The ALTERNATIVE MENTAL HEALTH NEWS Issue 44, March 2004

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The ALTERNATIVE MENTAL HEALTH NEWS

 

Issue 44, March 2004

 

 

Recovery After Forty-Five Years of Schizophrenia

indexThe following was sent to Safe Harbor from Canada:

The problems in my life, due to what they called schizophrenia, started when I

was a young teenager. The path I took before I finally found out what my problem

was forty-five years long.

My life from thirteen to thirty-one was mostly a lonely, painful experience. I

was an intelligent, motivated human being. I wanted to be successful in life,

but I had three careers and many jobs ruined. I endured many struggles from

junior high school through December 1974, when I had a major psychotic crash

which eventually led to criminal charges in May of 1976.

My drive to enter medical school and eventually enter the field of biochemistry

research was my dream from early teens. After the struggle of graduating from

high school, where I could not gain my third major because of interruptions from

mental problems relating to paranoia, unreal fears and panic attacks, I joined

the Canadian Navy in frustration. I became a sonar operator in submarine

detection in 1963 by training at the Fleet Sonar School in Key West, Florida and

then situated on a joint U.S./Canadian Oceanographic Research Station in Nova

Scotia. After leaving Key West and starting on-the-job training at my permanent

base, I had my first short, but severe, psychotic breakdown. Still only 19 years

old, I fought to stay in the Navy, and, thankfully, did not have my life

tarnished by a mental health discharge.

Later, while doing my job at this base, I finally got my third major, the high

school law course, for my university entrance high school diploma. While still

in the Navy, I applied to the School of Nursing at the Vancouver General

Hospital, and got an honourable discharge in January 1965 to enter nursing.

After 1 1/2 years of nursing, I finally got the courage to do what I really

wanted to do, and applied to the Department of Medicine at the University of

British Columbia, where I was accepted into PreMed. I started at U.B.C. in Sept.

1967, but soon the pressure on my life was drawing me back into more severe

paranoia, fears and panic attacks and I could not continue.

In 1968 I went to work as a bookkeeper in the lumber industry in Vancouver, B.C.

and in 1970, while still working on the job in the daytime, I started night

school at U.B.C. to get my degree as a Certified General Accountant. By the end

of 1972 I was again unable to continue due to the problems I was having, and I

had to leave my job and the university. I then took a job in the Fraser Valley

of B.C. as a junior accountant for a medium sized cedar mill. After two years of

this job, which was challenging and worthwhile to me, I again collapsed.

I had not a violent or criminal bone in my body. But from December 1974 to May

of 1976, I was dosed with valium and then had shock treatment, which eventually

led me to a two-week stay in a local prison, and then to a mental hospital. I

was treated while going through a six-month trial for arson, and was given an

Order-in-Council by the Attorney General of British Columbia for innocence due

to insanity.

When I left the mental hospital for the last time in October 1978, with an

ironclad determination to find out what had ruined my life, I began another long

and painful trip to discovery. After another twenty-one long years of

difficulties, pains, and two more psychotic breakdowns, I finally found two

Naturopaths in Vancouver, British Columbia, who, since January of 1999, have

been treating me for mercury poisoning. I finally discovered the real problem.

My recovery has been phenomenal, and at sixty, although I probably still have

another year of chelating, the depression I didn't know I even had all my life,

plus the paranoia, unreal fears, and panic attacks are gone. And I have as much

stress in my life now as I have always had, being the motivated perfectionist

type of person I am.

My life before December 1974 was very different from my life after I left the

mental hospital in October 1978. The nightmares of those four years, plus the

fact that I lived through two serious suicide attempts, gave me more courage to

deal with life after I left the hospital. But, still, my personal and work life

was severely complicated. I not only had the mental problems affecting me, but

also had immune system problems which caused me to have flus, lung infections,

and fatigue.

I am presently living on a Canada Pension Disability of $800.32 per month. My

spouse has also been disabled most of her life with a heart problem, and she and

I also look after her 73-year-old brother who has Parkinsons quite severely.

Between all our pensions, we have managed to survive and to keep up chelation

for myself and for her brother, with his Parkinsons. After eleven years of the

disease, he is doing amazingly well due to the heavy metal chelation and the

fact that we live nearly a totally natural life stye. I cook naturally, we use

natural cleaning products, and purchase all-natural beef, pork, beans, grains,

and condiments.

