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A Second Life for teen depression

TRALEE PEARCE

From Tuesday's Globe and Mail

Latest comment posted at 10:41 AM EDT 21/08/07

Mental-health programs are following teens to their favourite hangout: the Internet ...Read the full article

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  1. Emma Hawthorne from Canada writes: That teens could get some help is wonderful. The risks of psychiatry are also great when you consider the players. Often shunted away from medical care due to poor performance, psychiatrists often begin with a large chip on their shoulder that leaves them wanting to limit others to move themselves ahead. Patients provide a ready target for this kind of counter transference, and teens are especially vulnerable having likely already been failed by their parents. Even though more than half of doctors are from working class backgrounds, psychiatry likes to first pigeonhole and limit patients by their parents' backgrounds, as psychiatrists, epsecially those will esteem problems, like to think of themselves as exceptions to normal outdated class and education rules. This then is a prescription for disaster for any teen - being limited, offered patronizingly dumb treatment, being punished for not accepting the psyciatrist's viewpoint when it is wrong, and leaves the teen, not with a good therapist, but a biologist with a science degree - limited personalities with lacking emotional depth or conversation skills, who then want to be judgmental. On top of this, most psychiatirsts are men, another handicap due to hundreds of years of emotionally limited socialization. I think teens would do much better with psychologists, people with 11 years of training with people (not chopping up frogs, etc. for six years) who chose this field as a first choice, plus psychology includes many women, and provides far and above the best therapists. Forget the chip-on-their shoulder mind police, mental status nuts and chiches of psychiatry, a failed profession, psychology and social work can offer teens so much more without the risk of harm.
  2. Karol Karolak from Canada writes: Emma Hawthorne, just to prove your point; Mad scientists are looking for more study subjects

    http://nro.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/6/5/401

    ====Molecular Abnormalities in Brains of Depressed Patients===

    Trevor Young

    McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

    Studies on the molecular pharmacology of antidepressants have lead to a reinterpretation of earlier models of the neuropathology of depression. Noradrenergic and serotonergic hypotheses of depression have been expanded to include postsynaptic intracellular signal transduction pathways and regulation of gene expression. Because much of this evidence was obtained from postmortem brain, there has been increased interest in the use of this tissue to study depression. In the following pages, we will review the postmortem brain studies in depressed individuals focusing on neurotransmitter systems, signal transduction, and structural abnormalities.

    Key Words: depression • postmortem brain &8226; suicide &8226; signal transduction
  3. Barry Kojima from Hamilton, ON, Canada writes: Can't get out of bed in the morning? You've just described 99.9% of the population.

    Give me a break! We are enabling an entire generation of mental cripples, detracting from people that really need help.

    You have to ask yourself: This is the generation that will look after my generation? I guess we're on our own.
  4. Karol Karolak from Canada writes: Mad scientist L. Trevor Young moved from experiments on mice and rats to experiments on people to create emotional stress resistant variation of human race. http://www.cma.ca/multimedia/staticContent/HTML/N0/l2/jpn/vol-27/issue-1/pdf/pg8.pdf ==Neuroprotective effects of antidepressant and mood stabilizing drugs== L. Trevor Young, MD, PhD Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont. Correspondence to: Dr. L. Trevor Young, McMaster University, 1200 Main St. W, Rm 4N81, Hamilton ON L8N 3Z5; fax 905 522-8804; youngt@mcmaster.ca Medical subject headings: antidepressive agents; bipolar disorder; brain-derived neurotrophic factor; depressive disorder; lithium; models, animal; neuro-protective agents. J Psychiatry Neurosci 2002;27(1):8-9. © 2002 Canadian Medical Association Editorial Recent animal studies have led us to reconsider the mechanism of action of antidepressant and mood stabilizing drugs. Whereas effects on neurotransmitter systems and intracellular signalling pathways continue to amass, studies now suggest that these drugs may act to prevent neuronal damage and cell loss that may occur in the brain of patients with mood disorders. Animal studies suggest that antidepressant and mood stabilizing drugs are neuroprotective and may also lead to neurogenesis in selected brain regions. Although the mechanisms through which neuroprotection occurs and the experimental conditions differ for these 2 classes of drugs, the net effects are clearly relevant to the pathophysiology of mood disorders. (tbc)
  5. Karol Karolak from Canada writes: Mad scientist L. Trevor Young moved from experiments on mice and rats to experiments on people in his attempt to create variation of human race that is resistant to ravages of emotional stress.

    http://www.cma.ca/multimedia/staticContent/HTML/N0/l2/jpn/vol-27/issue-1/pdf/pg8.pdf ==Neuroprotective effects of antidepressant and mood stabilizing drugs== L. Trevor Young, MD, PhD Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont.

