Jezebel: Depression

Bird Brains

Intern Margaret — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:30:00 EST

Two stories today suggest that birds may be man's best friend. In England, Fred, an African Grey parrot, became so depressed when his owner died that he had to be prescribed a twice-daily liquid dose of Clomicalm, the bird version of Prozac. Further south in Wales, Smokey, a grey cockatiel, went missing for two days after flying out of his owners' front door... and, after he was found, chirped his own name, convincing his rescuer that she had found his owner. "He's a one-in-a-million bird. My heart went when he flew away," said owner David Edwards after picking up Smokey. "I don't mind admitting I shed a few tears on my way to pick him up." [The Telegraph, BBC]

Urban Outfitters: Seasonal Affective Disorder & See-Through Dresses

Dodai — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:30:00 EDT

The new Urban Outfitters arrived in mailboxes recently, and its models are depressed, yet again. The photoshoot's gloomy, woodsy setting and the muted, colorless clothes only make things worse. It sums up that overwhelming melancholia than can grip a person who dreads shorter days and lack of sunlight as we head into fall. Misery loves company, after the jump.

A closer look at the young lady on the cover. It's noble how she models through the pain.

Some of the moddles are so sad, they can't even show their faces. They can, however, show you that the shiny legging trend will not go away; neither will the hideous shoe trend.
(Silence & Noise buffalo poncho, $68; leggings, $38. Jeffrey Campbell Marly platform shoe, $125.)

Luckily, Urban's got just the thing for those chilly winter months ahead: A sheer, see-through dress! Don't you feel better already?
(Kimchi Blue chiffon twilight dress, $68.)

Where does depression hurt? Everywhere.

Who does depression hurt? Everyone.

In the first shot, it's as though she's thinking, "I'm so depressed. I wish there were a bridge I could jump off of." And the second shot is: "Wait a minute!"
(Silence & Noise motorcycle jacket, $128.)

The first image, on the right: "What would Virginia Woolf do?" The second: "Hmm, too shallow."
(Kimchi Blue shadow silk cami, 48; Silence & Noise coated jean, $78; Ruby leather lace-up boot, $88.)

This is basically a work of art. It should be titled "Ennui with coke spoon."

Lastly, in addition to all of the emotional depression, Urban Outfitters has convinced me that we are, indeed, heading toward financial depression. I base this assertion on their shoes, alone: No whimsical 80s-revival neon pumps, no dance-til-dawn party platforms. Instead, they offer the following hard-scrabble Dickensian specimens:

Urban Outfitters [Official Site]
Earlier: The New Urban Outfitters: I Want To Sell You This Skirt But My Dog Just Died
Urban Outfitters: Sequins, High-Waisted Trousers & The Return Of The Miserable Model

Celexa Made Me "Smug": Elle Writer Calls Out Meds' Lesser-Known Side Effects

Anna N. — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 14:00:00 EDT

It's hard to find a really nuanced take on psychotropic drugs these days. TV ads try to convince you that meds will transform your life from horrible to awesome (cf. the current Abilify commercial, in which a woman describes her bipolar disorder while wandering a lonely beach, then returns home to bask in the embrace of the man Abilify apparently helped her catch). On the other side, an increasing number of naysayers (backed up by disturbing but conflicting evidence) warn that Prozac leads not only to suicide but to the decline of Western civilization. This month, a middle ground opens up in, of all places, Elle magazine, where author Cathi Hanauer details her complex experience with Celexa. Her piece hits some false notes, but it also points out what's potentially the worst side effect of SSRIs: complacency.

Lots of anti-antidepressant screeds quickly admit that, of course, really mentally ill people should take medicine, but that the rest of us should just suck it up and deal with our feelings. This stance is wrong-headed because it fails to understand mental illness as a spectrum and instead assumes that everyone who takes drugs is either 100% batshit or an overprivileged sissy. Hanauer takes a better approach, viewing SSRI treatment as a matter of costs and benefits.

For her, Celexa had both. It did in fact, make her feel awesome — she slept better, yelled less, and even finished a novel. But it also made her complacent — "I felt good and didn't want anything to change, to potentially alter my high" — and smug — "if you're so tortured, I'd think, stop whining and medicate!"

Hanauer acknowledges that the second cost may be a widespread one. She says she finds her Celexa-smugness "sobering, especially given the number of Americans now on these meds. Compassion is not something we want to lose on a large scale." But she considers only the personal side effects of her complacency, noting that most of the important and beneficial changes in her life came from dissatisfaction. She never makes the next logical step: most important changes in the world come from dissatisfaction too.

Medication can be an important tool in the treatment of mental illness, but the relief it brings can distract doctors, patients — and policymakers — from problems that still exist. Being poor makes you more likely to get mental illness; so does being a veteran. And so, I suspect, does living in a country that cares as little for its poor and sick as ours does. So while drugs can do wonders — especially for those who can afford them — we need to remember that depression and anxiety come from the world as well as the brain, and that the world needs fixing too.

Club Med [Elle]

"It was a uniquely disgusting thing ... to ...

Dodai — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:45:00 EDT

"It was a uniquely disgusting thing ... to see my grandfather take a stewed, skinned squirrel's head, smack the skull's dome with a heavy silver tablespoon, and dine on the brains." So says Donna LeBlanc of Waxia, Louisiana, as she recalls living through the Great Depression. CNN spoke to other Depression survivors, who had advice like "put money away and don't touch it," and "work hard, regardless of your status." And what goes around comes around: Gayla Uslu of Conyers, Georgia, says she never understood why her grandmother was so big on saving plastic bowls and other packaging until now. "Today, I find myself really thinking twice before I throw uneaten food away. Leftovers aren't such a bad idea anymore, and I find myself holding on to a few of those plastic containers myself." [CNN]

Researchers in London have completed a study ...

Sadie — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:20:00 EDT

Researchers in London have completed a study for which they polled Bangladeshi students about clothing choices, and, after two years, assessed their mental health. Interestingly, they found that women who wore traditional Bangladeshi garments "were less likely to suffer later from psychological problems, such as depression," than those who assimilated. Men, however, seemed better adjusted if they wore Western clothing. A researcher says that perhaps conformity to tradition is more stressed to girls, and that such conformity may result in greater acceptance and security. [Scientific American]

If, on this day of fear and instability, ...

Anna N. — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 11:20:00 EDT

If, on this day of fear and instability, you'd like to feel worse about life, the universe, and everything, check out Elizabeth Wurtzel's piece on the late David Foster Wallace. She doesn't actually talk much about Wallace himself, but she does describe one's forties (Wallace was 46) as a brief respite between the crazy thirties and the bitter, disappointed fifties. Then she closes with these words of encouragement: "The world is, after all, a coarse and brutal and cruel place. It’s only a matter of how long you can live with it." Thanks Liz; we're going back to bed now. [NY Mag]

Sad Sacks

Anna — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:20:00 EDT

"The saddest period of the average man's life — his 20s — is also the period when he is most likely to be single." The news is supposedly worse for women? We dunno...the happiest, most badass broads we know are all over the age of 50. [Reuters]

Gays Win The Right To Remain 'Lesbians' • Depressed Women Get A Lift From Viagra

Maria — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:20:00 EDT

Lesbians, rejoice! A Greek court has dismissed the request of three residents from the island of Lesbos to ban the use of the word "lesbian" to describe gay women. • A dying 8-year-old boy "married" his "special friend" in a make-believe ceremony a day before he passed away from leukemia. • A male letter carrier from Washington State is urging other carriers to wear kilts since they are more comfortable; he even spent his stimulus checks on mailing letters about his cause. • The headmistress of a school in England campaigns against "orange" fake-tan schoolgirls. • Diet sugar-free cranberry juice and cranberry juice cocktail both work the same to prevent UTIs. • OMG: Iced tea can be one of the "worst things to drink" for people prone to kidney stones.

