Depression And Common Mental Illness (VIDEO)

Happy Monday, everybody! Cara Santa Maria here. For those of you who don't already know, this month we have been discussing the science of mental health. I want to thank everybody for your questions, comments, and criticisms so far. They've been extremely engaging and challenging. I've also noticed from a lot of your comments that a discussion of the mental heath concerns that we encounter in our daily lives would be a good direction to go next. So, this week, I want to talk about common mental illnesses.

For example, gloriaswanson43 says that: "I'm glad you're doing this one. I'd like to know more about the chemical side of depression­. All I currently know is I'm on a daily pill that seems to work."

While blueken replies: "Good luck getting an answer to that one. My wife has been in therapy for almost 20 years. All we can get out of the medical community is a vague 'chemical imbalance' in the brain. No one right now can define the proper 'chemical balance' of a brain. It's all trial and error. If you have a therapy that works, be thankful. Perhaps with CAT scans and MRIs we will learn more in the future."

I think it is important that these issues are discussed. Did you know that around 26% of the general population is living with a mental disorder? This number doesn't even include individuals who are homeless or currently living in an institution, so its likely that that estimate much higher. Its likely that you or someone you know is living with a mental illness. Anxiety disorders are the most common, followed by mood disorders (such as depression), impulse-control problems, and substance disorders (like alcoholism or drug abuse and dependency).

Have you personally dealt with a mental illness? Do you feel like you were satisfactorily diagnosed? Are you currently in treatment? How has this affected your daily functioning?

And what about your loved ones? Often times, we hear discussions about how to manage our own mental health, but what about those we love? What are the challenges we face in marriage or parenthood when someone we love is depressed, anxious, or dependent on drugs?

I want to discuss these disorders in detail this week, including symptomatology and underlying brain differences, diagnostic criteria, current treatments, and what the scientific literature has to say about them. If you or someone you love has a mental illness, or if you're simply interested in what we have to say, I hope that you'll join the conversation. Thanks everybody. I look forward to talking nerdy this week -- about the science of common mental illnesses -- with all of you.

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Comments

[Dano Potter]

05:57 AM on 12/16/2011

I was an active addict for years. As one, I suffered through extreme bouts of depression. After being sober for years now, every time I talk to a psychiatrist they want to medicate me. All I wanted was a listening ear, but this was not what they wanted. In todays society we seem to want the "quick and easy" route to everything and this is resulting in medicating our society. There are other answers and better solutions. Most people that are depressed or have mild anxiety or substance abuse issues, in my opinion, can be treated with simple therapy and lifestyle, decision making changes. Medication is not and cannot always be the first answer simply because it is easy.

[HarrySmith]

12:47 PM on 12/15/2011

As depression disorders are very serious medical conditions, one should be very careful about their lifestyle. If stress, tension, work or any of things make you depressed just try to stay away from them. When anyone is in depression, first find out why he is depressed, carefully listen to his words, understand his situation, behave patiently, stay in contact with him, encourage him to not to use drugs, and advise him to seek professional help. http://www.thementalhealthblog.com

[kitchen415]

06:52 PM on 12/22/2011

If work makes someone depressed, they should avoid it? Sounds like a great plan - things that we don't like we shouldn't do. How do you pay your bills - with sunshine and lollipops?

[brooklyncitizen]

07:28 PM on 12/14/2011

She's kind of ditzy and she's only reading people's posts...and why do these kids tack on a question mark on every statement? (real question)
annoying.

[Cara Santa Maria]

09:22 PM on 12/14/2011

I'm sorry you feel this way. I do hope that you will take the time to visit more of my posts here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/talk-nerdy-to-me and gain an understanding of my series. On Mondays, I introduce a topic and ask my readers/viewers to engage.

This helps me tackle subjects with the HuffPost community. I prefer that we have a conversation.

[brooklyncitizen]

01:18 AM on 12/15/2011

I apologize for the comment actually but I had hoped it would be more informative.I think it is an important issue to take on.

