The War on Anti-Depressants

Therese Borchard writes a thought-provoking article on her blog, Beyond Blue entitled Are Puritans Behind the War on Antidepressants?  Borchard suffers from depression and has written three books on the subject.  She is also the associate editor at Psych Central where she also blogs.

Her premise here is that our country's Puritan heritage has caused us to look askance at psych meds, believing that we should "tough it out."  Underneath this belief, she says, is the idea that the depressed person is at fault and must endure God's punishment.  This attitude, of course, can be part of and fuel the depression itself--not the best way to kick it.

Christ spoke against the blame-the-victim mentality when he told the disciples regarding the man born blind that it was neither his sin nor his parents' that caused the man's blindness.  Nevertheless, this dangerous misconception continues in many religious circles even today.

Borchard points out that most of the anti-medication claims are either "groundless or simplistic".  I'll add that this tendency lends itself beautifully to most media articles on the subject.  People read (and write) in attention-grabbing headlines and fail to point out the scientific nuances in these studies that should color treatment decisions.

This article is an essential read for anyone who is touched by depression--their own or someone else's.

The War on Anti-Depressants

Therese Borchard writes a thought-provoking article on her blog, Beyond Blue entitled Are Puritans Behind the War on Antidepressants?  Borchard suffers from depression and has written three books on the subject.  She is also the associate editor at Psych Central where she also blogs.

Her premise here is that our country's Puritan heritage has caused us to look askance at psych meds, believing that we should "tough it out."  Underneath this belief, she says, is the idea that the depressed person is at fault and must endure God's punishment.  This attitude, of course, can be part of and fuel the depression itself--not the best way to kick it.

Christ spoke against the blame-the-victim mentality when he told the disciples regarding the man born blind that it was neither his sin nor his parents' that caused the man's blindness.  Nevertheless, this dangerous misconception continues in many religious circles even today.

Borchard points out that most of the anti-medication claims are either "groundless or simplistic".  I'll add that this tendency lends itself beautifully to most media articles on the subject.  People read (and write) in attention-grabbing headlines and fail to point out the scientific nuances in these studies that should color treatment decisions.

This article is an essential read for anyone who is touched by depression--their own or someone else's.

Ten Important Things I've Learned

I realized recently that there are many important things I've learned from various sources that God has put into my life.  Conveniently, there are ten of them--a nice round number.

1. Shift judgements to curiosities  ~Rescue Institute

I found The Rescue Institute recently on Twitter.  They tweet all kinds of motivational type sayings and this is the one that hit me the most.

 I love the idea of being curious about life.  I think it keeps us feeling alive and in touch with all that the Creator has put here with us.  

Judging closes us off.  It closes off communication and prevents real change.

Curiosity opens us up to share God's Love. 

2.  There is a physiological/psychological basis for many things that we assume people do out of pure ignorance or stubbornness. 

I learned this recently in a behaviorism class I'm in at work.  Even such mundane things as what we like (or don't like) to eat is partially based on an in-born trait.  Taste aversions are common in human beings and are there to help us avoid things that are poisonous.  It is easier to "learn" to dislike a taste than it is to learn many other things. 

Various types of behavioral conditioning are acting on us even when we are not aware of it. This may result in us disliking some pretty odd things for some pretty illogical reasons.

For example, if you feel ill from spoiled food, you may not learn to dislike that food in the future. Your brain may have learned to associate the nauseated feeling, not with the food, but with the song that was playing on the radio at the time you felt ill! You may still be able to eat that food in the future, but forever dislike that song.

Makes no sense? It does to your brain! 

3.  People are doing things because of THEM, not us. 

This is true.  It is often hard to believe, but it is essential that we err on the side of believing this truth. 

4.  We are attracted to like individuals.

Find someone you like?  There is probably something about yourself that you and that person share. You can learn a lot about yourself by finding out what you and that other person have in common. 

5.  We are happier when we live according to our values. 

Sounds fairly obvious, but this is also important to remember.  If you are unhappy, think about where in your life you are being asked to go against your value system. 

6.  It is worth finding our values. 

Living in alignment with our values/beliefs/preferences is worth doing.  It is worth searching high and low to find out what these are. 

7.  Our values can be discerned by finding out what makes us happy. 

Does something consistently put a smile on your face?  If so, it is probably something you value.  Values don't have to be the "big" things like "peace on earth".   

