Depression Talk

With two useless wars in progress and no end in sight, the economy in a mess, health care at an all time low, good guys loosing and bad guys winning, it should not be a suprize to anyone that more Americans are killing themselves. For the first time in a decade, the suicide rates in America have gone up instead of down. The group with the most alarming rise in suicides are middle aged white women, according to a new intesive survey published in the October 21 edition of The American Journal of Preventative Medicine.

Roll Out The Numbers

The leader of the study was Susan P. Baker of Johns Hopkins Bloomburg School of Health. Basically, a lot of numbers were crunched lookiong at American suicides from 1999 -2005. Baker notes right away that although we know the skin color, gender and age of the people who commit suicides, we really don’t know what was the final deciding factor or factors that lead to them killing themselves.

Some specific numbers now, all for the years 1999-2005:

• American suicides rose by 0.7%
• Suicides of middle aged white men rose 2.7%
• Sucides of middle aged white women rose 3.9%

Although shooting yourself continues to be the most popular way of offing yourself, poisioning accounted for 18% of suicides and suffocation or strangulation is becoming more popular, rising grasually in both men and women.

A Particular Instance

I don’t think it should be any big mystery as to why more Americans are killing themselves. Just look at what happened to 90 year old Addie Polk of Akron, Ohio. As her home was being foreclosed upon, she shot herself in the chest. Because someone was right there, Polk got immediate medical care. Eventually, Fannie Mae said, “Ahh, never mind. Let her keep her home.” What’s a 90 year old without any family going to do on the street? It is unknown whether Polk will survive her self-inflicted gunshot wound.

One theory as to why more middle aged white Americans are killing themselves is that they have been raised to expect nothing of the best from themselves and to be a failure is unforgiveable.

What About Native Americans?

There’s a lot of fuss over white American sucides, but there’s never been much fuss about the high rates of suicide among other skin colors, especailly among Native Americans (you know — the ones who should really be in power and have been treated like crap since 1492?). The latest study notes that Asians and Native American sucide rates were “stable”, but Native Americans had the highest sucide rate in America in 1979 - 1992.

No one gave a rat’s ass then. But now it’s white people dying and suddenly mainstream American is concerned.

No wonder we’re depressed! I’m both white and Native American, so I’m my own worst enemy.

I nearly dropped my tea when I read this. As readers of any of my blogs know I lived many years in south England before moving back to the land of my birth — the suburbs of Philadelphia. I met many UK natives and naturalized citizens with mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, major depression and bipolar disorder. They all seemed to have nothing but derision and scorn for talk therapy but seemed more than eager to try any new medication that came along.

I guess they pulled one over on me and whoever was listening, because the British Association for Counsellling and And Psychotherapy claim that UK citizens prefer talk therapy or cognitive behaviorial therapy than they do taking any kind of medications. Granted, the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy may have a vested interest to crow about this as loud as they can, even though they are not a business guild but a charity. Which leads to the inevitable question –

How Reliable Can This Study Be?

Although the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy are the publishers of the study, Counselling in primary care: a systematic review of the evidence, they don’t appear to be the folks who funded the study. There doesn’t seem to be any major pharmaceutical company or profession with a vested interest funding the study.

BUT (and yes, it’s a big but) the British government has just invested a whopping 170 million pounds over three years into funding a government program called Improving Access to Psychological Therapies. Although I do beleive that both medication and therapy helped me and can helps lots of other folks with major depression or post-natal depression, I do grit my teeth to see whenever I see that money may somehow be the sole motive of a depression treatment study. The reason I grit my teeth is that I know someone will point at the study and say, “Money is invloved, therefore the study is worthless and therefore let’s let those with depression tough it out on their own so we can fight more wars.”

The Study Itself

The study was done by Andrew Hill, Alison Prettle and Peter Jenkins from the University of Salford. They study also contains contributions by Claire Hulme from the University of Leeds. They claim that 24% of their patients wanted only counselling while only 15% wanted counselling. However, the majority of patients (61%) was far more sensible and wanted both.

