Tag Archives: psychiatric

Caffeine withdrawal: A made-up condition included in the DSM-5

Disorders called caffeine intoxication and caffeine withdrawal join the likes of heroin and alcohol dependence in the fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM)—the organization’s official list of mental disorders. According to the DSM-5, too much coffee, cola or caffeine-laced gum can cause restlessness, nervousness, a red face and rambling speech.  And stopping caffeine suddenly can cause sleepiness and depressed mood. Is that really news?  No, it isn’t.  What is news is that the DSM-5, by overreaching so dramatically to pathologize every American and make all of us ripe for psychiatric medications covered by insurance, has finally helped all of us see the disservice the American Psychiatric Association (APA) is doing to America. Medicare and Medicaid, beware.  Both insurers should refuse payment for any psychiatric service supposedly delivered for caffeine intoxication and caffeine withdrawal – and other insurers should, too. What else could we expect, though, from an organization that also just created a disorder called binge eating disorder, a scourge defined as overeating a dozen times in three months?  Now, if you also have too much coffee at the end of those meals, you can have two disorders!   Caffeine is a common dietary ingredient in sodas.  It is found in coffee and tea, and it is consumed without ill effects by, perhaps, one hundred million Americans each day.  Focusing on caffeine as a drug, like heroin, is just a land grab for more patients.  Will sugar excitement syndrome be next?  How about post-food fatigue syndrome…

Pregnancy hormone may predict postpartum depression risk

Levels of a stress hormone released by the placenta could predict a woman's risk of developing postpartum depression, new research suggests. The new findings suggest that measuring levels of the hormone, called placental corticotropin-releasing hormone (pCRH), could one day help identify women who are prone to postpartum depression before they give birth. “Women who show high levels of this hormone prenatally are at increased risk,” said study co-author Laura Glynn, a psychologist at Chapman University in Orange, Calif. The study showed an association, not a cause-and-effect relationship, between pCRH levels and postpartum depression. Further research is needed to determine exactly how this link might work. The study was presented May 21 at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, and has not been published in a peer-reviewed journal. Placental clock The placenta, which lies within the uterus and provides nutrition to the baby, produces varying amounts of the hormone pCRH over the course of pregnancy, with a sharp rise shortly before birth. Scientists believe the hormone plays a role in timing when women deliver their babies. “It's been called the placental clock,” Glynn told LiveScience. Women who deliver prematurely, for instance, tend to show higher levels of pCRH than those who deliver at term. Depression link To understand how pCRH levels may be related to postpartum depression, Glynn and her colleagues measured hormone levels in the blood of 170 pregnant women at 15, 19, 25, 31 and 36 weeks of gestation. (Full-term pregnancies last 40 weeks.) The researchers also assessed the women's levels of depression at three and six months after giving birth. Women with high levels of pCRH around the middle of their pregnancies (at 25 weeks) were more likely to be depressed three months after giving birth, compared with women whose levels were lower at midpregnancy. The researchers didn't find a link between pCRH levels and depression at the six-month mark. Proactive treatment The findings could help identify women who are at risk of postpartum depression before they give birth so that health care professionals could intervene early. It can be hard for women struggling with new motherhood and depression to get help, but identifying at-risk women in the earlier stages of their pregnancies could make it easier for doctors to help. Its especially important to identify the risk early on because postpartum depression can have lasting effects. “Not only is mom suffering, but her suffering is going to influence the development of the infant in a pretty profound way,” Glynn said. Glynn isn't exactly sure why high pCRH levels might predict the risk of depression, but she said it could be because some women's hormonal systems take longer to return to their prepregnant states. The findings also suggest that postpartum depression that appears soon after birth may have different causes than depression that shows up later on. Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.source : http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/05/24/pregnancy-hormone-may-predict-postpartum-depression-risk/