Story Archives of 'Depression'

As the recession has deepened, more and more people have needed help dealing with mental health crises. But as caseloads grow, resources are shrinking. Thursday, the Department of Health and Human Services reduced Medicaid payments to mental health providers.
And as NHPR’s health reporter Elaine Grant reports, that’s creating some brutal choices.

As anyone with diabetes or heart disease knows, chronic health conditions are hard to manage.
Add a mental illness and it gets even tougher.
But some local health care agencies are working with a unique program that helps monitor symptoms and teach patients how to care for themselves.
NHPR health reporter Elaine Grant has the story.

Concord Hospital has become one of the first in the country to offer a new treatment for depression. The FDA approved the procedure only this past October.
The treatment, called TMS, delivers powerful magnetic pulses to the brain.
NHPR’s health reporter Elaine Grant explores how TMS works – and whether the relief it offers is worth the high cost.

There is no argument that depression is one of the most widespread mental illnesses. About 16% of all people will encounter at least one major depressive episode in their lives. Since 1986, the drug Prozac has been prescribed for many depression sufferers, becoming the most widely prescribed anti-depression medication in history.

Today, new research is discovering hidden benefits to this drug, and it’s transforming not only the way we treat depression, but the very science of this disease. Jonah Lehrer wrote an article for The Boston Globe about the effects of Prozac beyond the treatment of depression, and he joins us to talk about it on the show today.

Also, Prozac is not the only prescription drug our culture has become increasingly familiar with in the last decade. Pharmaceutical companies spend billions of dollars every year on marketing to make sure we know the latest, greatest pills hitting the local drugstore. In fact, direct-to-consumer advertising of brand name drugs has grown from $700 million in 1997 to more than $4 billion today.

Melody Petersen believes that has created a society that is hooked on meds we don’t need. She spent four years covering the drug companies for The New York Times, and she just wrote a new book called "Our Daily Meds: How the Pharmaceutical Companies Transformed Themselves into Slick Marketing Machines and Hooked the Nation on Prescription Drugs."

It's tough to find a lighter side of growing old, but Senior Moments does just that. The group of elder actors has been touring the state with their new performance "There is a Tomorrow". It is five one act-plays dealing with issues like depression, isolation and the power of friendship. Yet this show is no tear-jerker, written for seniors by seniors, "There is a Tomorrow" tackles these issues with a mixture of laughs, head nodding moments and life lessons. Today on the Exchange we look at the challenges of growing older and have our actors perform scenes from their new show. Laura's guests are Lucille Karatzas, Director of Elder Services at Seacoast Mental Health Center and statewide director of the Referral Education Assistance and Prevention Program (REAP) and Joanne Dodge, co-founder and organizer of the Senior Moments performance group. Plus we'll be joined by some of the actors of "There is a Tomorrow"...Bob Reynolds, Barbara Randall, Claire Cane.