![]() ![]() Is the focus on inflammation merely a new version of this? The theory that depression was caused by low levels of brain serotonin (called the “chemical imbalance theory”) was popular in the 1990s and early 2000s, but has been largely discredited. This is why a person who has an inflammatory disorder such as heart disease or arthritis is more likely to develop depression. Chronic stress causes an inflammatory cascade, leading to an increased likelihood of developing diseases linked to inflammation, and those inflammatory disorders increase the risk of depression. We believe inflammation is a critical factor in the mind-body connection. Heart disease, HIV, lupus, arthritis, diabetes, obesity, chronic pain and several forms of cancer have also been called inflammatory disorders. Chronic stress causes the body to produce high levels of cortisol, which can lead to depression, but depression itself ramps up the cortisol, which worsens the depression.ĭepression isn’t the only illness found to be caused by inflammation. If cortisol is a key culprit, is stress a leading cause of depression? They damage the glial cells, which causes them to release more cytokines, causing an inflammatory cascade. Instead, they start spitting out proteins called pro-inflammatory cytokines. Too much cortisol causes the glial cells to stop working properly. Depression can provoke chronically high levels of cortisol, the hormone that we produce when under stress. These are the brain’s caretakers: they supply the neurons with nutrients and oxygen, protect the brain from infections, and clean up the brain’s waste products, such as dead neurons. To understand what inflammation is and how it causes depression, you need to understand the role of the brain’s glial cells. In your book, you say that depression should be considered an inflammatory illness. She spoke to The Globe and Mail about cortisol, blueberry cures and why talking to someone is always a good idea. Diane McIntosh, a Vancouver-based psychiatrist, and assistant professor at the University of British Columbia and author of the new book, This is Depression: A Comprehensive, Compassionate Guide for Anyone who Wants to Understand Depression. One of Canada’s leading proponents of this thesis is Dr. The idea is that chronic stress causes hormonal dysregulation, and this leads to depression and other inflammatory disorders, such as arthritis, lupus, heart disease and even some forms of cancer. Now, a new theory about the cause of depression has emerged: That it is a disease caused by the body’s immune system. Canada has the world’s fourth-highest use of these drugs, according to a recent study from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. At the same time, so too has the consumption of antidepressants. Rates of depression have risen by more than 18-per-cent worldwide since 2005, according to the World Health Organization. This viewpoint helped reduce the stigma around mental illness, but did not provide a cure-all. (Sept.The idea that depression might be caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain – and not a moral failing – grew in popularity with the invention of the drug Prozac in the late ‘80s, and later with the marketing of this and other antidepressants. This work is a harrowing but enthralling account of an aspect of Canadian history that the country would prefer to forget but which continues to haunt. Nor can Canadians dismiss this as a tragedy from a now bygone era Metatawabin argues that recent legislation from the Stephen Harper government as a continuation of oppression. ![]() The horror of Metatawabin's account seem almost unbelievable, but it is all too factual, backed up with official documents. Only in recent years have victims won official acknowledgment and recompensation, often half-hearted and grudging. Anne's legacy end when its students escaped into the adult world as Metatawabin's account shows, survivors were plagued with alcoholism, self-loathing and all the other burdens of the abused, with their road to recovery long and difficult. Anne's stands out as one of the worst offenders children there were routinely humiliated, beaten, forced to eat vomit, electrocuted in a homemade electric chair, and sexually abused. In a school system infamous for its essential inhumanity, St. Anne's residential school in northern Ontario in 1955. ![]() Taken from his family by draconian Canadian laws intended to "kill the Indian in the child," young Edmund Metatawabin is brought to St. ![]()
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