• Women taking antidepressants and experiencing a hard time achieving orgasm as a side effect of the medication may benefit from taking Viagra.

• "Grammar Girl" is out to get rid of bad grammar. • A former Muslim sex slave who was targeted for her ethnicity when Serbs attacked tells her heartbreaking story to CNN. • Southern New Hampshire towns are reporting an increase in domestic abuse calls and arrests, which police says is linked to the poor economy. • A self-instructional program on reproductive health and sex-education for teen girls with diabetes will help them understand the risks of unplanned pregnancy while diabetic. • Inflation, high security at hotels and popular venues, and traffic jams have made weddings a real bummer in Sri Lanka. • A weak baby dolphin that was caught in Japanese fishermen's nets has regained its ability to swim after being outfitted with a special lifejacket. • Meet Rampa Rattanarithikul, a Thai mosquito scientist who has researched and collected mosquitoes for 50 years. • Two dogs that were allegedly trained to have sex with their female owner have been accepted into a no-kill animal sanctuary in Utah. • Cute puppy news! Look at this newborn french bulldog set to Chopin. (Image via She Cards.)

Airport Sedition II: Is Jesse Jackson A Hypocrite Or Are We Just In A Depression?

Megan — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 10:00:00 EDT

Another day, another round of airports (only, this time, everyone's Stateside) as our semi-beloved Spencer Attackerman heads to Netroots Nation in Austin to represent the Washington Independent and I sit alone outside of security having driven him to BWI as way to convince him to keep doing Crappy through tomorrow. But join us after the jump as we discuss the men that drink beer with breakfast, women who clip their toenails in public, Jesse Jackson, the "n" word, the "d" word, floggings, second tours of duty and my breasts as compared to Julia Allison's. No, this isn't Gawker, it's just a brief mention, I swear.

SPENCER: It is 8:11 a.m. and the dude sitting near me at the BWI airport 50s-kitsch diner counter just ordered a 20 oz Miller Lite
MEGAN: Well, at least is isn't a 40? I am sitting in the hallway outside of security watching the tourists parade on by and watching the security people wonder what I'm doing. The security lady says it's coldest in the hallway between the A and B gates, a truth to which I can currently attest.
SPENCER: Interesting fact about the difference between A & B gates: for the purpose of eating or using the bathroom, you're better off using B, even if your flight is at A. No bathrooms at A, and the only stuff to eat is like Arby's and such.
MEGAN: Ooh, I remember that but please don't remind me how much I need to pee after all that coffee I drank to be awake enough to drive you up here. So, I feel like we should lead off with the story about how when Jesse Jackson suggested castrating Barack Obama, he also dropped the n-word, in reference to, well, pretty much every African-American person in America.
SPENCER: Also I bought an issue of Wired for the first time ever — I had a girlfriend who subscribed and my lack of interest in the magazine was a minor issue between us — because Julia Allison is on the cover and I still do not exactly know who she is, but she has extremely impressive cleavage.
MEGAN: Really? If you wanted a picture of impressive cleavage, you didn't have to pay for it.
SPENCER: Ah yes. You know who's upset that she doesn't get to use the N Word? Internment-camp apologist Michelle Malkin. Yes you have very impressive tits and I would never say otherwise.
MEGAN: I prefer that such knowledge be widespread, I will admit it. Also, how much does Michelle Malkin really suck, truly?
SPENCER: Hahahaha the waitress just brought me the Miller Lite by mistake
MEGAN: Dude, the man bought you a beer, it's only polite to accept.
SPENCER: I suppose with my Blackwater t-shirt and tattoos I look like the sort of air traveller who'd have a beer with his omelet
MEGAN: I can't believe that you're getting hit on by dudes this morning and I am not, I need to step up my game.
SPENCER: What is it with right-wingers and their desire to say the n-word? Like, what's in it for you?
MEGAN: Spencer, I mean, obviously, it's not faaaaaair that black people get to use the "n" word and get to be all offended about it when other people do. It's, like, practically anti-American. It's hating on our freedoms (to be racist, disgusting sonsofbitches).
SPENCER: Life is unfair to Michelle Malkin but I feel it is so for reasons independent of her inability to type the N-word.
MEGAN: I don't think like is unfair to MM. I think she is probably pretty damn content with her life. If we want to talk unfair lives, we'd talk about my life. Or yours.
SPENCER: So what are we supposed to believe follows from the apparent fact that Jesse Jackson used the N-word? The significance is...? My life is pretty great right now: I'm about to fly to Austin to attend and speak at a conference of the anti-American terrorist supporting left. i shaved my mustache down and grew out my beard so i could look like a Salafist.
MEGAN: Well, I think it's the hypocrisy of him being part of the campaign to get rappers and the like to stop using it.
I did notice your beard was longer, but I don't notice when the 'stache is shorter, I'll admit.
SPENCER: Oh that was Jackson? Should I blame him for the fact that Nas' record is called Untitled and not N Word? I feel like this is the sort of thing that only a non-black person could possibly find hypocritical
MEGAN: Yes, he was one of the anti-n-word campaign which, frankly, I'm not completely opposed to as I cringe when I hear someone say the word regardless of race, but it is the height of hypocrisy to moralize about it publicly and then use it privately. And/or to threaten to cut off the balls of the first black candidate for President when he suggests that some black men should take responsibility for their children when you've knocked up your mistress.
SPENCER: Like, I don't agree with this argument, but there's nothing a priori hypocritical about saying the n-word but not wanting prominent black figures to use it as the titles of their books or albums or movies or what-have-you. I don't think it's hypocritical! oftentimes I say things in unguarded moments that it's better not see print/publication/distribution. that's an issue of judgment, not hypocrisy. as Dave Chappelle taught us, a world in which everyone constantly keeps us real is not one we'd actually like to live in.
MEGAN: Well, I think that if you're going to argue for a word to be banned from use, then it shouldn't be a word that you're wont to drop yourself. Also, I'm mostly just disappointed in Jesse Jackson the way I am in Geraldine Ferraro, because I thought he was so awesome when I was a little kid and now he's just another big jerk. Plus, whenever I hear Rainbow Coalition, I think Rainbow Connection and now I feel like he has besmirched Kermit.
SPENCER: Have you ever listened to his "I Am Somebody" speech? It's beyond awesome. liberals should remember their history — we tend to think of the 80s as a wasteland of Reaganesque triumphalism but there were some real high points, and Rev JJ's 1984 convention speech is one of them
MEGAN: No, I completely agree. 1984 is really the first election I remember (him and Geraldine being little girl highlights of mine) and so that's really the source of my disappointment.
SPENCER: Jesus fucking CHRIST the Miller Liters are shouting out "Strong Island" to some women who sensibly left the diner-counter in a hurry. ok now i need you to explain something to me
MEGAN: Oh, God, I'm glad I'm not with you right now.
SPENCER: On our internal FDL email listserv, my blogospheric colleagues noted that there was a near-riot at an IndyMac branch in California. I have no idea why or what happened, nor what IndyMac, like, is, so I'm counting on you to explain.
MEGAN: Um, so, I take that back, a woman just sat down next to me out here and started clipping her toenails.
SPENCER: Done with breakfast now!
MEGAN: Ok, so, IndyMac: was a bank in California, still sort of is. The Feds moved in last Friday after it was determined that they didn't have enough money to meet their depository obligations because of tighter credit and foreclosures. Though, it might be eventually facing fraud charges.
SPENCER: and this is Housing-Crisis-related?
MEGAN: Yes, mostly. I mean, housing crisis and financial mismanagement, which are basically being seen as one and the same these days. But, so, like, if you didn't know, any savings accounts and CDs and the like are insured by the federal government up to — and only up to — $100,000.
SPENCER: I did not know
MEGAN: And the FDIC has determined that up to 10,000 IndyMac customers have deposits in excess of the FDIC limits, which is like up to $1 billion in uninsured deposits, and the FDIC expects to have to pay $8 billion + for the bail out. But those people with more money in than the FDIC insured, those people will basically be considered the bank's creditors and will wait years or more to get their money back (if they ever get their $$ back), which is why people were freaking the fuck out yesterday
SPENCER: Okay, I think I found the incident in question — it appears to have occurred in the San Fernando Valley:

