The Trouble With Spikol

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.

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.

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.]

Cut on the bias

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.

Happy happy joy joy ... uh ... maybe not

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

Too depressed to get off the couch?

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.

Holocaust Remembrance Day

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>

High prison numbers

From Joe:

"More than 93 percent of the men and women met criteria for at least one lifetime psychiatric disorder and nearly two-thirds of the participants had had three or more disorders in their lifetimes, the U of I reported."

I've never heard numbers that high. It's generally been around 60 percent, although there are always more people with mental illnesses in prisons and jails than in mental hospitals.

Study results published in Des Moines Register

Another generic headline that raises ridiculously high hopes

But really, now:

In the current study, 15 people suffering from severe depression for at least five years who weren't helped by other forms of treatment received DBS implants. Six months later, 47.1 percent had at least a 50 percent reduction in their depressive symptoms, based on a commonly used depression scale. At one year, that number was 50 percent.
Deep Brain Stimulation Helps Severely Depressed

For my fellow Pennsylvanians...

VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE
VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE
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VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE
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VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE

The Trouble With Spikol: Print Edition

Horse Race of a Different Color

In November 2006 Barack Obama gathered supporters to discuss running for president. When someone asked him about race, The New York Times reported, “Mr. Obama’s dismissal was swift and unequivocal. He had been able to navigate racial politics in Illinois, Mr. Obama told the group, and was confident he could do so across the nation. ‘I believe America is ready,’ one aide recalled him saying.”

But after claiming Americans were ready to look beyond race when they considered a presidential candidate, a month ago Obama found himself delivering a lengthy speech on race—partially in response to the controversy surrounding Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the leader of his black church.

I never believed in Obama’s idea of post-racial politics. Maybe it’s living in a racially fraught city like Philadelphia that breeds such cynicism. Whatever the reason, I’m going in the opposite direction. I’m voting for Obama because he’s black.

That requires explaining, I know.
]]> I take voting extremely seriously. I always have, even in mock elections as a child. I get neurotic about it beforehand. I stay awake nights. I get a nervous stomach. The Clinton/Obama race has really taxed me. I’ve consumed so much information about both candidates, it’s been like a Wing Bowl primary.
Ultimately, I’ve decided to make my vote consonant with my decision to vote for the African-American candidate. I’m not suggesting you do the same because my logic is highly personal, and slightly weird.

About a year ago I had a crisis of faith about doing good. I’m embarrassed to admit it was spurred by a Mahatma Gandhi quotation. I don’t remember where I found it. On a website offering words of wisdom? Who knows? It was undoubtedly somewhere humiliating.

The quotation: “The measure of a country’s greatness should be based on how well it cares for its most vulnerable populations.”

My first reaction was, “Jeez. Based on that, the U.S. sucks.” Not exactly eloquent, but how’s your internal monologue? I bet you use some shorthand too.

Something in me clicked. I left full-time work at PW to go into social services—first at an agency that advocated for incarcerated people, and now at a mental health center. Each day I think about what Gandhi said, only I’ve changed it: “The measure of Liz should be based on how well she cares for her country’s most vulnerable populations.”

African-Americans are this country’s most vulnerable citizens. They are more devastatingly and disproportionately affected by poverty, hunger, incarceration, crime and unemployment than any other ethnic group.

It’s a life-and-death situation. If you’re an African-American woman, your baby is more than twice as likely to die than if you’re a white woman. You’re less likely to survive cancer. You’re more likely to have AIDS and diabetes. And you’re far less likely to have health insurance.

There are complex reasons for all of these problems, which are perhaps best explained by a social scientist rather than someone who can calculate only a 20 percent tip. But I do know this: Racism is a defining factor.

I’m part of a minority group myself, but if I want to be hidden about my ethnicity, I can pass. That’s a luxury African-Americans don’t have. If you’re African-American, the first thing a person knows about you is that you’re black—whether it’s at a job interview, in a classroom, at an ER or a court proceeding. African-Americans have to challenge people’s assumptions about them every day from the minute they walk in the door.

How do I know Barack Obama would be good for African-Americans? I don’t. No American president in recent history has been especially good for black people—not even Bill Clinton, our first black president, according to Toni Morrison.

But it’s a matter of hope, which is sadly lacking in black America. If you have a black president, imagine the message that sends to black children, and to African-Americans who feel hopeless about their lives. Never has the most powerful person in this country resembled the least powerful. What would it be like for our most vulnerable citizens to see themselves that way?

