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Steps to beating depression


SAMHSA’s National Helpline | SAMHSA

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  • SAMHSA’s National Helpline is a free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service (in English and Spanish) for individuals and families facing mental and/or substance use disorders.

    Also visit the online treatment locator.

SAMHSA’s National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357) (also known as the Treatment Referral Routing Service), or TTY: 1-800-487-4889 is a confidential, free, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year, information service, in English and Spanish, for individuals and family members facing mental and/or substance use disorders. This service provides referrals to local treatment facilities, support groups, and community-based organizations.

Also visit the online treatment locator, or send your zip code via text message: 435748 (HELP4U) to find help near you. Read more about the HELP4U text messaging service.

The service is open 24/7, 365 days a year.

English and Spanish are available if you select the option to speak with a national representative. Currently, the 435748 (HELP4U) text messaging service is only available in English.

In 2020, the Helpline received 833,598 calls. This is a 27 percent increase from 2019, when the Helpline received a total of 656,953 calls for the year.

The referral service is free of charge. If you have no insurance or are underinsured, we will refer you to your state office, which is responsible for state-funded treatment programs. In addition, we can often refer you to facilities that charge on a sliding fee scale or accept Medicare or Medicaid. If you have health insurance, you are encouraged to contact your insurer for a list of participating health care providers and facilities.

The service is confidential. We will not ask you for any personal information. We may ask for your zip code or other pertinent geographic information in order to track calls being routed to other offices or to accurately identify the local resources appropriate to your needs.

No, we do not provide counseling. Trained information specialists answer calls, transfer callers to state services or other appropriate intake centers in their states, and connect them with local assistance and support.

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    For additional resources, please visit the SAMHSA Store.

Last Updated: 08/30/2022

Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs

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Misusing alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs can have both immediate and long-term health effects.

The misuse and abuse of alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs, and prescription medications affect the health and well-being of millions of Americans. NSDUH estimates allow researchers, clinicians, policymakers, and the general public to better understand and improve the nation’s behavioral health. These reports and detailed tables present estimates from the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH).

Alcohol

Data:

  • Among the 133.1 million current alcohol users aged 12 or older in 2021, 60.0 million people (or 45.1%) were past month binge drinkers. The percentage of people who were past month binge drinkers was highest among young adults aged 18 to 25 (29.2% or 9.8 million people), followed by adults aged 26 or older (22.4% or 49.3 million people), then by adolescents aged 12 to 17 (3.8% or 995,000 people). (2021 NSDUH)
  • Among people aged 12 to 20 in 2021, 15.1% (or 5.9 million people) were past month alcohol users. Estimates of binge alcohol use and heavy alcohol use in the past month among underage people were 8.3% (or 3.2 million people) and 1.6% (or 613,000 people), respectively. (2021 NSDUH)
  • In 2020, 50.0% of people aged 12 or older (or 138.5 million people) used alcohol in the past month (i.e., current alcohol users) (2020 NSDUH)
  • Among the 138.5 million people who were current alcohol users, 61.6 million people (or 44.4%) were classified as binge drinkers and 17.7 million people (28.8% of current binge drinkers and 12.8% of current alcohol users) were classified as heavy drinkers (2020 NSDUH)
  • The percentage of people who were past month binge alcohol users was highest among young adults aged 18 to 25 (31. 4%) compared with 22.9% of adults aged 26 or older and 4.1% of adolescents aged 12 to 17 (2020 NSDUH)
  • Excessive alcohol use can increase a person’s risk of stroke, liver cirrhosis, alcoholic hepatitis, cancer, and other serious health conditions
  • Excessive alcohol use can also lead to risk-taking behavior, including driving while impaired. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 29 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver daily

Programs/Initiatives:

  • STOP Underage Drinking interagency portal - Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking
  • Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking
  • Talk. They Hear You.
  • Underage Drinking: Myths vs. Facts
  • Talking with your College-Bound Young Adult About Alcohol

Relevant links:

  • National Association of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors
  • Department of Transportation Office of Drug & Alcohol Policy & Compliance
  • Alcohol Policy Information Systems Database (APIS)
  • National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

Tobacco

Data:

  • In 2020, 20. 7% of people aged 12 or older (or 57.3 million people) used nicotine products (i.e., used tobacco products or vaped nicotine) in the past month (2020 NSDUH)
  • Among past month users of nicotine products, nearly two thirds of adolescents aged 12 to 17 (63.1%) vaped nicotine but did not use tobacco products. In contrast, 88.9% of past month nicotine product users aged 26 or older used only tobacco products (2020 NSDUH)
  • Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death, often leading to lung cancer, respiratory disorders, heart disease, stroke, and other serious illnesses. The CDC reports that cigarette smoking causes more than 480,000 deaths each year in the United States
  • The CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health reports that more than 16 million Americans are living with a disease caused by smoking cigarettes

Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use data:

  • In 2021, 13.2 million people aged 12 or older (or 4.7%) used an e-cigarette or other vaping device to vape nicotine in the past month. The percentage of people who vaped nicotine was highest among young adults aged 18 to 25 (14.1% or 4.7 million people), followed by adolescents aged 12 to 17 (5.2% or 1.4 million people), then by adults aged 26 or older (3.2% or 7.1 million people).
  • Among people aged 12 to 20 in 2021, 11.0% (or 4.3 million people) used tobacco products or used an e-cigarette or other vaping device to vape nicotine in the past month. Among people in this age group, 8.1% (or 3.1 million people) vaped nicotine, 5.4% (or 2.1 million people) used tobacco products, and 3.4% (or 1.3 million people) smoked cigarettes in the past month. (2021 NSDUH)
  • Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2020 National Youth Tobacco Survey. Among both middle and high school students, current use of e-cigarettes declined from 2019 to 2020, reversing previous trends and returning current e-cigarette use to levels similar to those observed in 2018
  • E-cigarettes are not safe for youth, young adults, or pregnant women, especially because they contain nicotine and other chemicals

Resources:

  • Tips for Teens: Tobacco
  • Tips for Teens: E-cigarettes
  • Implementing Tobacco Cessation Programs in Substance Use Disorder Treatment Settings
  • Synar Amendment Program

Links:

  • Truth Initiative
  • FDA Center for Tobacco Products
  • CDC Office on Smoking and Health
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse: Tobacco, Nicotine, and E-Cigarettes
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse: E-Cigarettes

Opioids

Data:

  • Among people aged 12 or older in 2021, 3. 3% (or 9.2 million people) misused opioids (heroin or prescription pain relievers) in the past year. Among the 9.2 million people who misused opioids in the past year, 8.7 million people misused prescription pain relievers compared with 1.1 million people who used heroin. These numbers include 574,000 people who both misused prescription pain relievers and used heroin in the past year. (2021 NSDUH)
  • Among people aged 12 or older in 2020, 3.4% (or 9.5 million people) misused opioids in the past year. Among the 9.5 million people who misused opioids in the past year, 9.3 million people misused prescription pain relievers and 902,000 people used heroin (2020 NSDUH)
  • According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Understanding the Epidemic, an average of 128 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose

Resources:

  • Medication-Assisted Treatment
  • Opioid Overdose Prevention Toolkit
  • TIP 63: Medications for Opioid Use Disorder
  • Use of Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder in Criminal Justice Settings
  • Opioid Use Disorder and Pregnancy
  • Clinical Guidance for Treating Pregnant and Parenting Women With Opioid Use Disorder and Their Infants
  • The Facts about Buprenorphine for Treatment of Opioid Addiction
  • Pregnancy Planning for Women Being Treated for Opioid Use Disorder
  • Tips for Teens: Opioids
  • Rural Opioid Technical Assistance Grants
  • Tribal Opioid Response Grants
  • Provider’s Clinical Support System - Medication Assisted Treatment Grant Program

Links:

  • National Institute on Drug Abuse: Opioids
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse: Heroin
  • HHS Prevent Opioid Abuse
  • Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America
  • Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC) Network
  • Prevention Technology Transfer Center (PTTC) Network

Marijuana

Data:

  • In 2021, marijuana was the most commonly used illicit drug, with 18. 7% of people aged 12 or older (or 52.5 million people) using it in the past year. The percentage was highest among young adults aged 18 to 25 (35.4% or 11.8 million people), followed by adults aged 26 or older (17.2% or 37.9 million people), then by adolescents aged 12 to 17 (10.5% or 2.7 million people).
  • The percentage of people who used marijuana in the past year was highest among young adults aged 18 to 25 (34.5%) compared with 16.3% of adults aged 26 or older and 10.1% of adolescents aged 12 to 17 (2020 NSDUH)
  • Marijuana can impair judgment and distort perception in the short term and can lead to memory impairment in the long term
  • Marijuana can have significant health effects on youth and pregnant women.