Police ordered angry customers lined up outside an IndyMac Bank branch to remain calm or face arrest Tuesday as they tried to pull their money on the second day of the failed institution's federal takeover.
At least three police squad cars showed up early Tuesday as tensions rose outside the San Fernando Valley branch of Pasadena-based IndyMac.

So this is a riot of the formerly-rich?
MEGAN: Welcome to the Depression, and why the government started the FDIC in the first place, though it does provide a significant financial disincentive for banks to not do a great job self-regulating. Well, "formerly rich"
SPENCER: or is it only bloggers who don't have $100,000-plus in the bank these days?
MEGAN: I mean, some of these people, that might be their retirement savings because when you get within 5-10 of retirement you're told to take your money out of the stock market and put it in insurable, risk-averse assets.
SPENCER: Whoa you used the D-word
MEGAN: Ben B can come by and flog me later.
SPENCER: I am sure when I arrive at Netroots Nation there will be no shortage of invective on this, and i don't mean that pejoratively. Oh hey could I refer back to yesterday's CH for a second?
MEGAN: Which part? I know not the food parts...
SPENCER: The Iraq/Afghanistan parts
MEGAN: Sure
SPENCER: My friend Elle Reeve — someone else that TNR fucked over — read yesterday's CH rather attentively, as her husband Scott, a rather unfortunately infamous Iraq veteran, is scheduled to return for his second Iraq tour in the fall and she grounded yesterday's discussion of the Obama/McCain debate over Afghanistan/Iraq troop levels in a really compelling way, so I hereby introduce CH readers to the awesome Elle Reeve:

Obama wants to send two brigades to Afghanistan, and now McCain wants to send three. Where would these dudes come from? They're not going to pluck guys from one war zone and deposit them in another, right? So will troops scheduled for Iraq get sent to Afghanistan instead, and the guys in Iraq won't be replaced as their deployments expire? If Obama's elected and starts pulling out, wouldn't guys in Iraq have shortened deployments, while the guys in Afghanistan would still be deployed for 15 months at a time?

MEGAN: Oh, geez, that sucks that he got re-upped.
SPENCER:

Scott's brigade is mechanized, so there's little chance he'd be sent to Afghanistan, since tanks and Bradleys don't work well with mountains, right? The brigade is set to be in Iraq through near the last of Obama's 16 months. So what will happen to last of the guys in Iraq? Will they pull out of less volatile areas first? Because his co-workers totally deserve someplace nice in Kurdistan after serving in Baghdad last year. Basically, I'm looking to seize on any possibility that he'll be in a marginally less dangerous area. Or an area I can sneak in to. Kidding! Sort of. Give me the illusion of control.

Given that I need to board a plane in like 10 minutes, I sympathize deeply with Elle's desire for the illusion of control
MEGAN: I mean, who doesn't? I always prefer to have the illusion that I have any control over anything. And have a kickass time in Austin!

"Nerd Girls" Learn To Abandon Risky Sex, Cutting For "Empowerment," Education, And I Am Really Happy For Them

Moeiscaterwaulingaboutthepatriarchy — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 15:00:00 EDT

For some reason I just read a story called Self-Cutting Linked To Risky Teen Sex. Okay, so I hate myself for actually reading such a story, since I was really only reading it for the purpose of reveling in how much I hate myself, which is fairly easy since I can't even get it up to make a joke along the lines of "Oh! Cutters and their bareback sex! What'll they take up next, coke and bulimia?" (You see the problem.) But no, I even went and bothered figuring out who we can thank for this breakthrough. Some research center underwritten by the toy industry, apparently. And here I am, trying to carve a post out of this crap when I would rather find a knife. Wouldn't it be cool if vibrators had fold out knives for cutters? Cool, but also scary, obviously? And the worst part is I'm reading about this cool new class of empowered "Nerdettes" that supposedly exists, and embraces its differences and enrolls in engineering classes, obligatory Tina Fey reference even though Tina Fey has fuckall to do with engineering but okay.

Hot geeky girls are a hot new trend, replete with a reality show and a spoofy beauty pageant and highly dubious sounding data such as:

Even women gamers far outnumber men ages 25 to 34, according to a 2006 study by the Consumer Electronics Association.

Oh, sure, find me a game that simulates cutting and cramps and vomiting up the wine you drank forming emotional attachments to horrible jerks and I will believe there is fucking gender parity here.

Revenge Of The Nerdettes [Newsweek]
Self-Cutting Linked To Risky Teen Sex, Study Shows [CBS News]

Oldies But Goodies

Megan — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 18:45:00 EDT

Check out this vintage Anacin ad, which promises "a special 'mood-lifter' or energizer" to go with your aspirin. That depression-reducing agent? Caffeine. Why pay a therapist when the two things you use to cure hangovers will also cure the depression that caused you to drink in the first place? (Click the picture to read the ad in all its glory). [Modern Mechanix]

Church & Chong

Maria — Tue, 20 May 2008 15:20:00 EDT

It seems like almost every major religion in the world burns incense during religious practices and it turns out there may be a reason: it gets you totally stoned. Well, sort of. A chemical given off from burning frankincense can alleviate anxiety and depression, or, in the words of one doctor, it can "make you feel warm and tingly all over!" Right, well, we'll say this: Religion + "warm and tingly" is not an image we have any interest in further contemplating. [Science Daily]

Justine Henin Retires • Basket-Weaving Brings Women Together

Jessica — Thu, 15 May 2008 17:30:00 EDT

Justine Henin, the # 1-ranked tennis player in the world, is retiring at 25. The battling Belgian is going out on top! • In other sports news, Kashmiri girls are beginning to play soccer more and more. An under-19 tournament will be held in Kargil next month. • A new study has shown that obese adults are twice as likely to suffer from depression (among other mental illnesses) as adults of normal weight. • Nutritionists have found that dairy intake does not necessarily promote weight loss, despite what certain marketing messages would like to have us believe. .• Chemicals called pyrethrins, found in pet shampoos and insecticides, may cause autism in unborn and very young children. • Rwandan women are weaving "peace" baskets to be sold at Macy's; one of the weavers, Iphigenia Mukantabana, a Tutsi, works alongside Epiphania Mukanyndwi, a Hutu — whose husband helped kill Iphigenia's entire family. • A new dating site called RocknRollDating.com pairs people off by musical preference. • The makers of "the original fitness skirt," SkirtSports, are sponsoring the SkirtChaser Race Series in which women wearing skirts are chased by men. • Women working in hard sciences find that it still has an "old boys club" atmosphere, according to a new report from the National Science Foundation. Fifty-two percent drop out of these fields between ages 35 and 40.

