Month: November 2011

A Damaged Brain and a Mind Trying to Deal with It

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Nov 30, 2011

My Twitter bio says I have, “a damaged brain and a mind trying to deal with it.” This confuses a lot of people. It’s OK. I get it. Most people don’t differentiate between the mind and the brain. But I do. In fact, I consider it a critical distinction for people with a mental illness.

Your mind is who you are; your brain is just what you are.

Bipolar Disorder Attacks the Brain

People don’t like that I say I am bipolar. People argue this suggests that all I am is bipolar. Well, it doesn’t. What it suggests is a grammatically correct English sentence that expresses exactly what it needs to – I am a person who has bipolar disorder. Much as diabetics aren’t just diabetic alone, being bipolar doesn’t make you bipolar alone either.

But again, I understand their point. I am more than bipolar. Of course I am. I’ve spoken of it many times. But I make that distinction without difficulty or without the need for wordplay. I understand innately that bipolar disorder has attacked my brain and I yet I am still as me as I ever was.

Defending Psychiatry

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Nov 28, 2011

I often find myself in the unenviable position of defending psychiatry. This, in spite of the fact that I am not a psychiatrist nor do I even play one on TV.

Nevertheless, I feel compelled to speak on psychiatry’s behalf. Maybe it’s because when left to their own devices, psychiatrists aren’t very good at it. Or more likely it’s simply because an unreasonable number of people attack psychiatry unreasonably and I think someone ought to bring the concept of reason into the discussion.

Antipsychiatry

There is a faction of folks out there who are antipsychiatry and every time I mention them I get hate mail. But here I am again. Antipsychiatry. Antipsychiatry. Antipsychiatry.

N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) – Inexpensive Treatment for Bipolar Depression

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Nov 22, 2011

N-acetylcysteine, also known as N-acetyl-L-cysteine or just acetylcysteine is a supplement that shows promise in the treatment of bipolar depression. This is really big news because there are very few drugs, supplements or anything else that show promise in the area of bipolar depression. But N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is even better than most because:

N-acetylcysteine is an over-the-counter supplement
N-acetylcysteine is cheap
N-acetylcysteine has very few known side effects

Generic Olanzapine (Zyprexa) and Generic Drug Benefits – Guest Post

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Nov 17, 2011

Today’s piece is written by Elaine Hirsch of MastersDegree.net. She writes today about the benefits of generic drugs for patients. Note: This is in no way an endorsement of, or advertisement for, olanzapine (Zyprexa).

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must approve any medication before it is made available to patients, this includes generic medications. As highlighted in one of Natasha’s earlier articles (Are Brand Name Drugs Better than Generics? – Drugs are not Cornflakes), generic drugs must go through rigorous FDA tests just as their brand-name counterparts do. The approval of generic olanzapine (Zyprexa) for bipolar disorder the FDA has taken a step forward in providing better healthcare to men and women who suffer from mental health issues.

Free Drug Samples – Do they Cost More in the Long-Run?

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Nov 16, 2011

I was recently made aware of an article on MSNBC which alleges free drug samples provided by doctors actually end up costing the patient more money over time. This, of course, is completely counter-intuitive, and I, not in the habit of taking health information from news sources, looked it up.

And yes, it is, in fact, the case that some studies indicate that those who get free drug samples from their doctor actually end up paying more money in the long-run.

How can this possibly be?

Glad you asked.

Mental Illness Words You Can’t Say

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Nov 14, 2011

As a writer I take claim to any and all words. They are mine and I do with them as I please. This includes mental illness / mental health terms. However, some people would argue that as a mental health writer and advocate, it is my responsibility to promote certain language and verbiage.

I did not agree to that.

I agreed to be a writer. I agreed to be opinionated. I agreed to be passionate. I agreed to be well-researched. I agreed to be intelligent. I did not agree to push a political agenda.

Mental Illness Words You Can’t Say

Nevertheless, people still insist that I not use the following words / phrases:

Whackjob
Nutjob
Nutbar
Crazy
Bonkers
Off his rocker
Mentally unstable
“The mentally ill”
Bipolars
“I’m bipolar”

And about a million other things. The politically correct people have told me I’m not allowed to refer to anyone’s mental capacity in anything but the most politically correct way. Which is, in case you were wondering, a person with a mental illness or a person with bipolar disorder, etc.

