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.

Less admirable, perhaps, is the revelation from the Sydney Morning Herald that many years ago, Mel Gibson, that wacky Aussie, described himself as “manic depressive.”

Mel Gibson talks about being diagnosed as bipolar in a new documentary about the NIDA acting class of 1977. … "I had really good highs but some very low lows," Gibson said. "I found out recently I'm manic depressive." While the interview dates back to 2002, the actor and director, who made headlines with a drunken outburst two years ago, has rarely talked about the condition.

Rarely? How about never? He probably doesn’t want to get a metaphorical (or literal, now that I think about it) spanking from Tom Cruise and the Scientologists, nor does he want to compromise his rep as … a drunk and anti-Semite.

Mel, if you’re out there, come out of the closet! The National Alliance on Mental Illness has its annual Los Angeles County walk on Oct. 4. It would be perfect for you. Show your pride and give me, a onetime Jewish fan, my faith back.

Posted by liz at 04:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Posted by liz at 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

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.

Posted by liz at 02:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

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.]

Posted by liz at 02:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

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?]

Posted by liz at 03:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

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.

Posted by liz at 08:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (27)

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.

Posted by liz at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

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

Emo Music Attacked Over Teen Suicide

[My Chemical Romance pictured.]

Posted by liz at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

At the recent meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, there was a presentation of results of "clinical studies" of Seroquel XR revealing that it's better than placebo for major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder.

Guess who gave the presentation? AstraZeneca, of course. From Andrew Eder's article on DelawareOnline.com:

Opening Seroquel XR for treatment of major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder would greatly expand the market for the drug. About 15 million American adults suffer from major depressive disorder, and about 6.8 million suffer from generalized anxiety disorder.

In the first quarter, AstraZeneca said U.S. sales of Seroquel were $702 million, up 7 percent from a year earlier. The company said prescriptions of Seroquel were up 8 percent, with 25 percent of the growth attributable to Seroquel XR. Its top-selling drug, Nexium, meanwhile, saw its U.S. sales drop 15 percent due to increased competition from cheaper alternative drugs.

I'm glad the APA continues the tradition of non-biased presentations.

Posted by liz at 12:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

It was just a few years ago when Celebration Recovery was presented by the Irwin Foundation in collaboration with APA. According to the Irwin Foundation's director back in 2005, "Celebration Recovery highlights an emerging concept in psychiatry that emphasizes person-centeredness, respect, responsibility, hope, choice, quality of life, consumer and family agency and empowerment, self-help, partnership, diversity, and community inclusiveness." All the deliciousness of recovery, in other words. The event was held in Austin, Texas, at the NAMI convention in 2005.

Sadly, as Joe points out, fast-forward three years, and you get this from the Associated Press:

Employee disciplinary records show abuse and neglect are systemic in mental hospitals in Texas, which has worked over the past year to revamp its juvenile prison system because of similar allegations, according to a report published Sunday.

Seventy-two workers have been fired in the past three years over allegations of abuse, while hundreds of others have been fired for other violations, including sleeping on the job and overmedicating patients, according to personnel records obtained by The Dallas Morning News.

The violence against patients included choke holds, headlocks and threats against patients at the state's 10 psychiatric hospitals, the newspaper reported.

There are about 18,000 patients and about 7,400 employees in the state psychiatric hospital system.

Ah, Austin. Those were the good old days.

Mental health is latest Texas agency to bear abuse criticism

Posted by liz at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Drooling onto the pillow in your bed in your sleep instead of going to work? Now that saliva can be put to use. Reuters spills the beans about a new spit test for bipolar disorder:

The $399 kit uses a saliva sample to test for one of the likely dozens of genes associated with bipolar disorder, GRK3; the results and a report are mailed to your physician. The company's website states that if you have the gene, you are two to three times more likely to have the disorder, depending on the particular gene variation found.

But the test cannot give a definitive diagnosis or predict future risk of developing the disorder, and a negative test does not rule out bipolar disorder. As well, the test results are only valid for Caucasians with Northern European ancestry who have at least one relative with bipolar disorder, and who are exhibiting symptoms of the disease themselves.

So, as my Jewish relatives would say: What could be wrong? A LOT.

What it boils down to is that the information provided by the existing tests don't add or subtract anything of value, [Harvard Medical Letter editor Michael C.] Miller said. They just provide a result that may confuse more than it clarifies.

"Sometimes a little knowledge is a bad thing," he said, "especially if you don't know how to interpret it."

There is also the issue of privacy. On Thursday, Congress passed a bill that protects individuals against discrimination based on genetics. But putting your genes -- especially as related to psychiatric health -- on record, could still come back to haunt you later, warned Miller, adding that mental health is still poorly understood, which allows a person's psychiatric history to be manipulated.

Posted by liz at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Yom HaShoah:
MOURNERS' KADDISH IN TIME OF WAR AND VIOLENCE

The below is from Rabbi Arthur Waskow, from the Shalom Center:

Dear Friends,

Today is Yom HaShoah (the Day of Remembrance of the Nazi Holocaust), observed one day earlier in the Jewish calendar than usual, because of not wanting to observe it on Friday as Shabbat is coming into the world.