More Than One In Ten Teen Girls Will Suffer From Depression

Jessica — Wed, 14 May 2008 13:30:00 EDT

Almost 13% of teenage girls have experienced a bout of serious depression in the past year, according to a new federal study from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. There is a marked difference among genders when it comes to depression, Reuters reports, as only 4.6% of boys reported a major depressive episode in the past 12 months (though the disparity might be because this survey was self-reported, and lots of boys are unwilling to admit their unhappiness). For the purposes of the survey, a "major depressive episode" is defined as "two weeks or longer of depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure, and at least four other symptoms such as problems with sleep, energy, concentration or self-image."

Perhaps this study will help authorities take teen depression seriously, as I think youthful mood swings can often be dismissed as hormonal or intrinsic to adolescence. I had my first (and only, to date) period of serious, clinically-diagnosed depression at age 18. Afterwards, it made me mentally rewind and review all the other depressed phases I had been through.

That time when I was fourteen and cried for an entire summer — was that early evidence of my burgeoning depression, or was it hormonal? That month I couldn't sleep junior year of high school: Was that SAT stress, or suicidal ideation? I never came to any definitive conclusions, but hopefully with these newly released statistics, teenage depression will be explored more thoroughly.

More Than 2 Million U.S. Teens Depressed [Reuters via MSNBC]

Earlier: Are Men Less Likely To Be Depressed Because They Don't Even Know What It Is?
British Women Twice As Likely To Suffer From Depression; Three Times As Likely To Write About It

Are Men Less Likely To Be Depressed Because They Don't Even Know What It Is?

Dodai — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:00:00 EDT

The National Alliance on Mental Illness has announced that while 18 million Americans experience depression every year, one in eight women get depressed, which is twice the rate of depression in men. Twice the rate. In addition, depression hits minorities the most: Middle-aged Hispanic women have the highest rate, then middle-aged African-American women. Young Asian-American women have the second highest rate of suicide among those ages 15 to 24. There are many reasons that women are more likely to experience depression: In addition to genetic factors, brain chemistry issues, and psychosocial losses or changes, there are things that women have to deal with that men usually do not. "Some experiences are unique to women," Dr. Ken Duckworth of the NAMI says, "including post-partum changes, infertility and hormonal fluctuations throughout their lives." But one has to wonder: Do men even realize what depression is?

It's been reported time and time again that men are less likely to go to the doctor. Unless they're seriously injured and need stitches, lots of men never deal with health issues. Personally, I've known guys who were clearly depressed and did nothing about it. Friends and boyfriends who had all the symptoms but — as is often the case with men — didn't feel as though they "needed" to see a doctor. That somehow they would "snap out of it." Pair this up with the fact that some dudes love using the word "drama" anytime a woman exhibits emotion, and you've got a recipe for an aversion to dealing with feelings. This might be anecdotal, but surely the National Alliance on Mental Illness gets its statistics from people who actually see a mental health professional? If some dude is walking around depressed but undiagnosed, does he count?

Women depressed at twice the rate of men [UPI]
Women and Depression [NAMI]
Earlier: Boys Who Use The Word Drama: An Investigation
In Defense of Depression
In Post-Industrial Society, Women Are Either "Princess Crazy" Or Her Handmaidens
Related: When booking a doctor's visit, gender plays a role [MSNBC]

Prozac Nations

Jessica — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:45:00 EDT

According to a new study from Down Under, men are more likely to discriminate against the depressed than women are. The research, conducted at Australian National University and the University of Melbourne, showed that along with men, less educated people and migrants were more likely to attach a "stigma" to depression, according to Reuters. The stigma of depression is so strong for some of the Australian population that 20% would "refuse" to work with someone they knew was depressed. These statistics are...depressing. [Reuters]

[Image via Exploding Dog]

Forget Boner-Killing Bloody Vaginas: Childbirth Can Make Men Mentally-Ill

Anna — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 12:30:00 EDT

"Why Men Should NEVER Be At The Birth Of Their Child" blares the headline in today's Daily Mail. But if you assume that the accompanying story immediately launches into an appeal for a return to "modesty" and warnings about how witnessing childbirth can kill a man's libido, you'd be wrong. (That crops up in the third part of the piece!) Nope, Reason No. 1 that men should be banished to birthing ward waiting areas is that their pregnant partners can't multitask. "A labouring woman needs to be protected against any stimulation of the thinking part of her brain - the neocortex - for labour to proceed with any degree of ease," writes Ob/Gyn Michel Odent, who is said to have presided over some 50,000 births. "A woman in labour needs to be in a private world where she doesn't have to think or talk. Yet, motivated by a desire to 'share the experience', the man asks questions and offers words of reassurance and advice." The other bad thing about inviting big boys in the birthing room? Witnessing such a thing can make them mentally-ill.

"In its mild form, men often take to their bed in the week following the birth, complaining of everything from a stomach ache or migraine," claims Dr. Odent. "And in the most graphic example, one perfectly healthy man had his first experience of schizophrenia two days after watching his wife give birth. Was this his way of escaping reality?" Normally, such a statement would have us laughing so hard we'd be curled up into the fetal position but another article — this from the much-respected Guardian — is reporting that male postnatal depression is not only a reality, but a harbinger of future child behavioral problems. Certainly, the story — which comes out of a study at the University of Bristol — makes absolutely no correlation between paternal depression and childbirth, but we have a feeling that Dr. Odent will be taking this latest news and running with it all the way to the NHS maternity wards.

A Top Obstetrician On Why Men Should NEVER Be At The Birth Of Their Child [Daily Mail]
Male Postnatal Depression Affects Child Behaviour, Study Shows [Guardian]

Not Having Sex? You Must Be Happy!

Tracie — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 17:00:00 EDT

Depressed women — whether single or in a relationship — have a third more sex than happier women, or so says a new study from Australia. According to Dr. Sabura Allen, women suffering from mild to moderate depression not only have sex more frequently, but are more likely to engage in casual sex and have a larger variety of sexual experiences. Allen hypothesizes that these women are looking for closeness and security through sex. Bullshit! By saying that happier women don't have sex that often, the study implies that women not seeking frequent sexual satisfaction are the norm. It also assumes that women only go after sex on a consistent basis because they are searching for something beyond simply having a good time, thereby supporting outdated stereotypes about women and sexuality. I can say here and now that by boning as much as I am physically able to, the only void I'm trying to fill is the one between my legs.

Here's something else: I've been in a depressed state for an extended period of time before. It was the only time in my life that I didn't want to have sex with anyone. I just wanted to be left alone to wallow. But the biggest red flag about this whole study—which will be published in the British Medical Journal—is that it was based on a survey of 107 women in Australia. 107! That's it! Shit, I've fucked more people than that. And I'm happy—not depressed—about it.

Study Shows More Sex For Depressed Women [Herald Sun]

Should Depressed Little Rich Girl Just Give It Up And Go On Prozac Already?

