It's NOT Mormon Moms Who Are Depressed!

It's all moms!! Seriously. My sister blogged this over at Yahoo! Shine. I think this has huge ramifications, so of course I had to blog it too.

The original article, Trying to Be 'Supermom' Can Raise Risk for Depression, hits the nail on the head. Trying reading the article but swap out "working mom" and "stay-at-home mom" for "Mormon mom" and "Supermom" for "Mother in Zion Syndrome" and you could have any article from the past ten years that's been written about Mormons and depression.

The study does point out, though, that women who work at least part time are less likely to be depressed UNLESS they are women who don't cut themselves any slack. If they are the type of women who have high expectations for things to work out and be perfect, they are in trouble. If they aren't sure how working and having a family are going to shake out, they do better.

It's that last part that I think is important for a couple reasons: 1) the so-called "Mother in Zion Syndrome" isn't a Mormon thing; it's an American thing and 2)it's okay for women to be unsure of their choices and work things out as they go--especially when it comes to division of labor between the spouses.

Sometimes this whole motherhood thing gets so complicated and emotional that as women we fail to realize that each of us is born with different talents, abilities, and paths. We pick on each other and we judge each other and force each other to justify our choices over and over. Think about how many times you've had to justify your job (or lack thereof), your number of children, or the amount of housework your spouse does. If we were really being true to ourselves and, as Mormon women--Christian women, we wouldn't do this to each other.

The best part of the whole article was this quote, "Women who have a realistic expectation are more likely to choose men who are going to help out around the house," Correll [associate professor of psychology at Stanford] said. "If you choose someone who will be a helpmate tohttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif you, that may lead to lower levels of depression."

That's true no matter your job status, you marital status, or your gender. As Pres. Uchdorf said, lift where you stand.

Have a great Labor Day!
Oh, and if you want to read a quick tidbit about my sister and I and our angsty teenage mood issues, check out this one: .

Utah is the Happiest State in America!!

Okay, I couldn't not blog about this one.

Did you come across this, "Want to be live among the happiest Americans? Move to Utah" in the New York Times yesterday? I didn't either but somebody posted it to Facebook so now I can sound all smart by talking about the New York Times.

This is seriously interesting news, though. Utah (and by association, the Mormon Church) has looooong been stereotyped as repressed, depressed, and having all sorts of mental health issues--mostly because of one limited study that shows Utah has a high rate of antidepressant prescriptions. Often the chatter around this issue involves things like the somewhat fabled "Mother in Zion Syndrome" that drives all Mormon women to insanity by telling them that they have to be perfect. Less often you hear people say Mormons need antidepressants because they aren't allowed to drink. Others will tell you it's a genetic curse and Mormons are being responsible by managing an illness that happens to, well, run in the family. Some people even go so far as to say it's all those non-Mormons in Utah who have to get the antidepressants. ***Please note I said "some people". I am not "some people". I am not backing any of these theories.*** I'd personally like to see research on if all these prescriptions are actually being filled and used, and how many of them are for off label purposes (like PMS, bladder control issues in children, etc.), and who is doing the prescribing.

What doesn't get talked about is the fact that mental/emotional health is an issue that requires nuanced thinking. (No surprise there. The media at large doesn't do nuance very well these days. *Sigh* ) People who enjoy good mental health for extended periods of time usually have a number of things going for them. They get regular exercise, they sleep well, they have strong family ties and support systems, they eat their veggies, they live above the poverty line--the list goes on and on. (Want more detailed info on folks who live the longest and report the greatest rates of well being worldwide? Check out The Okinawa Program. The reading is a little dense, but it is chock full of implementable info.) Also, people who enjoy the best mental/emotional health DO have hard times. Think of the Greatest Generation. Hard times? Yes. Optimism and courage? Definitely yes.

This is why the Gallup Poll reported in the New York Times is exciting to me. It looks at six different factors (instead of a single piece of info like antidepressant prescription rate). The NYT article also points out that just because one state scored high in one area doesn't mean they scored high in another. That kind of talk sounds a lot like nuance, and that is something to celebrate.