    In rat hippocampus and cerebral cortex, long-term treatment with a range of antidepressants, including tricyclics, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, monoamine oxidase inhibitors and electroconvulsive shock, increases the expression of several target genes including brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).

    In addition, infusion of BDNF blocks depressive-like behaviours in rats. Conversely, stress, which is important in the pathogenesis of depression, can decrease the expression of BDNF in key brain regions. Treatment
    with antidepressants has been found to enhance neuro-genesis in the dentate gyrus region of rat hippocampus, and this may be linked to an increase in the expression of BDNF.

    One study found that long-term lithium treatment also increased neurogenesis in mouse hippocampus.
  6. Karol Karolak from Canada writes: More dead bipolar patients needed for mad scientist Dr. Lionel Trevor Young newly appointed Head of Department of Psychiatry at University of British Columbia; http://www.nature.com/npp/journal/v22/n3/abs/1395415a.html ==Increased Temporal Cortex ER Stress Proteins in Depressed Subjects Who Died by Suicide== Christopher Bown BSc, Jun-Feng Wang MD, Ph.D, Glenda MacQueen MD, Ph.D and L Trevor Young MD, Ph.D http://nro.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/6/5/401 ===Molecular Abnormalities in Brains of Depressed Patients=== Trevor Young McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Studies on the molecular pharmacology of antidepressants have lead to a reinterpretation of earlier models of the neuropathology of depression. Noradrenergic and serotonergic hypotheses of depression have been expanded to include postsynaptic intracellular signal transduction pathways and regulation of gene expression. Because much of this evidence was obtained from postmortem brain, there has been increased interest in the use of this tissue to study depression. In the following pages, we will review the postmortem brain studies in depressed individuals focusing on neurotransmitter systems, signal transduction, and structural abnormalities. Key Words: depression • postmortem brain • suicide • signal transduction
  7. Karol Karolak from Canada writes: Eli Lilly and Co. is a manufacturer of Zyprexa (Olanzapine) psychotropic drug approved for treatment of bipolar disorder.

    Dr. Lioner Trevor Young is a 'leading expert' in treatment of bipolar disorder.

    Department of Psychiatry at University of Toronto creates poster;

    http://www.utpsychiatry.ca/News07/jan/Jan15-07-LillyYoung-Fellowship.pdf

    LILLY YOUNG INVESTIGATOR FELLOWSHIP IN BIPOLAR DISORDER
  8. S M from Canada writes: “The growing numbers are due in part to better recognition and a decreasing stigma attached to mental-health issues.”

    Right. And what percentage is due to “we’ve got drugs to sell, get us customers”? Just have a look to who is behind the US TeenScreen program.

    Will anyone be investigating the adolescent diet which is filled with fast food and processed rubbish depriving these children of vitamins and minerals essential to good mental health? I doubt it; much easier to just throw another prescription at this demographic who have been conditioned through the years with the likes of Ritalin to accept a “one pill solves all” ideology.

    Pharmaceutical companies are the new tobacco companies.
  9. whatevah D from Canada writes: Barry,

    I used to think like you. Snap out of it. Get over it. etc etc. Then I suffered post-partum depression and went on meds. they helped a lot and made me feel like myself again. which was essential considering i had a tiny one to take care of. i honestly could not believe it was happening to me or why I couldn't control it. You have no idea what it's like.
  10. John Arthur from Ontario, Canada writes: Barry Kojima: What a cruel and thoughtless diatribe. You are a complete waste of skin and breath. May you suffer an episode of depression to see the light.

    Moron.
  11. Matt Toma from Vancouver, Canada writes: If you have never suffered clinical depression, your opinion on the matter is irrelevant.
  12. dave ross from Canada writes: Emma, my daughter has been recently diagnosed with borderline personality disorder but we have been dealing with her issues for more than 5 years. A few years ago she was able to see a female psychiatrist but they did not get on at all.

    My son has ADD and had severe acting out problems in grade school. He saw a male psychiatrist who helped him channel his frustrations and aggression and he is now the most even tempered 18 year old I could hope for (still distracted but hey...).

    From your diatribe it sounds like you or someone close to you has had problems receiving proper care. I know it's not easy trying to walk through the various minefields of mental health (bureaucracy/stigma/ sense of self-worth etc.) but keep going.
  13. Chase Sanders from Vancouver, Canada writes:
    Teen and young adult depression is something that up until recently seems to have been really swept under the rug.

    I suffered from depression from the 9th grade all up until the 12th until I visited mindyourmind.ca and decided to reach out. For all you grownups out there I highly suggest you take a look. It's created by youth for the 15-24 youth demographic, and it's got some real, genuinely useful stuff.

