Imaging Depression

[Paracelsus]

Via 'Science' online: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/317/5839/757


n a new approach, Airan et al. report on page 819 of this issue the use of optical imaging to capture cellular activity at millisecond resolution in brain slices (2). Their study, which uses rodents with some of the behavioral features of depression, does not define the neurobiology of depression in humans, but it demonstrates how optical imaging--in this case, using voltage-sensitive dyes--can identify changes in brain activity, enabling correlations between real-time cellular activity and changing affective state.

The full report is here: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/sci;317/5839/819.pdf

Differences in neuroanatomy and physiology between rodents and humans mean that this model will only be an approximation of what occurs in depressed humans and will not explore all of the neurophysiological changes that occur with depression.

It is a start, however.

[Lurker]

As someone who depends venlafaxine daily to have a normal life, I am encouraged by any step, however small, that brings us closer to a full understanding of the genetic mechanisms that produce depression in some people. The world can be a beautiful place filled with the most amazing experiences, and I want others who suffer from conditions like mine to have a chance to share in the beauty.

[Gillianren]

Oh, come now, Lurker! You've probably been told as often as I that it's all in your head. (Currently on Geodon but seeing no improvement.)

[Lurker]

Oh, come now, Lurker! You've probably been told as often as I that it's all in your head. (Currently on Geodon but seeing no improvement.)
Yup...

I have also been here: De-Criminalizing Mental Illness (http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1651002,00.html?cnn=yes) Seriously... handcuffs and everything while I was stable on medication!! In my case it occurred in New Mexico.

Someone knew I was officially defined as "mentally ill" and wanted to hurt me.

[Paracelsus]

"If you think health care in America is bad, you should look at mental health care," says Florida state judge and criminal mental health expert Steve Leifman. More Americans receive mental health treatment in prisons and jails than hospitals or treatment centers. In fact, the country's largest psychiatric facility isn't even a hospital, it's a prison — New York City's Rikers Island, which holds an estimated 3,000 mentally ill inmates at any given time. Fifty years ago, the U.S. had nearly 600,000 state hospital beds for people suffering from mental illness. Today, because of federal and state funding cuts, that number has dwindled to 40,000. When the government began closing state-run hospitals in the 1980s, people suffering from mental illness had nowhere to go. Without proper treatment and care, many ended up in the last place anyone wants to be.



From the article Lurker quoted.

Ironically, most people lump simple depression or dysthymia in with the more severe and disabling mental illnesses like schizophrenia. And for ALL mental illnesses, people assume that you are a danger to society if you have one, regardless of your actual diagnosis AND prognosis. So, if you get treated for depression, you wind up getting the same label as, say, the bag lady mumbling to herself on the street corner or a raving psychopath like John Hinckley, Jr., even if you hold a steady, high-paying job, pay your taxes, have never been violent, and are an upstanding citizen in all respects.

The only time this derogatory label does not seem to apply is if you are being treated for alcoholism or some other kind of substance abuse. Movie stars have made it 'ok' to go to rehab. Of course, if you had been sensible and gone to the doctor to get the underlying mental illness treated before trying to self-medicate with drugs or alcohol, you would still get the derogatory label.

So, in essence, sensible behavior and taking care of one's health are penalized by society in this respect.

Typical.

Sorry to hear RE your Geodon not working, Gillianren. Is there any way they could put you on a mix of Li with something else?

[Lurker]

Ironically, most people lump simple depression or dysthymia in with the more severe and disabling mental illnesses like schizophrenia
Actually, there is a growing perception in the psychiatric field that simple depression to the severe chronic depression I suffer from to schizophrenia all represent points on a single curve. That simple depression may be dislocations induced by the world around while the latter two are genetically induced dislocations that differ only in the severity of the genetically induced dislocation.

[Gillianren]

Sorry to hear RE your Geodon not working, Gillianren. Is there any way they could put you on a mix of Li with something else?

Oh, Goddess bright, no! No, lithium's nasty, nasty stuff, and we want to avoid putting me on it as long as possible. It turns you into a zombie and makes everything you eat taste like metal. And I'm simply not sick enough to require it. Right now, we're just going through and trying everything that doesn't cause significant weight gain (not much), because I really can't afford it--I weigh too much as it is. Also, on lithium, you have to get regular tests for heavy metal poisoning.

[Paracelsus]

Yeah, Li has a lot of side effects. The problem is, all of the SSRIs and SNRIs are contraindicated for manic-depression, I believe, although there is a report in the literature of bupropion being least likely to induce mania of the new antidepressants (http://www.theannals.com/cgi/reprint/34/5/619.pdf).

More info here: http://www.neurotransmitter.net/admania.html

[publiusr]

You don't need an imager to see depression. Just drive on the streets awhile.

You'll see lots of it.