Omega-3 Is Not the Bullet

A new study of heart patients suffering from depression is in itself depressing — at least if you were excited about the potential of omega-3 fatty acids to life your spirits. From the New York Times:

The patients were randomly assigned to a combination of sertraline, an anti-depressant, and either omega-3s or a corn oil placebo. After 10 weeks, there was “absolutely no difference” in depression remission rates between the 59 patients taking omega-3s and the 56 patients taking the placebo, said Robert M. Carney, lead author of the study, which appeared in the Oct. 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

“It was very disappointing,” he said.

The trial was launched because patients with heart disease are at greater risk of dying if they are depressed, Dr. Carney said. Depressed patients are known to have low levels of omega-3s, which are a risk factor for heart disease, as well.

Now, with any study, there are multitudinous caveats. It’s a small sample. They had lower levels of omega-3s to begin with. Perhaps there were other factors (i.e., physical illness) that superseded the treatment of depression, yadda yadda.

And there has been other research to suggest omega-3s are useful for depression. USA Today broke down a different study in 2007:

The omega-3 fatty acid in some fish may be a “brain food” that helps ward off depression because it increases gray matter in three areas that tend to be smaller in people who have serious depression, a study suggests today.
The increase could help explain why past studies have found that the omega-3 acid DHA reduces symptoms of depression. The richest sources of DHA are fatty fish and fish-oil capsules.

Researchers gave magnetic resonance imaging tests to 55 adults. Participants also reported everything they ate for 24 hours on two randomly selected days, says study leader Sarah Conklin, a neuroscientist at University of Pittsburgh Medical School. She’ll report her findings at the American Psychosomatic Society meeting in Budapest.

The more DHA a person consumed, the more gray matter there was in three areas of the brain linked to mood: the amygdala, the hippocampus and the cingulate, Conklin says. Seriously depressed people tend to have less gray matter in these areas, she says.

For every yes in research, there’s a no. It’s really frustrating for people looking for answers. That’s why it’s best to just go with your gut: Try what feels right and if it works for you, great. If it doesn’t work for you, move on to something else. But remember: There is no magic bullet — oily or otherwise.

liz | 2:52 PM | alternative treatments, depression

Liveblogging Primetime Outsiders

All the below is about this show.

Madigan: They didn’t flatter you with that lighting.

David Oaks: You’re looking so handsome! I had no idea. Your eyebrows are very sexy. (I’m completely sincere.)

“But critics worry …” That’s journalism-speak for “We don’t have any specific sources who say this, but we’ll generalize it so we have reason to focus on …”

… violence. That’s what they’re focusing on. Why am I not surprised?

So of all the things they could talk about related to Mad Pride — and related to mental health — this is what they’ve come up with: criminals and violent crime. Ugh. TV is so predictable and depressing.

Okay, so now we’re telling the story of a kid with hallucinations and delusions (the CIA, yadda yadda) who KILLS HIS MOTHER? Does the average American viewer understand how fucking rare this kind of thing is? That it’s not the necessary result of deciding not to take meds?

On to the withdrawal story: Clearly, the program wasn’t looking for a success story. This poor woman who decided to do the show so they could feed off her misery — I knew that’s what they wanted. Is she doing the withdrawal in conjunction with a doctor? Who the hell knows? The show doesn’t tell you. It hardly tells you her name. And …

Oh! There it is again: “Critics worry … ” (that she’s going to be “a time bomb” without her meds). Who are these critics worrying about this girl? Frank Rich? David Denby? I’d love to know.

“Violence is unpredictable with or without drugs.” Brilliant script.

Blurry homeless images. Madigan cello-ing. … This show is so bad, it’s like a joke. I guess it all goes back to what producer Ia Robinson told me, when we discussed my being on the show: She doesn’t have any friends or family who have mental problems, so the whole topic was like “walking on the moon.” Yes, that’s the phrase she used. The show should’ve been blasted out to Mars.

