Blogging on the New York Times site, television personality Dick Cavett describes his recent trip home to Nebraska to talk about his experiences with depression. To his surprise, he got a lot of laughs.

I was able to say to them, I know that everyone here knows that feeling when people say to you, “Hey, shape up! Stop thinking only about your troubles. What’s to be depressed about? Go swimming or play tennis and you’ll feel a lot better. Pull up your socks!” And how you, hearing this, would like nothing more than to remove one of those socks and choke them to death with it. (Laughter mixed with some minor cheering.)

… (Such inane advice of the “socks up” variety, by the way, can only be excused by the fact that if you’ve never had it you can never begin to imagine the depth of the ailment’s black despair. Another tip: Do not ask the victim what he has “to be depressed about.” The malady doesn’t care if you’re broke and alone or successful and surrounded by a loving family. It does its democratic dirty work to your brain chemistry regardless of your “position.”)

From National Public Radio:

A ruling in a lawsuit against the Veterans Administration by Berkeley-based Disability Rights Advocates could be handed down as soon as today. Plaintiffs allege that the VA has not provided timely mental health care for returning veterans, and say there is a backlog of 600,000 claims at the VA, some dating all the way back to the Vietnam war.

A recent study by the Rand Corporation found that nearly one out of every 5 troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan is suffering from a mental health disorder, including traumatic brain injury, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Related posts:

• Veterans face devastating waits for disability benefits
• How the military has repaid vets with permanent disabilities

A new wave of activists wants to celebrate atypical brain function as a positive identity, not a disability. Opponents call them dangerously deluded.

From New York magazine, an extended feature on the new autism rights — AKA neurodiversity — movement.

Writer Andrew Solomon concludes that there are actually three camps in the autism debate that are blatantly hostile to one another:

• Those who believe autism is caused by environmental toxins (especially vaccines) and should be cured by addressing those pollutants;
• Those who believe it is genetic and should be addressed through the genome; and
• The neurodiverse, who believe that it is genetic and should be left alone.

Solomon himself has depression, and feels that his experience with it has been on the whole positive. He concludes that autism, and its champions, also have much to contribute to human understanding.

(more…)

Stephanie Meredith, past co-president of the Down Syndrome Association of Atlanta, sends a response to Leslie Roberts’ blog post: ‘When abortion may be an acceptable choice.’ Roberts, a Canadian newsman and television personality, had written that abortion may be an acceptable choice when a disability is diagnosed prenatally.

Meredith writes:

Far from adding unendurable stress, parents of children with Down syndrome indicate that the stress involved with raising a child with Down syndrome is lower than expected (Hodapp et. al. 2001) and that families enjoy positive benefits from raising a child with Down syndrome (Blacher & Baker 2006). In fact, research suggests the parents of children with Down syndrome actually experience a lower divorce rate than couples who do not have children with Down syndrome (Urbano & Hodapp 2007), and the siblings of children with Down syndrome are typically more compassionate and well-adjusted than their peers (Dykens 2005).

While the reasons for this have not been fully explored and since most parents would resolutely deny the claim that they are saints, the evidence suggests that there is something to be learned from embracing genetic diversity. (more…)

Many who served in Iraq, Afghanistan remain undiagnosed

Less than half of affected veterans have been treated

From the Los Angeles Times:

Nearly one in five veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is currently suffering from depression or stress disorders, according to the latest and most comprehensive study of current and former military service members, released today.

Less than half of those 300,000 veterans have received care for depression or post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to the study, signaling significant problems with the U.S. mental healthcare system.

The study shows that the stress disorders may be more prevalent and lasting than previously known.

The research was conducted by the Rand Corp. and funded by the California Community Foundation.

From the New York Times, a story that’s been hovering at or near the top of the ‘most e-mailed’ list:

It’s the tale of what’s being called a breakthrough in neuroscience: a potential new drug to reduce symptoms of schizophrenia. Instead of going the traditional route and relying on the neurotransmitter dopamine, research at Eli Lilly & Company focuses instead on glutamate.

The Lilly results have fueled a wave of pharmaceutical industry research into glutamate. Companies are searching for new treatments, not just for schizophrenia, but also for depression and Alzheimer’s disease and other unseen demons of the brain that torment tens of millions of people worldwide.

Driving the industry’s interest is the huge market for drugs for brain and psychiatric diseases. Worldwide sales total almost $50 billion annually, even though existing medicines have moderate efficacy and have side effects that range from reduced libido to diabetes.

From People magazine, NBC Today show:

Sources close to Britney Spears say it’s likely she has bipolar disorder, although she has not been formally diagnosed.

See other posts:

Journalist: We’re all complicit in Britney’s tragedy

Columnist: Will Britney’s meltdown prompt reform in California mental health policies?