[jericarla]

03:37 PM on 12/14/2011

the only way i find to treat my chronic slight depression is to avoid focusing on the negatives our society insists on parading around as the way we all should be. if i focus on my spinal injury or my gid or my loss of family i can quickly become very depressed. i can not take the meds available as they tend to be overly strong for my body chemistry( advil is like heroin to me 1 mg of valium is a 24 hour nap ). this means my only option is to continuosly monitor my rational thinking and work at not letting the negatives overwhelm me. many people including psychs insist i take the drugs that are to strong for me. so i come over at the appointed time take thier little pills and pass out within 10 minutes it seems the only way other than a brickbat to get them to listen.

[cerebrogasm]

06:08 PM on 12/14/2011

It doesn't sound like you're suffering from an organic (biological) based depression - but - for some reason - your doctors want you medicated. If you can control the onset of depression using your intellect, you can further enhance your minimizing of depressive episodes by exercise - from the doctors I've worked with that insist that their patients suffering from depression or anxiety - almost always endorse resistance training (weights, anaerobic) first - since some patients can exacerbate their condition (usually anxiety disorders) with aerobic training (you have to determine how you react on your own). Resistance training releases dopamine - the pleasure neurotransmitter - in greater amounts than aerobic exercise per se - even long after you've finished exercising, with the added bonus of fat loss and muscle anabolism: make sure you start at very low resistance and work up to higher values as you become conditioned. Of course, you should be checked out with a physician before taking on any exercise program. Given that - I doubt you will need medication at all - since your own body is now medicating itself naturally.

[GoldenGateCA]

11:55 PM on 12/13/2011

Moods and emotions exist for a reason. If they weren't adaptive in some way, they would have evolved out. Emotions can sharpen memories and focus our attention. Think back to your earliest memories - were positive or negative emotion involved in some way? I thought so. Maybe depression tends to keep us inside when bad things are going on around us - another tribe attracking, disease killing friends and relations, etc. Why is it hard for some people to believe that there can be mood or emotional disorders? You can have imbalances or defects in other bodily systems, why not the brain? There is a theory that having a small dose of the most common mental illnesses is adaptive (more creative, more energy, etc.) but if you get too much of the genetics, you have a debilitating disease. Don't think there is much genetic evidence of that theory yet though.

[Cara Santa Maria]

12:50 PM on 12/14/2011

Interesting insights. They remind me of a wonderful book, "Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers," by Robert Sapolsky. It explores chronic stress as an unchecked, exclusively human phenomenon. Short-term stress is adaptive, while chronic stress can be detrimental to one's overall health and functioning.

[cerebrogasm]

03:23 PM on 12/14/2011

There's also something else to consider: the advent of our more advanced, "thinking" culture happened rapidly when compared to how long evolution needs to select a trait for propagation or elimination into the next generation. Not long ago, for example, we were manually tilling fields and manually harvesting our crops - farming was back-breaking work. Ever see the insides of a modern day harvester? Some of them look like plush suites at an expensive hotel: plush chairs, completely digital, computer assisted operation consoles, GPS auto driven, great music systems, mini-refrigerators, and so on (very similar to modern trucking rigs). It's really easy to put on the pounds while harvesting acres of land, without breaking a sweat. Technology - and our evolution into a "think" based society - means less exercise - which means there will likely be a backlash - besides problems like atherosclerosis and obesity, the brain will also be affected negatively: natural selection has not yet selected-out "disproportionate-to-stimuli" stress nor depression. Animal studies, done across the African veldt, show that prey release enormous amounts of adrenalin when being hunted - but should the prey elude being killed, the abundant molecules of stress rapidly return to normal levels: something that does not happen to humans. Anxiety and depression may just be emergent phenomena to beings (us) that are not in daily physical battles to not be eaten.

[GoldenGateCA]

10:46 PM on 12/14/2011

Interesting. Reminds me to theories of allergies. The histamine system is an anti-PARASITE system. The theory is that the human body is adapted to a certain load of parasites or frequency of fighting them off. Without parasites, the histamine system goes on the fritz and starts attacking pollen and other things it normally wouldn't. Basically, taking something away, even something bad, can have unexpected consequences.