It seems especially fitting to use as the Mourners Kaddish for today a rendition in Aramaic, Hebrew, and English of the MOURNERS' KADDISH IN TIME OF WAR AND VIOLENCE that we at The Shalom Center have developed.(See three paragraphs below). Though it is of course a Jewish prayer, we offer the interpretive English translation below, in the hope it may be spiritually helpful for many people of many other traditions as well.

For not only have we - the human race -- experienced several genocides since the Shoah, including the present violence in Darfur, but we continue to experience wars and acts of terrorism in our midst today. Some of these murderous wars and terrorist actions are asserted by some members of different communities of God - minorities in each of their communities -- to be carried on in the name of God.

This version of Mourners Kaddish is intended to ASSERT WITH ABSOLUTE CLARITY THAT NO SUCH KILLING CAN BE IN THE NAME OF GOD.

Please feel free to circulate this whole message to anyone or any list you think will find it helpful.

Shalom, salaam, peace -- Arthur

MOURNERS' KADDISH IN TIME OF WAR AND VIOLENCE

[The Jewish prayer that is used to mourn the dead is the Kaddish, though it has in it only one word -- "nechamata, consolations" - which hints at mourning. In this version, changes in the last line of the Hebrew and English texts specifically include praying for shalom, peace, not only for the people Israel (as in the traditional version) but also for the children of Abraham and Hagar through Ishmael (Arabs and Muslims) and for all who dwell on this planet.

[The interpretive English addresses the meaning of "shmei rabbah," the "Great Name," which is interpreted as that name which includes all the names of all beings in the universe and which is also present within all beings.

[The interpretive English suggests why in the midst of saying we cannot praise or sing to God enough to fully celebrate the Awesome Reality, we also say we cannot CONSOLE (nechamata) God enough. In our view, while many forms of death are part of the great spiral of all life, one kind of death -- the killing of one human, bearing the Image of God, by another -- leaves God inconsolable.

[in the next-to-last verse this version focuses on preserving life for those of our own "family," the Godwrestlers, and then in the last verse it prays for shalom for us [those immediately present], for all the Godwrestling folk (Israel), for all the children of Ishmael, and for all peoples.

[This Kaddish was developed by The Shalom Center and Rabbi Arthur Waskow.]

Yitgadal V'yit'kadash Shmei Rabah

May the Great Name, through our expanding awareness and our fuller action, lift Itself to become still higher and more holy;

May our names, along with all the names of all the beings in the universe, live within the Great Name;

May the names of all whom we can no longer touch but who have touched our hearts and lives, remain alight within our memories and in the Great Name;

May the names of all who have died in violence and war be kept alight in our sight and in the Great Name, with sorrow that we were not yet able to shape a world in which they would have lived.

May the Great Name, bearing ALL these names, live within each one of us;
(Cong: Amein)

B'alma di vra chi'rooteh v'yamlich malchuteh b'chayeichun, u'v'yomeichun, u'v'chayei d'chol beit yisrael, b'agalah u'vzman kariv, v'imru: Amein: --

May Your Great Name lift Itself
still higher and more holy
throughout the world that You have offered us,
a world of majestic peaceful order
that gives life to the Godwrestling folk
through time and through eternity ----
And let's say, Amein (Cong: Amein)

Y'hei sh'mei rabbah me'vorach
l'olam almei almaya.

So therefore may the Great Name be blessed, through every Mystery and Mastery
of every universe.

Yitbarach, v'yishtabach, v'yitpa'ar, v'yitromam, v'yitnasei, v'yithadar, v'yit'aleh, v'yithalal -- Shmei di'kudshah, -- Brich hu, (Cong: Brich Hu)

May the Great Name be blessed and celebrated, Its beauty honored and raised high; may It be lifted and carried,
may Its radiance be praised in all Its Holiness --- Blessed be!

L'eylah min kol bir'chatah v'shir'atah tush'be'chatah v'nechematah, de'amiran be'alma, v'imru: Amein (Cong: Amein)

Even though we cannot give You enough blessing, enough song, enough praise, enough consolation
to match what we wish to lay before You -

And though we know that today there is
no way to console You
when among us some who bear Your Image in our being
are slaughtering others
who bear Your Image in our being.

Yehei Shlama Rabah min Shemaya v'chayyim aleinu v'al kol Yisrael, v'imru Amein.

Still we beseech that from the unity of Your Great Name flow great harmony and joyful life for the Godwrestling folk;
(Cong: Amein)

Oseh Shalom bi'm'romav, hu ya'aseh shalom aleinu v'al kol yisrael v'al kol yishmael v'al kol yoshvei tevel -- v'imru: Amein.

You who make harmony
in the ultimate reaches of the universe,
teach us to make harmony
within ourselves, among ourselves --
and peace for the Godwrestling folk,
the people Israel;
for our cousins the children of Ishmael;
and for all who dwell upon this planet.
(Cong: Amein)

Oseh Shalom bi'm'romav, hu ya'aseh shalom aleinu v'al kol yisrael v'al kol yishmael v'al kol yoshvei tevel -- v'imru: Amein.blockquote>

Posted by liz at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)