Mental Health Update

The doctors diagnosed him as bipolar (he has ALL of the symptoms, believe me) and he refuses to take medicine. He and his wife think medication is a load of crap. I agree that doctors nowdays do tend to jump the gun and give out prescriptions for antidepressants like candy, but I truly think that the Mullet Head IS bipolar and would benefit greatly from meds. (He self medicates by smoking pot, but that’s obviously not working!)

You will be amazed at the volume of warnings that exist today. This one pretty much takes the cake though. This time you have to worry about antidepressants, birth control pills, pain killers or just about any other drug that gets flushed down the toilet showing up in our drinking water. It seems that our water supply systems are not designed to filter out the myriad assortment of drugs that people mindlessly dispose of when they are out of date or don’t need anymore.

Jacob Sullum links to some recent findings regarding the risk of increased “suicidal ideation” in children and adolescents taking antidepressants.

That’s right, every prescription drug purchased by ever person in this country. Ever taken antidepressants? Ever been on birth control? Ever sought treatment for erectile dysfunction?

I can tell right away that he isn’t comfortable prescribing antidepressants for people. I don’t seem depressed. I’m intelligent and articulate, and pleasant. I smile. I bathe, my teeth are clean, and my nails are polished. He says he’ll prescribe them for me, and wants to start with the lowest dose of Celexa, because it has the least number of serious side effects, but he suggests that I start counseling with the psychologist I saw.

International exhibition Watercolor-2006 is traveling around Lithuania. Now it is opened in Plunge. However, how does it relate with art therapy club of the hospital for the people with psychiatric disorders?

3 30 Gang Members Attacked me at the Club. They even took my Paxil. No shit man.

Yesterday was World Mental Health Day and the first week of October is usually Mental Illness Awareness Week. As some of you already know, I suffer from severe clinical depression as well as an anxiety disorder; I’ve been battling depression since I was a teenager. I’m doing somewhat better now (thanks to antidepressants and getting treatment for sleep apnea), but still struggle a lot. I’ve spent years of my life wanting to die; I’ve lost a lot of time to anxiety and depression. If you struggle, I want you to know that you can get help and get better– it’s often not easy and can take a while, but it’s worth it to get your life back in whole or in part. And if you don’t suffer from any sort of mental illness, consider yourself very lucky.

And I did decide to call PH’s office, find out what he thinks and whether he wants me to call the psychiatrist’s office to deal with it. I don’t really want to switch antidepressants- stability is what I need, not another set of fluctuating chemicals in my system, so I’m hoping he decides to just me give a prescription for a small amount of ambien (the original, not that CR crap).

A year ago I wrote on my old blog, after reading Tom Cruise’s criticism of Brooke Shield’s use of antidepressants for post-partem depression, that he needs to grow a uterus, have a baby, and get post partum depression before he opens his big fat scientologist mouth. So when I read this I giggle a bit.

I’ve been away for while. I’m so busy and so tired. I went back to the doc and now I’m on two antidepressants. Ain’t that sweet! You know what that means? No sex drive! None, nil, zip, zilch, nada, nothing. I’m hating this.

So what’s my point? Well for a number of reasons antidepressants take up to several weeks before symptom alleviation is seen. But what if their were a medication which helped in a matter of hours instead of weeks? It would be pretty popular and in demand by those who suffer from depression. What if such a drug has been around for a long time? Bullshit you say? Well, yes and no.

I just wonder if somebody has ever thought that if a kid is depressed and anxious maybe there is a deeper reason that should be analyzed with his/her parents rather than just “solve it” with a pill.

It was the fact of having to talk to three customers with chronic diarrhea in as many days (while dealing with my own) that prompted me to chase down the goods on a growing hunch about the 5-HTP/Big "D" connection. I spent an hour or so wading through the web pages delivered by the following search terms, alone and various combinations "5-HTP, antidepressants, constipation, diarrhea, IBS, motility, serotonin, side-effects, SSRI." What I found out was that medical researchers have a pretty clear understanding of something us folks in the supplement industry have barely grasped.

I’ve been feeling increasingly depressed. Work stress and my general situation have just beaten me down. I have managed to keep the dizzy spells back but often it is just by luck that I’m not swirling away.

