Who cares?

By admin on January 28, 2012

I have sat through more aircraft safety demonstrations than I can count.

“A loss of oxygen at altitude may lead to a loss on consciousness. If emergency oxygen is required your mask will appear from above you pull down on it firmly to activate the flow of oxygen put it on quickly and tighten the strap. Once you are breathing normally you can help others including children.”

On a plane I rarely lift my eyes from my book for the safety instructions but tonight I am thinking of the role of a carer. I am thinking of how much love and selfless effort can be invested in supporting someone you love while I am also wondering about caring for the carers.

We care as best we can. In my own case, I could not have cared any more. Nor could I have cared any less. Despair brought my partner to a crisis, hopeless and isolated. I was right there amid the grey and the drizzle, trying to warm him and keep myself dry.

As I listen to the experiences of others, and the concerns, the hopes, the dreams of a carer, I can’t help thinking that the cabin crew are right, fit your own mask first.

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English football player talks of depression

By admin on January 16, 2012

Dean Windass is a retired English footballer, a striker. Last weekend he spoke publicly about his depression and recent suicide attempts.

In the newspaper article he says “People have this image of me as this big strong man who can take anything life throws at him. But I’m not ashamed to say I wanted to end it after a string of setbacks. I knew I’d been a fool but I couldn’t shake off the depression at feeling what a failure I’d become.”

He said “I have hurt the people closest to me, so I’ve come out today and admitted I need help.” The honesty of a man with what was regarded as a tough as nails demeanor is emotionally affecting. I know how difficult it can be to reach out for help and I’m filled with admiration for what Dean Windass describes as his coming out. I can see why he has been described as a sturdy leader.

We often regard sports stars as role models, in this case that’s undoubtedly true. Dean Windass is a stigma-busting role model. It is so fabulous to witness the strength of a footballer admitting to a simple human frailty, a debilitating condition, and asking for help.

Dean Windass, my hero.

If you, or someone you know, needs emotional support call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia. Crisis counselling is available around the world.

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Miserable?

By admin on January 6, 2012

In my previous post I wrote about the UK based suicide prevention charity, Campaign Against Living Miserably, CALM. The acronym is not bad but I think the organisation’s name is dismally inappropriate for its worthy goals.

Campaign Against Living Miserably infers that someone living with depression is living miserably, and that may sometimes be true, however miserable is not a word often used to describe the experience of living with depression. Depression is depicted as something darker and more bleak than misery. I don’t know maybe ‘living miserably’ actually understates the unfeeling numbness that often accompanies depression. I don’t like the term or the images it conjures.

Miserable makes me think of a wretched pitiable condition, the word seems heavy with negative judgement. I don’t mean to say that depression is enviable or not in some ways a miserable state, it is just not helpful for someone to be labelled as miserable. It is dis-empowering to be pitied, I much prefer some kind of strength based perspective. I get caught up in the semantics of depression and suicide, and I do because ill thought-out language comes loaded with meaning and connotations that serve to reinforce rather than dispel stigmas.

Michael Leuning calendar April 2012

A foundation’s name has a lot of influence on community attitudes, and it’s not possible to convey the nuance of Michael Leunig’s work in a few words. Organisation names that are less judgmental and less negative than Campaign Against Living Miserably are possible:

- beyondblue
- headspace
- sane Australia

Woody Guthrie was “…out to sing the songs that make you take pride in yourself and in your work.” Support efforts need to do something similar and not only be against living in a certain way but also be for something – for support, for growth, for living a different way. Rather than struggling against a darkness imagine gently amplifying and nurturing the tiniest, tenderest essential parts that lie quietly at the heart of even our deepest darkest being.

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Simon says…

By admin on December 14, 2011

Simon Hogan, in his typically Australian laconic style, describes himself as a 23 year old footy player. Footy is Australian Rules football, a game with an estimated 9 million followers. Simon plays for the Geelong Football club, the team Mottsu followed and the current competition premiers.

Simon Hogan is an elite athlete and professional sportsman, and he has had major depression over the past three years. His depression led to considering suicide, and to seeking support. Listening to him, I am considering taking more of an interest in footy.

He speaks frankly about his experience, here’s his story in print and below on video.

Fittingly he is now an ambassador for headspace, Australia’s National Youth Mental Health Foundation. Impressive.

If you, or someone you know, needs emotional support call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia. Crisis counselling is available around the world.

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Meds?

By admin on December 6, 2011

A girlfriend was saying she thinks she may have been depressed all of her life.

“It’s hard to reach out” she said.

“It’s hard to get what you need” she said.

