The World Health Organization has predicted that by 2030, more people will be affected by depression than any other health problem. Yet of all the dysfunctions of modern medicine, the way we treat depression may be the worst.
As I outlined in "Are You Depressed, Or Just Human?" normal changes in mood are often labeled as depression, leading to an overdiagnosis of the condition. But even if the patient is truly depressed, the prescribed treatment is almost always limited to a potent pharmaceutical. In other words, a complex, multifaceted problem is frequently treated with an oversimplified, expensive therapy that, sadly, is often ineffective.
The reason? Money. Our profit-driven medical system makes it difficult for doctors to spend enough time with patients to make a correct diagnosis and to craft truly individualized treatments. Also, patients themselves often demand the drugs they have seen advertised, and overworked, harried doctors frequently go along.
There is another reason for this regrettable situation. Many physicians are not trained in other treatment options for depression, though these can be safe, inexpensive and highly effective. So even if both physician and patient favor an alternative to drugs, they often lack the knowledge to employ it.
Whenever I write about mental health and integrative therapies, I am accused of being prejudiced against pharmaceuticals. So let me be clear - integrative medicine is the judicious application of both conventional and evidence-based natural therapies. For some mental health conditions, pharmaceuticals can literally be lifesavers, and they can be all or part of an integrative solution to mental health conditions. The point of integrative mental health is not to exclude pharmaceuticals but to make them one option out of many, so that each patient receives an individualized treatment plan that maximizes reward and minimizes risk. I believe that this commonsense approach will make integrative mental health treatment the preferred modality in the years to come.
At the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, the program I founded in 1994 at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson, we're working hard to promote this. Here are a few of the therapeutic options for depression that we teach.
Nutritional approaches:
Somatic approaches:
Mind-body approaches:
I don't want to trivialize these approaches by implying that they can be adequately conveyed in one blog post - the information listed above is by no means complete, it is meant only as an overview of some therapies for further exploration and inquiry. Also, keep in mind that while depression may be on the way to becoming the most often-diagnosed mental health problem worldwide, integrative specialists are also investigating the diagnosis and treatment of other mental health conditions including anxiety, psychosis, dementia, substance abuse and sleep disturbances.
So for those who seek in-depth knowledge in the broad, burgeoning field of integrative mental health, here are three resources I recommend highly:
Andrew Weil, M.D., is the founder and director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine and the editorial director of www.DrWeil.com. Become a fan on Facebook and follow Dr. Weil on Twitter.
Follow Dr. Andrew Weil on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DrWeil
Lloyd I. Sederer, MD: Seasonal Affective Disorder: How to Beat 'Winter Depression'
Irving Kirsch, P.h.D: Antidepressants: The Emperor's New Drugs?
Mika Ono: 7 Herbal Remedies You Already Have in Your Kitchen (PHOTOS)
For more ifno, check out www.blog.depressionhelpkit.com
We can do this. It is illegal in all other countries in the world for the simple reason it is unethical.
1. CUT AND PASTE CONTENT BELOW TO
TELL OTHER PEOPLE
AND PASTE IN MSNBC CNN NEWSPAPER COMMENTS:
Mission: Ban direct to consumer pharmaceutical advertising in the United States of America by the Year 2011. We can do this. It is illegal in all other countries in the world for the simple reason it is unethical. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=47226199245&ref=ts
Here is the Current.com page.
http://current.com/items/91943072_mission-ban-direct-to-consumer-pharmaceutical-...
TELL THEM WE WILL TAKE THESE FOLLOWING ACTIONS:
1. REFRAIN FROM WATCHING MSNBC AND CNN ETC UNTIL THEY RESPOND AND STOP IMMORAL DRUG SPONSORSHIPS.
2. SWITCH STATION ANY TIME DRUG ADS COME ON AND WHEN CONTENT IS BEING AFFECTED BY BLATANT PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY BIASE.
3. TELL THEM WE ARE NOT BEING FOOLED BY SWINE FLU PROPAGANDA.
4. JOIN FACEBOOK GROUP TO SHOW SUPPORT AND SPREAD THE WORD.
Some therapists now include supplements; others are wary of using untested drugs..."
Just reread this: Man, I not only sound arrogant, I also misspoke! (
Sometimes I try to get too many ideas in one post, then must cut, so end in saying things I didn't intend - working on that!)
I MEANT: therapists like me are usually open to SUGGESTING helpful things to clients, including, at times, supplements; more often, yoga, exercise, etc. We don't 'use' or do them (other than hypnosis) in sessions.
