, as sometimes happens with depressive disorders.

Treatment choice will depend on the patients diagnosis, severity of symptoms, and preference. There are a variety of treatments, including medications and short term psychotherapies (i.e., talk therapies), that have proven effective for depressive disorders. In general, severe depressive illnesses, particularly those that are recurrent, will require a combination of treatments for the best outcome.

"Since normal depression can improve over time and without therapy, a brief period of medication may not be of benefit."

216/365 - artifice

bellybutton girl posted a photo:

Before I start, this is not a request for compliments or sympathy, it's me trying to express how I've been feeling because I'll be honest and say that today has been a bad day. I've been doing well mostly, but today mainly consisted of me feeling lacklustre about almost everything, crying a lot, then sleeping in an attempt to try to forget how I'm feeling.

You may remember my entry about photo manipulation and my view on the subject. Despite knowing my own mind on this, I'm aware of how many people still have a mindset about Photoshop being used primarily because people do not take the time to or do not know how to correctly light, expose or compose their photographs.

So, you know how it is when this sort of thing comes up, that even though you know your reasons for the way you work, and that you are satisfied with the final images you produce (though of course you know that you can always improve and develop and learn more), that these things play on your mind and begin to irk you, and irk you moreso because you hear yourself defending yourself or justifying yourself in your own mind, even though you know you don't have to.

I've been annoyed at myself for neglecting my 365 days series lately though I know my reasons for this and no one would begrudge me having some "downtime" with it. It is, after all, my puppy. No one else is holding a gun to my head forcing me to do it, that's my finger on the trigger. If I stopped tomorrow I would probably be the only person who was highly disappointed in me. Others might even be relieved.

But I was feeling more positive about things and a bit more inspired and ready to spend the time on something more substantial today.

Except that I am my own worst enemy. The heat made me irritable within a short time after showering, even with a fan on me whilst I shot; my face has expressed its annoyance at the heat and my hormones by breaking out again though it had been relatively clear for about a week; and it seems lately that every time I shoot I see nothing but "bad sides", and on days like today I'm aware of all the imperfections and faults in my physique and appearance. I feel like I am constantly hiding the parts of me I don't like or feel uncomfortable about other people seeing, and I mentally cross off photographic compositions or set-ups that I would like to use because of these myriad factors.

Add to that my cluttered apartment where all available settings have been used over and over and over again, and I just lost all optimism and inclination to do anything but curl up in a ball.

I tried to edit this shot three times before I gave up and went to my room to do just that and then slept. I didn't wake up feeling that much better, but I managed to get an edit of the shot that I can deal with.

One thing I became more aware of from all this over-thinking and dissatisfaction and upset, is that when it comes to my self-portraiture, although sometimes there are issues with my lighting due to not having any lamps specifically for the purpose, in most instances the lighting and composition and set-up are fine. it's my own dissatisfaction with my appearance that usually prompts my use of Photoshop beyond basic contrast, levels and colour adjustments.

The image below is the original of the above shot without any alterations beyond resizing and saving for web as jpeg from the original RAW file. The exposure on my pale legs and arms is pretty much spot on, it's hard to avoid my limbs and torso blowing out usually. The imprint on my right knee doesn't bother me at all, I kind of like it. The only thing that should be an issue for me with this image as shot is that I cut off my right foot.

But you know what bothered me more about the image and why I felt I had to do more with it than just minor modifications to colour, contrast and levels? My freckles and my blemishes, both of which don't really stand out when viewed at the size I put my images online, and the overall tone of my face compared to the rest of me.

I'm completely aware of how vain and stupid that sounds, and I'm annoyed at myself for feeling that way, but consequently I would never be able to bring myself to display or sell that image full size without altering it. I could have worn makeup to attempt to even the tone of my skin and hide the blemishes, but on a day like today make-up would just serve to make my skin take longer to clear up.

Some days I feel comfortable in my own skin and happy with who I am as a person.

Days like today I'm reminded of the stories of people on acid* trying to remove the skin on their face because its imperfections offend them so much.

*whether real or an urban myth, the idea still applies

"Psychotherapy is almost always the first treatment of choice, except in cases where depressive symptoms are so severe or critical that immediate relief is necessary to restore functioning and to prevent immediate and severe consequences."

Download Stress Reliever

"Some people with milder forms of depression may do well with psychotherapy alone and people with moderate to severe depression most often benefit from antidepressants, but most do best with combined treatment: medication to gain relatively quick symptom relief and psychotherapy to learn more effective ways to deal with life's problems, including depression."

Anxiety Stress And Anxiety

"It is important to keep taking medication until it has a chance to work, though side effects (see section on Side Effects, pages 19 20) may appear before antidepressant activity does."

Stress Balls

"Research has revealed that people with alcoholism are almost twice as likely as those without alcoholism to also suffer from major depression."

Nuclear Stress Test Results

"We still do not know if depression is truly less common among men, or if men are just less likely than women to recognize, acknowledge, and seek help for depression."