Moe — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 17:00:56 EST

Hey guys, you can get out the machetes! It's a poor little rich girl, and she's writing in to a British advice column because she thinks her trust fund ruined her life. "I think it's good for me to be employed but... there is no motivation for me to stick anything out," Francesca writes the Telegraph's Lesley Garner. Francesca is 26, rich, depressed, disillusioned, dilletantish, and anxiety-plagued, but she doesn't want to go on antidepressants because she doesn't "want to surrender ownership of my emotions to some pharmaceutical company." (And isn't that just the bitch that is capitalism? It's much more fun to usher a pharmaceutical company to colossal riches on the backs of popular mood-altering drugs and sugar substitutes...but how to cope once you not only have access to all that dough and all you can think to look at it was, "Wow, that was a really worthwhile endeavor for society, amassing a multibillion dollar fortune convincing 30 million Americans they need depression meds for the rest of their lives." Whatevs.)

(Oh yes, and related, Johnson & Johnson heir Jamie Johnson's second movie The One Percent apparently debuts tonight, not that anyone thought to invite little old yours truly.) Anyway, I think Francesca should get off her high horse and get into ADD drugs. Lesley thinks Francesca should get a fun roommate and go to therapy. No seriously, I think Francesca should probably allow her depression to fester a little longer, get a job waiting tables because it's the quickest way to transfer feelings of self-loathing to others, and come to my house one day and answer all the calls I get from telemarketers, thus prompting the terrible cycle of realization: "Wow, a lot of people have to work in telemarketing for a living," followed by "Wow, I bet they thought telemarketing was bad until they all got replaced by computers." Then I'll sell you some ADD drugs and you'll be on the path to recovery.

"Being Rich Is Ruining My Life" [Telegraph_

In Post-Industrial Society, Women Are Either "Princess Crazy" Or Her Handmaidens

Jessica — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 13:30:00 EST

How many times has a dude accused you of being "crazy" when you think you're being perfectly rational? Well there's a new book out by Paris-born writer Lisa Appignanesi, Mad, Bad and Sad: A History of Women and the Mind Doctors from 1800, which argues that women's so-called madness has been gerrymandered by shifting definitions that often equate craziness and "feminine" behavior. In a review of Mad, Bad and Sad, Telegraph scribe Melanie McGrath says that, "Our current expectations to be made, as one advocate of Prozac puts it, 'better than well', along with ever-expanding definitions of what constitutes mental illness, have served to turn us all, if not into Princesses of Crazy then into her handmaidens."

Appignanesi discusses cultural expectations of "madness" by citing the biographies of suicidal, cultural icons such as Marilyn Monroe, Sylvia Plath, and Virginia Woolf. According to McGrath, "We are not simple creatures,' [Appignanesi] says, in something of an understatement. By accepting, even colluding with, the continual expansion of categories of mental illness, we deny life's natural ups and downs and by doing so, impoverish its quality."

Appignanesi isn't the only one lamenting the over-diagnosis of a captive public. There has been much ink spilled on the over-prescription of psychiatric medication, and stereotypically (as Appignanesi points out), women are more demonstratively emotional than men are — so are they being more aggressively over-prescribed? Should we be pulling up the proverbial yellow wallpaper of our feminine oppression instead of swilling Prozac? As we watch former icon of ultra-girliness, Britney Spears, mentally unravel before our eyes, these are all valid questions to be asking ourselves. As we ponder, I'm just going to call myself a handmaiden of princess crazy because, you know, it has a nice ring to it!

Femininity As Mental Illness [Telegraph]
Mad, Bad and Sad: A History of Women and the Mind Doctors from 1800 [Amazon]

Earlier: What's The Difference Between A "Real" Depressive And A "Lazy" Pill Freak?
In Defense Of Depression
Boys Who Use The Word "Drama": An Investigation

Shocking yet true, body mass index isn't ...

Jennifer — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 10:45:00 EST

Shocking yet true, body mass index isn't always the best indicator of a person's physical and mental health. But know what is? Asking a person if he or she thinks she should weigh less. The desire to drop pounds due to "social constructs that surround ideal body types", it turns out, is a pretty good indicator of compromised health, reports a study coming out of Columbia University. Says Peter Muennig, assistant professor of Health Policy and Management, "Younger persons, Whites, and women are disproportionately affected by negative body image concerns, and these groups unduly suffer from BMI-associated morbidity and mortality." [Science Daily]

Good news and bad news! Sales of boxed macaroni ...

dodai — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 16:45:00 EST

Good news and bad news! Sales of boxed macaroni and cheese are up, reports UPI. Good news because, yum, mac and cheese is delicious comfort food, whether it is authentic or from a box. The bad news? This may be a clear indication that this country is headed toward financial ruin and we're trying to soothe our souls with pasty carbs. Kraft introduced mac and cheese in 1937 — the era known as The Great Depression. Related: So. Hungry. Right. Now. [UPI]

Depressed Princess Eats Truffles; Nation Freaks

dodai — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 12:30:00 EST

While Britney Spears gathers her wits about her from the comfort of a padded room, the future Empress of Japan, Crown Princess Masako, is the target of tabloid reports and grave disappointment in the Far East. Why? Because she went out to dinner. According to the Times of London, the Princess recently had Mexican food, a plate of black truffles and a bowl of shark-fin soup. Explains another Times newspaper (this one in New York), this behavior violates "the standards of imperial austerity as the economy shows signs of faltering." So there are two issues here: Firstly, the 44-year-old Harvard-educated princess was diagnosed with depression four years ago. Second, Japan, like the United States, is on the verge of a recession. So while a plate of truffles might not seem like a big deal, the Japanese feel she is wasting public money, living the "high life" when she won't even make public appearances due to her "condition."

The UK's Times claims that the Japanese consider the Princess to be a failure: She did not produce a male heir (she has a daughter - the horror!) and has been too ill to perform her duties. But commenters on the paper's website paint a different picture: "I wonder... Why she could go out for dinner at a posh restaurant on the same day she cancelled a ceremony held by the emperor - she could stay home if she was too unwell to attend the ceremony," writes Kyoko. Adds someone identified only as a "Japanese citizen" :"It seems lots of Westeners believe Masako is a poor victim of the old-fashioned custom just because she is Harvard-educated and Japan is too old-fashioned. The point is not her education, but her strange behavior and her mysterious illness. She has been 'ill' for years and skip [sic] official duties, but her private life is very energetic. Lots of expensive shopping, lavish dinners, Disney Land, trip to Netherland, skiing, horse riding, etc on taxpayer's money."

Does a public figure — even when suffering psychologically — have a responsibility to her public? Is a depressed person not allowed to eat truffles? Is Japan old-fashioned, or merely practical? And can anyone explain to us what all the fuss is about?

Japan: Princess Becomes Fair Game [New York Times]
Tabloids turn against the Crown Princess Masako [Times]
Princess Masako's 'High Life' Shocks Japan [Telegraph]

In Defense of Depression

mcarpentier — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 18:00:00 EST

I have never been an exceedingly happy person. For those people who (offline) found me chipper or perky, well, I'm sorry, but I was probably faking it. On the other hand, I've studied two instruments, 3 languages, 5 or 6 different types of dance and I left a promising mainstream job to write for a living. The times in my life in which I was least creative or thoughtful were the times in which I was objectively the most content. It turns out, though, that according to experts quoted in the new Newsweek, I might be sort of normal like that. I can't say it makes me happy, but it probably makes me feel marginally less unique (which maybe makes me less happy). It's a cycle, after all.

There is a growing backlash against the pop-a-pill-get-happy version of recovery, in which those of us marginally depressed are encouraged to be more "normal" in part, according to teacher Jess Decourcy Hinds, "because observing another's anguish isn't easy." NYU Professor Jerome Wakefield (who co-authored The Loss of Sadness: How Psychiatry Transformed Normal Sorrow Into Depressive Disorder) has students coming up to him all the time asking how to get their parents to lay off the Prozac-pushing because they want to feel their emotions sometimes. And, as previously mentioned, psychiatrist Charles Barber, author of Comfortably Numb notes that emotions — even those brought on by the loss of a relationship, a friend, a job, or a family member — are normal and meant to be felt rather than medicated away.

