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HealthyPlace.com Newsletter

This Week - June 22, 2003

1. Wellbutrin XL for better sex, lower weight gain
2. FDA cites possible suicide link in Paxil
3. Canadian health officials probing Serzone
4. New treatment alternatives for ADD, ADHD
5. Non-ADHD teens abusing stimulant drugs
6. Newer antipsychotics are better
7. Our brain's negative bias
8. My adult son needs help. What can I do?
9. Thought for today

Wellbutrin For Better Sex, Lower Weight Gain

Glaxo Hopes Sex Will Sell Once-Daily Wellbutrin

SSRI users often complain of sexual
dysfunction and weight gain

The company plans an aggressive drive to promote non-SSRI Wellbutrin XL as the first and only antidepressant with a low incidence of sexual dysfunction and weight gain. Story

Bulletin Board: Have you experienced sexual dysfunction and/or weight gain from being on an SSRI? If so, has it had any impact on your life? Have you tried anything to cope with those side-effects? And, if you're taking Wellbutrin, have sexual problems or weight gain been a side-effect for you? Join the discussion.

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FDA Cites Possible Suicide Link in Paxil

Agency says do NOT give Paxil to children under 18

No one under age 18 should be prescribed the drug Paxil for major depression because the adult anti-depressant may increase a child's risk of suicide.

The Food and Drug Administration recommendation came a week after Britain issued an even stronger warning against pediatric use of Paxil, sold there under the name Seroxat.

Read about the U.S. action here.

Canadian Health Officials Probe Antidepressant Serzone

Health Canada is looking into problems with popular anti-depressant Serzone, which has been linked to more than 100 cases of serious liver damage. "I no longer prescribe this drug," said psychiatrist, Donna Stewart. "I think there are safer drugs with fewer side effects that will do the same thing."

Even with this warning, many patients still continue to use the drug. Here's why.

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New Treatment Alternatives for ADD, ADHD and Other Learning Disabilities

Children are trying medication-free treatments for learning disabilities related to focus, concentration or processing sound. And, for some, those treatments work fine. Read more

Students Abusing Drugs Used to Treat Hyperactivity Disorders

Some ADHD kids who are on stimulant medications are going into business for themselves. They're selling those pills, like Ritalin and Adderall, to fellow non-ADHD students who, in turn, use them to stay hyperalert for studying and to help them stay awake while drinking. That story is here.

view video: Helping Kids With ADHD Succeed in School

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Research Finds Better Results in Newer Antipsychotic Meds

How effectively do the most commonly prescribed antipsychotic medications treat schizophrenia and manic depression? And how much better are newer antipsychotics, known as atypicals, compared to their older counterparts?

A new research study divulges the answers.

Details here

Also this week:

• Clozaril: weekly blood tests may be overkill
• More schizphrenia stories and support

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Our Brain's Negative Bias

Why do insults once hurled at us stick inside our skull, sometimes for decades? Why do some people have to work extra hard to ward off depression?

The answer is, for the same reason political smear campaigns outpull positive ones. Nastiness just makes a bigger impact on our brains.

And that is due to the brain's "negativity bias": Your brain is simply built with a greater sensitivity to unpleasant news. The bias is so automatic that it can be detected at the earliest stage of the brain's information processing.

Our capacity to weigh negative input so heavily most likely evolved for a good reason--to keep us out of harm's way. From the dawn of human history, our very survival depended on our skill at dodging danger. The brain developed systems that would make it unavoidable for us not to notice danger and thus, hopefully, respond to it.

All well and good. Having the built-in brain apparatus supersensitive to negativity means that the same bad-news bias also is at work in every sphere of our lives at all times.

So it should come as no surprise to learn that it plays an especially powerful role in our most intimate relationships. Numerous researchers have found that there is an ideal balance between negativity and positivity in the atmosphere between partners. There seems to be some kind of thermostat operating in healthy marriages that almost automatically regulates the balance between positive and negative.

What really separates contented couples from those in deep marital misery is a healthy balance between their positive and negative feelings and actions toward each other. Even couples who are volatile and argue a lot stick together by balancing their frequent arguments with a lot of demonstrations of love and passion. And they seem to know exactly when positive actions are needed.

Here's the tricky part. Because of the disproportionate weight of the negative, balance does not mean a 50-50 equilibrium. Researchers have carefully charted the amount of time couples spend fighting vs. interacting positively. And they have found that a very specific ratio exists between the amount of positivity and negativity required to make married life satisfying to both partners.

That magic ratio is five to one. As long as there was five times as much positive feeling and interaction between husband and wife as there was negative, researchers found, the marriage was likely to be stable over time. In contrast, those couples who were heading for divorce were doing far too little on the positive side to compensate for the growing negativity between them.

Other researchers have found the same results in other spheres of our life. It is the frequency of small positive acts that matters most, in a ratio of about five to one.

Occasional big positive experiences--say, a birthday bash--are nice. But they don't make the necessary impact on our brain to override the tilt to negativity. It takes frequent small positive experiences to tip the scales toward happiness.

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Bulletin Board:
My Adult Son Needs Help

Carlise:

"My 22 year old son has been showing signs of depression, possibly manic depression, for several years. He has been living with his father (my ex) since he graduated high school. He also works for his father - when he manages to get up and go.

"He was diagnosed with borderline ADHD in middle school, but wouldn't take the medication prescribed. I am very concerned about suicide and his ability to be a productive, independent citizen."

"I want so badly to help him, but I have no idea where to start looking for help. Does anyone have any suggestions? His symptoms seem to be getting worse."

Can you help Carlise? Respond here .

Read: How Family and Friends Can Help the Depressed Person and listen to our radio show on "How Mental Illness Impacts Family Members."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Here's something to think about...

""When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you." - Lao-Tzu

From all of us here at HealthyPlace.com, we hope you have a good week.

Previous Newsletters

• June 15, 2003
• June 8, 2003
• June 2, 2003
• May 26, 2003
• May 20, 2003
• May 12, 2003
• April 28, 2003
• April 14, 2003
• March 31, 2003
• March 24, 2003
• March 12, 2003

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