Linkapalooza

All links, no editorializing.
Well, not much editorializing.

The doors of perception

More evidence is in that hallucinogens may have some value in treating some mental disorders, particularly anxiety and depression. This post at the Smithsonian covers the latest research, in this case into the use of psilocybin (the active ingredient in psychedelic mushrooms) to ease anxiety.

Motivational speakers on happiness kill themselves

No, it's not a headline from The Onion.

But this brief news item is a good place holder while I finish my post on cognitive-behavioral therapy and the cruelty of mandatory positive thinking.

The problem with vascular tumors of unknown etiology

The problem with vascular tumors of unknown etiology that grow aggressively at your skull base and wear away the bone is that you don’t have a lot of control over them.

This does not have anything in particular to do with depression, actually. But it is one of the best things I've read in quite a while, and does address issues of being ensnared in the world of modern medicine. It addresses many other things as well: family and love and courage and strength. It is smart and funny and inspiring.
Go to Chronicles of Mayo, scroll all the way down, and then read your way up.

It is the story of Stephanie Fahs and her journey after being diagnosed with a "benign" tumor. The discord between the normal use of the word "benign" and the way it is used in medical contexts suggests a very dark and twisted sense of humor on somebody's part. As a reminder, here is the definition from Merriam-Webster online:

I want to see the colors, Pt. 2a: Doing Drugs

A brief note about seeing the colors:

One of the several cruel things about dysthymia is that it eventually comes to seem that it has always been with you; it may even seem to be part of you, or perhaps part of some broken interface between you and the world. It eventually becomes just part of the texture of the way things are, and sufferers learn to accept it with resignation; it becomes impossible to imagine anything ever being any different. Somewhere in my chaotic pile of notes relating to depression and dysthymia I have a quote from a woman whose dysthymia lifted when she began taking anti-depressants. She said* that after she went on medications it was like finally being able to see colors after a lifetime of seeing only grays. It was a nice analogy, simple and precise. And how nice that must be, I thought, to see the colors, to look around the world and perceive a depth that was previously unknown, to experience the small joys that most humans feel as a matter of birthright.  That, I thought, is all I really want.

I read about that women's experience after I had tried Therapeutic Lifestyle Change (TLC).  When I started TLC,  I was hoping to avoid drugs, given their low success rates, side effects, and discontinuation issues. My plan all along, really, had been to try the most natural treatment option I knew of—TLC—and THEN, if that failed, to move on to drugs. Unfortunately the TLC delivered limited amelioration, and after a long wait, and with the dark affective claustrophobia of impending winter, I knew my next step had to be drugs. 

So let's talk about drugs.