While significant depression is bad (and requires medication and/or therapy) and it's uncomfortable to watch someone suffer emotionally, some sadness or mild depression is often actually required for some people to learn anything and grow as a person, and it's often necessary for some of us to feel inspired. Author Eric Wilson, whose book Against Happiness came out late last month, argues that "the happy man is a hollow man," but we're pretty sure he meant to say "human."

University of Illinois psychologist Ed Diener finds that there's a high-correlation between self-reported levels of "happiness" and stable, long-term relationships. His reasoning is that "if you have positive illusions about your partner, which goes along with the highest levels of happiness, you're more likely to commit to an intimate relationship." On the other hand, if you're just sort of vaguely unhappy without being actually paralyzed with ennui, you tend to make more money, achieve greater career success, get more educated and pay more attention to politics because you're trying to not be unhappy.

Being stressed and unhappy has a biological purpose, according to Diener and evolutionary biologists, who note that fear tend to force animals into action and "sadness" in mammals tends to result needed empathetic actions in others. Either way, would you rather live in a world in which the music is all Sweet Caroline and the photographs of Anne Geddes or is it a substantially better place with Nina Simone and Vincent Van Gogh even if you have to watch some of the rest of us less-creative types be unhappy?

Happiness: Enough Already [Newsweek]
Earlier: What's The Difference Between A "Real" Depressive And A Lazy Pill Freak?

What's The Difference Between A "Real" Depressive And A "Lazy" Pill Freak?

Jessica — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 16:30:00 EST

There's a major backlash a-brewin' against the use of psychotropic medication to battle depression, and the forthcoming book Comfortably Numb by Charles Barber, could easily be called the bible of that backlash. Barber, a psychiatrist, cautions against over-medication, and argues that, "anger, greed, laziness, impulsivity, as well as jealousy, lust, anguish, and so on, are simply part of the human predicament" and should not be treated with medication. Barber is attempting to draw a line between "real" depression and just being bummed out, suggesting cognitive behavioral therapy or other forms of talk therapy to combat depression. I think no one can argue that anti-depressants are over-prescribed — horror stories about five-year-olds on Zoloft litter anti-drug literature and Scientology screeds — but without prolonged talk therapy, how can you draw that line? And even after thorough psychiatric investigation, won't each therapist's discretion be subjective?

Then, there's the problem, as Salon succinctly puts it, of the "Serotonin Empire." "The Serotonin Empire continues to expand for a simple reason: Try getting your company's health insurance to cover the expense of counseling. Odds are, it won't. But it'll pay for pills," writes Jerome Weeks, in a roundup of several books about antidepressants. (No wonder that Eli Lilly, the company that makes Prozac, had its fourth-quarter net income rise six-fold last year!) The people are medicated, the drug companies are happy, and physicians — many of whom are not psychiatrists — are prescribing anti-depressant meds after consultations of as little as 3 minutes, says Salon.

Which is not to say that I am anti anti-depressants: I've been on Paxil, Prozac, Lexapro and Wellbutrin at some point or another over the past seven years, and I think I can safely say that at the time my initial SSRI was prescribed, I was far past the point of "bummed." I cried pretty much incessantly for over a month, could barely get out of bed, and was essentially unable to function. I have a vivid memory of struggling to make myself a bagel, and then breaking down into tears when the charred smell of burnt yeast started coming from the kitchen — toasting a baked good was a task both tiny and totally impossible.

Honestly, I don't know what would have happened had I not taken anti-depressants; I suppose I would have struggled through it, and hopefully not become Bell Jar refugee with my wrists slit or my head in the oven. Maybe I would have been fine, as I am now, and continued to live out my life contentedly. At least until middle-age (according to a new study, those in mid-life are most likely to be depressed). But of course, by the time I hit 50, Eli Lilly will probably have something for mid-life crises too.

[Image via Brandspankin']

Don't Be Happy, Worry [Salon]
Yale Lecturer Advises: Flush The Prozac And Hack Your Own Happiness [Wired]
Happiness Is Being Young Or Old, But Middle Age Is Misery [Guardian]

Kids Today: More Narcissistic Than Ever? I Know, It's A Tough One...

Moe — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 14:00:00 EST

Is the younger generation more narcissistic than we are? Well YEAHDUH, but here's something kind of interesting! See, two scholars are engaged in a hot dispute as to whether all the MySpace/Flickr/tumblr/silvr/U.S.AmericanTopModelChefFifthGrader shit actually causes people to be more self-obsessed. The champion of the conventional wisdom is a San Diego State psychologist who wrote a book called Generation Me and is working on another called the Narcissism Epidemic. But now a University of Western Ontario psychologist is about to publish research that suggests the youngs no more narcissistic than any of the generations that preceded them. Wait, is it kinda funny that the anti-narcissism epidemic side comes from Canada and the Generation Me author is in Southern California? A Yale professor thinks so, telling the New York Times that "exaggerated beliefs in social decline are widespread — largely because people tend to mistake changes in themselves for changes in the external world." So people who study narcissism tend to be narcissists? Crazy! But moreover, it's bigger than that:

Never before in this country has there been such an economic imperative to cultivating narcissism. "Build Brand You"! Start a blog! Advance Your Swagger! If you want a raise, dress better! Hit the gym! Assert yourselves! If you try to count on hard work alone, you'll never have any time to Make Yourself Noticed! And anyway, the immigrants and the Chinese and the Indians and the Romanians have the work ethic thing cornered. Oh what, you don't want to be the boss, the ruler, the editor-in-chief? You'd rather be a team player, and subscribe to the pitifully naive notion that the sum can be greater than parts or whatever? Did you not hear that cooperation is over? What has cooperation done for us lately? Lesssseeee...maybe designed us a really thin MacBook? Approved a half-trillion dollar war? If you've learned anything from the reality TV you watch it's that there can only be one Top Model, one Top Chef, one Celebrity Apprentice, one Biggest Loser. And yeah, you can say that's only TV. But good luck finding a decent job on an assembly line somewhere! You're better off shooting to be the next American Apparel model.

Generation Me Vs. You, Revisited [NY Times]
Related: Want A Better Job? Stop Working Right Now And Get Your Nails Did

Is Your Antidepressant A Big Crock Of Shit?

Moe — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 12:00:00 EST

A dozen popular antidepressants don't work nearly as well as the "data" doctors cite to tell you they do, according to an FDA review. (The whole graph is after the jump.) The biggest grade inflators were Serzone, Zoloft, Remeron, Wellbutrin SR, Paxil and Cymbalta. Effexor, the drug that shame-ridden shrink confessed to shilling unethically in the New York Times Magazine last fall came in seventh. Which brings me back to an important part I was trying to make when I posted insensitively about fibromyalgia the other day. See, it is often times the people who think they're least susceptible to advertising — ahem, doctors — who turn us all into suckers.