I’ve heard some say there’s no way America is ready to have black children romping on the White House lawn. There’s a part of me that believes that. Every time a racist incident happens in Philadelphia—like the recent vandalism of a home purchased by a black family in a white neighborhood—it’s hard for me to imagine America is ready to have Michelle Obama as first lady, no matter how pretty her suits are.

But we have to try. On behalf of the most vulnerable, I must vote for Barack Obama in the hope that having a black family in the White House will revolutionize the way we see black people—in the same way some feminists hope having a female president would change the way women are treated.

There may be a time when America is ready for post-racial politics, and when that time comes, I hope our most vulnerable will be in a very different place. Until then, I’ve made my decision. As another quotable gentleman said (according to Matthew 6:2-4), “When you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do. Announce it in the quiet of the voting booth.” Or something like that.

The reason

So why has this blog gotten so spotty? Well, aside from my personal problems, for a while the plan was to kind of ease away from a mental health blog and go forward with other topics -- namely, a books blog. So it seemed best to kind of gradually wean everyone off of the blog, as we might with Effexor (if your doctor does it right), so that when I started the books blog, it wouldn't be so jarring. Or something to that effect, anyway.

The books blog, however, isn't really happening. There are some complications, so now I'm faced with figuring out what will happen to this blog -- which isn't at all clear to me. I'll let you know asap. (Do you say that "A.S.A.P."? Or like tree sap with "a" in front of it? I think saying "asap" is funnier.)

As long as we have this opportunity to rethink things, let me know what kind of topics you'd most like addressed.

Timely study: Tibetan depression

From Thaindian News:

Forced to flee from their homeland, often without their parents, and then living as refugees has led to high depression levels among young Tibetans, says a study by a US researcher. The findings of the study by researcher Charles L. Raison of the Emory University School of Medicine have been published in the latest issue of the journal Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology.

The study states that as compared to Tibetans born and brought up in exile in places like northern India and Nepal, those refugees born in Tibet and then fleeing from there have higher levels of anxiety and depression. ...

“One-third of these refugees are children and 90 percent of those children are without parents. Not only have these children been victimized in an environment lacking in respect for human rights, but their escape from Tibet to India through the perilous Himalayas is full of risk and trauma,” he added.

High depression levels among young Tibetans: study

A video, at long last

Reader comment on suicide: from Stan

Unfortunately there is no upside to the tragedy of suicide. There are the victims that leave us, and the victims that are left behind. Sadly there is more than enough anger and torment left behind to touch everyone involved. That goes with the so many unanswered questions of why? As we that are emotional attached to that person ask ourselves why didn’t I see this ugly event coming? It’s like questioning ourselves over something like a bad weather event or an earth quake that we have little or no power to control.
There are also those thought to be crowned selfish for what they feel; yet hold on to quite valid questions of why would someone that cared about me, and professed to love me: betray me in such a heartless and brutal fashion? All these emotions are valid, and will surely be felt in a broad spectrum of intensity and measure.

I heard so many times from those sitting in the bleachers as unattached on lookers; tauntingly grumbling from those seats so ardently and articulately that those that commit suicide are weak and take the easy way out. I happen to believe that is so far from the lived reality, and in all actuality light years from the horrific truth. I also have been to that perilous edge many times in my life, and know all too well the anguish and agony that grabbles your mind in that delusional gloominess dark, moronic, painful, hopeless, and fragile state of unbearable Hell.

As you do Liz; I have suicidal idealizations fairly often. I have learned through time and experience to embrace those times and draw strength from them; as if I was drawing buckets full of life giving water from the well of existence itself, renewing and quenching with vigor and fortitude the very thirst for this precious gift of continued breath.

There are no satisfactory summations to be made for the act of suicide; just the scattered ruins of one more life left unfulfilled, and those trying to understand and pick up the remnants of their shattered being which is never completely understood or fathomed with any true clarity or peaceful resolution in our very heart of hearts.
I guess our only hope in limiting this horrific and tragic outcome of self inflicted death is recognition, intervention, and prevention. The stark and cold reality is that neither of those options will ever be foolproof or effective in all situations. Which is sadly obvious by what the menacing data and statistics bear out on this act; whichever study you wish to believe as most accurate or valid, the numbers are still staggering.

Stan, thanks for sharing. Beautifully said.