Interesting article on depression in Boston Globe

[Leah]

This was a really fascinating article and opens up all sorts of possibilities and questions --

I'm with the drug-company-ploy gang. They own us. I work in the medical publishing industry and live in the pharmaceutical capital of the country (all the big drug co's are here). You should hear what my friend who works in one of them has to say. The big money-makers are anti-depressants and cholesterol medications ... and cholesterol hasn't even truly been linked to mortality, I believe. I once heard one of the very MDs who worked on one of the medicines sort of poo-poo the whole concept.

I think like many other things, depression is probably "overdetermined" -- that is, it has a variety of causes, and one person may need two or three solutions. The main question I have for this article is, if depression is purely neurological in nature, then why (or how?) does getting pent-up anger out relieve depression? There must be an emotional validity (source) to it.

Also, I think people forget the appropriate use of anti-depressants. They're there to help someone get up and on their feet and function when otherwise they cannot. They aren't really supposed to be used to avoid problems and issues, etc. But -- here I go!!! -- it's an INSURANCE COMPANY solution. Drugs are so much cheaper than psychotherapy. So push, push, push them. It's all an intense (economic) partnership between the drug companies and the insurance companies and probably assorted other parties.

Ok, I'll get off my soap box now...but I get so ....errr...angry! when people think there's a simple solution to all this. I say this as one who's on an antidepressant (and just upped the dose) -- but I would never substitute for confronting the emotional work I need to do.

Hi LilyCat,

I am with you 100%  -  and with regard to 'cholesterol medications' I am aware of the "Statins" shambles.

Leah x

[LilyCat]

Right on, Leah.

With regard to statins, though -- they have many other powerful positive effects, particularly on coronary disease (non-cholesterol) and I think some other stuff, and I believe longevity. So if your doctor has prescribed on for you, take it. I take Lipitor not so much on the basis of cholesterol (although that's why he has me on it -- wants mine below 100, LDL at 70; it is) but for these other reasons. They really are a powerful reason to take them.

One of the questions this article raised for me is -- alcohol and marijuana destroy brain cells. Perhaps that's why they are also depressants? (What about watching TV, then? Does it destroy brain cells?)

The interesting thing is that at least alcohol has the opposite effect on people with central brain damage (learned this from my brother). It's actually a stimulant for them. They sometimes gave it to my brother to perk him up.

Also, did you know that they don't exactly know how alcohol affects the brain and does what it does? (The last I heard.) I was shocked when I heard this -- it just seems like such a given.

[Leah]

Oh, no,  LilyCat

I have not been prescribed with 'statins' ........ I was merely mentioning it in reference to your comment re: 'cholesterol medications'

I am fortunate, and grateful, to have a low cholesterol count, apparently, according to annual check-ups.

Leah x

[Leah]

I agree, Lillycat

with the fact that Alcohol has a huge devastating effect on the brain.   And it saddens me to see young people addicted to 'binge drinking' - it is globally endemic.   

Young people are being sold a lie - drinking and drugs - and goodness knows what lies ahead etc.

I have friends in the medical profession and they openly express concern for our current young generation's mental health.

Leah x

[SilverLining]

Right on, Leah.


Also, did you know that they don't exactly know how alcohol affects the brain and does what it does? (The last I heard.) I was shocked when I heard this -- it just seems like such a given.

Hi Lily.  You have made a lot of excellent points.  They don't yet have any way to directly observe the effects of chemicals on the brain, so their explanations are just conjecture or theory.    Maybe Prozac gently stimulates brain cells into regrowth, or maybe it toxically overstimulates cells into hyperactivity causing eventual damage.  It takes about 2 minutes of searching on the internet to find articles proposing both theories.  Since so much is at stake a conservative approach seems worthwhile.   

My own experience and what I have observed in others suggests antidepressants have an often temporary stimulating effect.   I thought Prozac was a miracle, for about 6 months before it started to fizzle.  Then I got on the treadmill of constant chemical adjustment.  First raise the dose, then add other types of pills to the mix, then subtract some.  Each time it seemed to have some effect, for awhile.   Finally on my own I bagged the whole program.  Then a weird thing happened.  After a couple of months I again felt "cured".  Getting off Prozac did just as much good as starting it in the first place.   The change in chemical mix seemed to be stimulating no matter which way I went.   I doubt I am unique in this since everybody I have run into who takes antidepressants seems to be on the constant adjustment routine. 

Maybe for many people the drugs are a necessary jolt to a better level of functioning, but it seems other work is necessary for a more permanent cure. 




   

 

[LilyCat]

Leah, no worries. Just wanted to be sure...

SL -- yes to everything you said. I totally agree and understand. Similar experience with Paxil. Was on and off a few times during a several-year period. It never worked as well as the first time I was on it. My MD said it wouldn't. Today I don't think it would do a thing for me. I got a nice "surge," though, as I came off it. Go figure!!

Similar experience with Effexor, which for many people is impossible to get off of. Didn't work as well the second time -- and I started eating like fiend.

Wellbutrin and me, though, we're getting along just fine. It just helps me function better at work. And the weight loss is very nice!!

The literature -- even ads pharma co's place with us -- all talk about the "lack of efficacy" -- how they stop working after sometimes a short while. Absolutely.