Resources:

  • Know the Risks of Marijuana
  • Marijuana and Pregnancy
  • Tips for Teens: Marijuana

Relevant links:

  • National Institute on Drug Abuse: Marijuana
  • Addiction Technology Transfer Centers on Marijuana
  • CDC Marijuana and Public Health

Emerging Trends in Substance Misuse:

  • Methamphetamine—In 2019, NSDUH data show that approximately 2 million people used methamphetamine in the past year. Approximately 1 million people had a methamphetamine use disorder, which was higher than the percentage in 2016, but similar to the percentages in 2015 and 2018. The National Institute on Drug Abuse Data shows that overdose death rates involving methamphetamine have quadrupled from 2011 to 2017. Frequent meth use is associated with mood disturbances, hallucinations, and paranoia.
  • Cocaine—In 2019, NSDUH data show an estimated 5.5 million people aged 12 or older were past users of cocaine, including about 778,000 users of crack. The CDC reports that overdose deaths involving have increased by one-third from 2016 to 2017. In the short term, cocaine use can result in increased blood pressure, restlessness, and irritability. In the long term, severe medical complications of cocaine use include heart attacks, seizures, and abdominal pain.
  • Kratom—In 2019, NSDUH data show that about 825,000 people had used Kratom in the past month. Kratom is a tropical plant that grows naturally in Southeast Asia with leaves that can have psychotropic effects by affecting opioid brain receptors. It is currently unregulated and has risk of abuse and dependence. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that health effects of Kratom can include nausea, itching, seizures, and hallucinations.

Resources:

  • Tips for Teens: Methamphetamine
  • Tips for Teens: Cocaine
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse

More SAMHSA publications on substance use prevention and treatment.

Last Updated: 01/05/2023

Beat depression without drugs? | PSYCHOLOGIES

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Practices how to

Lack of sunlight and warmth can make us vulnerable to depression. However, bouts of depression are not always associated with the seasons. Its symptoms are often so comprehensive and at the same time elusive that understanding how to deal with it is not easy in itself.

The most important thing is not to lose control over your condition. If this happens, it is best to contact a specialist. However, it is quite possible to remove the black veil from the eyes on your own. Although this often requires overcoming considerable internal resistance.

Why, even when we imagine how to get out of depression, can't we take action?

"We develop defensive responses that distort reality and make us accept depression or create a subconscious belief that we don't deserve to feel better," writes Rydard O'Connor, author of Depression Canceled.

If you find yourself sinking deeper into depression, try starting with a few small goals and working your way up. Carefully reveal ourselves, starting with the body and gradually moving to our inner state and way of thinking, which prevent us from living a full life.

1. Wake up your body

When you're depressed, just getting out of bed can already be a grueling task. Meanwhile, affecting the physical state may be the easiest. You don't have to go to the gym, run a mile every morning. Try to include movement exercises in your daily routine and do what you enjoy.

Move slowly but steadily . Turn on the music and move to the beat, take the stairs instead of the elevator, park your car further than usual and walk to work.

Practice yoga . Many studies by psychologists have confirmed that regular yoga classes help reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety, and nervous tension. Start with basic exercises, for them it is not necessary to have serious training.

Dance . Dancing not only helps to awaken energy, but also establishes contact with the body: you begin to feel the rhythm, better control your movements. Now there are many options, and you can choose dances to your liking: sensual bachata or incendiary boogie-woogie.

2. Get in touch with your emotions

“Depressed people have a special talent for suppressing feelings,” writes Richard O'Connor. “A lot of suffering is caused precisely by our fears and the habits that we develop to avoid emotions.”

Keep a mood journal . Describe your experiences, not forgetting the circumstances in which they arose. Soon your powers of observation will increase and you will understand what is causing them. By understanding this, it will be easier for you to bring them under control.

Learn to express emotions . Instead of trying to control your feelings, learn to express them. Expressing emotions helps to feel them better. Safe, through the game. Start with a partner, with a friend. Play on stage or in role-playing games where you need to get used to the character.

Open to loved ones . Moving away from others and trying to hide our feelings, we only feed our depression. Our fears and suspicions create the illusion of our weakness and helplessness. But it can be easily dispelled - just talk to those who are nearby. One conversation is enough to make your fears seem far-fetched to you.

3. Reshape your thinking

You can't just tell yourself to think differently. Pretending that everything is fine, when in fact everything around is annoying, should not be done either. Instead, try replacing negative thoughts with constructive ones. To do this, follow these steps.