[withonor]

05:17 PM on 12/13/2011

"Anxiety disorders ... mood disorders ..., impulse-control problems, and substance disorders ..."

Give me a break. None of those are disorders or illnesses. It's called being human. We have emotions. You can romanticize sadness as depression all you want. Popping a pill and "praying" for the best aren't going to fix the problem. FIND OUT WHY YOU'RE NOT HAPPY!

Those disorders and illnesses are labeled as such to guide people into a certain "normal" lifestyle. The worst part is most people who try to guide people into "normality" are severely abnormal themselves. Most of the time what they are trying to prevent in others is true of themselves. Look at Marcus Bachmann and his "pray away the gay" clinic... Get out of the closet already, dude. Trying to change others isn't going to help you.

There is one disorder we can all agree on that is beneficial: Happiness. It can cure all other "disorders" and mental "illnesses". I use quotations because there are real disorders and illnesses, but none mentioned in this article. Sadness, anger, anxiousness, compulsiveness, etc... are emotions, not disorders. A "doctor" might say when they get in the way of "normal" activity, they are a problem. There's that word again... "NORMAL".

Let's end the month early so we can move on to a real scientific topic to talk nerdy about. This Big-Pharma sponsored discussion is exactly why we're unhealthy as a nation. Pop a pill, don't fix the problem.

[gmikejake]

06:09 PM on 12/13/2011

It was inevitable. The "butterflys are forever" people are showing up. HUMMMMMMMMMMMMM. Let us all join hands now and let the orgones flow. Just think happy thoughts and your chronic illnesses will go away. If we do it collectively, why we can do away with poverty and all those other annoying illusions.
May you be able to live forever in your happy world. Best wishes to you. But, please, keep in mind that serious, debilitating, mental illness happens to some of us. And when it does the experience can be beyond horrible, particularly if you or your loved one cannot access, or afford, effective treatment systems.

[Cara Santa Maria]

12:47 PM on 12/14/2011

There is so much to say here, I don't know where to start. You are conflating many different issues. And I can assure you that this discussion is NOT sponsored by big pharma...

[withonor]

05:44 PM on 12/14/2011

I purposely post very extreme views to challenge people to think differently. If we all just spout what we read in a textbook, we're not going to learn anything we didn't already know. I don't put a lot of stock in the way psychology has been developed so far because we're close-minded as a society and people who see someone with a behavior that is different from them, think they're abnormal.

[Betty Gail Brawley]

11:33 AM on 12/13/2011

Mental ill ness, is the biggest farce in this field, No one thinks alike and this was GOd plan,! I will admit that some have defiency that effect the mind, However, ther are meds tha t contol this, However, depression, so what get outor up and do some thing and stop thinking about yoru sefl and what yo do nto have or my husand wen to play golf and i am here at home with the children,Think H e sat in the office all day and on this day he needs out side excerise, DEpression is when you put your sefl first, and this never work turn it around an dput pther first and the depression will vanish,

[gmikejake]

06:16 PM on 12/13/2011

That is one sort of experience called depression that some folks experience. And then there are others developed in response to a major loss in life. And another that happens, sometimes, after the birth of a baby. And others that are activated by a chemical imbalance in your body that can completely immobilize a person so that going golfing, or even to the bathroom, is impossible. And then there are the very nasty types that involve things happening in your head .... very scary things. And sometimes you find yourself doing things ... just doing them, you don't know how or why, like cutting.
As before, may you never, ever, experience those other kinds but if you do, please remember some of the posts of those of us who see depression as something much broader than your definition .... AND, seek help. Golfing just won't cut it in those situations. And let's hope that effective, affordable help is available to you.

[cerebrogasm]

04:16 PM on 12/14/2011

God, again. He pops up in every topic posted on HuffPo. Can I petition for a Secular Section where any "God-Talk" is removed - People of Faith - I know you find that comment offensive - which is how I feel when you keep shoving down our (People of Rational Thought) throats your magical beliefs in the evidence-less supernatural. Is it possible to discuss anything with any of you without invoking God in some way?