If we can take the kind of initiative it's taken to get through this, and also

undergo the financial struggle necessary to afford this natural lifestyle that

is good for us all, and for the planet, then others can do it too.

With much past pain, and present concern, and still a love and zest for life,

 

CB

 

Lilly Warns of Zyprexa Risks for Elderlyindex

Eli Lilly and Co. has warned doctors that its schizophrenia treatment Zyprexa,

its best-selling drug, significantly raises the risk of death and stroke in

elderly patients suffering from dementia.

In a statement issued Feb. 20, 2004, the Indianapolis-based company said it sent

a letter to U.S. doctors a month earlier warning that Zyprexa, which had global

sales of $4.3 billion in 2003 and accounts for half of Lilly's profit, increased

the risks in five clinical trials among elderly patients with dementia. 3.5

percent of elderly patients with dementia taking Zyprexa in the trials died of

all causes, more than twice the death rate of 1.5 percent seen among those

taking placebos.

" I don't think we have a sense of why, " said Lilly spokesman Dan Collins. Higher

stroke and death risks have not been seen in other populations, he said, adding

that Lilly could not advise doctors whether to prescribe Zyprexa for dementia

because it is not officially approved for that use by U.S. regulators.

Doctors may legally prescribe drugs for uses not approved by the U.S. Food and

Drug Administration, although drugmakers are allowed to market their products

only for specifically approved uses.

Public Citizen, a consumer watchdog group, has criticized doctors for routinely

prescribing schizophrenia drugs to treat symptoms of dementia, including

Alzheimer's disease, even though the medicines are not approved for that use.

Zyprexa and Risperdal, Johnson & Johnson's second-biggest drug with 2003 sales

of $2.5 billion, are widely used to manage delusional and aggressive behaviors

in dementia patients.

J & J warned U.S. doctors last April that Risperdal increases the risk of stroke

among elderly patients with dementia.

About 2 percent of Zyprexa sales are for elderly patients with dementia,

according to Collins.

 

Does Pop Culture Shape Psychiatry?index

Is psychiatric diagnosis driven by biology, or popular culture?

Writers in the popular press have done a great deal to blur - if not obliterate

- the distinction between medical conditions and merely emotional or social

ones. This legitimizes " diagnostic bracket creep " - the much-discussed tendency

of doctors to aim a particular drug at an ever-widening circle of symptoms.

In a six-month study of 261 articles published between 1985 and 2000, reported

in the February 2004 issue of the journal Social Science & Medicine,

psychiatrist Jonathan M. Metzl and colleague Joni Angel found that SSRI's

(antidepressants: selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) were increasingly

portrayed as helping women function as mothers or wives, while in men they

promised treatment for athletic shortcomings and aggression.

" Our findings undermine claims that SSRIs simply rectify 'chemical imbalance,' "

Metzl said. " Instead, our results suggest that a host of culturally based -

indeed, gender-based - expectations shape our information about SSRIs. "

Popular depictions of these drugs have expanded categories of women's " mental

illness " to include symptoms once thought part of normal behavior, he said.

Conditions that were once viewed as just part of being human are transformed

into symptoms of illness that require treatment.

Metzl said he worries that people who are troubled by traditional gender roles

may be seen as having symptoms that need medicating.

 

FDA Advisory Council Hears Tragic Testimonyindex

An advisory council for the Food and Drug Administration met February 3, 2004 in

Bethesda, MD to hear testimony on intense and adverse effects brought on by

anti-depressants. Many testified to horrific tragedies, including suicides and

even murder, which they attributed to the anti-depressants classified as SSRIs.

Dozens of families told gut-wrenching stories about their encounters with SSRIs.

One family read a letter from their 14-year old son, who murdered his

grandparents when he was 12 after being given Zoloft and then having his dosage

doubled. Another family spoke of their 13-year old son, who hanged himself after

being on Zoloft for seven days. Still another family spoke of their recent

college graduate who, after two weeks on Paxil, stabbed herself twice in the

chest and died on their kitchen floor. There was also the recounting of a teen

with a high-powered rifle holding a teacher and 23 students hostage after an

increased dosage of Effexor.