Talk therapy definitely is not on the way out – in the UK, at least.

If the US government could be eager to spend over $700 billion for the recent economic bailout, they probably won’t blink at the mere $2 million that a soldier’s widow wants for her soldier husband’s 2006 suicide. The suit charges that the Veteran’s Administration branch overseeing the soldier’s treatment had been negligent, ignoring the soldier and leaving him to his own devices.

This is precisely the wrong thing to do with someone showing signs of major depression, since they are prone to harming themselves. Personally, I’ve survived more botched suicide attempts than I care to admit.

RIP Donald Woodward

Donald Woodward was born in Indiana and later moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania (yes, that Lancaster). His story is becoming all-too-familiar among veterans. He went to Iraq, admitted to having to kill three people in combat, was discharged, came back home, was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (shell shock) and major depression, given Zoloft, refused to go back to the VA and then soon he shot himself. He was 23.

The suit alleges that Woodward’s wife repeatedly called the VA to let them know that he was becoming more and more depressed. She also said that her husband was refusing to get any kind of treatment whatsoever and she thinks he stopped taking the Zoloft. The VA basically said, “Gee, that’s tough, but if he won’t come here voluntarily, there’s nothing we can do.” (Keep in mind that we don’t know the VA’s side of the story.)

Zoloft and Suicide

Any antidepressant can backfire and make you even more miserable than you were before. This writer counts herself lucky that fluoxetine (Prozac) works really well with my body and I haven’t tried to kill myself since first taking it.

Zoloft seems to have bad luck in being prescribed to people who can’t tolerate it, but nowhere near as bad as Paxil, which made a lot of headlines over lawsuits from bereaved families of those who took it and then committed suicide. Zoloft is no longer prescribed to people under 18 and some doctors think it shouldn’t be given to anyone under 25. Some other doctors think that’s a load of hooey and that if a milder anitdepressant doesn’t help, the next logical step is a more powerful one.

Anyone taking a new antidepressant has to be closely supervised for worsening behavior. It will be interesting to see what the results of this lawsuit will be.

I guess it’s just my luck. I just posted an article about how St. John’s Wort does buttkiss for major depression and now there’s a new massive clinical study out by the Cochrane Review that claims just the opposite. But still, you never want to take St. John’s Wort AND antidepressants. Not unless you really get a thrill out of wasting your time and your money.

Of course, you should never take any kind of herbal remedy without first consulting your doctor. There are many other medicines that can react badly with St. John’s Wort.

Study Details

This wasn’t just one clinical trial but 29, bringing the number of human guinea pigs with major depression up to a staggering 5,489. The form of St. John’s wort used in these trials was an extract. A placebo and an antidepresant were the other things used to help treat the human guinea pigs. All of the human guinea pigs were diagnosed with major depression as according to the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression. (There’s a scale for depression? I guess it’s like Do, Ray, Me, Fa, So — Ah, The Hell With It).

The study also noted that most of the human guinea pigs taking the St. John’s Wort extract were able to particupate in the entire trial length and didn’t need to drop out due to bad side effects.

Several of the 29 studies were done in Germany, where doctors normally prescribe St. John’s Wort for major depression. It’s considered a normal medicine in German culture. Not suprsingly, the best results for St. John’s Wort came from the German studies. This does imply just a wee bit that what we believe can often make a medicine more potent.

How Does It Work?

It’s thought that St. John’s Wort works just like an antidepressant in that it effects your brain’s serotonin. It helps increase serotonin, which helps you feel a bit better. Serotonin is also thought to be responisble for migraines and epilepsy, but just exactly how is still unknown.

One of the reasons why more attention is being taken to St. John’s Wort is that it can offer some people the benefits of a man-made antidepressant, but without some of the side effects.

