Blog Carnival Edition for January 23, 2007
Welcome to this blog carnival edition. I’ve already posted one entry that I expanded upon in my post, “I’m Here to Remind You that You Are Not Your Illness.” I thank you who have sent in your entries for this edition, and for upholding my disclaimer that I select entries based on immediate relevance to personal stories about depression, bipolar disorder, and mental health.
D Kai Wilson shared a clinical study abstract that suggests that a successful long term outcome for people suffering from bipolar disorder is not just medication - but “patients that understand their moodswings, their reasonings, their reactions - the underlying chemistry that changes their moods, and their investigation into tailoring their own understanding and treatement of their disorder.”
Dr. Deyo is a predoctoral intern who wrote a very good backgrounder on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and how it works to treat depression. “The idea is that during a depression people have maladaptive or dysfunctional thoughts. These thoughts are not based on reality but rather on the negative self-view or schema.” Dr. Deyo also included a link to a worksheet you can use to track your thinking patterns.
Karen wrote a poignant piece called “the black cave” that started, “There’s been a hard edge to me lately. It’s come out in my writing, and I don’t think I like it.” This piece is a wonderful expression of being in darkness and choosing light even before one has experienced light or even how to get there.
Talia wrote a 2 part review on a book looking at antidepressants, and whether these drugs do more harm than good (part 1, part 2). The review looks at several issues, all of which are complex enough to warrant entire websites and books written about them (doctor-patient relationships, doctor prescribing behavior, the evolution of human behavior, sociology, and pharmaceutical marketing practices). I think one of the key questions that require answering is the placebo effect, especially in mental health studies. Moreover, perhaps a new way to ask an old question would be “how much good and how much harm is this drug” versus “does this drug do more harm than good?” This is because I believe all drugs do both harm and good, which is why drugs require careful deliberation to dispense.
I’m not sure where Scott’s story fits in here, given it does not deal specifically with depression, but I wanted to include it because I think many readers can relate to aspects of his experiences.
Finally, Vahid shares an article about how to choose the right treatment for anxiety disorders; the article reads more along the lines of choosing the right doctor for your treatment than the right treatment itself. Additionally, the principles of interviewing your doctors applies not only for anxiety disorders but for any health related concerns that require you to see a doctor.
Thank you for sharing your stories. Until Next Time!
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