Still in Scotland, in the midst of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Stopped by the nearest comedy stand and ordered a ticket for whatever was next on the schedule. 5 minutes later, I was watching/listening to Scottish teenagers involved in a semi-comedic, often sung debate on the pros and cons of becoming a separate country in 41 days (when there is a vote for separation from the UK or to keep the status quo). I learned quite a bit about both viewpoints and have no better idea of how the election will go. Quite an enjoyable piece of theater! I then walked to Saint Andrews Square to hear a lecture and talk back on the Dangerous Idea of the day: Antidepressants are underprescribed. The host was a comedian. The lecturer was a brain researcher, psychiatrist and professor at the University. The audience was a mixed bag of academics, people who take antidepressants, the curious and people who got caught in the rain nearby without an umbrella. What I learned: the average person who has depression has a mild to moderate form which requires only 10 months of medication; research on prescriptions for antidepression counts each months medication as a separate prescription ( so the number is probably 1/10th of what it appears to be); no scientist knows for sure what actually causes depression, but it is probably a combination of genetics and environmental factors which can change gene expression ( e.g. a trauma to you might affect your grandchild); the practice of mindfulness seems to help some depression; people who suffer depression have trouble keeping their serotonin levels up; a high number of antidepressant medications are not used to treat only depression, but rather anxiety, nerve inflammation, chronic pain, etc. Very cool! After I walked home in steady rain, without an umbrella, I suspected that daily rain might be an environmental component of Scottish depression. Or maybe not.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Aug 2014 23:02:30 +0000
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