Although clinical depression is often seen in illnesses like migraine disease and epilepsy, it’s now thought that it’s common in patients with heart problems, too. This is the finding of the American Psychiatric Association, anyway. It is unknown why heart disease and clinical depression seem to pop up together, just like it’s unknown why migraines and depression often pop up together.

The Findings

The APA claims that about 20% of all people with heart disease also have all of the signs of clinical depression and yet are not diagnosed with clinical depression. So far, they are not sure if the clinical depression sets in before or after the heart problems manifest. But the APA strongly recommends that anyone that has been diagnosed with cardiovascular problems should also seriously consider that they have clinical depression, too and get treatment. This is especially important in men, who are reluctant to admit that they might have clinical depression. African-American men seem to be the most reluctant to get help for depression.

Diagnosis Problems

That people with clinical depression haven’t been diagnosed shouldn’t be a surprise. Although there is still a stigma attatched to having a mental illness, it’s the thought of having to pay for treatment which puts many people off. “I already have an expensive condition with cardiovascular disease — I can’t afford to treat anything else.”

If you really can’t afford therapy or metal health help, you can ask your social worker or your local Respresntative if there are any state-run programs that could help you get access to low cost or free mental health services. That’s what I did. Big thanks to the kind staff at Representative Nick Micozzi’s office in Clifton Heights. (Micozzi — the only Republican I’ve ever voted for).

When you have clinical depression, you just assume that you can’t afford to get help. You also might think that you CAN’T be helped. I had both of those assumptions, but have been helped. Of course, I could have been helped sooner if I had just went to get help sooner than I did. But, well — you live, you learn.

And I don’t have heart disease (knock on wood).

From the “Man, Does Someone Need A Part Time Job or What” Department:

A Canadian study done at Queen’s University in Ontario that’s been published in The New Scientist claims that Republican Presidential candidate Senator John McCain has clincial depression. The study also suggests that if McCain doesn’t have clinical depression, he better do something to perk up his public speaking behavior, becuase he gives off the impression that he’s clinically depressed.

How Can They Tell?

Queen’s University researcher David Skillicorn watched over 150 political speeches by McCain, Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton. If that form of masochism wasn’t enough, he had his computer analyize the speeches again and again and again. What was that poor, demented computer looking for?

• Changes in pitch or tone of voice
• Patterns of word usage
• How many times the canidiate would say “I” compared to how many times

According to this criteria, McCain did really badly. He used lots of words like “enemy” and “hate”, didn’t change his tone of voice much. When McCain gives a speech, it does sound as if he’s just taken a dose of Xanax.

What’s The Big Deal?

These findings come out of a larger project Queens University is trying to do to see if politicians give visual or verbal clues when they are lying. Although I haven’t seen Skillicorn quoted as saying, “And we all know that the clinically depressed are a bunch of liars, don’t we?” that is the vibe I’m picking up.

It is a shame to see that, in between the lines, the study is promoting that having depression is a bad thing. Well, in a way, it IS a bad thing, but not as bad as say … not responding right away to Hurricane Katrina, starting a war over oil, supporting puppy mills, that sort of thing. (Those are things Rebublicans have been known to do, not McCain in particular).

However, it’s thought that Republican President Abraham Lincoln had clinical depression and he’s considered a demigod in America. Dont beleive me? You try and tell a Lincoln joke in America. Better wear a Kevlar vest before you do.

Although I have major (clinical) depression, I’m still not going to vote for McCain.

Do we need any more proof that we are in a recession?  After 15 years, the teen sucide rate has risen in America instead of dropped, according to a new study published in the September 3 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.  It took a while to crunch the numbers, so the study cuts off in 2005, meaning that the teen suicide rate rose during 2004 and 2005. It is still unknown how high the rate is for 2006 and 2007.

