National Depression Screening Day: Stop a Suicide Today

Each year in the US, 30,000 people take their own life and 70% of them tell someone they are planning to do so, or give warning signs. National Depression Screening Day events hope to identify people at risk and get them into treatment. Depression takes a toll on the lives on the depressed individual and family, but the effects of a suicide are indelible, like a tattoo.

Find a site near you by clicking on your state at their website. This year, returning military personnel and their families are especially encouraged to participate. Want more anonymity? You can complete the screening process online. Colleges are also participating in CollegeResponse. Young adults are vulnerable during their first time away from home.

SOS Signs of Suicide programs are now reaching out into High Schools and Middle Schools. I just signed the form yesterday for my own daughter to participate in her middle school program. I will never forget my two high school friends who I lost to suicide. Bill Lane - senior class president, class clown. Rich Erpel - brilliant violinist. You both made me laugh. Rest in peace, where ever you are... My wish for today is that no other child has to feel the pain of that tragic loss.

Labels: depression, screening, suicide prevention

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Summer from Hell: Getting a Handle on Anxiety & Depression

I am so glad summer is over because for me, it has been a summer from hell. It's not the worst summer of my life - that was the one when my husband died when our daughter was 7 months old and the mountains were on fire. I thought the world was ending. No this summer, my darling daughter who once worshiped me turned 13 and decided she hated me and let me know about it, loudly and often. That caused me a lot of anxiety. My job was causing me anxiety. I got anemic and run down for the usual reasons. Things were spiraling down hill. Hey! I'm a health expert - this isn't supposed to happen. I needed to get a handle on things.

I got my stress under control. I sent my daughter to visit my sister and her daughter for 3 weeks. I took a vacation - at home, alone. Sort of. I got my anemia under control with rest, food, iron supplements and a multivitamin with folate. I spent time in the sun, exercising. I meditated. But crazy things kept happening to me. The well collapsed on a property in the country that has been in our family for years - I have to get a new well dug!

Anxiety and stress that last over time and come at as from so many angles of our life can begin to erode our confidence in ourselves and our sense of competence as a person. The first symptom I recognized was middle insomnia - I was waking up in the middle of the night, ruminating about all the things I felt I was doing wrong. Then I realized I had lost quite a bit of weight without really trying (not so undesirable!). Next I realized I was feeling sad, blue and irritable. When it was a beautiful sunny day and I found myself lying in bed crying in the afternoon I said, "Oh, yuck. I'm depressed." I wasn't profoundly depressed - it hadn't gone on for 2 weeks - I was mildly depressed. This called for action. Prompt action to prevent a slide downhill. I share this with everyone because I'm not really ashamed. There are few people who don't get depressed from time to time. Most of us don't realize we can prevent a slide into a deeper depression -(some of us, sometimes).

• Reach out to people who care about you: I made some phone calls and talked to people who love me
• Get out of the house and do something fun: the worst thing to do is wallow - get up &: get going. I chose several fun things to do and had fun doing them
• Make sure you get a good night's sleep.
  

Knowing I had middle insomnia, I forced myself to stay up late, until I was really tired. I went to bed late and when I woke up, the sun was shining - it was 7:30 AM, unheard of for me. I felt like a new person. Sleep restores the soul.

My kid is back at school, I'm back at work, and my stressors continue to bombard me. But I am sleeping through the night, and I am not depressed. Summer is over. Tomorrow is another day.

Labels: anxiety, depression, insomnia

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New Warnings for Young Adults on Antidepressant Medications

Today the FDA made a propsoal to all manufacturers of antidepressant medications to update the black box warnings on their products to include warnings about the increased risks of suicidal thinking and behavior (aka suicidality) in young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 during initial treatment.

First of all, what is Black box warning? Well, it literally is a black box on the package insert of a drug. According to the FDA, it is used to highlight special problems, and in particular, those that are serious and is meant to give healthcare professionals a clear understanding of any potential medical complications associated with a drug. The whole point is to enable practitioners to prescribe the medication in a way that maximizes the benefits and minimizes the risks of the drug. Secondly, what time period is considered the "initial treatment" phase? Again according to the FDA it is generally the first one to two months of treatment.

The scientific data which this new warning is based on did not show this increased risk in those over age 24 and that adults 65 years of age and older who were taking antidepressants have a decreased risk of suicidality. What does all this mean to people taking these medications. Well first off, don't stop taking them without first consulting your healthcare provider and if you have any concerns you should definitely notify him or her.

For a list of products involved in today's action click here.

Photo courtesy of Emuishere Peliculas

Labels: antidepressants, depression, paxil, prozac, ssri's, zoloft

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