So, here's to Utah and the fact that they came out on top for once. In case you are wondering, in past years, Hawaii (and Boulder, CO but not the entire state of Colorado??)has come out on top. Now if only we could answer why states with the highest well being rates also have high suicide rates. . .

Sleep Loss = Depression (Some sciency type stuff!)

I'm usually fairly long-winded when I blog. It's a general weakness that involves ALWAYS giving long answers and an aversion to single syllable words. BUT I'm not going to tax your eyes today, friends. I just have a short, science-y snippet to share. This is taken from the book Nurture Shock by Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman.

"Perhaps most fascinating [about sleep loss], the emotional context of memory affects where it gets processed. Negative stimuli get processed by the amygdala; positive or neutral memories get processed by the hippocampus. Sleep deprivation hits the hippocampus harder than the amygdala. The result is that sleep-deprived people fail to recall pleasant memories, yet recall gloomy memories just fine."

So, if you need another reason to go to bed earlier, there you go. Now get some sleep already!! (Says the mother of four small children, two of whom wake up at least three times a night. . .)

But Not Unhappy Science Friday: Utah is NOT the most depressed!

That's right, people. You heard me. Utah is NOT the most depressed state in the nation--well, at least that's what a new phone-survey study says. In this study Utah ranked 21st out of 34 states.

Other interesting conclusions:

Persons with major depression were:

- 2.3 times more likely to be current smokers,
- 1.8 times more likely to report binge drinking,

Hmm. . . not to be rude, but those depressed people sure don't sound like Mormons!

This study didn't seek to explain why Utah continually ranks so high for antidepressant prescriptions--but it does add more specific information to the pot. Maybe the whole "mother in zion" theory doesn't hold as much water as the media wishes it did.

The best thing to come out of this study, in my mind, was this quote:

"In our health care system, we tend to disconnect physical and mental health, but this report demonstrates the strong relationship between the two and the need to address depression when working to prevent and manage chronic health conditions."

Now that something I can say amen to!

But Not Unhappy Science Friday: Your Jeans vs. Your Genes

Hey folks! Just came across this story at Time.com, "Study: 'Depression Gene' Doesn't Predict the Blues."

According to a metastudy of recent genetic studies, the presence of the so-called depression gene (named 5-HTTLPR. What? That's hard to remember? Nah.) does not necessarily determine whether or not a person will have depression. Several studies a few years ago showed that people in high stress situations who were depressed also had this genetic combo. This correlation (I feel obligated to remind you all,"correlation is NOT causation") spurred some enterprising companies to offer testing for the gene. Which apparently lead some people who were carriers to decide to avoid getting married or having children--even though the tests are only supposed to help match patients with antidepressants--because they assumed their children were doomed.

The metastudy Time reported on says people have (surprise!) jumped to some spurious conclusions. Depression is complicated. Genes are complicated. The way the two interact is, um, complicated. How depression manifests itself is still as much about your jeans as it is about your genes. It's a lot about how you deal with your emotions, what kind of support system you have, what kind of environment you grew up in.

Which is one reason why I have hope for my kids. Because of our family tree they each have a 75-80% chance of developing depression and/or an anxiety disorder. That number has made me wonder on more than one occasion if I actually should be reproducing. But, hopefully, I'm working out some of the kinks in my life so that that probability will mean little to them. They'll have the tools they need to create a fulfilling life, even if they are depressed.

And there's always Jesus. He makes up for all our weaknesses. He even turns them into strengths. That makes me feel better too.

For your weekend viewing pleasure, here's a clip from the movie, Gattaca. Yep, I'm a geek and I loved this movie. Especially the alternate ending (Sorry there's no sound. Blame Youtube. Try humming soulfully. That'll get you in the mood!):

You Deserve Some Cognitive Consolidation Time

One of my favorite things: big words--especially when they mean specific things. Which is probably why I like medical jargon so much. Words like staphylococcal just look so pretty when you type them . . .