MODALITIES, other than talk/listen/validate, consist, for me, of relaxation/visualization techniques (forms of hypnosis, with appropriate training) for trauma victims; reminiscence for elderly clients; cognitive & family interventions when helpful, etc.
These, along with viewing the individual in context of current & past stressors, medical and biogenetic factors, seem to me "integrative" - or what used to be referred to as "genuinely eclectic!"
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/112/6/1394
- + Nikian I'm a fan of this user 2 fans permalink
Natalie Willoughby: This last comment of hers states mercury was REMOVED from vaccines in 2001 !!!!!!
It can be frustrating to be given advice from non-depressed people who assume their own experience is all the information they need to qualify them to comment on others' mental illness. Even my own friends whom I turn to for support, as well-meaning as they are, sometimes just don't get it. I can't tell you how many times I've been told, "Have you tried getting a massage? That usually makes me feel better when I'm down." I sometimes answer, "Oh, yeah, I mean every time I get diagnosed with flesh-eating bacteria I just treat myself to a massage and it's all better." Sometimes I'm not so sarcastic :)
The thing is, sometimes getting a massage *does* make you feel better. And antidepressants are not perfect. And depression doesn't always show up as a clear-cut change in a brain scan. It can be mild or strong, persistent or transitory, treatable or stubborn. As many have said, there is not one easy answer that fits everyone. And too often there's just enough truth in the "get-a-massage-and-you'll-feel-better" thinking to make many of us doubt our own illness at times.
8:30 PM CST
May want to tell your friends, the more serious ones or the friends you trust, that your "problem" is more than likely biological, involving both chemical changes in the brain and a genetic predisposition. Perhaps they'll be less condescending (which certainly doesn't help your mood), and more empathetic.
I am not a medical doctor, but I can strongly recommend that you try to see more than one MD. You may have a mild form of bipolar ("functional") disease. Most of the lay public doesn't understand that the term "bipolar" has become an expanded diagnosis, involving not just acutely "high" or "low" range mood swings, but mild swings, and even mood changes that don't even "swing" both ends of the spectrum ("monopolar") but seem to "stabilize" at one end, with variable shades and small changes.
Just don't depend on any of us fellow bloggers, no matter what label we attach to ourselves.
J.B.
12/2/09
Carolyn Ross, MD Author: The Binge Eating and Compulsive Overeating Workbook
4:10 PM CST
Quote :
"...The things Dr. Weil recommends are not just for mild problems..."
...Uh huh...and Dr. Confucius say :
"Stabilize first...Experiment later."
J.B.
11/26/09
That is not based on my feelings, or my hopes, but clinical science. Depression is a serious problem; ignoring medical solutions is troubling, if not irresponsible.
I'm no fan of phamesuetical companies, but medication works in treating mental illness.
Quote :
"...clinical science"...
I agree wholeheartedly, with this one exception; not so minor an exception...
The term "clinical science", within the psyhobabble sphere, is, for all intents and purposes, an oxymoron.
J.B.
11/25/09
The only trial that really counts is the empirical one that starts when we embark upon a therapy.
I agree that some of the approaches that Dr. Weil advocates are geared towards milder form of depression.... the problem is that mild depression is often treated with the same drugs as major depression.
I have used S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAMe), N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine (NAC) and fish oil to control chronic depression symptoms successfully for several years now.
For me, it works very well... I do not respond well to SRI medications or traditional antidepressant drugs
I found a therapy called Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR) that has been very helpful for resolving past conflicts. It differs from conventional talking treatment..., it utilizes imagery in a systematic manner to desensitize the effects of difficult experiences and grief.
I found myself in need of anti-depressants after the double loss of a divorce and employment (my 22 years with an employer lasted longer than the 14 year marriage.) Strong anti-depressants do have their use, just as a bandage, crutch, or cast have their use to help prevent re-injury while someone heals.
Jogging is good for your health, but not if you have a broken leg. Let the leg heal before you take up jogging.
1:00 PM CST
Quote :
"...his work is backed with science all the way..."
I do not know the extent or Dr. Weil's work, nor am I familiar with his actual rate of success in treatment, which by itself is virtually impossible to measure.
Insurance stats will not help you on that score.
One of the few saving graces of psychiatry is the requirement of an MD. It can help keep thought disciplined and relatively objective, which is not to say that an MD is necessary to have those attributes.
Sadly an MD does not, repeat, does not render the "soft" science of psychology any more disciplined or valid.
What I like about Dr. Weil is his obvious enthusiasm and earnest attempts to be both open minded and self-correcting, the later attribute being a by product of both medical training and scientific method. These attributes are among the best assurances of productive treatments for psychiatric patients.
