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HealthyPlace.com Newsletter

This Week - July 20, 2003

1. SSRIs may possibly harm newborns
2. Some may be genetically vulnerable to depression
3. Ritalin: The fast-acting antidepressant for seniors?
4. Compulsive shoppers may benefit from meds
5. Adult ADD: for real or a marketing ploy?
6. Fathers over 50 may produce schizophrenic children
7. Schizophrenic artist produces out-of-this-world pictures
8. What makes some activists and others do-nothings?
9. How to help your child stop vomiting
10. My former boss told a perspective employer that I'm Bipolar
11. Thought for today

Newer Antidepressants Can Harm Newborns

Infants whose mothers take selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) during the late stages of pregnancy may suffer neurological problems during their first weeks of life.

So says a Finnish study in the July issue of The Archives of General Psychiatry.

Researchers found a fourfold difference in serotonin-related symptoms during the first four days of life between the SSRI group and the control group. More here.

Other depression stories:

• Vulnerability to Depression May Lie in Your DNA
• Ritalin Shows Promise in Treating Depression in Elderly

Sponsor Message:

Celexa, Lexapro For Compulsive Shoppers

Can a pill be the answer for shoppers who go out to buy a battery and come home, quite inexplicably, with a plasma TV? Forest Laboratories Inc. is sponsoring a trial at California's Stanford University designed to show that its antidepressants Celexa and Lexapro can cut down on compulsive shopping. Both these drugs, part of a class known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, were first approved to treat depression. But makers of SSRIs, which include Pfizer Inc., GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Eli Lilly and Co., are seeking ever wider definitions of diseases that might accommodate their products.

Many SSRIs have won regulatory approval to treat anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and, more recently, "social phobia," or excessive shyness. Now compulsive shopping, compulsive gambling and kleptomania may be added to the list.

While compulsive gambling and kleptomania are recognized in the standard psychiatric diagnostic manual as examples of "impulse control disorders," compulsive shopping is not.

"Forest has done several of these types of studies to help draw attention to their drugs but in reality any of the SSRIs are just as effective in treating these kinds of conditions," said Norman Sussman, Professor of Psychiatry at New York University Medical Center. "They are part of the obsessive-compulsive spectrum."

Yet Lorrin Koran, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University Medical Center and lead investigator on both the shopping and the stealing trials, said effects on shoppers taking the drug can be pronounced.

"I'm very excited about the dramatic response from people who had been suffering for decades," he said. "I've never seen anything like it. No disorder I've treated has reacted like this."

But some are skeptical and say drug companies may be attempting to redefine "normal" behavior as "compulsive" in order to spur greater sales.

"There's a greater and greater attempt by the pharmaceutical companies to define normal behaviors as signs of illness and therefore as something that can be treated by their products," said Allan Horwitz, a Professor at Rutgers University and author of "Creating Mental Illness."

Horwitz said uncontrollable shopping, like kleptomania, affects a tiny number of people. "It's a very rare condition, but if it's defined liberally enough it could encompass millions of people who like to shop, who do it frequently, and may come to think of themselves as having a disorder when there is nothing wrong with them."

To read more about how compulsive shopping and depression may be linked, click here.

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Adult ADD: Is It A Marketing Ploy

Some people are saying a new marketing program by Eli Lilly for its non-stimulant ADHD medication, Strattera, could lead some adults to be misdiagnosed with the illness. These critics claim the "screening questions" used in the company's advertisements are too broad and that if a patient shows up in the family doctor's office, they may be incorrectly diagnosed with ADHD.

Why is that? Find out here.

Schizophrenia Risk Linked to Age of Father

Children born when their fathers are 50 or older are at increased risk of developing schizophrenia, according to Danish and US researchers. And the risk may be slightly higher for girls than for boys. Details here.

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Schizophrenic Artist's Paintings 'Out of This World'

David R. Marsh's vivid imagination takes his art to another realm in "Out of This World," on exhibit going on in Pittsburgh.

Marsh credits schizophrenia for driving his inspiration and helping control his emotions. But he refuses to talk about the disease or role it plays in his art.

Click here to read his story and see his paintings.

More schizophrenia stories linked from the HealthyPlace.com Thought Disorders Community homepage

Sponsor Message:

Are You an Activist?

Why some protest, and others stay away.

We all recognize the protestors among us: neighbors who circulate petitions for clean-air bills, animal-rights groups in the subway harassing elderly women in fur coats, students calling for peace. We often share their convictions, but voice them in a whisper. So what distinguishes the demonstrators from the do-nothings?

To start, take a look at Mom and Dad. Parental modeling can play a significant role in shaping future activists, according to Lauren Duncan, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychology at Smith College who has studied activism. She found that students with a parent who fought in Vietnam were much more likely to protest against the 1991 Gulf War than those whose parents were not war veterans. "Parents teach their kids [what they believe are] appropriate ways to respond to particular situations," explains Duncan.

Personality also helps prime protesters. Those who find personal meaning in current events are inclined to speak out for a cause, according to Duncan. She is currently researching why some people feel emotionally drained after a newscast while others can turn off the TV set without qualms.

Individuals are more likely to feel a personal connection if they see themselves as part of the community affected by an issue, says Debra Mashek, Ph.D., a research fellow at George Mason University, who specializes in "moral" emotions. Millions of women embraced this sense of collective identity during the women's rights movement, for example.

Some psychologists say that most acts of altruism-defined as devotion to the interests of others-actually spring from a desire to help oneself. Jeffrey Kottler, Ph.D., chair of the department of counseling at California State University at Fullerton and author of Doing Good: Passion and Commitment for Helping Others, states that altruism can be reciprocal: Humans act benevolently for conscious or unconscious gain.

"Theorists talk about it in terms of cost-benefit analysis, as if it's a rational thing," he says. "We don't do anything selflessly; we do it because it'll come back to us later-someone will owe us something down the line or it will increase our status in the community."

Does that mean altruistic acts are inherently selfish?

"Selfish is one way to say it, but it takes on such a negative connotation," says Mashek. "If I am an anti-war protestor, then by standing up for what I think is right I'm helping the world, because the world is my community, and in so doing, I help myself."

How to Help Your Child Stop Vomiting

Most parents are mystified when a child engages in purposeful vomiting. Therefore, trying to understand "why" is the first step in helping.

Wondering how to accomplish that? Kim Fowler, MSW, CISW, Program Director at Remuda Ranch Center for Anorexia and Bulimia tells us how in this week's column.

Sponsor Message:

REMUDA RANCH - Help for your eating disorder

The caring and compassionate team at Remuda Ranch can help you or a loved one overcome an eating disorder. Our highly professional treatment team and biblically- based individualized programs have worked for hundreds of our patients.

Take the first step toward living a life that is not controlled by fear and food. Call us now at 1-800-445-1900. We'll be happy to answer your questions. or visit our site.

Bulletin Board:
Don't Hire Me. I'm Bipolar!

pixelpusher:

"I was laid off from a job I was at for 3 years. My former employer told my current employer not to hire me because I suffer from Bipolar."

I just feel so angry. I wish there was something I could do or say to him to make him understand that what he did is just plain wrong. An employer would never do something like that to someone who suffers from a disability like epilepsy or something. Wouldn't that be illegal? Is Bipolar a disability? What should I do?

Can you help pixelpusher? Respond here.

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

Here's something to think about...

"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." - Oscar Wilde

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

Previous Newsletters

• July 14, 2003
• July 6, 2003
• June 30, 2003
• June 22, 2003
• 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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