Jill Prouty

On motherhood, mental illness, and the importance of memory
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  • Category: books

    • Get Out of Your Head

      Posted at 7:00 pm by jillprouty7, on July 29, 2018
      cold alcohol drink glass

      Photo by Tookapic on Pexels.com

      A recent study published in The BMJ reports that deaths related to cirrhosis increased 65% from 1999-2016. Cirrhosis, irreversible scarring of the liver, has many causes, including alcohol consumption, obesity, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and hepatitis. Cirrhosis can lead to liver cancer and liver failure, both of which can be fatal.

      It caused me to think back on what Dr. Sanjay Gupta said on Anderson Cooper’s Special Town Hall: Finding Hope, Battling America’s Suicide Crisis. Gupta said that life expectancy as a whole in the United States had plateaued and dropped over the last couple of years. The most common causes of premature death for the middle-aged white working class population were liver cirrhosis, typically due to alcoholism, opioid overdose and suicide – the “deaths of despair.”

      dawn dusk forest grass

      Photo by Tirachard Kumtanom on Pexels.com

      I think most people have felt despair at one time or another, but how we deal with it can make or break us. I used to deal with stress by overeating. Some people turn to alcohol. But those “fixes” are temporary and eventually leave a person feeling worse than they did to begin with. When I began my weight loss journey in early 2014, I discovered vigorous exercise to be a powerful antidepressant. The higher the intensity, the more feel-good staying power. Spin classes were especially effective.

      Despite being a self-avowed “non-runner,” I decided to give running a try with the goal of completing a half marathon in 2015. For a long time I listened to music while I ran, creating playlists that motivated me to get out there and get it done. On the occasions when my phone wasn’t charged, my runs were pure drudgery. Then a month or so ago I had a late-night run in with a creep outside of my favorite grocery store which caught me totally off guard. As a result, I decided to give up listening to music on my runs so that I could be more aware of my surroundings. I became almost hyper-aware of the sounds around me – the chipmunk in the leaves, the birds in the trees, the rhythm of my footsteps. To my surprise, what I once considered drudgery became my calm. I was able to “get out of my head” and just be. It’s a glorious feeling.

      I’m not suggesting that running, or any kind of exercise, alone is the cure for all that ills us; but it can play an important role in one’s overall plan to getting and staying well, both physically and mentally.

      For more about the mental health benefits of running, I recommend Scott Douglas’ new book, Running is My Therapy: Relieve Stress and Anxiety, Right Depression, Ditch Bad Habits, and Live Happier (The Experiment, 2018).

      Posted in blog, books, Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged alcoholism, anxiety relief, cirrhosis, depression, despair, fatty liver, fitness, happiness, mental health, mental illness, obesity, running, stress, stress relief
    • Life Saving Books

      Posted at 3:41 pm by jillprouty7, on June 23, 2018

      A friend sent me a link to an Opinion column in the New York Times from June 16, 2018 – What Kept Me From Killing Myself by novelist and Iraq War veteran, Kevin Powers. Powers, who in 2005 was suffering from depression and possible PTSD, found his will to live again in books. His life-affirming experience began with reading the words of poet Dylan Thomas. Powers writes of the experience:

      “For the first time in a long while I recognized myself in another, and somehow that simple tether allowed me to slowly pull myself away from one of the most terrifying beliefs common to the kind of ailment I’m describing: that one is utterly alone, uniquely so, and that this condition is permanent.”

      adult book daylight hand

      Photo by Min An on Pexels.com

      Books have meant a great deal to me as well. I don’t always plan it, but somehow the right book always seems to end up in my hands. As I type this, I can think of several books that saw me through challenging times in my life from Paula Danziger’s The Pistachio Prescription that I read as a pre-pubescent middle-schooler to Wally Lamb’s She’s Come Undone that I read as I began my post-college adult life. Then there was Marly Swick’s Evening News, a novel about a family torn apart after an accidental shooting. It was the last book I read before my mother took her own life. The book reminded me, amidst our own pain, that our family, too, would survive.

      What books have carried you through difficult times?

      Posted in blog, books, Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged books, depression, ptsd, reading, suicide
    • Suicide on the Rise, Why?

      Posted at 4:10 am by jillprouty7, on June 9, 2018
      blur box capsules close up

      Photo by Julie Viken on Pexels.com

      The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a report today showing a 30% increase in U.S. suicide rates since 1999. The deaths this week of designer Kate Spade and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain put an exclamation point on the issue. What exactly is going on?

      The CDC made a point to distinguish the many reasons for suicide. Although suicide is typically understood to be associated with a known mental illness, many happen without warning – 54%. The report found that these people had other issues including relationship problems, health problems, financial problems, or some other crisis that precipitated the event.