Ahem.

So my new love is actually three words: Cognitive Consolidation Time. Want to know what it means? Well, actually you can scrunch those three lovely (partially alliterated!) words into three little letters: nap.

I learned the phrase (say it with me now) "cognitive consolidation time" from Mary Sheedy Kurcinka's book, Sleepless in America: Is Your Child Misbehaving...or Missing Sleep? and while I'm still wondering how many of our parenting issues are sleep related, one thing I know for certain: I deserve a nap.

That's right, you heard me. I used DESERVE and NAP in the same sentence. According to Kurcinka, and some science, in order for your brain to process (or consolidate) all the stuff it's received it needs to shut down. How does the brain do this? Through sleep!

According to wikipedia, when we sleep all sorts of important things happen. When we don't sleep our bodies don't heal and our immune system slows down--some scientists even believe that people who don't get enough sleep actually end up shorter.

Of course the big news on sleep is how it affects the brain. Brain development, like the synapses and stuff, occurs when we are asleep. Memory functions and related cognitive functions like decision making and reasoning processes are also negatively affected when we lose sleep. This is what Kurcinka was talking about with cognitive consolidation time. According to Kurcinka's research, when we sleep our brains sort through all the decisions and reasons and, well, stuff of our days. When we don't sleep our brains can't sort and end up feeling jumbled. We get moody and anxious. Even depressed. (There is an established link between bipolar disorder and sleep.)

So, what's a person to do?

It's ironic, really. As I've been writing this my toddler, who has obstructive sleep apnea, has been waking up every twenty-ish minutes. It's taken me two hours to get these few paragraphs slammed out because I have to keep calming him down and putting him back to sleep. A lot of nights are like this for him. My two girls have nightmares and I usually end up sleeping on the couch with one or more little people tucked in next to me. I haven't gotten a solid night's rest in six years. Which is exactly why I'm writing this; to remind myself that I DESERVE a nap. The body has a natural dip in the early afternoon and I take advantage of it as often as I can. When the toddler goes down for his nap I turn on a movie for my girls and check out. You should too.

So, sleep more. Whether that means going to bed earlier or taking an afternoon nap (what would my husband's boss say if he found my husband power-napping in his cubical, I wonder), sleep more. Defend your sleep time. Don't feel bad when you lay down in the middle of the afternoon (or, if you've just had a baby or surgery, the middle of the morning and the middle of the afternoon). Even if it's Sunday and you have that quotation from President Benson about sleeping on the Sabbath running through your head, try to rest. Just tell people you are doing some important brain exercises. If they looked confused, just smile and say, "I'm taking some cognitive consolidation time." Hopefully, by the time they figure out what you mean, you'll be off to dreamland.


*This guy knows how to sneak in some zzzz's*

But Not Unhappy Science Friday: Mormons Make the Happiest People!

Well, all right. That's not what the science actually says, but hey if the other studies about antidepressant prescriptions "prove" that being Mormon depresses people then this new survey, known as the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index and conducted by Gallup and Healthways, "proves" that being Mormon makes people happy.

As reported by the Associated Press, Utah came out as the happiest place to live based on mental, physical, and economic health. Over 350,000 people were asked questions such as, "Did you smile and laugh a lot yesterday?" and "Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with your job or the work you do?" and "Do you feel safe walking alone at night in the city or area where you live?" Each answer was assigned a point value with maximum of 100 points possible. Utah scored 69.2. (The lowest ranking state, West Virginia, scored 61.2.)

So, as Becca said, "How's that as a counter to the 'Mormons are the most depressed people' urban legend? Hey, now that you mention it...Hawaii and Wyoming have sizable Mormon populations, too."

In other But Not Unhappy Science news, happiness can spread outward through three degrees of separation. So maybe think of smiling a little extra today--you'll be reaching out to people you've never even met.

A New Psychological Movement: Pursuing Happiness

Turns out the Founding Fathers were right. It is the pursuit of happiness that matters, even for the depressed.