Did you know there are scientists, psychiatrists, and mental health professionals (those heretics! they should all burn for eternity - right?) that believe hyper-religiosity is a symptom of mental illness?

[ugotabkidnme]

11:14 AM on 12/13/2011

When I was younger, it was called, manic depression. I suffered from the highs and lows. Then the medical terminology was changed to, bi polar, same mental illness just a different name. Whenever a medication worked, in combination with diet, exercise, and appropriate medical therapy, the brain chemicals adjusted to the medication and the quest began for another. As I aged, the highs left and the lows moderated to a continuous, steady, joyless emptiness that is rift with fatigue. The holiday season is the worse . I wish I could just crawl in the back of a closet and hide; starting at it's onset, prior to Thanksgiving until after the New Year.

[Cara Santa Maria]

12:45 PM on 12/14/2011

This is an important insight that I think we should explore further. The holidays can be an especially difficult time for individuals suffering from mental illness.

[cerebrogasm]

04:39 PM on 12/14/2011

I hate this time of year - not because it depresses or saddens me, but because it's a pagan-like consumer-centric time of great profitability for corporations that cash in on fantasy, that infuriates me. OK - I'm not talking about family re-unions, sleigh rides, snowmen, snow-ball fights, etc. I'm talking about sitting around a tree, and among those sitting there, are entities like Walmart and Best Buy. Those entities, sooner or later, dominate the holidays. And I'm not waging war on Christmas, O'Reilly - if anything, I'm trying to cleanse it of corporate profiteering.

If you're a Christian, you must know by now, after all of the research, that Jesus was not born on December 25, 0000. The 4 gospels don't even agree exactly when and where he was born - but we won't worry about details, right?

Poster: you don't have to continue to suffer like this. I've met people with Stage 4 terminal, metastatic cancer that are somehow, happier than people that "should" be happy - they seem to have it all - yet they feel like their emotions have "flat-lined" - "meaning" has left the building - one of the side effects of being on a regimen of bi-polar medication. You may have to reclaim meaning through your intellect - by confronting this "existentialism" (a sense of disorientation and confusion in the face of an apparently meaningless or absurd world). Read, "Man's Search for Meaning," by Viktor Frankl - you'll see where I'm going with this.

[abarovingEU]

11:04 AM on 12/13/2011

Gee Cara--it's a pretty grim subject matter----even though it's part of life, I'll skirt this issue with no answers....sorry.

[Cara Santa Maria]

12:42 PM on 12/14/2011

It can be grim, but it can also be hopeful and, for lack of a better word, inspirational. Either way, it is a hard truth and I think that it is important that we learn as much as we can about mental illness.

[cerebrogasm]

04:47 PM on 12/14/2011

I think you did the right thing, Cara - actually a courageous thing - this is a painful subject that needs to be out of the dark and talked about openly - as you know, there's something curative that happens when a person suffering from depression, addictions, etc. - get together - and share their innermost feelings with others in the same boat - ask anyone who's been helped by 12-step meetings - you don't always have breakthroughs in each meeting - but if you stick with it - odds are, you will eventually "get it" and develop new strategies for recovery. Isolation is best friends with depression - human to human open minded connection is an enemy of depression.

[Canukfa]

10:03 AM on 12/13/2011

I believed I was suffering from depression my whole life. I have visited numerous doctors, therapists, and hospitals from the time I was 13 years old. A few years ago, I gave it another shot and visited one more psychiatrist. I told him that I was depressed and I had tried all of the pills out there and nothing worked. He made a commitment to me to work with me to get my medication right and he really listened to what was going on with me. A few months into my treatment, he told me that he thought I had ADHD. At first I thought he was the one who was crazy but it turns out he was right. After doing research on what ADHD actually is and looking into my past, all the signs were there. It was equally apparent that my mother displayed the same signs. I now receive the correct treatment for the problem that I actually have.

I am 38 years old. It took 25 years of seeing professionals in the mental health industry before I received a correct diagnosis. I could be bitter but frankly I am just grateful that the second half of my life won't be so full of suffering.

[gmikejake]

06:18 PM on 12/13/2011

Thank you for sharing this, providing hope. And thank that psychiatrist, please, for making that commitment. We should all be able to find such help, if and when we need it.

