LOS ANGELES - Kevin Federline will be using VH1’s “Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp as a platform to share his battle with depression, weight gain and, probably, his relationship with ex-wife Britney Spears. He denies the rumors that he gained weight to secure a spot on the reality show. “They called me and they asked me if I wanted to do it and I had maybe 24 hours to decide because the show started taping the next day after that weekend,” he said. “It just couldn’t have come at a better time.”

Dogs just like human beings, do suffer from the occasional bout of depression. This is characterized by most of the same symptoms as humans: moping, lethargy, loss of appetite, weight loss, a chemical imbalance.

According to a member of one of the the South African teams that just returned from Haiti, the rescue dogs used in search-and-rescue operations became depressed by the devastation they witnesses in the aftermath of the 7.0 quake. "One of the challenges was the dogs did get depression...," Mark Louw told a media briefing by the Gift of the Givers (GotG) - a local disaster relief organization - in Johannesburg on Monday. He explained that while the dogs did feel rewarded whenever someone was found alive this seldom happened.

According to a new study published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, among a sampling of 3,000 pregnant women who started SSRI antidepressants during the second or third trimester were found to be 5 times more likely to have a preterm delivery. The researchers also found a higher risk of preterm delivery among women who  . . .

Gabriel Byrne the Irish actor has revealed that he was sexually abused by Christian Brothers in Ireland as a child. The actor also disclosed that at the age of 11 he went to England to train as a priest and was sexually abused by a member of the clergy there.

A new study suggests that the popular herbal remedy St. John's wort may help ease menopausal hot flashes.

CNN just reported that folks on Avatar fan forums are  experiencing depression and even suicidal thoughts after seeing the movie.  Apparently, some of the members love the alien world of Pandora so much that they want to stay there.

Bestselling Irish author Marian Keyes has revealed she is battling "crippling depression" that has left her unable to write, read, sleep or even talk to people.

Keyes, whose books have sold millions of copies, has told fans that although prone to depression, her latest battle with the illness is like "living in hell" and "much, much worse" than anything she has experienced before. "I'm aware that these are terrible times and that there are people out there who have been so ruined by the current economic climate that they've lost the roof over their heads and every day is a battle for basic survival and I wish I could make their pain go away," said Keyes, reportedly a former alcoholic. "But although I'm blessed enough to have a roof over my head, I still feel like I'm living in hell. I can't eat, I can't sleep, I can't write, I can't read, I can't talk to people. The worst thing is that I feel it will never end. I know lots of people don't believe it, but depression is an illness. But unlike say, a broken leg, you don't know when it'll get better."

A new Columbia University study published in the journal Sleep demonstrated that teens who don't get a full nine hours of sleep are more likely to suffer from depression and suicidal thoughts.  Study participants whose parents set bedtimes of midnight or later were 24 percent more likely to suffer from depression and 20 percent more apt to have thoughts of suicide, compared to those with bedtimes . . .

One in five women and one in 10 men will experience depression during his or her lifetime. But the diagnosis alone does not fully describe the condition; there are several types of depression, distinguished by duration, severity and type of symptoms. The following three kinds of depression are distinct disorders described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), an American Psychiatric Association publication that details criteria for psychiatric disorders.