This article in the latest issue of Segullah, Harvesting Happiness, is written by practicing psychologist Wendy Ulrich and gives some good info about the new trend. She also offers some tips on exactly how to harvest happiness--some of them might surprise you! (Turns out not all service/volunteer-ing is good for you, only certain kinds.) I hope you all take a look at her article. After all, as Ulrich reminds us, President Hinckley did say, "In all of living have much of fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured."

Book Review: Your Child in the Balance by Dr. Kevin T. Kalikow

I'm pretty tired tonight. I've been trying to keep up on the housework this week. Yeah. I'll be giving that up pretty quick.

So.

I have a book recommendation for you: Your Child in the Balance--an Insider's Guide for Parents to the Psychiatric Medicine Dilemma by Kevin T. Kalikow, MD. This was a great read for anyone on psychiatric medicine, anyone who is considering psychiatric medicine, and especially anyone considering medicine for their child.

Written by a prominent child psychiatrist, Your Child in the Balance comes at the issues from all sides. Dr. Kalikow approaches psychiatry from social, historical, economical and, of course, medical perspectives. He fills the book with anecdotes and examples that illustrate the many, many questions surrounding psychiatry and children. He avoids mincing words and doesn't give simple answers. What he does give is information. Lots of information. And even though that information is focused on children and psychiatric medicine it is easily applied to adults.

It was a frustrating book to read because it was frightening to realize how little we know about "psychopharmacology". Psychiatry is a relatively new specialization. Psychiatric drugs are even newer--Prozac was invented only 20 years ago. We know so little about the long-term effects. But it was also a great book to read because it was full of information. Considering how young the whole shebang is it seems that society as a whole and most doctors are being careful and learning from the research. There IS a fair amount that we know. The most important thing we know? Ask questions and work with your doctor.

Near the end of the book Dr. Kalikow gives what he calls
The Ten Commandments of Medicine:

1. Have your child (or yourself) appropriately evaluated by a trusted professional.

2. Before jumping to medicine as the answer, ask whether changing your child's (or your own) environment would be helpful. Understand whether psychotherapy would be helpful and how.

3. Never use medicine based simply on your neighbor's response to that medicine. Everyone is different. However, if closely related biological family members have responded to a specific medicine, inform your physician. Sharing similar genes might indicate a greater chance of success or side effects.

4. A diagnosis is not an excuse. Your child (or you) should understand that he or she is still responsible for his or her behavior.

5. Know what you're treating. Know whether you're treating a disorder or a symptom and if the medicine is FDA-approved to treat the disorder or if it's being used off-label.

6. Give the medicine time to work. Don't bail out early . . .Many side effects are mild, not severe or dangerous, and will disappear in time. Also, beware of polypharmacy (the use of many medicines or "cocktails").

7. Medicine must be monitored. Don't avoid your doctor. Make follow-up appointments.

8. Avoid the medicine rut, the use of medicine year after year without re-examining your decision.

9. Parents (or spouses) should be unified in the decision to take medicine. [To my mind, this is an ideal that may or may not be possible but it is certainly a good things to work for.]

10. Know when to quit your search for the medicine solution. Medicine is not the solution for every problem.

Some But Not Unhappy Statistics

It's been a long week for me. I'm tired and pretty stressed. Actually cried for a couple hours Wednesday afternoon. Between N's struggles and the other two being sick and my husband being back in school and me trying to be the writer that I'm not, well, things got pretty bleak for a day or so here. It feels like a cop-out, especially because I spent a lot time working on a post about gender and emotional support systems, but for today's Science Friday installment I'm just going to give you some interesting stats. I typically take statistics with a grain salt (numbers are too malleable; too much depends on the set up) but I think that it's good to be informed of them all the same.

* Depressive disorders affect approximately 18.8 million American adults or about 9.5% of the U.S. population age 18 and older in a given year. This includes major depressive disorder, dysthymic disorder, and bipolar disorder.