Why is it that doctors can’t understand that just because normal blood work means most people are normal, it doesn’t mean that everyone with that value is normal? Just because my thyroid tests fall in the normal range doesn’t mean that I don’t fucking have a thyroid problem. Look at my goddamn fucking symptoms, would you? And goddammit, stop telling me I need antidepressants. I’ve taken the fucking things and they didn’t help!

A very telling (to me) example was this 15 year old child who was placed on a series of antidepressants. The father was largely absent, the mother is rigid and uncompromising, and the kid has a chronic health problem with which she has never been taught to emotionally cope.

What I really worry about is that there is little to be done after this step. She told me when I went in to see her in April that there were only three options for me: Depakote, Lithium and some other drug that causes rapid weight gain. I’m already on the Depakote, we’re unsuccessfully trying the Lithium and that last guy isn’t even on the table because of my anorexia/bulemia history. The other meds out there like Lamictal aren’t an option because they contain antidepressants and that tends to make me bat-shit crazy. So where does that leave me, exactly?

The researchers decided to look at how the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants — the widely used class of drugs that includes Celexa, Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft — might spur brain cell growth. To do so, they tracked the way in which stem cells — undifferentiated cells that can grow into specialized cells — became neurons in a special mouse model given the antidepressant Prozac (fluoxetine).

What appears is a classic interaction between physiology and the environment, mediated by biochemical pathways inside the body. For example, stress, induced by environmental factors, leads to an increase in steroids in the blood called glucocorticoids which, in the short term, help the body respond to emergency situation like, for example, if you’re being attacked by a sasquatch or something equally as life-threatening. However, when present in high quantities for longer periods of time, as in chronic stress, they actually become toxic to the brain and neural development ceases. The same principle applies to depression. Many of the antidepressants prescribed for depression work by increasing serotonin levels. However, many patients wait weeks to actually feel the effects of antidepressants, even though serotonin levels rise immediately when they begin taking antidepressants. This lag time is the result of a more complex biochemical chain.

Ok, so I always promised to be honest here. When I went to the doctor a couple of days ago for my sinus infection, we got to talking. He seems to think I have had mild post partum depression and the past couple of months it has been brought out more by stress like my grandfather dying, new job, possibilities of moving (we arent- it was short lived), money problems, Rainey teething, Rainey screaming as a means of communication, two dear friend relationships going up in smoke, traveling, seeing people I never wanted to see again, on top of being a new mother, my entire life changes, no family close by to help, etc… So, he suggested antidepressants. So, now I am taking Zoloft. So far, I hate it. Its been two days and I feel jittery and gross.

Jonas isn’t the only one who is getting a little baby hungry around here. It’s been hitting me rather hard the past few weeks (Yes! Put Lou on anti-depressants and suddenly she thinks she can leap tall buildings in a single bound and manage three children. These are antidepressants, not narcotics, right?)

Over the past few days, sick in bed with a tummy bug and more headaches, I’ve had lots of time to think - mostly about why I’m sick and what I can do about it. After almost two weeks back at school and a long weekend coming up, I’m already feeling the need for a bit of a break. Over the past month or two, I have been suffering from GI upset, migraine headaches, and a number of other side effects. After doing some research, I’ve talked to my doctor, and we’ve decided that I’m going to stop taking Celexa. No more antidepressants for a while. The physical toll of the side effects isn’t worth it to me. The headaches, GI issues, hypotension, can all be attributed to it.

If my GP was open minded, not patronising, was happy to openingly discuss test results with me and not fob me off with antidepressants (the uninterested GPs cure all pill to get rid of you) then I'd begin to consider that they should be renumberated well. By that I mean in line with other professions. I do not believe that currently this is the situation.

I was also really depressed. Okay. I have been taking antidepressants since I was 15. The two do not mix. And can actually make the depression worse. So I was back on my meds and still trying to deal with everything. I remember sleeping every chance I got. I was so tired. That was a coping skill too I guess. Which was new for me. At least I think it was. Usually when stressed I tend to lose sleep. But then I slept every chance I got. Met some women in the program that I still talk to today.

