“Depression. Have you been there? Those who have aren’t likely to forget it. Basic tasks become cumbersome monsters, impossible to conquer. Brushing your teeth can feel like a marathon. Sunshine is offensive. Rainy days make it worse. My best friend suffers terribly from depression. It breaks my heart to see. At first, everything inside of[…]
“In April 2013, Insel announced that the NIMH would shift its $1.4 billion annual research budget away from projects focusing on DSM diagnoses to instead concentrate on underlying disturbances of brain circuitry. That means using brain imaging to look at the activity of these circuits, as well as studies of brain chemistry, genetics, and thinking[…]
‘“The stigma surrounding depression makes people feel like they can’t talk about it openly—or at all,” says Eva. “And in turn, those people are not getting the help they need.” But in the end, school officials blocked the issue, citing their fear that the stories would provoke bullying or trigger recurrences in recovered students. Eva[…]
“In 2013, she decided to begin a series that dealt with the realities of what it means to put on a brave face while simultaneously coping with forms of depression. Starting with herself, Obert took two photos: one that showed the person she chooses to present to the world, and a second portrait that presented[…]
“What the loose but insistent truss-work of cartoons hints at is that mental illness is not structurelessness—instead, it requires you to make sense of a structure you don’t recognize. The structure is hard to describe because you probably don’t share it with anyone else. Maybe that’s the point of comics: to discover new forms of[…]
“Evidence from many credible studies shows that exercise is potent medicine for the mind. Both strength training and cardiovascular exercise yield benefits above the shoulders, like greater endurance under stress and more mental elasticity to bounce back from difficult situations. We know that some of these benefits come from exercise elevating brain chemicals, likeendorphins, that produce a[…]
“Stigma’s icy wedge, the one it creates within our families, is hands down the one I hear about the most. It makes sense: Stigma hurts most from the ones we love. It is like a painful ache to the bone. With a physical illness you get loads of support. Can we help you with your[…]
“Every year you probably visit a dentist to make sure you don’t have any cavities or a primary care doctor to get your blood pressure and cholesterol checked. But you may not think about getting screened for depression. You might see the lack of desire to meet up with friends or increased feelings of tiredness as just[…]
“Unfortunately, in health care, we tend to split the mind and body sometimes,” he says. “So if someone complains of their physical symptoms … that’s what clinicians tend to target. So, that preponderance of physical symptoms for people who also have the mood symptoms sometimes tends to overwhelm the underlying cause. But [the symptoms] go[…]
“Depression is not a bad mood. It is a biological reality and a medical condition, and when we talk about it as anything less than that, we belittle the people suffering from it…It is important to remember that depression is a disease with a biological basis, along with psychological and social implications. It’s not simply[…]