*Pre-schoolers are the fastest-growing market for antidepressants. At least four percent of preschoolers -- over a million -- are clinically depressed.

*30% of women are depressed. Men's figures were previously thought to be half that of women, but new estimates are higher.

* 54% of people believe depression is a personal weakness and 80% of depressed people are not currently having any treatment. (Now that's depressing!)

*Depression results in more absenteeism than almost any other physical disorder and costs employers more than US$51 billion per year in absenteeism and lost productivity, not including high medical and pharmaceutical bills.

(For sources and more information on any of these stats please click here.)

And finally, some food for thought from Judith Guest:

"Depression is not sobbing and crying and giving vent, it is plain and simple reduction of feeling...People who keep stiff upper lips find that it's damn hard to smile."
(oh, excuse her French.)

Science Friday--(But Not Unhappy style)

I may not be Ira Flatow, but I'm stilling doing it. Well, doing it my way. So, welcome to another weekly installment But Not Unhappy Science Fridays. (I'm hoping all the weekly features will help me be less erratic in my posting and raise the quality of said posts.) There is so much research being done about depression and mood disorders and that research can actually tell us a lot about ourselves. The more we know the better we will be at managing our symptoms and getting back to our lives.

Today's science: Area 25--not to be confused with Area 51. Area 25 is an old discovery but I had never heard of it until a few months ago and knowing about it made a difference in how I think (and feel) about my depression.

Despite its name Area 25 is actually not anywhere near Roswell, New Mexico. It is in your brain.

I first heard of it when I watched the excellent PBS special Out of the Shadows. What they said in the program was that for years researchers knew that depression had something to do with the brain but no matter how many scans they did they couldn't find any similarities in depressed people's brains. Sure, they knew that messing with neurotransmitters through SSRIs and other anti-depressants helped alleviate symptoms, but they also knew that those neurotransmitters weren't the cause of depression. They were simply another symptom. There was something in the brain that was messing the neurotransmitters up and scientists couldn't find it. There was no one area that uniformly correlated with depression. Every depressed person's brain looked unique. That left researches stumped. How could they fix/heal depression if they couldn't even find out where it was?

Enter Helen Mayberg. In the mid 1980's she realized that depressed people's brain all showed lower activity in the frontal lobe where emotions are processed. Mayberg said it was proof that depression was more than just a chemical imbalance. Depression was a wiring problem. As Mayberg began studying the depressed brain more she (and her colleagues, I shouldn't be leaving them out)realized that an area buried in the frontal lobe, Area 25, showed higher activity while the rest of the lobe showed lower activity. There was a connection! Mayberg hypothesized that the extra activity in Area 25 was suppressing the normal activities in the frontal lobes and causing depression. From there, Mayberg has studied and designed deep brain stimulation treatment for treatment-resistant depression (depression that doesn't respond to anti-depressants, therapy, or electroshock--yes they are still doing that). For a compelling account of how the deep brain stimulation works read this article from 60 Minutes.

So what does all this have to do with us regular depressed people? Well, to me, this means that depression/mood disorders are not something we can make up. It isn't psychosomatic. It's a real, physiological condition. So next time you say to yourself that all of this is just in your head, you can reply (because I know you all talk to yourselves just like I do!) that yes, it is in your head but in a very concrete medical way. And, just like other people with physical illnesses you don't need to feel bad for getting help and seeking treatment.

Support Where You Need it the Most! (part three): Men vs. Women

Remember when I put up that really weird-o picture of a bra made out of veggies? Well, I'm sparing you another one but, for this week's But Not Unhappy Science Friday, I do want to return to the idea of support.

I originally planned for this to be a two part series (you can read part one here and part two here), but Breakdown's comment really got my attention. He said:

I have no problem asking for help. My problem is often that I can't get anyone to help me when I need it. Home teachers, friends, family. For the most part I usually find myself fighting my own battles. I do all I can to help anyone that asks but when I need it it usually seems like I have to pull teeth. Now, it's not all the time. I have had some good people help me from time to time, just there are those times when I really need it and nobody is there to help. It's a bit discouraging.