8.  There can be many ups and downs in life that fall within the range of normality.  

Emotions fall on a spectrum.  Think of a number line.  Zero is pretty much comatose and 10 would be jumping off the Empire State Building because I believe I can fly.  The territory in the middle is well within the range of normal.  Life has ups and it has downs.  That is ok.  

[Perhaps 2 and 9 are not normal either, but you get the idea.]

9.  We may need to go outside of our immediate circle to interact with people who share some of our values. 

Just because we love someone doesn't mean they are 100% like us.  That's ok.  Variety is the spice of life. 

Look outside your immediate circle to find more people who share your values. 

10.  Conversely, we can increase the gratitude we have for our own immediate circle by remembering numbers 1-3. 

Be curious about others, don't judge them, and assume that they are acting out of something within themselves.  

Ten Important Things I've Learned

I realized recently that there are many important things I've learned from various sources that God has put into my life.  Conveniently, there are ten of them--a nice round number.

1. Shift judgements to curiosities  ~Rescue Institute

I found The Rescue Institute recently on Twitter.  They tweet all kinds of motivational type sayings and this is the one that hit me the most.

 I love the idea of being curious about life.  I think it keeps us feeling alive and in touch with all that the Creator has put here with us.  

Judging closes us off.  It closes off communication and prevents real change.

Curiosity opens us up to share God's Love. 

2.  There is a physiological/psychological basis for many things that we assume people do out of pure ignorance or stubbornness. 

I learned this recently in a behaviorism class I'm in at work.  Even such mundane things as what we like (or don't like) to eat is partially based on an in-born trait.  Taste aversions are common in human beings and are there to help us avoid things that are poisonous.  It is easier to "learn" to dislike a taste than it is to learn many other things. 

Various types of behavioral conditioning are acting on us even when we are not aware of it. This may result in us disliking some pretty odd things for some pretty illogical reasons.

For example, if you feel ill from spoiled food, you may not learn to dislike that food in the future. Your brain may have learned to associate the nauseated feeling, not with the food, but with the song that was playing on the radio at the time you felt ill! You may still be able to eat that food in the future, but forever dislike that song.

Makes no sense? It does to your brain! 

3.  People are doing things because of THEM, not us. 

This is true.  It is often hard to believe, but it is essential that we err on the side of believing this truth. 

4.  We are attracted to like individuals.

Find someone you like?  There is probably something about yourself that you and that person share. You can learn a lot about yourself by finding out what you and that other person have in common. 

5.  We are happier when we live according to our values. 

Sounds fairly obvious, but this is also important to remember.  If you are unhappy, think about where in your life you are being asked to go against your value system. 

6.  It is worth finding our values. 

Living in alignment with our values/beliefs/preferences is worth doing.  It is worth searching high and low to find out what these are. 

7.  Our values can be discerned by finding out what makes us happy. 

Does something consistently put a smile on your face?  If so, it is probably something you value.  Values don't have to be the "big" things like "peace on earth".   

8.  There can be many ups and downs in life that fall within the range of normality.  

Emotions fall on a spectrum.  Think of a number line.  Zero is pretty much comatose and 10 would be jumping off the Empire State Building because I believe I can fly.  The territory in the middle is well within the range of normal.  Life has ups and it has downs.  That is ok.  

[Perhaps 2 and 9 are not normal either, but you get the idea.]

9.  We may need to go outside of our immediate circle to interact with people who share some of our values. 

Just because we love someone doesn't mean they are 100% like us.  That's ok.  Variety is the spice of life. 

Look outside your immediate circle to find more people who share your values. 

10.  Conversely, we can increase the gratitude we have for our own immediate circle by remembering numbers 1-3. 

Be curious about others, don't judge them, and assume that they are acting out of something within themselves.  

God's Prescription Against Anxiety

He who practices virtue and speaks honestly,
stopping his ears lest he hear of bloodshed,
closing his eyes lest he look on evil.
~Isaiah 33

Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

~Philippians 4:7-8

Keep your mind pure and free from the cares of this world by focusing on Jesus Christ and His love. Keep away, as much as you can, from needless cares, stoked like a destructive fire, by the modern world.

God's Prescription Against Anxiety

He who practices virtue and speaks honestly,
stopping his ears lest he hear of bloodshed,
closing his eyes lest he look on evil.
~Isaiah 33

Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

~Philippians 4:7-8

Keep your mind pure and free from the cares of this world by focusing on Jesus Christ and His love. Keep away, as much as you can, from needless cares, stoked like a destructive fire, by the modern world.

