Re: janet's rants on clinical depression (cd) and suicide / on second thought

[Janet Paterson <janet313@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

cross-pollination from the mgh webforum

posted August 02, 2000 07:39 AM

Thank you, Janet. This is provoking material. I'm very glad to see this thread 
here, because I
see a lot of denial of depression issues in this forum. My own postings on 
depression sink
like a rock, with few replies (maybe I should rant more). There are even 
comments in other
threads stating that we don't have suicidal people here, etc, etc (maybe I 
should call them
down when they happen).

Every case of Parkinson's Disease carries with it a high probability of 
co-occurring
depression (the usual guess is around 40%).

Every case of Clinical Depression, left untreated, will eventually lead to 
thoughts of
hopelessness and suicide. These thoughts often come against the will of and 
contrary to the
personality of the sufferer.

Both disorders require a lot of fortitude to fight, because doctors really 
don't know the
mechanisms of the chemical imbalances nor how the drugs to treat them actually 
work,
necessitating a sometimes long and tedious process of discovering what 
treatment will work.

Denial due to social stigma is something we can put an end to. Denial of a 
neurotransmitter
disorder makes about as much sense as denial of a broken leg. Why do people 
accept
treatment for a "movement disorder" and refuse treatment for a "mental
disorder"???

Remember the post on neurotransmitters? (I didn't think so.)
---Serotonin regulates worry and anger.
---Dopamine regulates initiative and pleasure.
---Norepinephrine regulates alertness and energy.
---Treatment for clinical depression may require a combination of drugs to 
affect a
combination of neurotransmitters.

Well, I'm trying to hang on to my job, so I gotta go. Hope this isn't off the 
thread, Janet. I was
sorry to hear about Paige, although I didn't know her. I'm hoping that our 
ranting will help
someone else.

posted August 02, 2000 08:15 AM

your reply is not off the thread, jaye.
in my humble opinion,
it is right on the money.
maybe it's time to post about neurotransmitters again;
i missed it and it sounds interesting.
several months ago,
i set up a 'suicide' page on my website
along with other topics culled from my list messages,
and the suicide page was the most frequently visited.
i'm thinking of expanding it - maybe i could include your post?
lack of response to this subject
[again imho]
doesn't reflect a lack of interest
on the contrary
it seems to me it reflects
the level of denial and shame
surrounding the subject.
in re the incidence of cd in pd,
the figure i have up with most often
is 50%.
and 80% of all cd goes undiagnosed and untreated.
so there are a lot of parkies out there
caught up in feeling hopeless and despondent
totally and completely unnecessarily.
as a cause of death in the usa,
suicide rates among the top ten,
and is higher than homicide.
why is there no outcry against this
deadly epidemic?
toxic shame and embarassment?
phooey, say i

janet