What does depression feel like? (Archived Comments)
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Virtual Mental Illness: Opening Law Enforcement Eyes to Schizophrenia
The Wall Street Journal reported this week on a trend that I find very encouraging. Police officers all over the country are being given a glimpse into a schizophrenic’s world via a device called a “virtual hallucination machine,” created by a pharmaceutical company, in an effort to give them…
A Promising New Treatment Path
Could future depression treatments involve using an anesthetic that’s also used as a club drug? A study published in the August issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/63/8/856 showed that a single dose of the anesthesia ketamine improved the mood in 71% of the participants who received it,…
Depression in the College Years
While I won’t go so far as to say that my college years were the best of my life, it’s a period I remember fondly. Except for the two dark holes of depression I fell into. One occurred when I was expelled for one semester and the other reared…
My Depression Forum was Erased
The other day, disaster struck on my forum for people with depression. The accounts of all active members, including myself, were deleted. Completely wiped out, along with private messages (internal email). I knew something was wrong when I tried to log in and got an error message. When I…
Should We Trust Medical Journals?
How would you feel if you found out, after your doctor had prescribed an antidepressant that he or she recommended to you, that they had financial ties to the drug company that makes the antidepressant? You probably would feel that the doctor had a conflict of interest and should…
Botox Cures Depression? Questions You Need to Ask of Medical Studies
Can you treat depression with Botox? That’s the conclusion of a study published last week in the journal Dermatologic Surgery. I was initially skeptical when I heard about the study and reading the particulars did not alleviate my skepticism. Not because I think the idea is impossible, but because…
Insurance Woes: We Need Better Therapy Coverage
According to an article in the New York Times, psychoanalysis and psychodynamic therapy have been largely replaced by cognitive-behavioral approaches in the last couple of decades. The first two therapeutic approaches seek the reasons for a patient’s problems in their past, usually dwelling on childhood to a great extent. Cognitive therapy asserts that…
Setting Limits: Understanding Boundaries in Therapy
Most of us recognize and respect boundaries in our day to day life. We don’t stand too close to other individuals in a line, we don’t call a friend in the middle of the night unless there’s an emergency and we don’t walk in on someone when they’re in…
Considering the Mental Health of Our Soldiers
A few years ago, my mom told me that when my dad returned from serving in Vietnam, it took a while for him to stop throwing himself under the bed when he heard a helicopter flying above. Whenever I think about that, I wonder what experiences like the ones…