Except Joey P. He’s delightful and a voice of reason.

liz | 9:34 PM | SCHIZOPHRENIA, alternative treatments, bipolar disorder, celebrities, criminal justice system, depression, hospitals / hospitalization, meds, philadelphia, side effects, stigma, suicide, violence

Vacation Days

This blog will be on vacation from Monday, July 27, through Wednesday, July 29. Please come back and see us on Thursday, when our well-restedness will no doubt yield great insight on the subject of mental health.

Love,

Liz

liz | 8:38 AM | alternative treatments

Ricky Williams’ Journey

The New York Times ran an article about Ricky Williams that I think was really well-done. It talks about his struggle with marijuana addiction, which compromised his career in the NFL, but more than that, it portrays his psychic battles and explores the way his mind works. It’s a much more nuanced piece than the type we normally see about sports stars; but equally important, it examines the life of the mind in a way that doesn’t pathologize. Ricky Williams is just Ricky Williams, an interesting, layered human being. I wish people were more often written about this way, especially people with “troubles.”

Ricky Williams Is Hoping to Heal Others, and His Image

liz | 8:44 AM | alternative treatments, celebrities

Goodbye, Anti-Sacred and Profane Writing Machine

After a long battle with cancer, PW staff writer, Guardian columnist, punk-rock novelist, NME gadfly, gender-twisting rebel comedian and poet Steven Wells has gone on to other things. Well, not really. According to Steven, there’s no such thing as the afterlife, and if there is, I guarantee he’s really, really pissed off right now. I can just picture him at St. Peter’s Gates, saying, “Fuck me! This shit actually exists?”

We’ll all miss Steven so much, and I’ll say more about that later. For now, I’m wishing the best to all family and friends who are hurting. That’s what Steven really cared about in the end, though he was very passionately annoyed by knitting, as well.

Steven was often told he was anti-American. I loved his passion, and he cracked us the fuck up every day. This video was part of a series he did for PW called Steven Wells’ America, in which he took sacred cows and basically grilled them for dinner. Below, he reflects on the religiosity of an America that voted for Bush a second time (Steven was a staunch atheist). Toward the end he smiles a bit, so you know that he knows he’s being ridiculous. And that’s part of what was so cute about Steven — he’d rant, but then laugh at himself.

liz | 10:41 AM | BIG PHARMA, Funny or Offensive?, GLBT, Song of the Day, alternative treatments, anxiety, celebrities, children, cute fix, depression, hospitals / hospitalization, media, meds, military, philadelphia, phobias, politics, random, religion, suicide, violence

Men, Christians, Lend Me Your Ear

There’s a new Christian therapy group for men facilitated by John G. Taylor (pictured) forming that I read about on Craigslist. I have no idea if it’s good or silly or what, but I like the idea of alternative coping strategies, and I like some of the topics the group will address:

Wk 3: What is Domestic Violence?

Week 4: How to have a conversation with your mate?

Week 5 & 6: The Bible and your anger

Week 8: How build trust in relationships

Week 9: Techniques to control your anger

Week 15: When does an affair begin?

Week 16: How do we deal with our partners being more accomplished?

Week 18: How to deal with being sexually abused or being a perpetrator

Week 19: What is takes to be a responsible father

Week 20: How do you treat females are you abusive?

You should know there’s a $15 “investment” per group meeting. Also, at the end of the list of topics, the notice says: “God needs for his Sons to be prepared for warfare!” Which is odd, right? Still, here’s the info:

Meeting every 2nd & 4th Thursday)
6 -7:30pm
at
Christian Talk Therapy
2449 Golf Rd, Ste. 3, Philadelphia, PA
www.ChristianTalkTherapy.com
rsvp to 215-931-3070 or johng.taylor@yahoo.com

liz | 12:21 PM | alternative treatments, religion

Movies That Make Me Forget My Troubles

I love going to the movies. I love it so much that I’ll see almost any crap, though I have weird standards. Like, no Terminator or Star Trek, but if it has stupid guy humor, I’ll see it. And I’ll tell you what. The three movies below all made me forget my troubles for the couple hours they lasted. I post their trailers in order of awesomeness. The last one being much, much less awesome.