Again, not to flog a horse that happens to be dead, but I have poetic license which means I get to do whatever I want with words.

The Daily Athenaeum Response Regarding the Depression Article

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Nov 10, 2011

Last night I received a response from John Terry, the managing editor at The Daily Athenaeum. While I am rather disappointed to its content as it seems to have missed my points, I do appreciate someone from the paper taking the time to answer my email.

Objection to the Depression Article and Abusive Comments

Depression Article Response

One of the points John makes is that they cut off comments because the comments became “abusive, attacking.” While I don’t agree, the comments seem pretty tame to me, I will say that I do agree with his point that it isn’t acceptable to abuse or attack the author of the article or other commenters. In my opinion, the issue with The Daily Athenaeum’s piece has more to do with editorial permission to publish and less to do with the individual author. Any one person can be ignorant and uninformed but that’s when it’s up to the editor to step up and make sure that such content does not get published.

Moreover, my objection is around the content and the effect it has on others. This takes precedence over even editoral judgement. That multiple people that such stigmatizing and minimizing remarks were acceptable to print at all is the problem, not the individuals, per se.

Letters to the West Virginia University Regarding Depression Article Feedback

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Nov 8, 2011

The following is a copy of the two letters I have sent to the West Virginia University (see why I’m fighting their stigma here). I have yet to receive a reply. You are welcome to copy and paste any parts that you like and send them yourself. The most voices the better.

Send Your Email to the Newspaper and Other University Staff

I sent this letter to everyone at the paper as well as psychology and journalism heads at the school:

To: ‘DAnewsroom@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘DAPerspectives@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Alan.Waters@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Tracy.Morris@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Kevin.Larkin@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘William.Fremouw@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Maryanne.Reed@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Diana.Martinelli@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘CHERUKURI@huffingtonpost.com’; ‘Danielle.Faipler@mail.wvu.edu’

CC: ‘velasconyc@yahoo.com’; ‘DASports@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘DAA&E@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Erin.Fitzwilliams@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘John.Terry@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Alex.Koscevic@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Mackenzie.Mays@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Lydia.Nuzum@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘James.Carvelli@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Ben.Gaughan@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Berry@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Jeremiah.Yates@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Jakob.Potts@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Charles.Young@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘DACalendar@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Matthew.Sunday@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘DA-Editor@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘BoFisher@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Kyle.Hess@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Alan.Waters@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Pam.Dodson@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘chris.mcelroy@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘Jami.Christopher@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘roy.batesr@mail.wvu.edu’; ‘danewsroom@mail.wvu.edu’

To the Editors and Management of the Daily Athenaeum as well as the psychology and journalism professionals at West Virginia University,

After a lack of response regarding my prior feedback on the Depression can be treated through lifestyle changes article, I’m forced to again express my extreme disappointment in the handling of this situation.

I would like to encourage the editorial team to take this as an opportunity not only to acknowledge the questionable reporting, but also to help remove stigma from the mental health community. I strongly ask for:

A retraction and correction of the published piece posted online, on Facebook and Twitte
A series of education-focused articles on the mental health services available for WVU students and mental illness stigma
A guest column on mental illness to be published (I would be happy to contribute this)

I am asking for professional journalism behavior as are the hundreds of other people who have read my articles on this subject. I look forward to your reply.

Natasha Tracy

Mental Health Advocate and Writer

https://natashatracy.com

Disallowing Depression Misconceptions – Newspaper Response

Posted by Natasha Tracy | Nov 6, 2011

Last week many people read my article Disallowing Depression Misconceptions containing critical remarks about a piece in West Virginia University’s school paper, The Daily Athenaeum. The piece was entitled Depression can be treated through lifestyle changes and suggested, among other inaccuracies, that all people needed to help depression was, “a walk in the park.”

I found Depression can be treated through lifestyle changes to be stigmatizing and just plain inaccurate and I said so both here at the Bipolar Burble and in the comments on The Daily Athenaeum’s website as well. I’m pleased to say many of my readers also stopped by to express rather notable disapproval of the article.