Others were full of praise for the drugs.

The FDA has announced an investigation into the whole class of SSRIs. Their

approach is to examine the results of trials previously done on these drugs,

submitted by the makers of the SSRIs, to see if there is a link to suicide.

However, critics consider that information showing a connection between SSRIs

and violence cannot be adequately obtained from these studies, since they were

not designed to capture this data, and because they were commissioned by the

drug companies in the first place.

For full story, go to

http://www.heraldonline.com/local/story/3299472p-2945158c.html.

 

" Optimum Nutrition for The Mind " Conference Held in Londonindex

Safe Harbor has been very pleased to be working for the past six months in

partnership with Patrick Holford, England's leading nutritionist to expand the

use of nutritional remedies for mental health worldwide.

Patrick's organization recently hosted an excellent conference in the United

Kingdom on Optimum Nutrition for the Mind and we received the following report.

Over 220 practitioners, including doctors, psychiatrists, psychotherapists,

special needs teachers and nutritionists, attended the 'Optimum Nutrition for

the Mind Conference' in London. The first day focused on problems with children.

Pediatrician Dr Mary Megson from Virginia presented her extraordinary research

proving that many autistic children have visual perception problems, correctable

by fish oil high in vitamin A in the form of retinol. She explained how their

behaviour made complete sense if you could understand what they saw. She is

getting children out of the autistic spectrum within six months.

Dr Alex Richardson from Oxford University presented her research on EPA rich

fish oils in dyslexia, dyspraxia (motor-perceptual problems) and so called ADHD,

soon to be published. Dr Peter Willats from the University of Dundee has been

researching omega 3 fats in pregnancy and infant and testing their subsequent

mental performance. The fatty acid DHA, not EPA (which is also found in fish

oils), has proven to cause highly significant improvements in infant learning

and intelligence. DHA is now understood to be a 'structural' fat, essential for

building young brains, while EPA influences 'function', hence is proving more

important in dyslexia, depression and schizophrenia.

Patrick Holford from the Institute for Optimum Nutrition presented the case for

the nutritional management of depression. He was followed by Professor Andr'

Tylee from the Institute of Psychiatry, who is responsible for training all

doctors in mental health issues in the UK, said that the orthomolecular approach

" is the breakthrough we've been waiting for. " He has a PhD vacancy to do a

systematic review on nutrition and depression, to form part of the UK's

manifesto of treatment strategies for all doctors. They launched a campaign to

raise £25,000 to fund this research.

On day two Professor Tapan Audhya, from New York University Medical Center,

presented his solid evidence that platelet levels of serotonin, dopamine,

adrenalin and noradrenalin and acetylcholine correlate well with CSF (cerebral

spinal fluid) levels, while plasma and urine levels do not. Dr Teodoro

Bottiglieri, Associate Professor of Neuropharmacology at Baylor University

Medical Center, Institute of Metabolic Disease in Dallas, Texas, presented

cutting edge research into folate, B12, homocysteine and methylation across a

range of mental health problems, confirming that homocysteine is an established

indicator of methylation abnormalities and a risk factor for depression,

cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease. He was followed by Dr Andrew

McCaddon, who has identified specific genetic mutations present in those with

Alzheimer's disease and is showing reversal in those in the early stage of the

disease with the use of glutathione-cobalamine.

There were other presentations on thyroid problems, eating disorders, brain

allergies and minerals, the latter made by Deborah Colson and Lorraine Perretta,

clinical nutritionists from London's recently opened Brain Bio Centre, an

outpatient clinic for the treatment of mental health conditions using an

orthomolecular approach.

The conference ended with a filmed lecture by Dr Abram Hoffer on his experience

of treating over 5,000 schizophrenic patients with orthomolecular medicine,

followed by a live question and answer session.

A set of CDs, with an accompanying manual, will be available shortly. If you are

interested in receiving details please email info. Also

see www.mentalhealthproject.com and read the book Optimum Nutrition for the Mind

by Patrick Holford, published by Piatkus, £12.99.

IF YOU WOULD BE INTERESTED IN FURTHER DETAILS PLEASE CONTACT PATRICK HOLFORD IN

ENGLAND AT 070440 33318.