Now, there are a lot of unknowns here. To be honest, I don't know any specifics about Breakdown's life (but I love his comments! Thanks dude!). But as I pondered his statements I began to wonder if his experience encapsulates one of the many stereotypical differences between men and women. After all common wisdom holds that women are "wired" for community building. In psycho-speak this is sometimes referred to as a "self in relation" (as opposed to an autonomous self, which is stereotypically more masculine). My experience, in many cases, tends to back this assumption up. Women like to talk. A lot. Men, for whatever social/biological/possibly screwed up reason, don't talk as much. Well, maybe they talk but they don't seem to emote as much. Men are wired for competition and conquering, not hugging. Right?

So now that I've laid out the stereotype, how true is all this? Cue the science. Check out this study: Gender, culture, and social support: a male-female, Israeli Jewish-Arab comparison. After all, what can we learn from the Israeli Jewish-Arab conflict if not insights into social support systems? (Actually, because of their physical proximity yet independent cultures, the Israeli Arabs and Jews present an ideal population for this kind of research. Surprise!)

The study was actually a phone survey in which participants were asked to rate their likelihood of asking for help in different difficult scenarios (such as depressive episode, job loss, or financial hardship). The study looked at culture and gender and compared their findings with evolutionary, social, and psychological theories about the role of gender and culture in developing a support system.

Okay, now that we got the science out of the way, what does it all mean to us? It means exactly what we already knew: culture and gender do define who we ask for help and how we build our support systems.

The study said, "Culture influences people's perception of appropriate behavior and thus how and when they seek, obtain, and enact supportive behavior, and studies show that social support is constructed within a specific cultural context . . .Indeed, gender roles promulgated by culture were found to influence how men and women seek, obtain, and enact supportive behavior in stressful situations".

Israeli Arabs ended up fitting a more masculine profile ("A masculine culture is characterized by such masculine stereotypes as assertiveness and competitiveness, whereas feminine cultures are characterized by feminine stereotypes such as warmth and collaboration") and as such tended to ask no one for help. The study conjectured that this was because Arab cultures believed that their lives were dictated by outside forces (like God and/or fate) and that problems should be handled within families first in order to avoid embarrassment. The study also pointed out that because of the patriarchal nature of the Israeli Arab culture men were less likely to have an emotional support system.

This really struck me because the Israeli Arab view seemed remarkably similar to the way I have heard people describe men in the LDS culture. We do believe that our lives are determined by God--although for us God is not the same as fate. We always have a choice as to how we will react; God will never take away our agency. Also, we believe problems should be handled in families first. When a person needs financial help they are to look to their family first, not the Church, right? Those two ideas can isolate us. I don't think they have to (I think it's the first lesson of bishop-ing: tell them to call a therapist!), but they can.

I also wonder how the idea or priesthood leadership and of a man being the steward of the family makes men feel like they have to be invincible. I remember what an epiphany it was when a lit. theory professor pointed out that chauvinistic patriarchal societies are as limiting for men as they are for women. After all, in a typical (not LDS) patriarchy men aren't allowed to be weak. They must always dominate. That has to get tiring.

Of course, our LDS concept of male leadership is not chauvinistic or traditionally patriarchal (at least not in the way feminists use the term). Men are not supposed to be Peter Priesthood Ken dolls. They are sojourners on this earth like the rest of us and entitled to failures and the resulting relationship with Christ just like all of us chicks.

I don't know. I've gotta ask the men, how have these issues played out for you. Have you struggled with the worldly definition of what it means to be a strong man and what the Church's definition of a strong man is (i.e. you SHOULD ask for help!)? Is it different because you are a man? I hope all my male readers will respond because I really do want an answer :)

What's funnier than depression? Therapeutic Humor!

Common sense (and Reader's Digest) has long held that laughter is the best medicine. But what common sense couldn't have guessed was what that sentiment would spawn.

