European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 09, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Welcome to the age of melancholy by Daniel Goleman the new York times f the 20th Century  the age of anxiety its exit is witnessing the Dawn of the age of melancholy. The first International study of major depression reveals a steady Rise in the disorder worldwide. In nations As diverse As Taiwan Lebanon and new zealand each successive generation is growing More vulnerable to the malady. In some countries the likelihood that people born after 1955 will suffer a major depression not just sadness but a paralysing listlessness dejection and self deprecation As Well As an. Overwhelming sense of hopelessness at some Point in life is More than three times greater than for their grandparents generation the experts acknowledge that some of the increase May be due to greater willingness to discuss mental illness or More efficient reporting methods. But they say these factors do not come close to explaining the entire increase. They can Only speculate about Why one Price of modernity should be the spread of melancholy. Competing explanations Range from a loss of beliefs in cod or an afterlife that can Buffer people against life s setbacks to the stresses of industrialization to the distress created in women by the spread of unattainable ideals of female Beauty to exposure to toxic substances. We Don t really know what is making the rates of depression Rise there Are several possible explanations but the increase is unmistakable said or. Myrna Weissman a psychiatric epidemiologist at the new York state psychiatric Institute tuesday february 9, 1993 who directed the new study. In 1989, Weissman and her colleagues published results from five. Cities in the United states showing an increasing risk of depression at some Point in life for younger americans. For example of those americans born before 1905, Only 1 percent had suffered a major depression by age 75 of those born since 1955, 6 percent had become depressed by age 24. That trend was corroborated earlier this year by a six year study of 956 american men and women which found that those under 40 were three times More Likely to become severely depressed than were older groups. The current findings suggest this trend is worldwide. An International team conducted the new study which was reported in the current Issue of the journal of the american medical association. In the study the same methods were used by research teams to assess depression and ask about any past episodes in More than 39,000 randomly chosen men and women in the United states puerto Rico Canada. Italy Germany France Taiwan Lebanon and new zealand. The study showed that for each successive generation maj6r depression was Likely to begin at earlier Ages and that Over the course of a lifetime a greater number of people would at some Point have at least one episode of severe depression. For example in Florence Italy those born Between 1945 and 1955 were beginning to show an increase in the rates of depression compared with previous generations by the time they reached 15. By the time they reached 30, the rate of depression for that Post War generation was about 18 percent while for those born Between 1905 and 1914 it was about 8 percent Over the course of a lifetime. Often missed signs of depression four symptom Are frequently mistaken for signs of a medical disorder or drug Side effect o appetite loss or increase or gain or loss of More than 5 percent of body weight in a month. T insomnia or sleeping much More than usual. Fidgeting or agitation or extremely slow movements or speech. Fatigue or loss of Energy. Flat symptom Are clearly signs of depression but when patients do not mention them or physicians ignore them the diagnosis is missed an irritable or sad mood. A marked toss of interest or pleasure in favorite activities. Feelings of worthlessness or excessive guilt. Inability to concentrate or make everyday decisions. Recurrent thoughts of suicide or death. Health trends finding the Best Way to Stop smoking Yjean Margelu the Baltimore Sun first the bad news every year about 17 million americans try to quit smoking. A year later almost 16 million of them have started smoking again. But when you consider that smoking is responsible for about 430,000 deaths a year even if just a Small percentage of smokers can quit every year y0u re  Saidur. Donald Jasinski director of the Center for chemical dependence in Baltimore. Smokers should be even More motivated this year to quit the environmental Protection Agency has classified second hand smoke As a Carcinogen responsible for the deaths of some 3,000 nonsmokers a year. The ruling is expected to result in further restrictions  where smoking is allowed. But As always the problem remains How to quit it s not easy otherwise Why would 50 million americans still smoke different things work for different people said Dana Shelton a scientist with the National centers for disease control and prevention in Atlanta. Ironically for All the methods out there the vast majority of successful quitters did it on their own usually cold Turkey Shelton discovered. But that does t mean other methods Are worthless those sex smokers May have tried other methods and benefited from them in previous attempts to Stop smoking before finally quitting on their own she said. Shelton offers these tips for smokers trying to choose among the myriad of programs available to help get them off cigarettes find out if the program includes a specific Date for quitting. Smoking cessation programs Are More effective if there is a target Date for quitting she said. Ask what happens after that Date. Relapse prevention should be part of the program. They have to let smokers know what to expect Down the Road she said. Ask the program s Success rate and be wary of programs claiming near 100 percent. The Standard measure of Success is one year of abstinence she said. Don t despair if you Aren t successful the first or second or third time around. Keep trying different methods until one Sticks. People on the average make five or six separate attempts to quit before they re successful said or. Neil Grunberg a professor of psychology at the University of the health sciences in Bethesda my. Smokers need to individual a their approaches even if they re joining a group or following a particular method because people smoke for so Many different reasons and under so Many different situations he said. Still there is perhaps one thing that characterizes the ones who manage to quit for Good he said. The individual who successfully quits he said is highly  the stars and stripes 17