    I think that overall the general public does not realize how large a problem this is. As a teen myself, I know at least 5 friends who are cutting, and I know at the very least one person who has committed suicide. Ask an adult and they'll tell you teen depression is made up. Ask a youth and they'll be able to point out a handful of their friends . The generation gap I think isn't a matter of occurrence more than it is about a lack of awareness as well as social stigma. Youth are the point in their lives where friends and how people see them matter phenomenally, and to be labelled 'crazy' or 'freak' seems to matter much more than having the courage to walk into a counselor's office.

    Just my two cents.
  14. Pearl Van Oyster from Canada writes: Karolak, your libellous comments are all over this board and have been forwarded to Dr. Young.

    Better watch out -- he might be looking for another post-mortem brain to study...oops guess you'd need a brain, huh?
  15. Jean Dery from St-Jean, Canada writes: Excellent article at the right moment. The start of school year as begun for some and for others, waiting to get back on track. This is some of my personal thoughts about this crucial period in our lives. This is the age where some people learn that they could go to school for eternity and work hard but still wouldn't blend in some of our elite organizations. It is a hard time for these guys and some of them who don't know how to cope with such a difficult time are more at risk to use alcool or drugs and the like to 'stop thinking the moment' and wishing the time to went by itself. Unfortunately, there are also side effects to this false strategy. You have more chance of isolating yourself and to deepen this sense of vulnerability and non-usefulness. We all want to bring something to our society. However, it is always more difficult to carry the burden of our relatives when they think that everything is outside their control and aren't helping you to strive for a better life. It is always more difficult if not impossible to live a better life then the one your parents are living while they are still alive. What I am trying to say is that when you are submerged by obstacles that your parents or relatives didn't had to get through and in consequence you don't have the tools to get through it, the first thing you need to do is to get the tools. Usually it's a better education. We all want improvement so when you are going to decide to get an education, be prepared to make a lot of sacrifices and probably at the end you won't get the perfect job at the perfect place but you are going to get out of that 'going in circle' thing. If you can't get this minimum of acces to tools or you just don't have the focus to strive and read books, use a day by day strategy to life and try to avoid those who don't have a good thinking about themselves. By the way, you won't be alone to try getting a better life. This is Jean Dery from St-Jean, Quebec.
  16. CD W from orillia, Canada writes: A cautionary tale, if you hook up with one of these whack jobs, your life is going to be toast. Do not produce children with them.
  17. Barry Kojima from Hamilton, ON, Canada writes: whatevah D from Canada writes: Barry,

    **

    Did you take a moment to actually read my post?

    I didn't think so.

    Check your self-pity at the door before making comments wholly unrelated to my comments.
  18. Karol Karolak from Canada writes: Pearl Van Oyster from Canada writes: Karolak, your libellous comments are all over this board and have been forwarded to Dr. Young.

    Better watch out -- he might be looking for another post-mortem brain to study...oops guess you'd need a brain, huh?
    Posted 21/08/07 at 4:25 PM EDT |

    Pearl Van Oyster, I am quite sure that Dr. Young gets quite a lot of things forwarded to him these days.
  19. whatevah D from Canada writes: Barry:

    I have no self-pity. Never did. Shame, guilt, horror, yes. Because I used to think like you did, it was hard to accept.

    Now I have empathy, which I did not have before my experience. Perhaps you are the one that did not read my post?
  20. Emma Hawthorne from Canada writes: HI dave ross, Your family has been unusually lucky, based on 50% success in locating treatment within psychiatry, if the local stories we all hear are to be believed. However, as it seems logical to me that you wouldn't seek car repair from a dentist, why seek help for teens from people who are just not good at therapy?
  21. Emma Hawthorne from Canada writes: HI again dave ross, After hesitating, I thought I should point out to you that "borderline personality" is psychiatry's garbage can diagnosis. The label is rarely properly applied, but is widely assigned (by very old fashioned psychiatrists, often poorly trained) to women that anger the psychiatrist. I suggest that your daughter run to a psychologist and seek a proper evaluation. It is not surprising that your daughter would not "get along" with someone who labelled her such. These labels are then a licence to provide poor non-treatment "treatment" if you get my drift . You and your daughter can and should easily research this label, including the phrase "garbage can diagnosis" online, and I hope you might re-read my comments above. She should obtain help in an helpful environment. Once she has a proper diagnosis and a helpful environment, her life should improve dramatically. And, if she actually has this actualy disorder, which is unlikely, there are specialized experts who devote their practices to this disorder. She should see one of those.
  22. Eric Stewart from Canada writes: Karol Karolak from Canada writes: a lot of libelous things.

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