      I’m not convinced you can completely separate the two. A crisis in someone’s life can be a trigger for depression, which is a mental illness; but, I think the point is that 54% of the time a suicide happens without any warning. Which brings me to the next point: guns. According to the report, guns were the most common method for suicide, used by almost half of the people who died. Suicide tends to be a rash decision, a brief moment of utter despair that will pass given enough time. Not having immediate access to a lethal weapon can give a desperate person time to call someone. We must find common ground between the Second Amendment and the health and safety of our loved ones.

      My mother’s suicide was the type resulting from a known mental illness for which she was seeking treatment, major depression. She is proof that knowing about the illness and getting every treatment available doesn’t guarantee survival. The typical treatment for depression is SSRI therapy (Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, etc.), which has shown to be ineffective for many. SSRI’s have been available for 30+ years now. Perhaps this report highlights the ineffectiveness of the SSRI revolution?

      I’ve blogged about the recent trials being done using psilocybin “magic” mushrooms, LSD, and other psychedelic drugs for the treatment of depression and other mental illnesses that are showing great results. The back to back (to back) news this week highlights that FDA approval of these drugs can’t come soon enough.

      Posted in blog, books, drug therapies, Uncategorized | 0 Comments | Tagged Anthony Bourdain, antidepressants, CDC, depression, Kate Spade, mental health, mental illness, psilocybin, psychedelics, SSRI, suicide
    • How to Change Your Mind

      Posted at 4:43 am by jillprouty7, on June 6, 2018

      pollan

      Imagine being able break from from the destructive thinking that characterizes major depression and other mental illnesses. A brain re-set in a single therapy session with a lasting power of up to six months. In How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence (Penguin, 2018), Michael Pollan likens the depressed human brain as being a snow covered mountain with well-worn ski tracks on it. After a while, the tracks deepen and the skier is trapped skiing the same slope over and over again. What if a psychedelic “trip” produced by ingesting psilocybin mushrooms or LSD could flatten the entire slope, causing the overused tracks to disappear, freeing the skier to create new paths? Research into the therapy-guided use of these substances is showing promise for sufferers of mental illness, including cases where patients have been resistant to traditional treatments including the use of SSRI’s. FDA approval for the therapeutic use of several psychedelic substances could come as early as 2021. This is exciting news for sufferers of psychic pain as well as their families.

      The key to the success of this kind of treatment, according to Pollan as well as researchers, is that the substance is taken in the presence of a trained therapist who serves as a guide during the experience. Another key feature is the “mystical experience” many patients report afterward that causes them to feel differently about themselves and the world around them.

      grey small mushroom on brown soil

      Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

      In his book, Pollan tries LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, and the crystallized venom of the Sonoran Desert toad. He has what qualifies as a mystical experience after inhaling the vapor of “the toad,” leading him to ask the question: Was what he experienced real or just a drug-induced hallucination?

      Does it matter?

      Posted in blog, books, drug therapies | 3 Comments | Tagged book reviews, depression, major depression, mental health, mental illness, psilocybin, psychedelic drug therapy, psychedelics
    • Psychedelic Drug Therapy – A New Hope

      Posted at 1:54 am by jillprouty7, on May 7, 2018

      pexels-photo-576831.jpegMy mother took her life in 2003 after suffering for months with psychotic depression. This particular type of depression occurs in up to 15% of patients with severe depression and causes symptoms such as hallucinations and paranoia. It is a disease with a high mortality rate for which no FDA approved treatment exists. My mother received the typical treatment: hospitalization, a combination of SSRI’s (Lexapro, then Zoloft) and antipsychotics, and several rounds of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).

      The hospitalization was helpful in that they were able to keep her safe when she was at her worst. The SSRI’s weren’t so effective, even after eight months of taking them. The antipsychotics worked short-term and helped her relax enough to get something in her stomach.  ECT, although scary at first, was downright miraculous. She would wake up bright-eyed like her old self wondering why she was in a hospital. However, the effects of ECT would wear off within two to three weeks and she’d be right back where she started, but with the extra added bonus of memory loss which caused her even more stress.

      Mifepristone (RU486)

      I nearly drove myself crazy after my mother’s death thinking there was more we could have done for her. I remember reading about a study being done at Stanford using the abortion pill mifepristone (RU-486) and thinking she would have been a good candidate. If only I had been doing my homework while she was alive. If only…

      Continued research over the last 17 years has revealed that cortisol, a hormone released during times of significant stress, is extremely elevated in psychotically depressed patients. It seems their sustained levels of cortisol create a chronic stress reaction that can lead to psychosis. Because mifepristone can rapidly bring down elevated cortisol levels, it has shown promise in treating additional conditions caused by elevated levels of cortisol including alcoholism and substance abuse, anorexia nervosa, ulcers, diabetes, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimer’s. However, doctors cannot provide this drug to their patients in an off-label manner without special approval on a case by case basis through the Compassionate Use Program because of the restrictive use the FDA agreed to in order to appease the anti-abortion opponents who threatened its approval.

