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HealthyPlace.com Newsletter

This Week - August 3, 2003

1. Shock therapy helps Kitty Dukakis
2. Antidepressants give brain extra protection
3. Bipolar and ADHD son tests mother's faith
4. Disruptive children may have depressive disorder
5. Is wanting too much sex really a problem
6. Help for parents of eating disordered teens who refuse help
7. Drug-free treatment of Schizophrenia
8. Giving up meds in exchange for looks
9. Debate over Paxil warning
10. Tina's Story was very sad. I often contemplate suicide too.
11. Thought for today

Shock Therapy Helps Kitty Dukakis

Kitty Dukakis has spent decades battling major depression and alcoholism.

Two years ago, the wife of former Massachusetts Governor and presidential candidate, Michael Dukakis, turned to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) to help her deal with bouts of severe depression.

Find out how she's doing

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Antidepressants Give Brain Extra Protection

Antidepressants not only work to relieve depression, but the latest research shows they may protect a part of the brain that is damaged by depression. Read the study results here.

A Mother's Faith is Tested by Jailed Son's Bipolar Disorder and ADHD

Lesia Roberts prays. She lifts her head in silence as her heart overflows. Words cannot express what Lesia feels when she prays for her son.

Her son is Jason Roberts, 16 and mentally ill. He suffers from a combination of bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, commonly known as ADHD.

For most of his life, his behavior has tested his mother's faith. Read her story here.

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Disruptive Children May Have Depression

What looks like ADHD, but isn't? It's dysthymia.

And while some kids show all the signs of having ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) - inattentiveness, poor organizational skills and aggressive, contrary behavior - they are really suffering from a depressive disorder. Or they may have dysthymia in addition to ADHD. Click here for more details.

Wanting Too Much Sex - Is It Really A Problem?

If having little or no sexual desire is a problem, what about wanting too much sex? The term " sexual addiction" was coined a few years back to describe people with an obsessive sex drive. Yet psychologists have been slow to believe that wanting too much sex isn't a problem.

Even psychologists have a decidedly pro-sex bias. For proof, look no further than the "bible" of the psychological profession, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM. Psychologists use the definitions in the DSM as a means of diagnosing-and treating-mental health problems. The DSM provides a three-part clinical definition for hypoactive sexual desire:

1. Persistently or recurrently deficient (or absent) sexual fantasies and desire for sexual activity. The judgment of deficiency or absence is made by the clinician, taking into account factors that affect sexual functioning, such as age and the context of the person's life.
2. The disturbance causes marked distress or interpersonal difficulty.
3. The sexual dysfunction is not better accounted for by another disorder (except another sexual dysfunction) and is not due exclusively to the direct physiological effects of a substance (a drug or medication) or a general medical condition.

No diagnosis for sexual addiction is described in its pages. That doesn't jibe with the experience of mental health professionals, who see people coming into their offices displaying symptoms of out-of-control sexual desire. And according to Robin Cato, executive director of the National Council on Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity (NCSAC) in Atlanta, the lack of DSM acknowledgement hinders attempts to help such patients. "Without a DSM listing, few insurance companies are going to pay for treatment," Cato notes.

Not all professionals are enthusiastic about the movement to make sex addiction a disorder; some dismiss the effort as financially motivated. Michael Ross, Ph.D., a professor of public health at the University of Texas and the past president of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality, doubts that the evidence is all in. "Sexual addiction," says Ross, "does not meet the criteria for a classic addiction."

More on: sexual addiction, cybersexual addiction

view video: Who Are Sex Therapists and What Do they Do?

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Drug-Free Treatment for Schizophrenia

Researchers have found early episodes of schizophrenia may be treatable without drugs.

There's one problem though - a researcher says many mental-health providers do not know how to identify patients who might do better without medication. Details here.

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Giving Up Meds for Looks

Patients with various health and psychiatric disorders can't deal with the side-effects and how the meds make them look.

Some cause facial swelling, others severe weight loss or weight gain. And even though these drugs may save lives or improve the quality of life, there are some who are willing to exchange that for maintaining a better look. Read why here.

How Can a Parent Help a Teenager Who Refuses Help For an Eating Disorder?

You can see it plain as day. Your child has an eating disorder. But when you try to address the problem, the child says "what problem?" or refuses help. What's a parent to do?

Here are some suggestions from Kim Fowler, program director at Remuda Ranch Programs for Anorexia and Bulimia.

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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.

Paxil Brings Suicidal Thoughts

America's most-prescribed antidepressant may kick off suicidal thoughts and self-harm in young people, says the drug manufacturer. A recent study by GlaxoSmithKline, the British drug company that produces Paxil, has led British officials to recommend that doctors refrain from prescribing it to children under 18.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration followed suit. Reporting that it has not completed its evaluation of the new safety data, the agency emphasized that patients should not suddenly discontinue use of the drug.

In the Glaxo study, Paxil (Seroxat in the U.K.) more than doubled emotional side effects including mood swings, crying episodes, suicidal thoughts and self-harm in children, compared to those taking a placebo. It was the first study to document such side effects of the drug, one of the commonly prescribed antidepressants called SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors).

The reaction of the American psychiatric community has been conspicuously muted. Richard Kadison, M.D., director of health services at Harvard University, told Blues Buster that Paxil does lead to a higher incidence of weight gain and withdrawal symptoms when compared to other SSRIs. But he has not observed a significant increase in suicidal thoughts or behaviors.

"We've probably all seen one incident of increased depression with any of the SSRIs," says Kadison, "but I don't see any reason to pick Paxil out." He and his colleagues do not use Paxil as a "first-line" drug because of withdrawal problems and weight gain, a side effect that is particularly objectionable to young adults.

Columbia University psychiatrist John Mann, M.D., an expert on suicide, calls "premature" the warning against prescribing Paxil to children. Glaxo's data are insufficient for establishing a direct relationship between Paxil and instances of emotional side effects, he contends.

The warning may backfire. "Physicians may be afraid to use medications that are potentially helpful and important in prevention of suicide," says Mann. "If that is the case, there may actually be more suicides rather than fewer."

Mann points to a decline in suicides in the US as use of SSRIs has increased four-fold, suggesting the drugs may aid suicide prevention.

Following the warning, Glaxo spokesmen were quick to note that none of the children studied succeeded in committing suicide while taking Paxil.

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Bulletin Board:
Abuse and The Film - Tina's Story

dekoeko:

"Tina's Story was so touching. I can't stop crying. Our story is so similar, except the guy that used to molest me was only a family friend."

"I also cut myself and it was surprising to hear of someone else like that doing it. I often contemplate suicide and her story was just so sad. It takes everything I have to not just end my life."

Is there anyone else that feels like this?

Can you help dekoeko? Respond here.
Watch Tina's Story here. (Repeatedly molested as a child but afraid to tell anyone, "Tina's Story" recounts the obscene physical and psychological abuse that took her on an out-of-control emotional roller coaster until she died at age 15. This is her story. In her own words.)

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

Here's something to think about...

"Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved." - Jeremy Kitson

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

Previous Newsletters

• July 27, 2003
• July 20, 2003
• 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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