[Cara Santa Maria]

12:42 PM on 12/14/2011

Hear hear!

[cerebrogasm]

05:04 PM on 12/14/2011

Miss-diagnosis should be a felony. My father died about 2 weeks ago at age 85 - he was a WWII vet and in every way, was a great father to me - except that he was incredibly argumentative - he would literally argue with me over the most ridiculous things. My mother died of breast cancer at a young age (37), and that tragedy sent my father into another world - he was angry - he was in a constant search to vent that anger. Just before he died in the hospital of CHF, about 3 weeks prior, he was interviewed by a psychiatrist and 2 psychologists - who contacted me - and had all agreed - to my surprise - that he was suffering from long term depression - they further told me that depression in men often manifests in combative behavior. That's about 45 years of torment he suffered through, because he bought into the "miss-diagnosis" our grief counselor gave us - that these dark feelings he had - especially concerning "modern" medicine - would fade away over the next year or two after burying his wife. If he had been given a correct diagnosis - and treated for his true depression - he would have had lived a much happier life.

[TINKER6]

08:27 AM on 12/13/2011

Did I tell you, the one about Texas Burning! Phyc (maybe)..........!

[TINKER6]

07:44 AM on 12/13/2011

Cara, you ought to know depression comes in many forms.. Who is right and who is wrong, to the snake that says go ahead and the God like, that condemns. It's all a choice of times, no one can seem to comprehned. If you look at it, it starts to become 1 confused ball ( kind of like the earth)! Then not just hypercondriacts but real sicknesses set in (myself not amuned to this). I consider this about the lowest/ no life game in existence. This seems to boil down to power, money and non humane form of being, only to be met with wonder ( I have no wonder). This is a loss in all forms, as some lose theirself being, others got to stay with the game, to control their little respect as others slowly move on / or back and forth. If one thinks they don't suffer from this, they better think twice! A mind can get much input but what is the output today. Well take your life and time and be Godly! Some seem to have problems with that! How about people being wonderful for doing their own. I'm sure they won't, Rot, in fact they just might find something they left behind or aquire what they did'nt have. And yes stubbornist is included in that harry@ss ball.

[MSROADKILL612]

06:10 AM on 12/13/2011

wow - some odd posts but interesting issues come to mind

firstly - all is false til u walk a mile in their shoes - so just sayin

maybe a/ how did it work 300 years ago - perhaps we got by cos we had to

i am depressed but i dont medicate & am lucky to live simply w/o working - private money - no dole - so not typical - am just a drunk recluse w/ a dog - 2 great kids ~20 who havnt given up yet on me yet - am lucky

medical science progress seems about finding new terms for alleged subdivisions of same ailment

Given cost of us healthcare, much self diagnosis seems the result of tv ads

poor education = hypochondriacs? believe all can be cured, & science plays little part? sure seems true of asia, not to mention africa.

[Cara Santa Maria]

12:41 PM on 12/14/2011

Did you know that we are the only Western nation that allows advertisements of prescription medications on television? In most developed nations, this is considered highly unethical. We are also one of the remaining few with a fully privatized health care system...

[MSROADKILL612]

02:10 PM on 12/14/2011

Ta - good input

[cerebrogasm]

05:18 PM on 12/14/2011

We also are blessed with lawyers advertising on television and billboards their willingness to sue insurance companies for car accidents and doctors for malpractice. They actually seem to be sending a more subliminal message: please get into an accident - please accuse your doctor of malpractice - we'll make you a fortune if you do (we'll take a cut too, of course).

To me, this makes all lawyers seem like degenerate ambulance chasers - the quality, ethical lawyers - you never hear about. Questionable, frivolous lawsuits, must end - along with their more-than-willing practitioners.

[MSROADKILL612]

05:46 AM on 12/13/2011

my psychiatrist needs a psychiatrist

[MSROADKILL612]

05:42 AM on 12/13/2011

I am proud to say I am the first person in my family to be smart enough to suffer from mental illness.

sorry - old woody allen line