On the other side of the coin, Brooke Shields also had a baby yesterday. Apparently, she had it in the same hospital, on the same floor as TomKat. Thankfully, she and the baby are doing just fine (unlike last time when she was suffering from Post-Partum Depression and was taking medications because of it– starting a war between her and– you guessed it — Tom Cruise, who said that Post-Partum Depression did not exist and there was no reason for a mother to take antidepressants. This coming from a man who thinks that people care what the hell he has to say).

She screams out my name once and since it took me more then a nano second to reply she screamed it again this time up about 4 octaves. I go out into the living room mumbling “yes mommie dearest”. She starts the inquisition on way in gods green earth would I dare to park in HER parking space, what an ungrateful daughter I am, yada yada yada…I rolled my eyes and tell her that I was bringing in the groceries that she requested I get and it was easier for me to bring them in from that side. She just glares at me and stomps away. And I’m the one on antidepressants….

Keep in mind that certain medications can greatly increase susceptibility to sunburn. The most common offenders are tetracycline and sulfa antibiotics. Certain blood pressure medications, antihistamines, anti-inflammatory agents, and a few of the antidepressants can also have this effect. If in doubt, or if you're prescribed a new medication, ask your doctor (or other health care professional or pharmacist) if a particular medication may have this effect. Some topical agents also promote sunburn, some quite dramatically. This is called "photosensitivity" and the worst offender is retin-A (used for acne and anti-wrinkling). Again, ask your health care provider if in doubt.

And millions of people take Vitamin C supplements indicating . . . what? A near-pandemic of scurvy? Again, I’ll point to my depression posts here, and here, my depression op-ed, and the Horwitz and Wakefield essay that got me on this kick.

As an aside, a personal observation: Although antidepressants probably saved my life, they also seem to kill my creativity. A few years back, I was in a really bad place, very depressed. First antidepressant prescribed for me was Pamelor, a tricyclic (essentially a serotonin substitute) — the kind where you have to get your blood tested every few weeks because only a certain ‘window’ of dosage will work for a given person. I got some good effect from it though, a mood lifting…but I wasn’t creative at all while on it. Nine months later, I stopped taking it at my shrink’s suggestion — and all of a sudden, I was writing like crazy. For nine months after, roughly, I was producing a new chapter every week or two. A few years later, I tried the serotonin reuptake blockers — Paxil (made me sleep 14 hours a day, so wasn’t exactly a good choice), then Wellbutrin. Once again, the antidepressant really helped (more effective than the Pamelor, actually), and I got a lot done. Made huge and positive changes in my life.

It is also commonly assumed depressed people have a very low interest in sex, or also in their partner’s sex drive. That may be true for some, but for me – and many others- it isn’. Having an orgasm – and that is also scientifically researched – as I already said releases endorphins, but also serotonin, which manages the mood. It sets your mind off all emotional pain, and for me it’s the only technique to free my mind. It primarily is the testosterone that comes into women that gives the rush of taking antidepressants for four weeks. Research show that women who had recent sex affairs without a condom are significantly less depressed and behaviors which state less suicidal acts than those women who have sex and do use a condom. So here it is, know you know and probably understand a bit more how much or why I detest condoms, and hardly use any. And if it means getting HIV, I’m totally fine with it as I want to kill myself anyway.

Now, I don’t know if I will make the same vow this time around. I do know that I will not be getting into another relationship for a very long time, because I know when I fall for someone, I fall hard. I don’t know if I can take the rejection so soon or if I can even take the acceptance. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to, but that’s not something I can predict right now. Therapy and antidepressants work wonders sometimes, and I didn’t have that the last time. I feel stronger now, which will help.

The best medication in the world is absolutely worthless if the patient does not take it as prescribed.

In psychiatry, this is the number one cause of treatment failure. The stronger the denial, the more likely a patient won't follow your instructions. Some patients can be too inquisitive for their own good, making package inserts, Internet information and Law firm TV commercials back fire for them. I am strongly supportive of patient education and pro-active involvement, but few things enrage me more than a relative or patient bringing me information from one of the above sources about the potential side effects of a medication I have prescribed.

There have been several studdies recently that link certain enzymes in the body to the overall safeyt and effectivness of perscription drugs. For example, Codiene can become deadly if a user has quick-metabolizing enzymes. The tests for the enzymes can be expensive ($100-$500 per test) but they only need to be done once per enzyme and the results are valid for one's entire life. These tests also help with antidepressants and anestesia.