Allow yourself imperfection . Negative thinking is often fueled by low self-esteem. And the latter, in turn, is associated with dissatisfaction with oneself. But what if, instead of trying to reach a deliberately high standard, you admit that you are good and so.

Neutralize the inner critic . You may feel ashamed, detached, tired. Remind yourself what your depression is saying to you. Your severe critic does not really exist - so let yourself feel the absurdity of his accusations. Imagine that every person is followed by an angry and grouchy grumbler and comments on his every move. The more ridiculous the picture you paint, the easier it will be to get rid of the power of the critic.

Defocus yourself . This does not mean admitting your own unimportance. But the constant chewing of your emotions and actions takes you further and further from reality. And if you show interest in others, you will not only be able to switch, but also get the “strokes” that are so necessary for self-esteem.

Book on the topic

David Servan-Schreiber “Antistress. How to overcome stress, anxiety and depression without drugs and psychoanalysis”

The arsenal of dealing with anxiety and depression is not limited to the psychoanalyst's couch. We can help ourselves a lot. "Antistress" is the second book translated into Russian by the outstanding doctor and psychotherapist David Servan-Schreiber.

Text: Anton Soldatov Photo source: Getty Images

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5 steps to prolong life and defeat depression

slow down signs of aging, improve health. If your relatives and friends in old age had a stroke, vascular dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and any "senile insanity". If you are constantly suffering from depression, then this article is for you. We offer you 5 steps to prolong life, improve the condition of your brain and especially to defeat depression:

Step #1. Watch the webinar on how to beat depression

Depression accelerates aging and, in later life, can be seen as a precursor to dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, and can cause dementia. Depression shortens life, and not just from suicide. Depression increases the risk of both cancer and cardiovascular disease. Depression cannot be cured by one remedy, unless by accident. Depression is a multifactorial condition that can be influenced by a range of psychological, biological, social, lifestyle, dietary and environmental factors. The combination of pharmacological and psychological treatments increases the coverage of target variables, but there are a number of factors that are still ignored.

Step #2. Make laboratory tests (tests and ultrasound)

The proposed diagnostic panel of markers allows you to assess the main risks of mortality from age-related diseases in order to prolong life, but with an emphasis on anti-aging of the brain and the search for the main causes of depression. In young people, depression begins more often due to stress, which can be determined by the level of cortisol in saliva during the day. Depression in later life can be seen as a precursor to dementia and is often associated with age-related inflammatory diseases. Dementia is a breakdown of mental functions that occurs as a result of brain damage, most often in old age. In the people, senile dementia is called senile insanity. The most common form of dementia is Alzheimer's disease, followed by vascular dementia. Alzheimer's disease is incurable and leads to a gradual loss of cognitive functions, then to disability and death over several years. This panel of markers allows you to diagnose most of the known causes of depression and reduce the risk of dementia in the future, so that you can remain in good health and in a good mood for as many years as possible. Major risk markers for dementia and causes of depression: serum zinc lithium inflammatory markers Enter the obtained data into the algorithm and answer the questions of the algorithm

Today there is a prototype of an analytical algorithm for theranostics of aging, which in the future will help to choose aging therapy based on pathogenetic and symptomatic approaches. Download the algorithm to your computer is available here.

Step #4. Get automatic advice from the algorithm about what the science says about your lab results

The algorithm you filled out can give you automatic advice about what the science has to say about your lab results. With the help of this analyzer, you can read which tests you have are not normal, and what it is fraught with in terms of the rate of aging and the duration of your life, according to research by scientists, with links to research. Also, the algorithm can give the proposed measures to correct the situation with the scientific justification of the chosen measures. But this information cannot be used without working with your doctor.

Step #5. Next, contact a doctor for a consultation

Then contact doctors who can work with the results of such diagnostics - list of doctors .

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Author of the article — Veremeenko Dmitry Evgenievich , founder of the research project studying therapies aimed at increasing human life expectancy "Laboratory of Expert Research on Theranostics of Aging" (nestarenie.ru/slb-expert_.html), creator of the theranostics expert system aging, founder of the Nestarenie Camp (https://nestareniecamp.ru), co-founder of the Nestarenie online course, author of the book "Diagnostics of Aging" (https://nestarenie.ru/Diagnostika.pdf), and co-author of the book " How to live until the 22nd century" (http://book.hostenko.com), creator of the blog https://nestarenie.ru, Tel. +7 925 9244328 [email protected]

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