 

SSRI Exposure in Womb Results in Disrupted Neurobehaviorsindex

A study reported in the February issue of Pediatrics says that otherwise healthy

infants whose mothers took SSRIs during pregnancy have a variety of disruptions

in neurobehaviors as compared to a control group. These behaviors included

increased tremors, more active and longer lasting REM sleep periods, more

spontaneous startles or arousals, less change in behavioral states, and fewer

behavior states.

Although the study was small (17 infants whose mothers took SSRIs, 17 infants

whose mothers did not take SSRIs during pregnancy), investigators said that this

study proves that the developing fetus is impacted by SSRIs.

They added that it was unclear at this point whether this wide range of

neurobehavior disruptions was temporary, or a basis for future neurobehavioral

problems that might be measured at a later age.

Reference: PEDIATRICS Vol. 113 No. 2 February 2004, pp. 368-375.

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/113/2/368

 

Caffeine and Mood - One Doctor's AdviceindexThe following comes to us from

psychiatrist Nicholas Stratas from Raleigh, NC:

As most people know by now, the caffeine in three cups of coffee a day doubles

the output of the adrenal gland. Over the years I have seen more than a few

patients who have come in for anxiety, depression and/or sleep problems who

consume three or more cups of regular coffee a day. The first course includes

discontinuing the coffee including any other caffeinated substances such as

chocolate. In many instances the symptoms abate dramatically although some

report some headaches initially. As a test and to allow them to experience the

effects of caffeine I suggest that after they have been off it for three months

and the body has readjusted they consume one cup of regular coffee and when they

do they all report an awareness of an internal jitteriness which they had

previously unaware.

I insist that each person have a program of cardiovascular aerobic activity and

weight work at least three if not four times a week. If they consume more than

an ounce of alcohol a day I insist they discontinue alcohol altogether to asses

its part in the symptoms. As we know alcohol must be detoxified and this occurs

in the liver where the liver can detoxify an ounce an hour and this not

continuously. The liver is in our body not to detoxify alcohol but rather to

detoxify natural byproducts of ordinary living and while it is busy with alcohol

it is not doing what it is supposed to be doing.

 

Link Found Between Schizophrenia and Leaded Gasindex

Adult schizophrenics may have been exposed to lead while still in the womb,

according to Dr. Ezra Susser of Columbia University.

Dr. Susser's recent study of blood samples collected from pregnant American

women in the 1960s, when most automobile gasolines contained lead, finds that

their offspring were more than twice as likely to develop schizophrenia in

adulthood if the mothers were exposed to high levels of lead in exhaust fumes.

The dataset used in the research came from the Childhood Health and Development

Study which ran between 1959 and 1966 in Oakland and enrolled almost 20,000

mothers.

He presented the work to the annual meeting of the American Association for the

Advancement of Science in Washington State. " It's the first time that any

environmental toxin has been related to the later risk of schizophrenia, " he

told the BBC. " It's a preliminary finding, but an intriguing one. We think that

people will now look at a variety of environmental toxins which can disrupt

brain development, and see whether they are also related to the risk of

schizophrenia. "

Dr Susser suspects that, as in fetal alcohol syndrome, the developing brain is

damaged when poisoned nerve cells are unable to grow and establish connections

with their neighbors. The cells in effect " commit suicide. "

The search is now on for other samples collected during the era of leaded

gasoline which could confirm the finding. If it is confirmed, it would have huge

implications for the study of schizophrenia.

Dr Susser and colleagues' research is scheduled for publication in the journal

Environmental Health Perspectives.

 

Canadian Medical Journal

Exposes Unfavorable/Suppressed Clinical Trial Resultsindex

Pharmaceutical companies deceive doctors and patients when they bury clinical

trial data - research they themselves paid for - if it reflects unfavorably on

their products, the Canadian Medical Association Journal said in an editorial

last month.

The editorial introduced a group of articles examining this " file drawer

phenomenon " - drug companies' withholding of clinical trial results that might

prove a " commercial liability. "

GlaxoSmithKline's suppression of findings that Paxil (paroxetine) is no more

effective on children than sugar pills shared the spotlight with other

antidepressant trials involving children and teenagers.