Study Specifics

The study was performed by Jeff Bridge of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital of Columbus, Ohio. He looked at teen suicide rates from 1996 - 2003, which were steradily dropping. He found a sudden 18% increase for 2004 - 5. Bridge has a more liberal definition of “teen”, meaning kids from the ages of 10 - 19.

Why the Increase?

In October of 2003, there was alot of quibbling in Congress over black box warning labels to be put on antidepressants. This happened as a result of many teens with clinical depression being put on Paxil and then, instead of getting better, they offed themselves. Please note that any antidepressant can make you feel suddenly suicidal, no matter what your age. If you are taking a new antidepressant and feel worse than ever before, please call your doctor or therapist.

There is a theory that pressure on doctors as a result of Paxil suicides are making doctors too leery about perscribing them to teenagers. Should all of the warnings be taken off antidepressants?

No

The president of the National Research Center for Women & Families, Diana Zuckerman, claims that there are many reasons why teens commit suicide. I think we all can see that the economy sucks. There’s injustice everywhere, catastrophic climate change and many news sources saying that the next generation will be worse off than previous American generations. Add to that the hormonal tidal wave teens go through, schools, peer pressure and no wonder they think of committing suicide.

Teens are more likely to think of suicide because they haven’t learned the coping skills that adults have, even adults with clinical depression. There usually isn’t just one cause that sets a teen planning to commit suicide — it’s usually a cyclone of factors.

I’ll freely admit it — I tried to commit suicide when attending Millersville University. Obviously, I screwed it up. That was way back in 1990, long before I would ever become the Prozac Poster Child that I am today. The pressure I was under was amazing — but it wasn’t from my courses. They were the easy part. The pressure was from my clinical depression.

Why College?

You’re under a complex series of hammer-blows while in college. First off, you’re not eating and sleeping regularly, so that’s going to accentuate any depression you may have. Also, you’re under a massive finacial burden that will be with you for the next fifteen years or so. For example, I was told point-blank by my parents that I had to get a degree in four years, because our family couldn’t afford for me to go another semester. (Somehow, I received an Associate’s and a Bachelor’s in four years. Yes, I was scared.)

Another pressure is that you are mourning the last remains of your childhood. That’s hard to give up, even if you had a bad childhood. You are expected to be the dull, boring grown-up you swore you’d never be.

This and many more pressures can cause suicidal thoughts in college students, even the night before graduation.

One of the ways that you can help manage your depression is through various kinds of talk therapy, such as psychotherapy or cognitive-behavioral therapy. Under many health insurance policies or government-funded mental health policies, you have to talk to psychiatrist in order to be allowed to get medication. The classic image we have of talk therapy is lying on a couch for fifty minutes babbling away while your doctor takes a nap.

But a study done by John Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD shows that long talk therapy sessions may be a quaint idea from the past. Because of insurance companies and government programs, ten to fifteen minute prescription consultations are now the norm. You basically talk about how the drugs are doing and if there is a topic of express concern and then out you go.

Your Fifiteen Minutes Are Up

Some people with clinical depression can benefit from short sessions. I happen to be one of them. For two years, I was on a Pennsylvania state funded assistance program before I could get finacially back on my feet. I had one fifty minute initial session and then the rest were ten minute prescription sessions. I loved them, and not just because they were short.

Having only ten minutes to focus on the past month help me sort out the real problems that needed my psychiatrist’s attention. I wasn’t tempted to ramble on and on about my problems, working myself into a frazzle. I now do not go to a psychiatrist, but get my prescriptions from my regular doctor.

But my experiences are not everyone’s. There are definitely people who need a far longer session than I apparently did.

Better Marketing

There are still psychiatrists who will do longer sessions, but you are going to have to look harder for them. Even the American Psychiatric Association has a committee dedicated to making psychiatrists more interested in psychotherapy than talk therapy.

I might not have a medical degree, but it doesn’t seem to be a good sign that psychiatrists need to be convinced of the benefits of psychotherapy.

