Advice for Julie!

This is from Jennifer regarding our Julie’s plight (below).

I think you have to put your children’s safety first. Since Mary isn’t being open about her mental illness, it’s hard to make the comparison to asthma. She’s not giving you all the information you would need to make accommodations for her. The fact that she’s taking your kids along with her on her shoplifting sprees is very disturbing. Who knows what else they could be exposed to? If she got disoriented in a store, couldn’t she also get disoriented while driving, or something else physically dangerous?

Good points, Jennifer. Team Trouble, keep ‘em coming.

liz | 3:59 PM | Uncategorized

New Feature: Advice Column

Okay, everyone. I’m always getting lots of emails from people asking for advice, whether about meds, family members, course of treatment, or whatever. I resist answering such questions because I’m not a doctor. But with the rise of the peer support movement, and given the fact that I am a Certified Peer Specialist, I’ve decided to start giving advice — with the caveat that I may not know what the hell I’m talking about.

Luckily, I don’t have to go it alone. All of you can offer peer support, as well. We’ve done this informally on this site before, but let’s formalize and think of a name. Is “Dear Liz” too solitary, focusing just on me? I’m having trouble thinking of something else that might catch on. How about “Team Trouble”?

Let’s start with an email from a woman whose details I’m going to change a bit, to protect her identity. She and I discussed the changes, and she’s satisfied that she’ll get the answers she needs from you all. So here’s her story.

Julie lives in Dublin and is the mother of two boys (6 and almost 3 years old). She has a part-time nanny named Mary. I’ll let her take it from here:

Mary cares for our youngest son in our home and occasionally my older son as well. Both boys are very attached to Mary and she has become like a family member to us. Sometime last year Mary seemed really depressed. I expressed concern to a mutual friend who let me know in confidence that Mary was trying to get off of anti-depressant medication. The depression seemed to lift, and in fact, Mary had returned to her meds. Recently, however, there have been a few incidents that have left me questioning Mary’s judgment and consequently, her ability to ensure the safety of my children. I don’t know if this is due to a mental illness, a change in her meds, or something else.

More »

liz | 9:02 AM | Uncategorized

[Manic] Depression Confessions: Ricci and Gibson

In 2007 and 2008, many celebrities have come out of the closet about struggling with mental illness.

Just a brief rundown:

- Delta Burke (serious clinical depression)

- Patrick Dempsey (depression, for about two days)

- Alicia Keys (depression)

- Drew Carey (depression)

- Fall-Out Boy’s Pete Wentz (manic-depression – his words)

- Rebecca Romijn (post-wedding blues)

- Corey Feldman (depression, probably just from being Corey Feldman)

- Kelly Osbourne (depression blamed on too much money. No, seriously.)

- Zach Braff (depression)

- Mandy Moore (depression, hopefully not at the same time)

- Anne Hathaway (anxiety as a teen)

- Rosie O’Donnell (depression)

- Halle Berry (depression spurred by asshole boyfriends).

That’s to say nothing of the old standbys: Axl Rose (bipolar); Margot Kidder (bipolar); Anne Heche (bipolar); Carrie Fisher (bipolar); and Robert Downey Jr. (who the hell knows?)

Trotting out celeb names like this isn’t just a fun party game (which is good, because that would be an unappealing party). It’s actually vaguely meaningful, because you can then say to your friends, “Look, don’t give me any crap about taking meds and seeing my psychiatrist. I might end up hosting The Price Is Right, or starring in the next Marvel superhero adaptation, or making a Grammy Award-winning blockbuster CD.” Or you might want to forget the Price Is Right part. Replacing Bob Barker isn’t so cool.

Celebs who come out of the crazy closet are saying to kids (and adults) that it’s all right to talk about this stuff, that there’s nothing to be ashamed of. Famous people have so much to lose, yet they disclose. So in the interest of further destigmatization and in order to appreciate the celebs who are willing to be frank, let’s examine the latest revelations.

First of all, kudos to Christina Ricci, currently starring in Speed Racer. According to Now magazine, young Ricci fought anorexia and depression in her even younger years:

…the actress, 28, says she overcame her problems with the help of a psychiatrist.

‘These are things you can’t always deal with alone, so I went to therapy,’ she tells The Independent. ‘Sometimes people need to seek professional help. Along the way I discovered that you can choose to be happy. If you choose to let go of your self-consciousness and insecurities about physical appearance, then you’ll get to a place where you are present to see the world and enjoy yourself.’

I think that’s admirable coming from a woman whose forehead is larger than my living room.

