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The Cruelest Month?

November Ushers in the Days of Depression for Many

October 30, 2006

Depression • Higher Rx Costs May Limit Seniors’ Access to Antidepressants • Dual Approach Best for Depressed Teens • Depression Not a Normal Part of Aging • Study: Few Risks from Antidepressant Use During Pregnancy • Panel Finds Omega 3 Little Help Against Depression • Antidepressants Similar in Effectiveness, But Side Effects Differ • Antidepressants: Crutch or Catalyst? • Drugs Not Always a Cure for Depression Dr. Henry Fishman: • Don't Give Up On Depression • Exercise and Depression • The Winter Blues --- • First-Time Mothers at Increased Risk for Depression • Holidays May Bring Out Depression In Seniors • Depression Bigger Problem For Men Than Women • FDA Approves the First Drug for Seasonal Depression • Acne Drug's Possible Depression Link Under Review • Treating Depression May Mean Trying Different Drugs • Study Suggests Antidepressant-Suicide Link • FDA OKs Patch For Depression • Feeling the Holiday Blues? You Must Have Children • Gene May Trigger Depression, Study Finds • Exercise and Depression • Former Prozac Users Slam FDA • Consumer Drug Ads May Influence Doctors' Rx Decisions

Blizzards have already hit Buffalo and Denver, the Santa Ana winds are kicking up ferocious fires near Palm Springs and now this -- the end of Daylight Savings Time, that annual kick to the head that marks the end of long summer days in our little corner of the world. Or as the poet Thomas Hood would have it:

No sun - no moon!
No morn - no noon,
No dawn - no dusk - no proper time of day.
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease,
No comfortable feel in any member -
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds!
November!

Anyway you look at it, the annual fall into winter brings with it a gloomy cloak that even the hardiest sometimes have trouble shrugging off. And that's just one type of depression -- so-called Seasonal Affect Disorder. Chronic depression can strike at anytime.

How best to deal with depression -- drugs, therapy, self-help? We offer a variety of views, including:

• Drugs Not Always a Cure for Depression Tom Glaister stakes his mental health on a no-drugs platform.

• Antidepressants: Crutch or Catalyst? Joan E. Lisante takes a more kindly view of the latest pharmaceuticals.

• Don't Give Up On Depression Pills work for some, talk therapy for others, combinations for even more. Our Dr. Henry Fishman says the important thing is not to give up -- try different therapies and stick with whatever works for you. Fishman also discusses exercise and depression and the "winter blues."

Graphic by Marisa Lisante

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