With higher bills everywhere, the pressure is on psychiatrists to do a high turn around. This means they have to get through as many patients they can in a day. Also, Big Pharma always shows up at their offices pushing the latest drugs. It can seem easier all around to just try the drugs first, then see if psychotherapy is needed. Perhaps psychotherapy needs to hire an advertising department.

Greetings, Gentle Readers:

My name is Rena Sherwood and I’m taking over Depression Talk from Amanda.  I don’t know how Amanda is doing or if she will come back to this blog.  I do hope she is OK.  I also write for Dealing With Headaches, which is also on the 451 Press blog network. 

My Qualifications (Ha!)

Although I am not a doctor (nor do I play one on TV) I have suffered from endogenous recurring depression since the womb.  And some days, the depression has me.  All of my family have it and I have bumped into many people in two countries who have it.  I am just a regular person with a knack for writing that has the same questions about depression just like anyone else.  I offer advice and sympathy but I cannot dispense drugs or medical advice.

The World Health Organization has released a new study on the effects of depression on overall health. Apparently, us crazy folks carry a heavy load on our shoulders.

I suppose I never really thought about it before, but depression can cause and contribute to other illnesses as well. Of course, it makes sense. If you can’t think straight to eat properly, get out of the house, and take care of yourself… Well, maybe maintaining a high level of overall health is a bit trickier.

Add to that the fact that depressed people are more likely to smoke, drink alcohol, or use drugs….

Yeah.

I suppose it just goes to show: It really is hard to be a crazy person.

I rode the Chestnut Thoroughbred on Friday morning, and it was everything I had hoped it would be. It was more, even, because I got to ride him in a ring and then I was given the opportunity to go for a hack with him and his owner. We had a lovely time, a lovely chat, and I really felt that I got a good opportunity to meet and understand the horse before making a decision.

He arrived at the Ranch house Sunday afternoon. His first hours here have been lovely: He seems to be getting along nicely. We had a lovely ride together and now he is tucked away in his new stall for the night.

I’ve heard people speak of passion in terms of dealing with anxiety issues and depression. If you can create something in your life that you have a passion for, the ick that exists seems easier to deal with.

I’ve always been an incredibly passionate person. I’m passionate about my music, about writing, about the people who are important players in my life. I suppose with all that to be passionate about, I probably shouldn’t feel like I want one more: But I do.

I am passionate about this horse, about me returning to the ring, about my big ol’ butt getting back in the saddle. Perhaps it can help to stave off The Crazy that much longer. If not?

It will certainly be worth its while regardless of whether I lose my mind again or not.

Depression, Fighting Depression, Horseback Riding, Equestrian, New Horse, Passion

I’m always scared to get involved with a new endeavour for a variety of reasons. The number one reason is heartbreak.

I become heartbroken very easily. I am hyper sensitive and can find myself curled up in the fetal position, weeping, because someone ate the last of the potato chips. I’m not sure if this relates to being a crazy person, or if I’m just really, really special; either way, heartbreak scares me. Mostly because all the booze it takes me to recover is so expensive.

I’m going to look at a horse this morning. My last horse broke my heart in many ways: Partly because I should have been more diligent with his training, and if I had been, perhaps I wouldn’t even need to look at a horse tomorrow. He also broke my heart because the day I met him, Christmas day, I fell completely head over heels in love with him. He was sweet and gentle, and nibbled on the palm of my hand. I groomed and tacked him and hopped on him and everything went perfectly on that first day.

We had a few more relatively successful rides together, and then, slowly but surely, all hell seemed to break loose. Perhaps he just wasn’t happy in his environment after having spent so much time in a professional stable on a race track. Perhaps he had a mood disorder, perhaps any number of things, but regardless: He got mean. He got scary. And he got dangerous. He had to go.

I had enough time to accept that he would be leaving, because his shift in personality was gradual. So I wasn’t that heartbroken the day he left.