Prompted by reports that SSRIs (selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors) have

been a factor in child suicides, several countries have recently urged caution

or outright banned prescribing most of the drugs to children and teens. Health

Canada is assembling an expert panel to study worldwide safety data on the

issue.

Dr. Jane Garland, head of the mood and anxiety disorders clinic at the British

Columbia Children's Hospital, revealed that in her role as a researcher she saw

negative results from trials on paroxetine but was barred from discussing them

for 10 years by non-disclosure contracts. She told the journal she would never

again do a industry-funded trial under those conditions.

Merck Research Laboratories' vice-president of medical communications, Dr.

Laurence Hirsch, defended the practice:

" Premature disclosure of proprietary information by Merck (or other companies)

can result in significant competitive disadvantage and loss of incentive or

reward for new product development. "

Hirsch acknowledged that Merck has adopted guidelines committing the company to

publishing the results of " hypothesis-testing clinical trials, regardless of

outcome. "

Dismissing the competitive edge as inadequate justification for endangering

lives, the journal's editorial board urged Health Canada to become more

demanding of drug companies: " In the regulation of clinical testing of drugs and

devices, safety and efficacy must trump proprietary rights every time. "

No SSRI has been approved by Health Canada for patients under 18, although the

so-called " off-label " use of medications is common in many areas of treatment. A

few weeks ago, Health Canada issued an advisory to anyone under 18 taking one of

seven antidepressants to consult with their doctors " to confirm that the

benefits still outweigh the potential risk. "

" The disappointing reality is that antidepressant medications have minimal to no

effectiveness in childhood depression beyond a placebo effect, " Dr. Garland said

in one of the commentaries. She said the lack of evidence showing significant

benefits from adolescent use of the drugs is stunning, given the huge increase

in such prescriptions in recent years.

" Some of [the data] is more than five years old. So it's been sitting there not

informing the scientists who are making the recommendations to the general

physicians out there. "

She said physicians should inform young patients and their parents that

medication will not cure depression, although it might improve some symptoms.

And they should also be told that psychiatric or behavioral adverse effects are

at least as likely as antidepressant effects, Dr. Garland said.

 

Eric Shapiro on Alternative Mental Healthindex

Almost two years ago, before the release of my first book, Short of a Picnic, I

began writing nonfiction Internet essays that, like the book itself, deal with

mental health. I say " deal " with mental health instead of " dealt " with mental

health because these essays, five or six of them altogether, continue to be

read. I know that people still read them because some folks e-mail me about

them, sharing their personal stories and requesting elaboration on my part. In

addition, the pieces have appeared in various places without my prompting, which

means not only are they alive, they are multiplying.

Short of a Picnic depicts mentally ill characters without suggesting remedies;

the back of the book even warns readers about this. My nonfiction essays,

however, are all about remedies. Such are the two sides of my experience of

mental disorder. I've wandered many dark corridors, but I've also known the

sweet taste of relief. When writing about the latter, I never expected to engage

this many readers. That shows just how thick I am: I assumed that people would

be more interested in the dramatic dark side of my experiences (my fiction) than

they would be in the inspirational light side (my nonfiction). Leave it to a

youth like me to forget how much the masses relish happy endings.

With no shortage of irony, the essays I crafted to draw attention to my book

have drawn attention to themselves, making me into an accidental activist.

Before I started hearing from appreciative readers, I had underestimated the

power of relating my positive tale. But now I comprehend the power. And I intend

to wield it (here and again) for anyone in need. This essay is more ambitious

than my previous ones. I intend to make a general case in favor of alternative

mental health. In the past, I've plugged acupuncture, discussed the appeal of

spirituality, and questioned the value of diagnoses. Allow me to step back for a

wider view. Allow me to explain why alternative treatments work. For those of

you who don't need convincing, I thank you for your time; you should probably

take your business elsewhere. But for those of you in pain, for those of you who

dread waking up in the morning, for those of you who fear you won't be able to

stand it much longer, I humbly offer the following.

The person writing this essay has had prolonged exposure to acupuncture,

shiatsu, homeopathy, massage therapy, reflexology, and a macrobiotic diet. All

of these modes of healing work, and I will do my best to explain how. My

explanations will be low on formal jargon, for I am not an expert and would

never claim to be. I am merely a stunned, joyous witness.