Still going a bit strange, although I’m now on the XR version of my antidepressants, which makes it sound like I will transform into the human equivalent of a sports car, all curves and va-va-voom, rather than, er, one tablet a day rather than two. Damn these lying pharmaceutical companies! It’s highly disconcerting, this feeling of losing control of one’s brain; it may simply be that I will become righted by a little intervention into the reuptake of my serotonin and noradrenaline and it will all start coming together again, but in the meantime I feel like a badly-put-together jigsaw, or a Dali painting - an arm coming out of my ear, a foot on my head. (Metaphorically, you understand; my body parts are all in their correct orders at the moment, although given my current state of mind I feel as though this may change any minute and my arse will start growing fingers, or something.)

After all, there weren't always antidepressants. If Napoleon was feeling a little blue he didn't stop conquering Europe. Although, at Waterloo he must have been feeling a little more depressed than usual - that didn't turn out too well.

Anyway, the son went out, I sat down, burst into tears (so much for the outwardly calm senario) and put the piece of paper with reminders on it, on his desk. As I was unable to speak coherantly (some who know me would say "as opposed to what"?)the GP read the notes I'd made to myself on the paper. Then, he signed me off till I go on holiday on the 10th and advised me to consider taking antidepressants and to try and change my flights so I can leave for my hols (to see my family) earlier than planned.

“Usually such men are hard, even self-punishing workers, capable of long periods of isolation or aloneness, and suffer bouts of crippling melancholy. They refuse to take antidepressants, they refuse to talk too much; instead they wait and wait, with the patience of a cat, for the mood to turn. They drink coffee alone in the morning, they smoke cigarettes on the porch.” - C.H.

When I was first hit with post partum depression after our second child, I was on a high powered hunt to alleviate the symptoms. There was no way I could cope with not coping. Three more children and three more bouts of PPD had me convinced I'd probably never go off prozac - and the medical advice I got confirmed it. I could have been a salesperson for antidepressants, so strong was my conviction in their value...Antidepressants kept the demon of not coping away...

First Tom Cruise criticizes Brooke Shields for taking antidepressants to combat postpartum depression, and now he is attacking the use of psychiatric medications, and psychiatry itself, because he’s “read the research” and therefore knows more than any other medical professional on the planet.

Brooke Shields wrote an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times (free registration required), speaking out against remarks made by Tom Cruise about her use of antidepressants to fight postpartum depression.

It doesn’t seem to be Alzheimer’s, says the neurologist. Her problems more closely resemble Parkinson’s and a dangerously mis-mixed cocktail of antidepressants, antipsychotics, and various other drugs to control her anxiety and other problems.

The exchange between Cruise & Lauer began when the host asked the War of the Worlds star about his recent comments criticizing Brooke Shields for taking antidepressants to handle postpartum depression.

I am so angry. I haven’t taken my newly adjusted antidepressants in like three days, so I feel like crying while I’m angry. It’s so fucking hot here that I cannot sleep. The heat by itself makes me miserable and unpleasant, and not being able to sleep is just making my mood even more foul. And then of course my mother’s sorry excuse for a husband thinks that one o’clock in the fucking morning is a dandy time to use power tools in the fucking basement, so I couldn’t even sleep when I tried to do so on the couch downstairs, where we actually have air conditioning. I hate the world and sometimes i am just really tempted to kill myself because everything sucks. And I am angry. >=(

The gene codes for the serotonin transporter, the protein in brain cells that recycles the chemical messenger after it's been secreted into the synapse, the gulf between cells. Since the most widely prescribed class of antidepressants act by blocking this protein, researchers have focused on possible functional consequences of a slight variation in its DNA sequence across individuals. Everyone inherits two copies of the gene, one from each parent, which comes in two common versions: short and long. The short version makes less protein, resulting...

I don’t doubt that we’ll learn more ways to manipulate our minds chemically, but I do wonder about how widely accepted these treatments will be, not because of ethical concerns but because it’s not going to be as simple as this article makes it sound. Most of the OTC medications I take or used to take have so many side-effects and interactions; decongestants, antihistamines, and many OTC painkillers all come hedged around with various warnings and restrictions. It’s not that you can’t take them or that they don’t...