More »

liz | 4:28 PM | Uncategorized

Slightly Belated Welcome

liz | 10:22 AM | Uncategorized

Responding to the ECT Discussion

Sue Clark-Wittenberg, who I mentioned yesterday, wrote in and had this to say:

Hi Liz, I am Sue Clark-Wittenberg the woman you’re writing about in Canada. Electroshock always causes brain damage according to Dr. Harold Sackeim. He did an ECT study in 2007. Dr. Peter R. Breggin wrote an article called
“Disturbing News for Patients and Shock Doctors” see www.breggin.com. His section called “blogs” and see this article. Also Dr. Breggin wrote a book called Electroshock: Its Brain Disabling Effects. See Leonard Roy Frank’s quotationary at endofshock.com

Google “Dr John Friedberg Testimony” a neurologist who talks about damage to the brain by ECT.

I know what I am talking about.

See other ECT websites:

breggin.com
banshock.org
capa.oise.utoronto.ca
icbe.wordpress.com
capacanada.wordpress.com
ect.org
idiom.com/~drjohn/ect1.html
mindfreedom.org

Thanks, Sue, for writing in, and welcome to the site. I am familiar with the Sackheim study, Breggin’s work and Friedberg’s testimony, as are most of us who oppose the use of ECT. I’ve written extensively about the subject, and have always quoted those sources in the past. It’s just … I’d be grateful to hear from other voices, as these are the ones that always get cited. I will check out the websites that I’m not familiar with, as well.

TTWS reader Jim Quinn wrote in to say the following:

My mother and brother have both had ECT, repeatedly. It repeatedly rescued them from very severe psychosis. My mom had it back in the bad old days, when they used more current and no drugs. After a treatment in the 1990s, she reported that the procedure was much, much, MUCH improved.

When you look at the horrible side effects of the available drugs, it seems to me that ECT looks like a pretty good option – especially when the drugs just don’t work.

I think much of the opposition to ECT is based on ignorance and hysteria; people wouldn’t be so fearful of it if the opposition was more reasoned. Until we get much better drugs, we should be grateful that ECT is available to those who need it.

But Mary Maddock, a shock survivor from Ireland, says:

Even if a small percentage of people believe electro shock may do them good there are many, many others who believe their lives have been destroyed by electro shock. While it is still used as a from of ‘help’ many people will receive it as a ‘treatment’ even when they know it harms them. The easy profitable option such as electro shock and drugs will be used more and more for psycho/social difficulties when most people need other forms of support.

Every person in a civilized world should have their basic needs: shelter, good food, a helpful job, love and companionship, fun, music, joy etc in their lives. We should be promoting these and doing our best to provide these for each other and then no one would have to resort to brain damaging ‘helps’ like electro shock.

For those who are new to this site, this is exactly what I love about having a mental health blog — generating discussions like this one with opposing points of view. Sometimes I stick my nose in and say what I think and sometimes I just moderate. The comments must first be “approved” because otherwise Viagra would post 100 comments a day, none of the relevant.

Keep ‘em comin’, and I’ll try to post them as soon as I get a free moment. Sorry if there’s a delay.

liz | 2:01 PM | Uncategorized

ECT, Canada, and Saying the Unthinkable

Many people know I had ECT and it didn’t work for me and I think the industry that promotes it is wildly corrupt and I’m deeply suspicious of its use. However, I must say that I have seen people respond to it — especially those who have been catatonic or close to it.

The procedure has had consistently popularity in Canada as well as the U.S. From this week’s CBC News:

A report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal last week shows the procedure is commonly used to treat drug-resistant depression in seniors.

However, critics of the procedure believe its usage should be stopped, and it is a painful procedure that leads to brain damage.

On Sunday, about a dozen protesters rallied in Ottawa, calling for a ban of the procedure.

Protest organizer Sue Clark-Wittenberg had electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) 35 years ago, and says it has kept her from getting an education and a good job.

“The bottom line is electroshock always damages the brain. Electroshock always causes memory loss,” she says.

I’m going to do something very out of character for me, and that is defend ECT just a wee little bit. First of all, though ECT is annoying, disruptive, headache-inducing and nauseating, it is not painful. It certainly was 35 years ago, when Clark-Wittenberg got ECT, but now — with the use of IV drugs (yum … drugs) — no pain is involved. Also, the body does not violently convulse because it’s in a state of drug-induced relaxation. So, though I dislike ECT, I can’t say it’s painful. It’s not.

As for brain damage, it depends how you define that. Do people who have epilepsy suffer brain damage each and every time they have a seizure? I don’t know the answer to that because I’m not a doctor, but I wonder. Does memory loss always equal brain damage? Hey docs! Write and let me know.

I know many of you will be surprised by this point of view coming from me.

I’ll tell you why. I know a woman — let’s call her Jane — who was in her 70s and depressed. She had suffered one other clinical depression in her life, but had otherwise been fine. This time, the depression would not go away, despite endless rounds of medication combinations. Things got so bad, she was unable to leave her bed and had to be hospitalized simply to get the basics: food and hygiene. She was unable to talk, walk, eat, go to the bathroom, or otherwise function. She was inert. Her family was distraught. Her body was shutting down.