No one likes to think we're prey to the shameless "Talk to your doctor!" come-ons of the advertising industry. We like to think we are too smart for that. We like to think we make rational purchasing decisions borne of a thorough survey of all the available options — or that at the very least, we are creatures of our own innate needs and desires. I can only assume that this is why a lot of you got so defensive when I joked that fibromyalgia was a "vague pharmaceutical industry invented malady." A few of you turn out to have fibromyalgia — and "restless leg syndrome", and whatever else I treated with my signature careless disdain. I'm sorry guys; I made my point less thoughtfully than I maybe should have. We all have health problems. But right now the most highly -capitalized, influential and consumer-savvy source of all that we know and learn about those problems — the developers of the drugs, the sponsors and publishers of their studies, the sources of continuing education to your doctors — is the pharmaceutical industry, and the pharmaceutical industry exists to convince us that our problems are "syndromes" necessitating a pill you take once a day. Ever wondered why the industry doesn't seem to develop anything you can take once and be done with it? Yeah, well. Ever wondered who that cute guy in the suit with the briefcase sitting outside your shrink's office at lunchtime was? Yeah, don't ask him out, he's definitely a player and he's probably a recreational Cialis user on top of that.

Anyway, apologies to everyone out there who is suffering from something. Just hatin' on the game, so to speak. If I spoke that way. Whatever.

Antidepressants Under Scrutiny Over Efficacy [WSJ]

Annals of Anorexia

Jennifer — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 18:45:00 EST

Anorexia not only plagues the person suffering from it, but those around them. This relity was played out most tragically in the case of Dubliner Lynn Gibbs and her daughter Ciara. Ciara was diagnosed with anorexia in 2006 and her mother Lynn, a psychiatrist, became increasingly depressed herself as her daughter's condition worsened. And then, on November 26, believing that Ciara would never recover from her anorexia, Gibbs drowned her 16-year old daughter in the bathtub and then attempted to kill herself. (She failed.) Gibbs, who suffered from both anorexia herself, told a court: "I believed there was no hope for Ciara or myself. I planned that we'd both die." At her trial, her husband could only say, "She loved Ciara." [Daily Mail]

British Women Twice As Likely To Suffer From Depression; Three Times As Likely To Write About It

Jessica — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 12:00:00 EST

A trio of first person accounts about depression are coming out this year in England, causing Guardian scribe Stephanie Merritt (an author of one of the three memoirs) to call 2008 the year of the female depression memoir. These three books, Elle editor Sally Brampton's Shoot the Damn Dog, Lorna Martin's Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and Merritt's own The Devil Within, recount battles with bipolar disorder, post-modern malaise, and run-of-the-mill crippling despair. The article describes depression as a "hidden epidemic," and while I'm not British, I find it hard to believe that depression is a brand new malady in English society. Merritt goes on to note that it's been 13 years since Elizabeth Wurtzel's infuriating yet affecting Prozac Nation was published; do any of these women actually have anything new or remotely interesting to say on the subject?

Here's the thing: as someone who's been clinically depressed before, I can say without reservation that depressed people are fucking terrible to be around. They're whiny and boring and terrifically self-involved. Obviously it's their illness talking and depressed people should be treated with care and affection by their friends, but when you're reading a memoir, you're essentially hanging out with the narrator for 300 some odd pages. Unless these women are fantastic writers or have something revolutionary to say on the subject of X-chromosome blues, I imagine these books are going to be a painful slog. Just reading Merritt's piece in the Observer was an exercise in cliché and canned facts. "I couldn't cope with the smallest decisions," Merritt writes. "Often I didn't eat because the effort of deciding what wanted and then preparing it seemed as daunting as running a marathon." I'm not trying to belittle Merritt's depression, but her writing — that marathon metaphor? — is about as innovative as Wonder Bread. Not to mention the fact that she spends several paragraphs talking about the over-prescription of Prozac and other SSRIs, which was news in like, 1997.

I'll reserve final judgment until I read these books in their entirety, but in the meantime if you want to read a truly brilliant memoir of madness, check out Sophie's Choice scribe William Styron's Darkness Visible. If any of these new crop of bummermoirs comes even close to Styron's beautiful despair, I'll eat my hat.

A New Plague Facing Women [Guardian]

Earlier: Elizabeth Wurtzel, Hot Crazy Depressive Genius Writer Slut, Is Now 40
Do Antidepressants Really Ruin Your Love Life?

Drowning In Perfume? You Might Be Depressed

dodai — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 17:30:00 EST

Researchers from Tel Aviv University recently discovered a link between depression and the olfactory glands. "Our scientific findings suggest that women who are depressed are also losing their sense of smell, and may overcompensate by using more perfume," explains Professor Yehuda Shoenfeld. The good news? "People who are depressed seem to respond well to aromatherapy. Certain smells seem to help them overcome the effects of the biological factors, suggesting that depression may have a biological cause." Dr. Shoenfeld suggests that a standardized "smell test" cold be developed so that doctors could diagnose depression and other autoimmune diseases. Haven't you always suspected the aroma of fresh-baked brownies was a miracle cure?

Dr. Shoenfeld has studied lupus, arthritis and rheumatism, and found that depression accompanying lupus is not just an emotional reaction to being sick — it appears to have a biological cause. The fact that sense of smell and depression can be linked, however, should come as no surprise to anyone who's ever been depressed. Not only do you cease to feel, taste or smell, you might even stop seeing colors. Some of us know, because, once we were treated for depression, we were absolutely astonished at how the world was suddenly quite pretty and brightly-hued. What is surprising? That there might be a low-tech, ancient way to treat mood disorders. "I think that science is able to show that aromatherapy might not be just for quacks," Dr. Shoenfeld says. "After all, some of these remedies have been used since the time of the Egyptians to treat organic diseases." Bring on the grapefruit-scented candles!

Wearing Too Much Perfume May Indicate Depression [Science Daily]
Why Some Depressed Girls Can't Smell The Roses [EurekAlert]

Do Antidepressants Really Ruin Your Love Life?

Jessica — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 13:00:00 EST

Psychology Today has a trio of articles about antidepressants and love/sex that I feel uniquely qualified to comment on since I am both on antidepressants and in love (and having sex). [Braggart! -Ed.] The main article, "Sex, Love, and SSRIs" wonders whether selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (the class of drugs that includes Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil and others ) "compromise the ability to feel love," because SSRIs inhibit dopamine, which is also responsible for the feelings of elation and ecstasy that accompany falling in love. The author uses the anecdotal evidence of "Megan," whose sexual side effects ruined her relationship with high school sweetheart "Neil." The anecdote felt so weak (a high school love affair dissipating when the pair goes to separate colleges? You don't say!) that I wasn't surprised when she also used a seemingly dubious statistic to back it up: "Approximately 70 percent of people taking SSRIs suffer from sexual side effects."

Whoa, whoa wait. Back. It. Up. I've never experienced any sexual side effects, so I decided to do a little research to see if her stats held water. And just by doing a quick Google search, I found several articles refuting that 70 percent statistic. Take this article from the Harvard School of Public Health, which summarizes several studies on the sexual side effects of SSRI users and reports that the highest percentage of sexual side effects in any of the studies is 34%. (Strangely, the fear-mongering subhead of the Psychology Today article, "How SSRIs Wreak Havoc On Courtship", is just as misleading, as the article itself notes that a diligent shrink will work with a patient to find the right combination of meds that you know, doesn't clit-block an orgasm.)

But could I be calling bullshit on this study prematurely? Perhaps! So I'd like to see how the medicated Jezzies out there stack up to Psychology Today's statistics. Take our poll below, won't you?
I can't wait to hear what you pillheads are experiencing.

