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Treating Depression With Electrodes Inside the Brain
cowtamer writes "CNN has a writeup on a method of treating depression with implanted electrodes. If this works, we may be seeing a lot more of this type of technology in the future. '[The patients] were lightly sedated when the holes were drilled and the electrodes implanted, but they were awake to describe what they experienced. Several patients reported profound changes just minutes after the stimulator was turned on. One said the room suddenly seemed brighter and colors were more intense. Another described heightened feelings of connectedness and a disappearance of the void.' While I haven't looked into any of the academic literature on this, it seems that yet another Larry Niven Prediction has come true!"
Yes, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Terminal_Man
As an obvious example, Roosevelt took Stalin more or less at face value whereas Churchill was (quite rightly) deeply suspicious of him.
If you take a non-rational depressive and move him or her to another job on the far side of the country, you will now have a rational depressive feeling even worse off because everything is new and unfamiliar. That is likely actually to increase suicide risk.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
No no, ice picks and hammers are used for lobotomies
It's important to note that the patients discussed had severe depression which resisted other forms of treatment:
She tried a variety of treatments, including talk therapy and psychiatric medicines, but nothing worked.
St. Jude is hoping to win Food and Drug Administration approval for commercial use of DBS for treatment-resistant depression.
The summary and title could be taken to imply (incorrectly) that this treatment is aimed at depressed people in general. It's still brain surgery, you need an implanted battery, and it doesn't work on all patients.
I'd probably write this in a private message, but since you've (understandably) posted as anonymous, and since others might benefit from this information, I'll post it openly. Private messages are welcome, should someone wish to contact me.
Before I continue, though, I have to ask something: I hope that those who read this will respect just how debilitatingly painful clinical depression (i.e. based on bad brain chemistry) is, and also how sensitive a topic it is, both to those who have it, and to those who don't understand it, and treat depressed people like garbage as a result. Truly, I can't imagine a more excruciating torture than having one's own brain be in constant, unbearable pain (in severe cases like mine, it goes beyond depression, into an intangible agony of the mind; and also manifests as severe, measurable physical symptoms). I honestly can't bring myself to wish such torment on any person or creature--no matter how evil. It can and does literally drive people insane, and in the face of this, I have a knowledgeable respect for those who decide that it's simply not worth living through any more such torture; those who haven't been tormented in such an ungodly way (yes, I do mean to imply theological conflict) can't even begin to understand the topic of depressive suicide, so I encourage you not to comment on it; simple kindness would be much more believable and meaningful. (I'm writing now about a possible solution, so please wait on such thoughts if you're having them.) I ask that any replies to this be respectful and not flippant/humorous. Thanks.
I've recently found an unconventional treatment that has helped my severe depression (featuring suicidal ideation), after having thought (for good reason) that nothing was going to work. First, so that you can better determine if this is something worth looking into, I'll give you an abbreviated list of things I've tried, without success. In almost every case, the medicines and treatments worked after about a month of use, then stopped working, then made my depression worse than it otherwise would have been. Notably, I also suffer from anxiety, physical pain (muscles, joints, skin), and ADD (among others). The most sensible diagnosis I've gotten is fibromyalgia, and it's reached a disabling state. (Of course, fibromyalgia is largely used as a diagnosis that really means "we have no idea what's causing all this.") Here's a list of failures, and example name brands (what DOES work is below them):
Tri-cyclic anti-depressants (Amitriptyline/Tryptomer)
SSRIs (Prozac)
Benzodiazepines (Xanax) (for anxiety)
(Atypical) antipsychotics (Abilify) (in conjunction with other meds, to enhance them)
Anticonvulsants (Lamotrigine/Lamictal) (for enhancing effects, as above)
Lithium (used to treat [type 2] bipolar disorder and mood swings)
SNRIs (Cymbalta)
NRIs (Strattera) (for ADD, and as an enhancer)
NDRIs (Bupropion/Wellbutrin) (for ADD, and as an antidepressant, and as an enhancer)
Amphetamines (Adderal; this was exceptionally bad, especially in conjunction with Wellbutrin; it caused a psychotic panic attack) (for ADD and chronic fatigue)
Azapirones (Buspirone) (for anxiety)
Electro-convulsive therapy (A.K.A. ECT)
The treatment that I finally discovered, and convinced my doctor to do some research on (i.e. look up as much info as possible) involves increasing the amount of glutamate in the brain--which is now thought to be a more "direct" influence on depression than seratonin, etc.--at least in the "tough" cases. This was discovered as a result of some doctors noticing the use of the street drug, Ketamine, for self-treatment of depression. (Ketamine has some serious/dangerous side effects, of course.) During trials, it was discovered that Ketamine (pain reliever), as well as Riluzole (used to treat Lou Gehrig's disease) and Scopolamine (for motion sickness and surgical nausea) were extremely effective in treating those with severe, "tough" cases of depression. Of the three, Scopolamine (as a transdermal
A band-aid solution? After that comment, I'll presume that you aren't a depression sufferer of 40 years and multiple failed suicide attempts.
Well, let's be honest. It would only take one successful attempt and you wouldn't have 40 years of depression.
As someone afflicted with bipolar disorder, I got a nice chuckle out of that comment. It's true, suicide is very easy if you don't care about having an open casket or being in pain before you pass. Going through these turbulent states is literally hellish torture; one resorts to suicide as a way to end that.
1) Watch the BBC documentary: How to Kill a Human Being (2008)
a. There are many sources of the same information but they actually did a nice job
2) Go to a welding supply shop and rent a pressurized gas cylinder with argon or nitrogen (inert gas)
3) Go to a welding supply shop and buy a regulator (this will drop the pressure down to a usable level)
You'll feel better just knowing the option exists and you're not trapped here...
Just like computers everything has glitches; including the human body. When it comes to breathing the human body only panics when there is a build up of CO2 NOT when there is a lack of O2. If you can eliminate the CO2 and the O2 (which will convert to CO2) then the body won't panic. Breathing inert gas you'll just get tired and euphoric. Instead of pain you'll actually feel high! Eventually the lack of O2 will cause you to pass out. Everything starts to shut down. Before the brain shuts down you'll start convulsing as a last attempt to clear whatever is blocking the oxygen. When that doesn't work your brain will die.
Remember people: Don't kill yourself with helium... it is a limited resource :)
Posted non-AC so I don't get filtered out.
There's an excellent TED talk about this.
I believe this is it... my apologies if someone already brought it up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEZrAGdZ1i8