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
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.
Response from The Daily Athenaeum
I will be replying to John later in the day, but until then, here is his response:
Hi Natasha,
Thanks for the email.
We would be happy to work with you on running a Letter to the Editor in an edition of our newspaper. Letters must include your name, and a title for the letter. Please keep it between 350-400 words. While you must refrain from attacking the author of the piece, please feel free to state your point.
Also – please note that we close comments when they become abusive, attacking, or veer off point. Our site management software sometimes catches inappropriate comments, but when comments start to slip through that are inappropriate it is our policy to close off comments. Our commenting policy can be found here.
Our writer is entitled to her opinion and no opinion is ever intended to offend, but to instead present a viewpoint. All of the columns in our opinion section are not necessarily representative of the entire staff of The Daily Athenaeum. For many of the columns that are run, this one being no exception, there are many different opinions of our staff. We have young writers on our staff, and it’s a constant learning process; this is no exception. While the writer of this piece did use a study, this is a situation where it would have been better to name the study in the article itself. We’ve talked with the writer and she feels bad about offending people when she had no intention to do so. It’s just an example of another learning opportunity for a member of the staff.
We always encourage a lively dialogue with the community, and I hope you do submit a letter to the editor. You can send it to me and I will pass it on to our opinion editor.
Thanks for reading,
John Terry
Managing Editor
Oh for the love of god. What is she, 5? Journalists get death threats, for god’s sake … she can’t take criticism? It’s a university, not a kindergarten. And ‘abuse’ is not a word you get to throw around whenever someone says something you don’t like.
Holly,
I tend to agree. It sounds like the editor was just covering his butt or using the broadest possible definition for abuse I have ever heard.
– Natasha
Natasha,
As always, thank you for being a wonderful advocate.
Krystl,
Thank you for putting together a terrific, non threatening response to the writer of that article. Too often we (everyone in general) get angry at repetive stigma’s, mis information (thanks Roger Clemens) and abusive attacks. It is all to easy for those of us that suffer from a mental illness to get defensive and overlook this is one individual and their learned view.
You were able to eloquently identify with her that you understand her point of view, and provide a wonderful counter point, educating not only her – but the people that she comes in contact with in the future.
Thanks-
Craig
Natasha,
I just posted a series of comments on The Daily Athenaeum’s site. Thought you might like to read them. Thanks for being such an awesome advocate.
***
Dear Ms. Laipler,
No doubt you are feeling bewildered, confused, and even hurt by the multitude of outraged responses to your opinion piece, but rest assured that we have all unwittingly stepped on landmines, and we’ll all do it again. That said, I hope you can appreciate that those of us coping with clinical depression or bipolar disorder are constantly subjected to the condescension, dismissiveness, and callousness (even when unintentional) that comes with ignorance of the true nature of our disorders. (I use “ignorance” in the neutral sense of “lacking knowledge.”)
If our responses seem disproportionately vehement, it is because we know the damage that statements like the ones in this article can do to people who have not yet sought treatment. All too often, the disorder goes untreated for years because we blame ourselves for our inability to overcome what we see as a personal weakness, and the consequences can not only be devastating, they can be fatal.
While many of your statements have some truth to them, they do not present a complete picture of the facts surrounding the effectiveness of treatment methods. Therefore, I’ve compiled some research to fill out the assertions made in the article. While everyone is entitled to their opinions, I hope you, and others sharing your views, will consider the body of evidence given in my subsequent comments. (I’ll break my points into separate posts.)
Sincerely,
Krystl Campos
***
Antidepressants vs Lifestyle Changes
It is correct that antidepressants alone cannot always treat the totality of depression symptoms and severity; however, lifestyle changes are merely a supplement to adequate psychiatric care. As stated within the article itself, multiple studies have shown that a combination of medication, therapy, and lifestyle changes are more effective than medication alone, but make no mistake–the operative word in each and every one of those studies is “alone.” Additionally, there is an enormous difference between situational depression and chronic depression. “Short-term” use of antidepressants may be adequate in the former, but the latter requires long-term care. I know of no research that suggests developing “the skills necessary to deal with stressful situations which trigger the depression” is the “most effective action” a doctor can prescribe. Indeed, a hallmark of clinical depression is that episodes can and do occur without the presence of a precipitating “trigger.”
***
Antidepressants, Withdrawal, and Addiction
Yes, prescription drug abuse is a serious concern; however one CANNOT conflate this with antidepressant use. While some antidepressants can produce withdrawal-like effects, this is not an indication of dependency. Rather, it is the body adjusting to the change in neurotransmitters. Can the effects be terrible? Yes. Are some cases extreme? Yes. Does that mean the medication is addictive? No.
Findings of the UK’s Committee on the Safety of Medicines:
“There is no clear evidence that the SSRIs and related antidepressants have a significant dependence liability or show development of a dependence syndrome according to internationally accepted criteria.”
[Source: http://www.socialaudit.org.uk/6050105b.htm%5D
Abstract from the Journal of Psychopharmacology:
“Withdrawal or discontinuation symptoms have long been recognized with antidepressants but other features of addiction such as tolerance and compulsive use are exceptionally rare. Common clinical problems are patients taking subtherapeutic dosages and prematurely stopping antidepressants. The pharmacodynamic profiles of most antidepressants and the absence of acute `desirable’ effects make addiction theoretically unlikely. It is concluded that, with the exception of tranylcypromine and amineptine, antidepressants do not have a clinically significant liability to cause addiction.”
[Source: http://jop.sagepub.com/content/13/3/300.abstract%5D
***
Hallucinations Associated with Antidepressants
First off, hallucinations are in no way a common side effect of antidepressants. They cannot even be termed an “infrequent” side effect. Hallucinations are, in fact, associated with an extremely rare condition known as “seratonin syndrome,” which is brought on by drug interactions. Operative word being “interactions.”
From the National Institute of Mental Health:
“[T]he FDA has warned that combining the newer SSRI or SNRI antidepressants with one of the commonly-used “triptan” medications used to treat migraine headaches could cause a life-threatening illness called ‘serotonin syndrome.’ A person with serotonin syndrome may be agitated, have hallucinations (see or hear things that are not real), have a high temperature, or have unusual blood pressure changes. Serotonin syndrome is usually associated with the older antidepressants called MAOIs, but it can happen with the newer antidepressants as well, if they are mixed with the wrong medications.”
[Source: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/mental-health-medications/what-medications-are-used-to-treat-depression.shtml%5D
***
Vitamin D and Depression
There is a growing body of evidence to support the notion that Vitamin D deficiency is a factor in depression (I myself have seen benefits since I began taking Vitamin D supplements); however, none of the studies I have seen suggest that Vitamin D supplements are, by themselves, adequate treatment. It is important to note that even the study cited in this article makes no claims that Vitamin D can be substituted for any other form of treatment, medicinal or otherwise. The study was intended to discover whether Vitamin D produced any measurable therapeutic benefit; it did NOT compare the effectiveness of Vitamin D against other medications. In addition, there is absolutely no indication that patients experienced remission–only improvement–nor was there any indication whether patients were taking other medications during their participation in the study.
[Source: http://www.improve-mental-health.com/vitamin-D-and-depression.html%5D
Hi Krystl,
Thank-you for your great, well-researched comments. They are reasoned and reasonable – my very favourite kind of comments. I hope the writer reads them and learns something.
– Natasha
This reply of Krysti’s is a great “guest article” on its own, almost. It’s got solid research correcting common misconceptions. A good read.