Have you all ever heard of World Laughter Day? Or how about Laughing Yoga? There's even an Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor. (A treatment needs its own association before it's a "real" option, right?) Oh, and according to the ever-venerable WebMD, laughing 100 times equals ten minutes of cardio.

But seriously people, this is more than Patch Adams. This is serious science with serious health benefits. Besides the usual stuff like laughter helps ease mood disorders(did all you depressed people catch that!) and lightens up emotional situations, laughter can help ward off heart attacks, boost your immune system, and help you lose weight! (Okay, that last one is pretty old science, but I like the idea so I put it up. Hmmm, Charlotte do I hear an experiment coming?)

Anyway, you've probably heard a lot of that before but I think it is worth reminding you of. Oh, and in case you haven't gotten your laugh on today, here's the funniest dancing video. It starts out slow but the end is a real whammy :)

Since We're on a Roll with the Daddies . . .

I thought I'd mention this:

I came across this blurb from the BBC, Antidepressants "may harm sperm", and I couldn't resist commenting. One because it is informative (sort of) and two, well, I don't know, it was just too interesting to pass up! (I trust that we're all grown up enough to use the word "sperm" without giggling . . . well, that's all right. If you laugh no one will know. You can pretend you were mature about this in the comments.)

Basically the article talks about a study that found that men who were on antidepressants had a higher rate of defective sperm. The sperm in question weren't lower in quantity, just quality. That is, men who take antidepressants have a higher percentage of sperm with damaged DNA.

Now, reel in your disaster-scenario-seeking brains (my brain isn't the only one that does that, right?), because that actually means very little. The study was so small that it in no way supports conclusions like "men who take antidepressants have lower fertility" or even "ALL men who take antidepressants have harmed sperm". I repeat: those conclusions cannot be drawn!

Here are few facts worth keeping in mind:

*The study only looked at Paxil and other antidepressants in that family. It didn't look at any other type of mood disorder meds.

*The study didn't examine if the damaged sperm actually had an effect on fertility.

*The study didn't look if the effects were reversed when the medication was stopped.

So what to take away from all this? I think the one thing this new information points to is that antidepressants do a lot of things scientists and doctors don't understand. We need more research behind the meds and more research into treatments for mood disorders and into mood disorders themselves.

Also, keep in mind that past studies have shown that people with high stress levels (like depressed people) do have lowered fertility rates. If you are worried about fertility talk to your doctor (obviously!), but an antidepressant probably isn't a big factor.

Other things to remember: When it comes to serious illnesses like depression, OCD, anxiety, or any mix thereof, it is probably safer to side with taking the medicine if you need it. Since the Surgeon General required the "black box" warning to be put on antidepressants prescribed to teens, teen prescriptions rates have gone down and teen suicide rates have gone up. Nobody wants a crazy dad. Or a dead dad. And that's just the facts.

Dads feel it too!

I got home tonight from a temple recommend interview and pulled out my brand new U.S. News and World Report. As I flipped through the headlines I came across one that said, Postpartum Depression Strikes New Dads as Well as Moms.

Well, color me surprised!

Here's the lowdown: About 14% of new moms suffer from postpartum depression. Symptoms include, but are not limited to,(doesn't that make me sound professional!) sadness, irritability, changes in weight or sleep patterns and an inability to bond with child. Postpartum depression in women has far reaching effects beyond just the mother's happiness (which is important in and of itself). Children of depressed mothers have more health problems and learning problems, and are at a greater risk for developing a mood disorder.

This is what we knew before, what is new is how men fit the profile: Approximately 10% of new fathers will suffer from PPD (well, not exactly PPD because they weren't pregnant but depression that occurs as a result of a new baby). Their symptoms are almost identical to women except that the increased sadness and irritability lead to destructive behaviors--like drug abuse, reckless driving, and promiscuity--that depressed women don't usually engage in. Depression in fathers also effects children in major ways. Children of depressed fathers get read to less often and have slower language development. Also, the children are more likely to act out destructively.

