Depression in the News 2009

An article in the New York Times Sunday Magazine: Depression’s Upside. February 25, 2010. Quoting "The mystery of depression is not that it exists — the mind, like the flesh, is prone to malfunction. Instead, the paradox of depression has long been its prevalence. While most mental illnesses are extremely rare — schizophrenia, for example, is seen in less than 1 percent of the population — depression is everywhere, as inescapable as the common cold. Every year, approximately 7 percent of us will be afflicted to some degree by the awful mental state..."

Could it be "... that depression has a secret purpose and our medical interventions are making a bad situation even worse. Like a fever that helps the immune system fight off infection — increased body temperature sends white blood cells into overdrive — depression might be an unpleasant yet adaptive response to affliction. Maybe Darwin was right. We suffer — we suffer terribly — but we don’t suffer in vain."

An important article, one the debunks other recent articles. Quoting: "Last week, The Journal of the American Medical Association published a study questioning the effectiveness of antidepressant drugs. The drugs are useful in cases of severe depression, it said. But for most patients, those with mild to moderate cases, the most commonly used antidepressants are generally no better than a placebo... [This] contradicted literally hundreds of well-designed trials, not to mention considerable clinical experience, showing antidepressants to be effective for a wide array of depressed patients. But on close inspection, the new study does not stand up to that mountain of earlier evidence." See Before You Quit Antidepressants ... from The New York Times January 11, 2010.

Debunking a story on CNN about antidepressant drugs. Quoting "The trouble is not that the drugs don’t work; it’s that the care is not very good. Inadequate treatment by nonspecialists is only a piece of the problem. In fact, most Americans with depression, rather than being overmedicated, are undertreated or not treated at all." The Wrong Story About Depression an op-ed piece in The New York Times January 8, 2010.

November 20, 2009. From: How to Find Mental Health Care When Money Is Tight by Lesley Alderman in the New York Times. The leading reason that people with mental health issues don’t seek treatment is cost. But while affordable mental care exists, it’s not always easy to find or get immediate access to. The article offers advice for anyone with minimal coverage or no insurance, on finding mental health care on the cheap. MDSG didn't make it into the article however. Other useful suggestions not mentioned in the article can be found in the reader comments.

November 11, 2009. From: Depression Depression Haunted Goalkeeper Killed by Train by Rob Hughes in the New York Times. Robert Enke of the Hannover 96 soccer club in Germany was hit and killed by a train at a level crossing near his home. He left a suicide note. His widow reported that he suffered from a depression and was first treated in 2003. She said “When he was acutely depressive, he lacked motivation and hope, I tried to be there for him. I said football is not everything, there are many beautiful things in life, it is not hopeless.” His psychologist reported that Enke had a fear of failure. His wife adds that “He was scared of losing Leila [an adopted daughter] if his depression came out ... We thought we could do everything with love, but you can’t always do it.”

October 5, 2009. From: Depression Is a Dilemma for Women in Pregnancy by Roni Caryn Rabin in the New York Times. As many as a quarter of all pregnant women suffer from depression, and about an eighth use an antidepressant at some time during pregnancy. Although many antidepressants appear to be fairly safe, studies have reported links between maternal use and a small increased risk of some fetal malformations. A new report says that talk therapy should be the first-line treatment for mild to moderate depression, but that for severe cases the risks of antidepressants and even shock therapy are relatively low. Yet, at the same time, it says that no generalizations apply.

July 10, 2009. Clinical depression kept Chamique Holdsclaw out of the W.N.B.A. for nearly two full seasons. She even overdosed on antidepressants, but "With her illness in check and her game in tow, Holdsclaw ended her hiatus this year, driven to show others afflicted by depression that it is beatable." Holdsclaw Is Back in the W.N.B.A., With a Purpose by Mike Tierney in the New York Times.

