When you have a condition like multiple sclerosis, it’s vital to pay close attention to the physical symptoms and limitations of the condition. Things like difficulty walking, changes in vision, and increasing fatigue all have a significant impact on daily life and can provide signals of disease progress. Because patients and doctors alike can be so focused on the physical symptoms, it’s easy to forget about the mental and emotional implications of multiple sclerosis. Mood changes, like depression and anxiety, are just as important as physical changes. Depression has been found to be  ..read more

Feeling sad or down is a normal human emotion. It’s natural to feel negative feelings like sadness or depression when facing a life challenge, such as losing a job, the passing of a loved one, or facing a serious illness. These are usually short-lived and don’t interfere with daily living. But when these feelings become persistent, intensify, and interrupt day-to-day life, a mood disorder like major depressive disorder might be present.   Major depressive disorder is a serious mental illness that significantly impairs a person’s ability to function, causing changes in mood, behavior ..read more

It’s normal to feel down sometimes. It’s even normal to feel hopeless or in despair about a particular situation or circumstance. These feelings are temporary. They may last anywhere from a few hours to a few days and cause minimal disturbance in your day-to-day activities. But, when these feelings become constant, more intense, and lasts for more than two weeks, you may have major depressive disorder. What is Clinical or Major Depression? Major depressive disorder, or clinical depression, is a serious mental illness that can interfere with daily activities like work, school, sleep, and leisur ..read more

As the weather gets colder and days become shorter, you may notice you have less energy, feel a little less optimistic and spend more time alone. While this may not be a cause for concern, about 5% of the U.S population experience seasonal depression during the fall and winter months.   Seasonal depression, or seasonal affective disorder (SAD), is a subtype of depression that begins and ends around the same time every year. This recurrent pattern generally begins in the fall or early winter ..read more

Suicide claims the lives of over 47,500 people every year in the United States. When a person dies by suicide, it affects family, friends, and communities, leaving them lost, confused, and in some cases, feeling responsible for their death.   “Death by suicide” means intentionally ending your own life. It’s often a way for people who are suffering to escape their pain when they feel like there are no solutions to their problems and have lost hope of getting better. Many people think about suicide. In 2019, there was an estimated 1.38 million suicide attempts in the United States. A suicid ..read more

Life gets tough sometimes, and you may start to feel stressed or down. Over the last few weeks, or months, you’ve noticed you’re having more bad days than good – you’re less productive at work, spending more time alone, and haven’t been able to sleep.  Something feels different from the normal ups and downs you’ve experienced before. So you go to the doctor and tell them how you’ve been feeling, and how long you’ve been feeling that way. The doctor says it sounds like you are depressed, and that you might have major depressive disorder.  Major depressive disorder is one of the most c ..read more

Celebrities have it all – status, wealth, power, resources, luck – or so we think. From the outside, they don’t appear to struggle with mental or emotional health and seemingly have it all together. But looks can be deceiving. Celebrities have real feelings and mental health issues that interfere with daily living. On the inside, celebrities are just like everyone else.  Until recently, it was taboo for anyone to speak up about personal mental health issues for fear of judgement and ridicule. But the stigma of depression has slowly lifted as celebrities have bravely opened up about their ..read more

In honor of World Mental Health Day, we asked PatientsLikeMe member Laura (thisdiva99) to take over our Instagram feed for the day. Laura is a professional opera singer, Massachusetts native, a member of the PatientslikeMe Team of Advisors, and is living with bipolar disorder. She gave us a glimpse into a day in her life, Check out the images and captions below to see what she shared. Hello my Instagram compatriots! Laura here. Some people start the day with hearty oatmeals, or eggs fortified with kale. I start my day with a champion #bipolar breakfast of vitamin supplements and mood sta ..read more

Fifty percent of people with chronic pain also have depression, pain management experts say. And more than 75 percent of patients with depression report pain-related symptoms (such as headaches, stomach pain, neck and back pain), according to the World Health Organization. The pain/depression connection raises a lot of questions for some people who experience both: Which came first: pain or depression? Does one cause the other? How can they be treated? We’re exploring the link between mental and physical health and what your community has reported on PatientsLikeMe. “Completely intertwined” C ..read more

Studies have shown that practicing yoga can have positive effects on people with depression. So we tapped Jamie – a PatientsLikeMe research assistant who is also a certified yoga instructor – to show us some poses with mental health in mind. She put together a 5-minute, beginner-level flow that you can try at home. (As always, check with your doctor before trying a new type of exercise.) “I practice yoga to manage my mental and physical health, and to bring mindfulness to my day,” Jamie says. Don’t speak yogi? Here’s a breakdown of the poses (and phrases) featured in the video, plus some of t ..read more