The causes for men are not as easy to pin down as they are for women. With us chicks it's supposed to be the hormones, but with men it may be that the prospect of caring for a child puts them over the edge or they struggle with the changes in their marriage.

No matter what the cause, the good news is that PPD is highly treatable. As we all have accepted by now (you have, right?) a little therapy never hurt anyone--at least not in the long run :)

For more on this issue read here and be sure to check out this awesome website PostpartumMen.com.

What do you all think? I was dubious at first but the more I thought about it the more sense it made. Have you or anyone you know struggled with this?

It's not what you say but how you say it

Depressed people unite! We have our own geological formation!

Since I decided to be more open about my depression I've found it easier than expected to talk about. Some people give me funny looks or stay silent a little too long, but most people are surprised and supportive--for which I'm grateful.

The only problem I've really had is accepting a certain term in relation to myself: mental illness. It's the thing that is hardest for me to say out loud. "I am mentally ill" just doesn't roll off the tongue. I think I have a hard time because of the associations I have with the phrase. Let's play a little game. When I type "mentally ill" what pops into your head? Jack Nicholson and Nurse Rachett? A Beautiful Mind? A shaved head and drool?

Well, I have good news for all of you. Turns out I don't have to struggle with "mental illness" because I am not necessarily mentally ill. The new terminology, for those of you who don't know, is "mood disorder". If you check out "mental illness" on Webmd it will still list depression, but really doesn't "mood disorder" sound so much better? I'm sure the term has been kicking around for a long time and I just didn't realize it until now, but, hey, if it makes it just a little bit easier for me to ask for help and talk about things I'll take it!

Paradigm shift: healing your neurons

We made it home safe and sound from our fifteen day, five state odyssey. Traveling always makes me think and I have a lot I want to blog about, but my brother forwarded this article to me and I'm not sure what to think.

For those of you who aren't going to read the whole article--although I think you should--I'll summarize it here. Basically, according to new research the effectiveness of Prozac, and other widely prescribed SSRIs, is not due to its effect on serotonin. Rather, SSRIs work because they "heal" neurons in the brain that prolonged stress has killed off. This means that depression isn't just a lack of something, but a systematic change in the brain. The article compares it to other degenerative brain illnesses like Alzheimer's. Researchers came to this conclusion by lowering the amount of serotonin in undepressed (also known as happy) people and discovered that it made no difference, which (sort of) disproved the whole "depression is a chemical imbalance" theory. Exactly how the SSRIs heal neurons the article doesn't say. But it does cite a study involving the active ingredient in Prozac and lazy eyes. Apparently taking a course of SSRIs can fix a lazy eye!

I think what was most compelling about this article was that the new theory explains a couple of weird things about depression medications. First off, it explains the lag time between the start of medication and feeling the effects of it. If the SSRI is healing a neuron, and not just supplementing the brain with a neurotransmitter, then it makes sense that it would take a few weeks for the process. Secondly, I think, it sheds some light on the "Prozac Poop-out". If the medicine is healing neurons it makes sense that afte awhile it would quit working because the neurons would be healed or they would need something else to help them finish the healing process. I guess in my mind it makes more sense that the brain would become immune to an SSRI if it was healing something and not just supplementing. This also explains why things like exercise, appropriate sleep, good nutrition and talk therapy help. They all reinforce the complex process that maintains the neurons in our brains.

This idea is exciting on another level too. If depression is a degenerative neurological disorder then we might start seeing more hard science on its treatment. There would be no more nonsense about it being a question of willpower--or we would at least be able to differentiate between temporary depressive episodes that may or may not be willpower related and the chronic illness. If people suffering from depression could get tailored treatments that would save a lot of headache.

Anyway, I think I've been suffering for the last couple months from a poop-out. It just feels like my medicine has been less and less effective so I'm going to find a psychiatrist and see if I can iron all this out. But this new research is one more piece to add to the depression puzzle. What do you all think? Does this ring true to any of your experiences?