Destiny's Child's Williams reveals depression battle.

Destiny's Child singer Michelle Williams has spoken out for the first time about suffering from depression. The 32-year-old has revealed she first experienced it when she was a teenager. Speaking to the Associated Press, Williams said: "I had to choose to get out of bed and do whatever I needed to do to be happy."

"I've had to deal with depression," she said, although she hadn't needed to take medication for it. Her experience of the mental illness has been described as moderate but she has encouraged others to seek help. "Go see a professional so that they can assess you. It's OK if you're going through something," she said. "Depression is not OK, but it is OK to go get help."

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Diet drinks raise risk of depression

Experts are questioning whether diet drinks could raise depression risk, after a large study has found a link. The US research in more than 250,000 people found depression was more common among frequent consumers of artificially sweetened beverages.

However, drinking coffee was linked with a lower risk of depression. People who drank four cups a day were 10% less likely to be diagnosed with depression during the 10-year study period than those who drank no coffee. But those who drank four cans or glasses of diet fizzy drinks or artificially sweetened juice a day increased their risk of depression by about a third.

Lead researcher Dr Honglei Chen, of the National Institutes of Health in North Carolina, said: "Our research suggests that cutting out or down on sweetened diet drinks or replacing them with unsweetened coffee may naturally help lower your depression risk."

Read more via BBC News here.

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Quitting smoking 'reduces anxiety'

Smokers who successfully quit feel less anxious afterwards - despite the belief that smoking relieves stress, researchers say. The British Journal of Psychiatry study followed nearly 500 smokers attending NHS stop smoking clinics in England. It found a "significant" decrease in anxiety levels among the 68 smokers who had quit after six months. The effect was greater among those who had mood and anxiety disorders than those that smoked for pleasure.

The researchers - drawn from several universities including Cambridge, Oxford and Kings's College in London - said the findings should be used to reassure smokers attempting to quit that concerns about increased anxiety levels were unfounded.

Read more via BBC News here.

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