Seeking Help for Depression and Postpartum Depression
I’m currently reviewing Dr. Ruta Nonac’s A Deeper Shade of Blue, “a woman’s guide to recognizing and treating depression in her childbearing years.”
Early in the book, within the first chapter, Dr. Nonac’s made these important points about seeking depression treatment and about postpartum depression:
People who suffer from depression often are “discouraged” from seeking help for their depression because they may be told that what they are experiencing is normal, not serious, and / or go away.
Dr. Nonac states that depression is never “normal” and should never be ignored. Dr. Nonac in fact re-emphasizes this in other chapters of her book. Although Dr. Nonac’s book is about depression during a woman’s childbearing process, and thus is focused on the woman audience, this premise about seeking help for depression applies readily to men who suffer from depression.
Postpartum depression resources, and information about depression during pregnancy and during nursing, remain scarce.
It wasn’t long ago when we saw Brooke Shields’ and Tom Cruise’s public spat about postpartum depression and whether psychiatric conditions were made up by evil drug companies (according to Tom, psych conditions were imaginary). Other incidents of postpartum depression had come into our public consciousness as horrendous crimes committed by the mother to her children. This does not bode well for women who suffer from postpartum depression, because they were now afraid of being classified in the same group as those mothers. The positive thing is that this publicity brought postpartum depression to primetime, and Brooke’s public admission about her postpartum depression helped dampen some of the social stigma around postpartum depression.
However, information about what happens to a woman with depression during pregnancy and and during nursing is scarce. Women with a history of depression not only worry about their chances of experiencing postpartum depression, but also face questions like, “should I stop taking my antidepressants while I’m pregnant?” and “Should I wait until I finish nursing to start taking antidepressants again?” These are questions unique to women who are no stranger to depression, and are now facing childbearing decisions.
“Irritable Male Syndrome”
Disclosure: I am not compensated by or affiliated with Mr. Diamond’s Organization. Jed Diamond takes a holistic approach to a seeping epidemic with “The Irritable Male Syndrome: Managing the Four Key Causes of Male Depression.” Rather than a predictable direction of “this is IMS, here’s how you get rid of it,” Diamond discusses all factors surrounding and contributing to the irritable male syndrome (IMS.) Diamond’s book deals not only with IMS, but with life transitions and how men’s social roles form and evolve. Diamond urges an examination of the biological and social context of men, including the upbringing of boys and their initiation into manhood. Stress, biological changes, and perpetual devaluation of men is feeding a growing infestation of irritable male syndrome and breeding a new generation of irritable males. Read more
Ketamine for Clinical Depression
Anesthesiologist Joe had written a rather detailed article on the use of Ketamine for depression. Joe did such a good job translating the science jargon into plain English that I don’t want to regurgitate what he wrote here. I will, however, summarize for you the key points, so you know what to expect when you hop over to read Joe’s “BehindTheMedspeak: Ketamine for depression?”
- Ketamine is a controlled substance and an anesthetic drug.
- In a clinical trial referenced by Dr. Joe, patients’ depression improved, some within a matter of hours of receiving Ketamine. This improvement was lasting beyond one week after receiving drug.
- Unfortunately there were only 18 patients in the study, which in the medical world warrants this conclusion: “more studies are needed.”
Dr. Joe references this Washington Post article on the study.