      Psychedelic Drugs

      pollanFor decades, psychedelics such as psilocybin (magic mushrooms) and LSD were used in clinical studies, but were never able to gain any traction after they were classified as Schedule I drugs in the 70’s. They were all but abandoned for medical use in the 80’s with the advent of SSRI’s like Prozac, but psychedelics are making a comeback.

      In two phases of an FDA-approved trial, patients with post-traumatic stress disorder responded better to MDMA (Ecstasy/Molly) assisted psychotherapy than to talk therapy alone. In fact, MDMA assisted psychotherapy is expected to be approved by the FDA by 2021. Researchers have also experimented with LSD and psilocybin to treat anxiety in terminally ill patients.

      I’m especially excited by the news that ketamine (Special K), known as surgical anesthetic and party drug, has shown fast acting results for treatment resistant depression. While SSRI medications can take weeks to start working, patients treated with ketamine report relief in as little as one to two hours. Johnson & Johnson plans to file for FDA approval of a nasal spray version within a year.

      Psychedelic drug therapy is going to be the biggest story in psychiatry in over 30 years. If you want to learn more, I recommend Lauren Slater’s Blue Dreams: The Science and the Story of the Drugs that Changed Our Minds (Little, Brown, 2018).

      I’m downright giddy that Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma) has written a new book called How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence that is due out on May 15, 2018, but is already a bestseller on Amazon. The book grew out of the reporting he did for a 2015 article about psychedelic psychotherapy in the New Yorker, called “The Trip Treatment.” Given the popularity of Pollan’s books, I’m hopeful his insights will help psychedelic drug therapy gain mainstream acceptance and fast track them for FDA-approved medical use.

      Posted in blog, books, drug therapies | 4 Comments | Tagged abortion pill, antidepressants, depression, Drug Therapy, drug trials, ketamine, mental illness, mifepristone, psychedelic drug therapy, psychedelics, psychiatry, psychotic depression
    • Barefoot Therapy

      Posted at 3:52 pm by jillprouty7, on April 30, 2018

      pexels-photo-105776.jpegI was intrigued when I read about the benefits of walking barefoot in Blue Dreams: the Science and the Story of the Drugs That Changed Our Minds by Lauren Slater (Little, Brown, 2018). I did a little research and discovered there is actually a term for barefoot therapy – “earthing” – and it’s all the rage. (Even Gwyneth Paltrow swears by it!)

      Earthing stems from the idea that as modern life takes us further away from nature, we are losing out on the health benefits our planet has to offer. In short, earthing is putting our bodies back in direct contact with the earth whether it be soil, sand, or water.

      It may sound hippy-dippy, but a handful of small studies have found that going barefoot appears to provide some general health benefits including better sleep and reduced stress, although I have doubts about some of the more radical claims of curing disease.

      My son, who suffers from general anxiety, likes to go for walks in the backyard at least twice a day because, he says, “It makes me feel better.” He typically wears flip-flops on his jaunts, but there is no doubt that being outside is where he feels his best.

      I worked outside this past weekend and went barefoot as much as possible. Was it the sunshine or was it the exchange of electrons from being in direct contact with the soil that made me feel so good?

      Posted in blog, books, Uncategorized | 2 Comments | Tagged anxiety, barefoot, earthing, mental health, nature, stress management
    • Book Review: Imagine Me Gone

      Posted at 5:22 am by jillprouty7, on April 23, 2018

      imagineLovers of literature know that great fiction always reveals truth. It enables us to see ourselves and our experiences, both good and bad, within the world at large without fear of personal exposure. When I read the publisher’s summary of Adam Haslett’s Imagine Me Gone (Little, Brown, 2016), I recognized a family like much like my own and knew it was a book I had to read.

      Imagine Me Gone explores the devastating toll of mental illness on both the sufferers and the loved ones who care for them. The opening scene is a flashback to a death, hinting at a suicide. The feeling of dread made me put the book down for a couple of days until I felt ready to forge on. I’m glad I did.

      Patriarch John suffers from bouts of major depression, something his girlfriend Margaret only becomes aware of when he is hospitalized during their engagement. She decides to stay the course and marry him anyway. Their marriage produces three children: Michael, Celia, and Alec, who each learn to cope in their own way with their father’s mood disorder and the emotional and financial strain it puts on their family. The eldest, Michael, is plagued by severe anxiety as well, which intensifies as he enters adulthood.

      Haslett tells the story in alternating points of view by all five members of the family. It isn’t an easy read, but his writing is as real as it gets when describing the family’s anguish. At its core, Imagine Me Gone considers the lasting effects of mental illness and suicide on a family as they attempt to move past it and find meaning in their lives.

      Imagine Me Gone was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and long-listed for the National Book Award and the Andrew Carnegie Medal.

      Posted in blog, books | 0 Comments | Tagged book reviews, depression, family, mental illness, suicide
    • Recent Posts

      • Nature vs Nurture
      • More Time, Memories
      • Get Out of Your Head
      • Blueberrying – A Family Tradition
      • What Makes Me Happy
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