She did reach out, and consulted her doctor who gave her a prescription for an SSRI. Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors or SSRIs are commonly prescribed for the treatment of depression. She went to a pharmacy and the prescription filled, and she now has an unopened bottle of Zoloft. She’s not sure what to do next.

Having the medication has already improved how she feels. She’s tried waving the little jar of meds around her head to imbibe the benefits. She’s also thinking about placing them under her pillow and then trying to sleep. She’s not only joking, she is hesitant and wants to think carefully before starting on meds – the implications, the risks, and the benefits. She’s taking her time…

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A story of depression

By admin on November 19, 2011

I found a fabulous story on-line written by an artist called Allie and called Adventures in Depression. Allie doesn’t start with the traditional: Once upon a time… instead she opens with, “Some people have a legitimate reason to feel depressed, but not me. I just woke up one day feeling sad and helpless for absolutely no reason.”

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2011/10/adventures-in-depression.html

If you, or someone you know, needs emotional support call Lifeline on 13 11 14 in Australia. Crisis counselling is available around the world.

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Movember 2011

By admin on November 9, 2011

That’s funny I wrote about Movember in 2009 but not in 2010. What happened there? Last November is a bit of blur to recall, maybe I had nothing new to say in support of the Movember awareness and fund raising effort. I hope wasn’t just in a dismissive mood and thinking pooh-pooh, I can be a bit that way. I am relenting this year, my innate sense of scorn has softened, and I am enthusiastic and supportive particularly thanks to a friend who is participating.

Men involved Movember’s fundraising don’t shave for a month. They are visibily changing the face of men’s health. My friend is the founder of FilmDude; the grey dude (I’m the red film reviewer). He’s fabulous, even before Movember he was quietly fabulous. Not shaving this month means he is also hairier than he was at the start of last week. I wonder if not shaving might prove more difficult than it looks? I am guessing that it will, starting with the itch he has described.

There is gallery documenting the awesome not shaving effort. See here to view progress and to donate in support to a couple of worthwhile men’s health causes.

Pooh-poohing not allowed.

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Electroconvulsive therapy

By admin on October 29, 2011

I had lunch with a girlfriend last week, and I mentioned ECT, I can’t remember what we were discussing, I don’t know how the topic came up, but I do recall her response. I said something about electroconvulsive therapy and she stopped chewing mid-mouthful, her eyebrows arched upwards she was surprised and disbelieving, “No” she said, with a drawn out emphasis on the o , “that’s not a treatment” she said, and I assured her it is.

I have heard ECT touted as the best treatment we have for depression. At the same time many people don’t realise it is still used as a treatment. I mentioned ECT once before in a post and I am revisiting it after my friend’s lunchtime reaction. Another friend, a psychiatrist, has told me it would be his treatment of choice. As effective as it is, it’s hard not to have negative reactions when ECT is mentioned.

I can’t think of the complexities of ECT without thinking of this TED talk. Sherwin Nuland describes himself “as a man who almost 30 years ago had his life saved by two long courses of electroshock therapy”. He speaks briefly about the history of ECT as a treatment and tells of his own experience. The talk runs for 22 minutes, I recommend it as informing, and as one perspective…

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Antidepressant usage up

By admin on October 23, 2011

A news report published on-line on October 20 2011 states that anti-depressant usage is up by 400% since 2008 in the US. Apparently one in ten people ‘are taking’ anti-depressants, although I suspect a more accurate reporting would be to say have been prescribed anti-depressants. Prescribed and taking are different.

I chatted with a doctor recently who was very unhappy about the metrics around patient care, specifically how many clients should be seen within a given timeframe. This particular doctor felt that with only a few minutes in which to consult with a client there is an unreasonable pressure to prescribe something and move to the next client.

Even so, says this report from October 21 2011 up to one third of people with severe depression are not taking anti-depressants.

I also hear stories of people not taking medication prescribed for them whether the treatment is for the heart, the head, or the chest. The last time I consulted a doctor I was so disappointed with the diagnosis made and advice administered that I didn’t get the prescription filled. There are many stories and lots of opinions, around medication. I don’t quite know what to believe, or who to trust.

“Lies, damned lies, and statistics” Mark Twain has been quoted as saying, showing some disdain for statistics. I share his sentiment after reading these reports, I can’t untangle the figures from the facts. Should more or less of us should be taking ant-depressants? That’s not a question that can be readily answered, one story suggests less and the other directs us to think more, and I suspect both articles could feed opinions, without being particularly helpful.

There must be a for and an against case around medication to treat depression, with lots of factors that influence what is effective and why. I can’t help thinking that treatment options, choice around medication use, and advice one can trust, and monitoring of the effects and outcomes, are more valuable than statistics.

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R U OK?

By admin on September 15, 2011

I just wanted to gently enquire about you…

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