Over the years I have heard many professionals complain that psychiatry should not be based upon a medical model. Given the caliber of frontline "nursing", "social" and even graduate level "psychology" staff, I certainly wouldn't want to see psychiatry reduced to the "arts and humanities", a scary proposition.
J.B.
11/26/09
While there is nothing wrong with trying all these therapies advocated here, there may be harm done to those for whom they are ineffective, compounding their depression with feelings of guilt and futility. My fear is that articles such as this can create false hopes for those who have profound depressive disorders that may, in the long run, lead to more suicides than it prevents.
Real depression is a condition that can last for months, or even years with no respite. It destroys one's life from the inside out, alienating friends and family, causing loss of employment and other effects that have long term implications for the sufferers that make recovery a long, hard slog.
It's true many of the pharmaceuticals on the market have side effects, and it takes experimentation to find the ones that work best for an individual. But as a recourse of last resort, they shouldn't be cast aside merely because the corporate interests that produce them, are doing so for profit motives, or because they are unnatural chemicals.
12:30 PM CST
Quote :
"...My fear is that articles such as this can create false hopes for those who have profound depressive disorders that may, in the long run, lead to more suicides than it prevents..."
...Ditto...!!...Ditto...!!...Ditto...!!
My point exactly ! Only you've written it all down far more eloquently than anyone on this blog !
J.B.
11/23/09
Is anyone happy with the way politics, economics, war, famine and disease are being dealt with?
I really like the idea of a "news fast", now that is user friendly.
3:30 PM CST
Quote :
"...I believe that depression is a normal, sensitive person's response to the world as it communicated to us..."
...You would like reading R.D. Laing, assuming you haven't done so already.
The problem with "depression", a broad spectrum "illness", is that it's become almost universally recognized as having a strong genetic component, like many (if not all) dysfunctional "mental health" syndromes. Researchers apparently have yet to find the exact genetic markers, but they think it's pretty much in the bag.
Once again the old "Nature vs. Nurture" will rear it's conflicting head.
J.B.
11/22/09
3:OO PM CST
Quote :
"...The last seven years have been hell..."
...yes, and a simple vote won't "cure" that form of depression.
As already gleaned from some posts here, there are "depressions" that we have to attend to by ourselves, if the genetic lagacy our brain physiology allow us too. Not a small "if".
[My old ST buddy "Spock" said it once : "You are so alone"...]
Therein lies the beast : up to the 21st century, we have indeed been saddled with the arbitrary "natural" legacy of species evolution.
This will change.
J.B.
11/23/09
Love
Bette
You don't know jack about complementary medicine, do you?
.
I'm someone who was very medication resistant until a few weeks ago. The depression and anxiety that has slowly built until it was having a direct effect on my health. In addition to sleeplessness, I had a rash I couldn't explain and that didn't respond to cortisone or similar anti-itch preparations. Seems I'd developed a hyperadrenline effect directly related to stress.
Now I am and always was a milk drinker, so I get plenty of Vitamind D. Eat fish two or three times a week, get plenty of Omega 3, workout out regularly, if not diligently and stilll the anxiety and depression grew llike moss until I wondered how much more I could take.
My problem. Our throw away society. First we tossed consumables and now it's people. Few family ties, colleagues forget your phone number as soon as you leave a job, no one is interest in making new friends unless there's an agenda. You can do everything "right" and the results can still be wrong.
No wonder so many people feel abandoned, alone and depressed.
RE people stating opinions as fact: though far from exact science, the field HAS established biogenetic factors as causal - the reason medications properly prescribed & taken usually DO help!.
SURE, societal factors - particularly at times of great inhumanity, hardship & fear, on a global scale, cause situational - & worsen clinical - depression.
Like an ecosystem in which the disappearance of a sea turtle has a ripple effect, we're complex organisms - psychodynamic: we need nurture; damage to emotional development can impair our ability to connect - environmental: life style can add to damage - & societal: despair can push us further in a direction laid out by our genes.
Baffling: intelligent people with tunnel vision seeking simple answers like 'natural' nutrition or a rigid scientific approach which can't possibly explain & solve all dysfunction.
Dr. Weil insists his approach IS eclectic, yet implies Rx drugs are only one of equally helpful treatments; minimizes debilitating depression; & fails to acknowledge proven bio-genetic factors.
'Snowball' described this risky thinking well; no one's described psychotherapy's healing effect ('In Treatment,' season1, excellent e.g.!).