The Americanization of Mental Illness

Last week's New York Times had a fascinating article called "The Americanization of Mental Illness" which postulates that unlike physical disease, mental illness has not been historically the same across cultures and time.  What we see as anorexia, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, with a particular set of symptoms for example, may not have always existed in a way that would be recognizable to psychiatrists of today.  In fact, the article says, mental illness is culturally specific.

Various countries, cultures and times have given rise to very different types of mental illnesses.  In some cultures in South East Asia, men sometimes suffer from amok, which is described as "murderous rage followed by amnesia."  In the 1890's some European men became labeled as "Mad Travelers" because they would travel on foot for hundreds of miles in a trance-like state, not knowing who they were.  Women in the same time period became afflicted with "hysterical" paralysis of the legs.

Now however, the instantaneous speed of world wide communication along with technological advances in medicine have exported the medical model of mental illness across the globe.  Mental illness is now seen as a result of a biochemical imbalance in the brain.  This perspective has overtaken the once prevalent psychosocial/environmental model of mental illness.  Along with this change, it was assumed that a medical model of mental illness as a brain disorder would increase compassion in the way those who suffer are treated by the outside world.

What is shocking is that recent studies have shown this not to be the case.  In fact, the medical model of mental illness may indeed be doing just the opposite.  A study in Turkey, for example, showed that people who believed schizophrenia was a "disorder of the spiritual or inner self" (ruhsal hastagi) were more likely to view those suffering from schizophrenia as less aggressive and more willing to agree that they should live in the community than those who labeled the disorder as "an illness of the brain or reasoning abilities" (akil hastaligi).

Another surprising finding is that patients in the United States and Europe are found to relapse more often than those in other countries.  The article suggests that in third world countries, mental illness is seen as something outside the patient and therefore not as integral to their identities as people.  Westerners see the brain as "the self".  A brain disease means the person is somehow no longer...a person.  The article  says that we in the "first world" are "hyperintrospective" and tend to "psychologize (our) daily existence".  Non western countries do not over medicalize every aspect of the human experience as we do in the west.  "Normal" is becoming a smaller and smaller box that our society wants to force each of its members to fit into.

The article ends by saying that "we are investing our great wealth in researching and treating mental illness...because we have rather suddenly lost older belief systems that once gave meaning and context to mental suffering."  The effect of this loss of a spiritual outlook has been to increase the mental illness label (and the fear that accompanies it in the greater social group) while decreasing compassion and acceptance of those who are labeled as "different."

Societies as old as civilization have had spiritual explanations and remedies for many things, including mental illness.  Throwing away this spirituality as superstitious is counter productive and ineffective.

The Americanization of Mental Illness

Last week's New York Times had a fascinating article called "The Americanization of Mental Illness" which postulates that unlike physical disease, mental illness has not been historically the same across cultures and time.  What we see as anorexia, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, with a particular set of symptoms for example, may not have always existed in a way that would be recognizable to psychiatrists of today.  In fact, the article says, mental illness is culturally specific.

Various countries, cultures and times have given rise to very different types of mental illnesses.  In some cultures in South East Asia, men sometimes suffer from amok, which is described as "murderous rage followed by amnesia."  In the 1890's some European men became labeled as "Mad Travelers" because they would travel on foot for hundreds of miles in a trance-like state, not knowing who they were.  Women in the same time period became afflicted with "hysterical" paralysis of the legs.

Now however, the instantaneous speed of world wide communication along with technological advances in medicine have exported the medical model of mental illness across the globe.  Mental illness is now seen as a result of a biochemical imbalance in the brain.  This perspective has overtaken the once prevalent psychosocial/environmental model of mental illness.  Along with this change, it was assumed that a medical model of mental illness as a brain disorder would increase compassion in the way those who suffer are treated by the outside world.

What is shocking is that recent studies have shown this not to be the case.  In fact, the medical model of mental illness may indeed be doing just the opposite.  A study in Turkey, for example, showed that people who believed schizophrenia was a "disorder of the spiritual or inner self" (ruhsal hastagi) were more likely to view those suffering from schizophrenia as less aggressive and more willing to agree that they should live in the community than those who labeled the disorder as "an illness of the brain or reasoning abilities" (akil hastaligi).