Doctors pitched the idea of ECT. Naturally, everyone was very upset. Shock treatments? One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest? The family was terrified. But what were the options? They were exhausted from watching her slip away. They were bereft. So they gave the go-ahead.

And I bet you know the end of this story. Jane came back to life in a completely miraculous way. It took a little time –I’m not saying she was jumping around like Robert De Niro in Awakenings – but the ECT saved her life. She came out of the hospital and is the same old Jane as she was before — only without the depression. She’s a delightful person who talks about that time in her life with complete wonder. It’s hard for her to imagine it happened to her, though she did do maintenance ECT for about a year. Now she doesn’t do it at all, and considers depression a ghost of her past. Or hopes it is, anyway. But if it comes back, she won’t hesitate to do ECT again. It wasn’t painful to her and her memory loss was, she says, a worthwhile sacrifice.

So there you have it. An ECT success story from Liz Spikol!

Despite criticism, electroshock therapy commonly used in depression

[Pictured is a mouthguard sold by Somatics, one of the major ECT machine manufacturers. You wear the mouthguard when you have ECT.]

liz | 2:37 PM | Uncategorized

Ah, how quickly my integrity slips away

Didn’t I say I wouldn’t do any more self-promotional posts? I lied. The Huffington Post, which I adore, has a little bit o’ Spikol on it today. Check it here.

It’s funny who comes calling after a Times article appears. My psychiatrist jokingly said he had the piece hanging on his refrigerator. I heard from several Oberlin compatriots (go Yeomen!), as well as peers from The Philadelphia School. My high school homies have been silent as the grave (Michael Pritzker, I’m looking at you). Quaker inaction in action.

Seriously, though, we have to go back to business. The White House Office of Drug Policy (speaking of inaction), released IMPORTANT NEWS (worthy of all caps): If you are a teenager suffering from depression, you shouldn’t sit around all day smothering in your own funk getting stoned. We’ve talked about the pot-depression connection before, and marijuana smokers have always written in to say that it’s bunkum. But even if you abstain, as I do, there’s reason to be skeptical. As Sarah Baldauf reports in U.S. News & World Report:

The report, entitled “Teen Marijuana Use Worsens Depression: An Analysis of Recent Data Shows ‘Self-Medicating’ Could Actually Make Thing Worse,” cites statistics to support its warning message, but experts are quick to note that it should be interpreted with caution. For example, the report’s statement, “One 16-year study showed that individuals who were not depressed and then used marijuana were four times more likely to be depressed at follow-up,” suggests marijuana might cause depression. That data from a 2001 study in the American Journal of Psychiatry was only statistically meaningful after the researchers adjusted for variables including age, gender, and antisocial symptoms, suggesting a weaker relationship between depression and marijuana before adjustments were made.

The more I read statistics and studies, the less I believe them.

Teen Depression Worsened by Marijuana, Government Says

[Image of a marijuana chess set from gadgetgrid.com. Though doesn't playing chess while high seem, uh, difficult?]

liz | 3:34 PM | Uncategorized

Friends, countrymen…

I have to tell you this because I’m so excited, I can’t breathe. I’m in the New York Times. Please see the link, and then imagine my mom seeing the link on Mother’s Day, and keep in mind, we are a Jewish family. We were in Brigantine, New Jersey, without an Internet signal, and my mom got a voicemail message from her friend Marion who was kvelling about the piece online. And we ran to WaWa to get a copy of the paper because, for some reason, I wouldn’t believe it was “real” until I saw the print edition. (Once a print journalist, always a print journalist.) It’s a really great article by writer Gabrielle Glaser.

Shea Roggio is superb at taking amazingly flattering picitures of me, apparently, and is also an incredible photographer in general. See his work here. Pictured is an alternate shot Shea took that I really love. I would call it, “Me and My Mac.”

And Gabrielle did such an incredible job with a tough subject — that of “mad pride.” I won’t say too much because the piece is far more eloquent than I am, but please do read it.

Also, Jake Tapper gave me and my fellow classmates a sweet shout-out today on his blog, Political Punch. See it here.

And that’s the last self-promotional post I’ll do, I promise. It makes me uncomfortable, but how often am I going to hit the pages of the Times? Like, never. For today, though, we rejoice.

liz | 8:54 PM | Uncategorized

Drug company funding studies

From Concerned, regarding this post:

EVERY study that is used to determine whether a drug gets FDA approval is a drug company funded study. Just because AZ funded the studies of Seroquel doesn’t mean the the data is biased, falsified, or misrepresented.

Check out Philip Dawdy’s post on this subject to see another point of view.

liz | 11:54 AM | Uncategorized

Suicide is never funny, but headlines about it sometimes are

Finally, emo is being blamed for something other than just sucking. From NME.com:

Emo Music Attacked Over Teen Suicide

[My Chemical Romance pictured.]

liz | 11:50 AM | Uncategorized