Upon entering the alternative medical world, one is encouraged to accept the

following two principles (among others too numerous to discuss): (1) Our bodies

are possessed of a natural ability to heal themselves, and that ability can be

triggered via treatment. (2) We are all composed of highly sensitive energy, the

imbalance of which leads to illness, and skilled healers can help us to balance

our energy.

Get the full story at... http://www.pioneerthinking.com/es_mentalhealth.html

© Eric Shapiro 2004

 

Five Keys to Better Sleep by Patricia Wagnerindexby Patricia Wagner

From www.a-to-z-wellness.com

wagner.art

Do you have trouble getting a good night's sleep?

What you are about to read may make a huge difference to your future health!

Being well rested is essential to our wellbeing and is a major key in living an

energetic lifestyle.

Here are some of the benefits of a good night's sleep:

You will look and feel your best.

Relating to others will come easier with enough rest.

You'll be a safer driver and be less likely to fall asleep at the wheel.

More alertness and creativity on the job will be a major benefit.

You'll feel less stressed.

There'll be an increased ability to fight off illness.

You'll enjoy life more.

 

Here are some keys to getting a better night's sleep:

1. Set your body clock. Choose a bedtime schedule by deciding how many hours of

shut-eye you need and try to stick with it. That's because we are all creatures

of habit.

Try not to oversleep too often because this tends to throw your body clock off.

If you are tired, try taking a short nap. However, it should not be longer than

about one half an hour because more time than that and you will wind up not

being able to fall asleep that night.

2. Be wise about eating and drinking.

Drinking too much fluid in the late afternoon and evening can cause you to wake

up in the middle of the night to trot off to the bathroom. Also consuming food

and beverages that contain caffeine before bedtime can cause you to toss and

turn for hours. So it would be wise to avoid coffee, tea, soft drinks and

chocolate before going to bed. However, a hot non-caffeinated drink can relax

you.

3. Prepare your sleeping environment.

You have control over a number of factors in your sleeping environment that will

make or break a good night's sleep. One of them is the temperature of your

bedroom. Adjust the temperature of your bedroom so it's conducive to sleeping.

It's usually best to have your room a little on the cool side, but be sure you

have enough blankets on your bed.

Another environmental issue is the darkness of our bedrooms. Many people prefer

sleeping when it's totally dark, so turn off the lights except for night lights.

A key bedroom environment factor is your bed. Purchase the best mattress you can

afford since you'll spend a large proportion of your life on it.

Quietness is very important to our rest. Try to keep the noise down. If that's

impossible, consider using ear plugs.

Play calming music and avoid watching television just before bedtime. Violent

scenes can lead to sleeplessness and violent dreams!

Design your bedroom to be a peaceful sanctuary in your home.

Separate your work from the bedroom area so your body knows the bedroom is a

place to rest - not work.

4. Prepare yourself physically, emotionally and spiritually for bedtime.

There are a number of steps you can take before going to bed to prepare yourself

physically. Slowly stretching before hitting the sack can help you relax.

Regular exercise during the day will enhance your ability to fall asleep. Taking

a warm bath - not a shower - can be helpful too. If you are still tense, a back

massage can help you relax. Wear comfortable nonbinding clothing.

Here's the most important thing you can do once you've hit the sack - let go of

the day's worries. Bedtime is a bad time to dwell on problems since worry can

keep you tossing and turning for hours! I've found that reading the Bible and

praying before going to bed is a wonderful way to end the day. Then I can truly

relax and lay down my problems. My sleep is much sweeter and so are my dreams!

5. Seek specialized help if needed.

A medical condition could be preventing you from getting your full rest at

night. See your doctor if you have continuing difficulty with falling asleep.

Usually it's not wise to take sleeping pills since they can become addictive.

They also interfere with the body's own inner sleeping rhythm.

Here are three organizations that offer specialized help:

National Sleep Foundation, http://www.sleepfoundation.org/about.cfm

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine, http://www.aasmnet.org/

National Center on Sleep Disorders Research,

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/about/ncsdr/index.htm

 

The suggestions in this article have been listed to help you get a better

night's sleep. Now try putting them into practice and enjoy a more rested and

energetic lifestyle.

Pleasant dreams! This article copyright ©2004 by Patricia Wagner.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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