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Are there ways that I can prevent depression?

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Host: Are there ways I can prevent depression?

Dr. Kim Penberthy: Well, since we know depression is caused by many things there are some things you can't prevent like your genetics. If you are born with the gene for depression you can't really prevent that, but since depression is caused by a bunch of different things coming together you can change some of those things that are not already hard wired. So things like stress, relationships you can try and prevent depression by keeping your stress at a minimum, engaging in relationships that are supportive, doing things that are healthy for you like exercising, eating right, getting enough sleep, drinking enough water all these basic things that your mom told you to do or at least, some of our moms told us to do are really helpful and protect us not only from depression but a lot of things. The other thing that you can do is not drink or use drugs excessively, because we do know there is a link there. Alcohol is a depressant. If you drink long enough and enough of it will cause depression, we know this so unless one thing that you can do is avoid excessive use of alcohol or other elicit drugs.

Expert: Dr. Kim Penberthy

Dr. Penberthy attended Wake Forest University and obtained a bachelor’s degree in psychology and biology. She obtained a master’s degree in experimental psychology from Wake Forest University in 1992. Dr. Penberthy collaborated in research conducted at the UNC-Chapel Hill Center for Alcohol Studies, in the Medical School, and then at the Cancer Research Center at Duke University. She then completed her More »