And I seriously think there’s something wrong with me that not only did I see The Hangover, and not only did I laugh when I saw it, but I kind of fell in love with Philly native Bradley Cooper. Dear god, I need help.

liz | 2:14 PM | alternative treatments

The Trouble With “Depression”

I used to do Google news searches for the word “depression” to kind of get a sense of what was happening in the world of sadness. (For a while it was a Google alert, but I got tired of being alerted all the time.) About four months ago, I noticed a change: The word is now appearing frequently in reference to stories about the economy, as in the Great Depression. Though I personally feel I’ve suffered through many a Great Depression of my own, that’s not what these news articles are referring to.

Today I found a double whammy: an article about the recession and resultant depression, which is not only concordant in terms of themes, but also rhymes. The major mental health charity organization in Britain, Mind, released a study that says that men are more prone than women to recession-related blues. Yet men are less likely to tell someone about it and get help. From BBC.com:

Paul Farmer, chief executive at Mind, said: “The recession is clearly having a detrimental impact on the nation’s mental health, but men in particular are struggling with the emotional impact.

“Being a breadwinner is something that is still crucial to the male psyche so if a man loses his job he loses a large part of his identity putting his mental wellbeing in jeopardy.

“The problem is that too many men wrongly believe that admitting mental distress makes them weak and this kind of self stigma can cost lives.”

Stephen Fry, our beloved, is supporting Mind’s campaign to educate men. One thing that’s notably different in Britain: the admirable insistence on therapy. Peter Cooper, of the British Psychological Society, was quoted as saying: “The type of help that men need includes psychotherapy but what they are also desperate for is pragmatic practical help.”

No mention of meds. Jolly well done.

Men ’suffering recession blues’

liz | 9:39 AM | alternative treatments, depression, media, meds

Exercise and Depression: This Makes Me Sad

On HuffPost Karen Leland, author of Time Management in an Instant, interviewed a fitness instructor for tips on how to get people to get around the key obstacle of not having enough time to exercise. I was so excited; now I would have the key to solving the problem! Here’s the result of the interview:

Q: What is one way you help your clients get around the time obstacle?

A: By far, the easiest way to get around the time obstacle is to make your exercise the first thing you do each day. Pencil it in and schedule which mornings (i.e. Monday, Wednesday and Friday) you are going to workout. Then you need to schedule everything else around it – dropping off the kids, your hobbies etc.

Q: But what if mornings don’t work?

A: If you just can’t make mornings work, find a way to schedule it at other times. Plan for a trainer to come to your house, ride your bike to work, take a walk at lunchtime, sign up for a group exercise class in the afternoon or end of the day. The next time you take the kids to swim class, don’t just watch them take their lessons, use this as your time to workout. The time part is more manageable if you put down exactly when you are going to exercise.

Wait, that didn’t help me at all. Shit. But maybe it helps you, so voila! Now you have answers.

liz | 11:23 AM | alternative treatments, cute fix

Slave to Effexor, and Tired of It

I think I’m going to talk to my doctor about slowly, slowly, slowly weaning myself off my Effexor. It’s okay if it takes six months or a year or whatever; I don’t have any urgent need to be done with it. But I hate to be taking a drug that has such sway over me in terms of side effects. With the other meds I take, if I miss a day, it’s no big deal. Maybe I won’t get enough sleep (Seroquel). Maybe my eye will twitch (Lamictal). Maybe I’ll worry about washing my face (Ativan). But I can make it. It’s fine. Sometimes I don’t even notice.

Not so with Effexor. I don’t even have to wonder if I’ve taken it; my body alerts me quite readily. I get really dizzy and spacey, and if I let it go till the next day, I’m essentially dysfunctional — half-asleep, half just an idiot. I’ve heard plenty of anecdotal stuff about “brain zaps,” and I’ve never had a problem with that. Just vertigo, mostly. But it’s enough discomfort that I can’t be without it. I feel like it controls me too much. It reminds me of my addiction days.

So, though I thought it helped me a couple years ago, I think I’ll move on. And if I get too depressed, I’ll just eat more candy. Um, yeah.

liz | 1:08 PM | alternative treatments, depression, meds