Another surprising finding is that patients in the United States and Europe are found to relapse more often than those in other countries.  The article suggests that in third world countries, mental illness is seen as something outside the patient and therefore not as integral to their identities as people.  Westerners see the brain as "the self".  A brain disease means the person is somehow no longer...a person.  The article  says that we in the "first world" are "hyperintrospective" and tend to "psychologize (our) daily existence".  Non western countries do not over medicalize every aspect of the human experience as we do in the west.  "Normal" is becoming a smaller and smaller box that our society wants to force each of its members to fit into.

The article ends by saying that "we are investing our great wealth in researching and treating mental illness...because we have rather suddenly lost older belief systems that once gave meaning and context to mental suffering."  The effect of this loss of a spiritual outlook has been to increase the mental illness label (and the fear that accompanies it in the greater social group) while decreasing compassion and acceptance of those who are labeled as "different."

Societies as old as civilization have had spiritual explanations and remedies for many things, including mental illness.  Throwing away this spirituality as superstitious is counter productive and ineffective.

National Depression Screening Day

Tomorrow is National Depression Screening Day.  If you go to mentalhealthscreening.org, you can get information about depression and anxiety disorders, sign up for screening in your local community, and find out how to get help.

We are all at increased risk for depression and anxiety as the economy takes its toll on all of us.  Health issues, financial issues, worries about our loved ones, all add up.

Please consider educating yourself about mental illness and take advantage of the free screening available tomorrow.

National Depression Screening Day

Tomorrow is National Depression Screening Day.  If you go to mentalhealthscreening.org, you can get information about depression and anxiety disorders, sign up for screening in your local community, and find out how to get help.

We are all at increased risk for depression and anxiety as the economy takes its toll on all of us.  Health issues, financial issues, worries about our loved ones, all add up.

Please consider educating yourself about mental illness and take advantage of the free screening available tomorrow.

Anxiety and Attention--A New Study

A fascinating study out of the UK reports that anxiety can lead to problems with maintaining attention, which has implications for education, especially in our complex modern world. Professor Michael Eysenck and Dr Nazanin Derkshan of The Economic and Social Research Council have found that those who suffer from anxiety have a difficult time ignoring distractions, and find it harder to transition from one task to another than those who do not.

The study also found that those suffering from anxiety do as well as those who do not suffer on comparable tasks, but it costs them more effort and long term stress. In an experiment involving math problems, the correctness of the answers were not affected, but the participants took longer to solve the problems.

People who suffer from anxiety have to try harder to achieve the same levels of success as non-sufferers, often with negative results that are not seen for quite some time.

 Parents, school boards and elected officials should take into account the struggles that individual students must go through to maintain the standards they set.  More attention needs to be focused on helping students with anxiety so that they have the tools necessary to function in school, and in life.




Photo from here.

Anxiety and Attention--A New Study

A fascinating study out of the UK reports that anxiety can lead to problems with maintaining attention, which has implications for education, especially in our complex modern world. Professor Michael Eysenck and Dr Nazanin Derkshan of The Economic and Social Research Council have found that those who suffer from anxiety have a difficult time ignoring distractions, and find it harder to transition from one task to another than those who do not.

The study also found that those suffering from anxiety do as well as those who do not suffer on comparable tasks, but it costs them more effort and long term stress. In an experiment involving math problems, the correctness of the answers were not affected, but the participants took longer to solve the problems.

People who suffer from anxiety have to try harder to achieve the same levels of success as non-sufferers, often with negative results that are not seen for quite some time.

 Parents, school boards and elected officials should take into account the struggles that individual students must go through to maintain the standards they set.  More attention needs to be focused on helping students with anxiety so that they have the tools necessary to function in school, and in life.




Photo from here.

Childhood Anxiety--is our lifestyle worth the price?

According to The American Psychological Association's Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,

"if the average child of today were placed in a time machine and flashed back to the year 1957, he might be institutionalized as emotionally disturbed due to his high level of anxiety."

According to a study by Jean Twenge, PhD, an average child of today experiences the same amount of anxiety that a childhood psychiatric patient experienced in the 1950's.

Think, a minute, what this study tells us. It took quite a lot for a child to become a psychiatric patient in the 1950's. Yet, our stress levels for average children now match that level. Obviously, our levels of stress have gone way up. Also, everyone is experiencing these increased levels of stress, not just a few. Our society must have begun to assume that this constant level of stress is normal to be seeing this level of stress in most average children. And, finally, if our children were to be transported back to the 1950's, our high level of stress would probably get most of them a psychiatric diagnosis.