It’s quite the wobble to be told that the two relatives (out of nine on that side aside from your mother) who you don’t think are complete fucking raving lunatic alcoholic/eating-disordered depressoids, were on antidepressants. Ha-ha, fooled you.

Tom Cruise actually used his air time to berate parents who give their kids medication for ADD, and adults who take antidepressants. He went so far as to call Brooke Shields "irresponsible" for publicizing her battle with postpartum depression and the medication that finally helped her recover. He also claimed that there is no science behind psychiatry.

So far, stopping taking my antidepressants recently is one of the best things I’ve done in a while - I feel great. When you’ve been depressed for a while, and on medication, it is amazing the difference it makes when you stop taking them and actually let your natural feelings shine through again. I had gotten to the stage where I was unable to feel happy - I was emotionally numb except for being extremely depressed and wanting to end it all. Now I’m actually feeling happy and optimistic about the future - which is an amazing feeling.

‘Cognitive-behavioral therapy may be just as effective as antidepressants for depressed teenagers in more affluent families, a government scientist reported Thursday.

But depression won’t just give you a headache or a backache.

Depression may weaken the immune system and a person may become more susceptible to illness or organ failure.’

Ha! The pharmaceutical companies are trying to sell drugs and they have induced physicians as their shills finding subjects for their medications. My advice, buy stock in Pfizer because their antidepressants will be selling like hot cakes in New York City, baby, as they drug up the population there.

"The number one medication in college is antidepressants," said Richard Kadison of Harvard University, whose book about the growing mental health crisis at colleges was published last year. "It's surpassed birth control pills."

So the question is–are these drugs medically necessary? Or are they simply lifestyle drugs? If a man has a medical condition, like diabetes, which can lead to impotence, is it frivolous to restore his sexual ability? One can argue that the cost of Viagra can ward off the cost of antidepressants, which the man may need if impotence is too devastating for him to handle.

Mrs. Baas says a new treatment for depression is changing her life - so much so that she’s willing to drive 115 miles five days a week from Decatur to UT Southwestern Medical Center where she is participating in an experimental study. She undergoes transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a noninvasive, nonpharmacological technology, in which short pulses of magnetic energy stimulate nerve cells in a specific area of the brain - an area that research has shown to be associated with depression.

But since the government demanded in October that drug manufacturers place such blunt warnings on prescription antidepressants, many patients have been reluctant to try the drugs. And many psychiatrists have worried despondent youths are going without the medical help they need.

“Most striking, we saw that only 12 percent of poor minority women were receiving antidepressant medications and only 5 percent met with a counselor or support group. This is in stark contrast to a recent study in which 80 percent of middle- and upper-class white female cancer patients were receiving antidepressants,” study author Kathleen Ell, a professor of social work at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, said in a prepared statement.

Jo, Sleepydust Forum Manager has recently made an interesting post at the Sleepydust Forum about antidepressants. You can read her post here:

This is not the first study to show an association between depression (or anxiety) and inflammation. Many patients being treated with Cytokine immune system activators (Interferon, Interleukins, TNF) for cancer, hepatitis, Multiple Sclerosis develop anxiety and/or depression. So strong is this response that patients are often given antidepressants during their treatment.

Are you a single parent whose stress levels seem to often be at their maximum? The good news is that engaging in a women’s fitness program can offer a remedy in encouraging social interaction, and by developing the habit of self care. Exercise has long been advocated as an antidote for depression. It is well known that exercise causes the body to produce endorphins which are responsible for a feeling of well being. Previous studies have also shown that engaging in physical activity has an affect on norepinephrine and serotonin levels. These...

Do not take Fioricet if you have taken a monoamine oxidase inhibitor in the last 14 days. Acetaminophen and butalbital may increase the effects of other drugs that cause drowsiness, including antidepressants, alcohol, antihistamines, sedatives (used to treat insomnia), other pain relievers, anxiety medicines, and muscle relaxants. Tell your doctor about all medicines that you are taking, and do not take any medicine unless your doctor approves. Many other medicines contain acetaminophen, especially over-the-counter pain, fever, cold, and allergy...