My father has laid down the LAW with regards to the horse we’re looking at tomorrow. I AM NOT allowed to fall in love with this horse until after he has inspected it. He has to have good teeth, sound legs, be in good physical shape, not have heaves or foot cracks or any of a million other problems that horses can have. And then I have to make up my mind about him.

So here’s to trying not to put myself out there until we’ve seen and ridden the horse, because Lord knows if I see him in the stall, if he looks at me with big, Thoroughbred Chestnut Gelding eyes and sniffs my shoulders, I will fall in love with him immediately.

AND WE CAN’T HAVE ME FALLING IN LOVE WITH THOROUGHBRED CHESTNUT GELDINGS WHO HAVE CRACKED HOOVES.

Perhaps I should have my father take over my dating life as well?

Falling in Love, Thoroughbred Chestnut Gelding, Horse Shopping, Buying a Horse, Equestrian

I’m contemplating making every Friday a list day. Just a random list of random things.

So, for my first List Day:

1) I think that I’m going to try buying some Near Beer and seeing if I love it as much as regular beer. The problem with beer is that I love, love, love it. I just love the taste of it … not so much the feeling you wake up with the next day that leaves you thinking, If only the damn beer wasn’t so GOOD, I wouldn’t be peeing like someone who consumed all kinds of beer last night.

2) I’m done school and unemployed, and I have never been busier in my life.

3) I went through all my old high school and college papers today, so I could throw out the trash and make my old room a little less cluttered. Talk about a walk down memory lane.

4) My mother made me take down all of my old South Park posters. Its probably for the best, now that my nephew can read, but now every bit of my thirteen year old self is gone from the room. Does this mean I’m a grownup now?

5) My most influential teacher signed my yearbook in the tenth grade with “Amanda: Don’t ever lose your desire to question. It looks good on you.” I think about that often, even to this day, and I’ve never forgotten that she wrote that. I’m not a hundred percent sure what she meant, and I’m hoping that one day it will just hit me, like BANG. And suddenly, I’ll realize that she knew something about me that I never knew about myself back then.

List Fridays, Non-alcoholic Beer, Beer, Unemployment, de-cluttering, Organization, South Park, Most influential teacher, Introspection

Did you know that May is Mental Health month? A dear friend also informed me that May is the month of strawberries, so it must be my month for sure.

I’m not sure what one is supposed to do in celebration of mental health month. Perhaps those of you who are sane should do a little dance around your living rooms in celebration of being so; while those of us who are insane should find a comfortable chair and choose a liquor. I don’t really see what good any of that will do. At any rate, I’ve chosen beer and my family’s computer chair.

This article lists some of the everyday factors leading to poor mental health. Stressors like being overworked, undernourished, under-rested, and a fast-paced lifestyle are what lead people to be stressed and unpleasant in the modern day.

Clearly, the best way to deal with each of these stressors is to assume a position in life that keeps you away from work, fast food, air pollution, and the rest of the conveniences we have come to depend on. Unfortunately, I’m not ready to give up my MP3 player just yet, so anxiety attacks over finding batteries in time are sure to remain a part of my life. Perhaps we would all live in perfect mental health if we lived in grass huts in the desert. But if we did that, we would probably miss out on McDonald’s and really? No one wants to drink home-made beer. Trust me. The stuff from the liquor store is JUST THAT GOOD.

I have no idea what good a mental health month can do for any of us. Is it a month devoted to being insane, or is it a month devoted to becoming less insane? Valiuum for everyone! Or is that not a good way to go about acheiving a society of good mental health?

I really do wonder about all these arbitrarily named months and days devoted to this and that. I’m not sure what good they do. Raising awareness is always a positive step; however, because everything has become a pet cause for so many people, the realities of some peoples’ situations tend to get diminished.

Do you participate in arbitrary days created for cultural reasons? Examples would be Mental Health Month, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Secretary’s Day and so forth. How do you feel about these?