Sex, Love, and SSRIs [Psychology Today]
My Boyfriend is on Zoloft [Psychology Today]
The Power of Love [Psychology Today]

Save Some Womb For Dessert

dodai — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 10:30:00 EST

OK, that headline? It's stolen. But this is the gist of it: Some women believe that one way of dealing with post-partum depression is for a new mom to eat her own placenta. The practice has a name, placentophagy. According to a story on MSNBC today, 80% of new moms have "baby blues" — sad feelings after giving birth. The theory is that devouring the placenta helps them feel better but there are no studies on the efficacy of the practice for humans. "The placenta does produce estrogen and progesterone," says Mavis Schorn, the director of the nurse midwifery program at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. "So the theoretical idea is that it may help, but there's absolutely no research on it." The whole placenta-as-food thing reminded us of Harper's magazine, which once published part of a transcript from an English cooking show on which human placenta was on the menu. After the jump, the best bits from the organ-eating Brits.

(In the transcript below, "Rosie" is the 19-year-old new mom, "Mary" is the grandmother, "Sue" is a family friend and amateur cook, and "Fearnley-Whittingstall" is the television host. Elllipses denote where we've cut out material.)

VOICE-OVER: Mary's best friend, Sue, is a fellow social worker and a keen cook. Mary has asked her to take charge of all the cooking for Indie Mo's party. Sue's devotion to her friends will be expressed in the twenty-odd dishes she is planning for the party, but she is also rising to the challenge of a completely new ingredient.

ROSIE: The placenta is going to be cooked and made into a placenta pate-I'm not quite sure what the recipe is for that.

SUE: The real scary bit is the placenta, because I've never even actually seen one. I've seen photographs, but I've never actually seen one live, I've never had my hands on one. I don't know what they look like, what they feel like, what the smell is-I've got no conception of it at all, so that is going to be the real nail-biter.

VOICE-OVER: Immediately after Indie Mo's birth two months ago, Mary brought the placenta back home to store in the freezer.

MARY: [Laying the umbilical cord in a large serving dish] There's Indie Mo's cord ... fresh. A very beautiful thing. [Opens a plastic bowl with the placenta and placental blood] Have a look in here. This is Rosie's placenta. Waste not, want not. Have a smell. Isn't it lovely? Lovely and fresh?

FEARNLEY-WHITTINGSTALL: It smells completely clean.

MARY: What do you think, Rosie?

ROSIE: Gory.

MARY: Yes, gory. It would have been good if we'd eaten it straightaway. That was our plan. Had things gone the way we wanted, Rosie was going to eat it straight after-we were going to have a little fry-up. Dad was looking forward to it.

...

VOICE-OVER: The challenge in working with a new ingredient is guessing how it will behave when cooked. After the excess blood has been rinsed from the placenta, Sue suggests slicing it up to check out the texture.

FEARNLEY-WHITTINGSTALL: [Watching as Sue cuts the placenta into strips] Look at that in the middle. It's quite meaty, isn't it?

SUE: Almost purple. Really rich looking.

FEARNLEY-WHITTINGSTALL: The outside is spongy, but the inside-

SUE: The inside is quite solid.

FEARNLEY-WHITTINGSTALL: Quite dense.

VOICE-OVER: The onions and garlic come out of the pan, and the placenta is fried quickly in butter and oil.

SUE: It seems to be staying fairly tender. It's not contracting a lot.

VOICE-OVER: Sue's next inspiration is a baptism by fire: using a dash of cognac.

[Sue pours the cognac over the frying placenta, which then bursts into flames]

FEARNLEY-WHITTINGSTALL: Whoa! That is elemental, isn't it?

SUE: It's earth and air and wind and fire.

...

SUE: [Cutting the cooked placenta into bite-sized pieces] Oh, it's so tender. The knife's just gliding through it.

MARY: [Entering kitchen] Look at that! Beautiful. Let's taste it. [Takes a bite] Go for it, Rosie.

ROSIE: [Chews] It's not bad.

FEARNLEY-WHITTINGSTALL: Mary, what do you think?

MARY: Lovely ... You can taste the garlic. [Chewing] Texture's nice. Not too strong. Not gamy.

FEARNLEY-WHITTINGSTALL: Quite mild, is it?

MARY: Mild, lovely smell.

ROSIE: Not as chewy as liver. It's nice.

...

VOICE-OVER: Next Sue blends half the placenta with a little butter, the onions and garlic, and chopped parsley and sage.

FEARNLEY-WHITTINGSTALL: [Watching Sue use a spatula to remove the placenta from the blender] That could sit up on some toast really nicely.

SUE: Yes. Yes, it could.

...

MARY: [Carrying the mousse, which has been shaped with a Bundt mold, to the buffet table] It's got a bit of the old cervix look about it, doesn't it?

SUE: Absolutely, dear. I thought it was very appropriate.

Placenta Pizza? Some New Moms Try Old Rituals [MSNBC]
Save Some Womb For Dessert [Harper's]

Do Bitty Babies End Up More Depressed Than Their Brawnier Brethren?

Jessica — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 18:00:00 EST

So it's not even 5 pm yet and it's almost completely dark outside and apparently ass-chappingly cold (so I hear! Not that I've been outside today), and it makes me want to crawl under the covers and hibernate until conditions are less soul sucking. Oh, can you tell I have a history of depression? Smart girl! But according to a new study I should be a reasonably happy adult because I was such a sizable baby. "We found that even people who had just mild or moderate symptoms of depression or anxiety over their life course were smaller babies than those who had better mental health," says Ian Colman of the University of Alberta. A completely unscientific poll of three people (myself included) with a history of depression shows that we were ALL big infants, each of us weighing in at over 8lbs. After the jump, an even less scientific poll, just 'cause I'm curious.

Smaller babies more prone to depression, anxiety later on [EurekAlert!]

Are you a moody bitch? Good news! You can ...

Jessica — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 18:45:00 EST

Are you a moody bitch? Good news! You can now blame it on your entire menstrual cycle, not just on PMS! According to Australian researchers ,moodiness, stress and depression, are present all month, fluctuating throughout the average 28-day cycle. Apparently, stress levels are highest on day one of the cycle, while depression and anxiety are a problem during the PMS period. Researchers also found that it's more helpful to exercise than it is to cry and eat chocolate when experiencing premenstrual mood swings. These Australian researchers are assholes. But that's just my menses talking! (Thanks to blood sister Emily Gould for finding our fave period graphic in the first place.) [NEWS.com.au]

Do Girls Who Have Sex At 14 Turn Into Panty-Flashing Train Wrecks?

Jessica — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 12:00:00 EST

The new issue of Us Weekly reports that Britney Spears's whole vestal virgin thing in the mid-90s was a huge lie, and that she didn't lose her V-card to Justin Timberlake as she previously asserted. According to the celeb weekly, Brit gave it up when she was 14 to then-boyfriend Reg Jones and judging from what's up on the magazine's website, it seems like Us editors are framing Britney's early deflowering as part of the reason for her current mental instability. But don't her batshit antics have a lot more to do with glaring lens of fame, the paparazzi pressure, and possible postpartum depression?

Sure, 14 is a little on the young side — and we have no idea what the experience of losing her virginity was like for Britney — but it is possible that someone without a driver's license can have a fulfilling and healthy intimate experience. Plus, as some will recall, a a recent study suggests that teens who have sex earlier are less likely to be delinquents. Would Britney really have been better off had she waited?

Britney Spears' Secrets: Sex at 14, Her Grandma Committed Suicide at 31 [Us Weekly]
Related: Study Debunks Theory On Teen Sex, Delinquency [Washington Post]
Earlier: Pet Your Date
In Defense Of The Badly-Behaved Britney Spears