And yet, we are more medicated than ever. And yet, there is less stigma for many psychiatric conditions than there was in the 1950's.

What is happening? I would love to get readers' input on this. What things have changed since the 1950's that would negatively affect the psychological health of an entire population? What can be done about it on a societal level? What about an individual level? What changes must take place?

Childhood Anxiety--is our lifestyle worth the price?

According to The American Psychological Association's Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,

"if the average child of today were placed in a time machine and flashed back to the year 1957, he might be institutionalized as emotionally disturbed due to his high level of anxiety."

According to a study by Jean Twenge, PhD, an average child of today experiences the same amount of anxiety that a childhood psychiatric patient experienced in the 1950's.

Think, a minute, what this study tells us. It took quite a lot for a child to become a psychiatric patient in the 1950's. Yet, our stress levels for average children now match that level. Obviously, our levels of stress have gone way up. Also, everyone is experiencing these increased levels of stress, not just a few. Our society must have begun to assume that this constant level of stress is normal to be seeing this level of stress in most average children. And, finally, if our children were to be transported back to the 1950's, our high level of stress would probably get most of them a psychiatric diagnosis.

And yet, we are more medicated than ever. And yet, there is less stigma for many psychiatric conditions than there was in the 1950's.

What is happening? I would love to get readers' input on this. What things have changed since the 1950's that would negatively affect the psychological health of an entire population? What can be done about it on a societal level? What about an individual level? What changes must take place?

The 5-a-Day Plan to Stay Sane

There are five simple things you can do each day to stay sane, according to Foresight, a U.K. Government think tank. Its Mental Capital and Wellbeing report says that doing the following 5 things each day will go a long way towards maintaining mental health.

1. Connect with others
2. Be Physically Active
3. Be Mentally Curious
4. Learn Something New
5. Give to Others

I think, in these days of busyness and isolation, these five basic lifestyle enhancers can be easy to overlook.

Hat tip to MK.

The 5-a-Day Plan to Stay Sane

There are five simple things you can do each day to stay sane, according to Foresight, a U.K. Government think tank. Its Mental Capital and Wellbeing report says that doing the following 5 things each day will go a long way towards maintaining mental health.

1. Connect with others
2. Be Physically Active
3. Be Mentally Curious
4. Learn Something New
5. Give to Others

I think, in these days of busyness and isolation, these five basic lifestyle enhancers can be easy to overlook.

Hat tip to MK.

National Depression Screening Day--Oct. 10

October 10th is National Depression Screening Day. Screening for Mental Health, the organization who sponsers the event, has information on its website for health care providers, employers, government agencies and the public about depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and other mental health challenges affecting children, adolescents, college students, and those in the military, to name a few specific groups.

Click here to find a free depression screening near you, or take the free online evaluation from Screening for Mental Health.

National Depression Screening Day--Oct. 10

October 10th is National Depression Screening Day. Screening for Mental Health, the organization who sponsers the event, has information on its website for health care providers, employers, government agencies and the public about depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and other mental health challenges affecting children, adolescents, college students, and those in the military, to name a few specific groups.

Click here to find a free depression screening near you, or take the free online evaluation from Screening for Mental Health.

Important Mental Health Insurance Parity Bill Passed!

A landmark bill was approved by Congress yesterday requiring private insurers to cover mental illnesses equally with those that are deemed physical. Even without debating the necessity of health care coverage from the standpoint of basic human rights, recent research has pointed increasingly to *physical* causes for many mental illnesses, and, therefore, it is only logical that they be covered the same as other diseases.

Mental health insurance parity would greatly improve the lives of many, many people who struggle daily with mental illness as well as their families.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy (D-R.I.), and Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.), both of whom have struggled with addictions.

Please urge the president to sign this bill into law.

Hat tip to our roving reporter, MK.

Important Mental Health Insurance Parity Bill Passed!

A landmark bill was approved by Congress yesterday requiring private insurers to cover mental illnesses equally with those that are deemed physical. Even without debating the necessity of health care coverage from the standpoint of basic human rights, recent research has pointed increasingly to *physical* causes for many mental illnesses, and, therefore, it is only logical that they be covered the same as other diseases.

Mental health insurance parity would greatly improve the lives of many, many people who struggle daily with mental illness as well as their families.

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy (D-R.I.), and Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.), both of whom have struggled with addictions.

Please urge the president to sign this bill into law.

Hat tip to our roving reporter, MK.