Chris Jones on depression (his own) and suicide

YF... it's more about control. When life is up in the air and you feel like you're damned if you do, damned if you don't, suicide starts to look more and more like a get out of jail free card. It's the one thing that you feel you have control over.

 

Dick, I have been.

Many times.

And no, I wasn't the one being locked in.

How do you feel about how medication regimens are administered for those suffering from depression or mental illness?

 

I'm not sure I have enough of a fully formed opinion about psychotropic drugs yet to make a definitive declaration about that.

I definitely think that there are some issues in regards to administering them involuntarily, particularly to criminals (ex. Unfit to stand trials).

 

The problem with recognizing, treating (and getting paid to treat) mental illness is the word "mental." There's still some assumption of "it's all in your head."

Illness is illness, whether it's the flu or depression. When I think of the (lessening) stigma attached to certain illnesses, I think of this Mitch Hedberg line:

"Alcoholism is a disease, but it's like the only disease that you can get yelled at for having. 'Damn it, Otto, you're an alcoholic.' 'Damn it, Otto, you have lupus.' One of those two doesn't sound right."

http://comedians.jokes.com/mitch-hedberg/videos/mitch-hedberg---alcoholism

 

It's really powerful, if done right. I was fortunate to see a very well acted version of it. It's not easy to watch at times; it's not supposed to be. But it's tremendous story-telling. Considering it's sort of autobiographical, it really underscored the tortured balancing act between suicidal thoughts and brilliant writing that someone like O'Neill grappled with.

 

No opinion? C'mon Dick, there was a medication scene in the movie you mentioned earlier, wasn't there?

(Sorry, had to do it)

What I don't understand is how you can be dissmissive of chemical imbalance, but then say you don't know enough about the drugs used in treatment to have an opinion.

What do you think about how these medications like Seroquel, Cymbalta, etc. are marketed?

 

I want to circle back to electroconvulsive therapy.

I've seen patients immediately before and after receiving treatment. If they were treated in the morning by the afternoon they were able to sit in with group therapy.

Reboots the brain from what I was told, and has to be administered periodically to maintain effectiveness.

 

Are they 50?

Too many writers today want to think seven shows done just like The Office are funny. Amy Winehouse's death hits them harder. Shit, read Grantland. That's all the new "writers." They'll OD on spiced chai before they drink themselves to death. They may be depressed, however.

 

I'm not dismissive. I think that it is probably a vast oversimplification. Like saying cancer is "bad cells."

I think the drugs can work, but that a chemical "imbalance" is not necessarily the root cause of the mental illness. As it's been explained to me, this is like saying that headaches are due to a shortage of aspirin in the brain, since aspirin helps them go away.

I'm not being dismissive of mental illness by questioning the cause. I am moreso wary of people who get the idea that it's a situation of, "Take two pills and call me in the morning."

There are two dangerous groups:

(1) People who think mental illness isn't real.
(2) People who think that it's a simple chemical "imbalance" that can be taken care of as quickly and easily with a pill a day. And I think that the marketing of some of the drugs you mention definitely hint at that in their DTC advertising, if not outright saying it.

 

Well, I'm almost 38, and I've been out of the business for more than three years, so I can't really speak for the young kids, but the writers I came up with, I heard more than once, "The more unhappy I am, the better I write..." and Hemingway more than once was mentioned, not that the friend in question was comparing himself to Hemingway...

Is Grantland's staff really that young? The writers there who I know are all in their 30s or 40s.

 

Has anyone on this thread suggested either of those things?

 

Dick,

Here's some research from the University of Michigan that may give you some insight on the subject I was trying to discuss with you:

•Depression is a brain disorder, caused by abnormalities in the levels of neurochemicals in the brain.

More:

Depression is a serious illness caused by changes in brain chemistry. Factors that contribute to the onset of depression include: genetics, changes in hormone levels, certain medical conditions, stress, grief or difficult life circumstances. These factors, either alone or in combination, can precipitate changes in brain chemistry that lead to depression’s many symptoms.
http://depressioncenter.org/

And I don't know of any reputable medical professional who would suggest a med-only course of treatment for something like depression. CBT or DBT are additional therapy options, along with others.

You can pull your research and post it as well. My point is I see things differently and I thought I could ask you why you felt the way you do.

I'm off the thread.