June 19, 2009. Quoting from the article: "The protections afforded chronically ill workers in the United States are thin and somewhat vague. To protect their health and their jobs, workers must navigate employers’ policies, which may include short- and long-term disability plans, as well as a patchwork of federal laws and regulations ... when an employee has a serious or chronic illness, like diabetes, major depression or lupus, the rules about time off become murky ... Two laws offer workers some relief. The Family and Medical Leave Act [and] ... the Americans With Disabilities Act..." See Protecting Your Job While Coping With a Chronic Illness by Lesley Alderman in the New York Times.

April 29, 2009. Zack Greinke started out as a great rookie pitcher, but had to take a time-out from baseball. Doctors diagnosed him with social anxiety disorder and accompanying depression. Greinke took antidepressants. Now, he's the best pitcher in baseball. His record is 4-0, his earned run average is zero, he leads the American League in strikeouts, threw back-to-back complete games and batters are hitting .186 off him.

Greinkes family had a history of depression. After the medication took hold, the fog was gone. He lived in standard definition before, and all of a sudden, life was HD. See Greinkes redemption and pursuit of perfection by Jeff Passan, Yahoo! Sports

A government-appointed medical panel is urging doctors to perform routine screening on all American teenagers for depression. Nearly two million teenagers suffer from depression and most are undiagnosed and untreated. It is estimated that 6 percent of American teenagers are clinically depressed. Evidence shows that detailed but simple questionnaires can accurately diagnose depression. Depression Tests Urged for Teenagers from the Associated Press. Published in The New York Times March 29, 2009.

We can prod the human brain. Sometimes we achieve miracle cures, sometimes just trim the edge off the pain, but even the little tweaks can mean the difference between the livable and unlivable life. When a TMS machine is held to the head, it's capable of electrically affecting areas of the brain within a few centimeters of the surface. The brain and its peripheral nerves run on electricity and you need is a very weak current to activate brain cells in a given region. TMS gets electricity into the brain peacefully, without either cutting it open or shocking it with millions of volts.

The target area of the brain is subjected to rapidly changing magnetic fields until electricity begins to dance across its neurons. TMS doesn't reach the deeper regions of the brain, but there are a lot of important and interesting areas in the cortex where TMS delivers its current. It is much more targeted than pharmaceutical drugs. See Dial H for Happiness: How Neuroengineering May Change Your Brain by Quinn Norton published in Wired March 3, 2009.

SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), the most common type of antidepressant, may also suppress the basic human emotions of love and romance. They are already known to cause sexual side effects in about 30 percent of patients. A new theory suggests that SSRI antidepressants may also subtly alter the fundamental chemistry of love and romance, preventing couples from bonding. According to a Rutgers University biological anthropologist "There's every reason to think SSRIs blunt your ability to fall and stay in love". SSRIs boost circulating levels of serotonin and decrease dopamine. New research suggests that dopamine may play a part in romance. See Antidepressants May Thwart Quest for True Love by Brandon Keim, published in Wired Science February 25, 2009.

A new study found that atypical antipsychotics (Risperdal, Zyprexa and Seroquel among others) double patients’ risk of dying from sudden heart failure. The finding is the latest in a succession of recent reports contradicting the long-held assumption that the new drugs are safer than the older cheaper medications that they replaced. See Study Finds Drug Risks With Newer Antipsychotics by Benedict Carey and Roni Caryn Rabin. Published in The New York Times January 14, 2009.

In her first public statement on the issue, Close revealed to AARP The Magazine that she has a family member who suffers from bipolar disorder, and another who has schizoaffective disorder. “I’ve seen mental illness firsthand,” she says. “I know there are millions of people affected, and it’s not just the patient who is suffering. It’s everyone around them.” Two years ago the actress began quietly making donations to Fountain House, a 60-year-old not-for-profit organization headquartered in New York City that she discovered while searching for help for her relatives. Glenn Close - Mental Health Advocate from AARP Magazine. January 2009 edition