Carnival time

   I am about a week late, but many thanks to the Carnival of Mental Illness, which included my story Depression series and my depression post.  For anyone interested in issues of mental health, Check it out.

Religion and Anxiety

“The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours.”

Jonathan Edwards, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God

From the dawn of history, religion and anxiety have been intertwined.

Bipolar disorder, a firsthand account

While I have described my intimate familiarity with social phobia, generalized anxiety, and major depression, I (thankfully) cannot say the same about manic-depression, or bipolar disorder. I ran upon this video from a physician describing her experience as both doctor and patient and thought I’d share.  Very enlightening, Enjoy!

A companion like no other

Like most Mormon young men, I served my two year mission for the church in the prime of youth. Due to a fear of parasites and desire to communicate well right out of the box, I served in a completely unexotic stateside location. This was prior to a relatively recent policy change referred to by the leadership as “raising the bar.”

Depression and Stigma- a rant

One of the tried and true nuggets of anti-mormonism is the fact that Utah has the highest per capita rate of prozac use in the country. Why is this, they ask and insinuation is clear. Something must be wrong with that religion. Ooh its beating people down. they’re repressed, look, look, they’re repressed. Here is my answer to such critics, if you want to know who is responsible for high rates of depression in the Mormon community, go take a look in the mirror.

Depression, My story part four- Fight the Power

  As I recovered from depression, I discovered a whole new ailment, anxiety.  One of the first side effects the medication gave me was panic attacks.   I had a lot on my plate, really.  I had to toe the line, with no relapses.  I worried incessantly about the future.  I worried about my patients.  I worried about the rumor mill surrounding me.  I worried about the impressions, fair or otherwise, that others had of me. I worried about stigma.

Depression, my story part three- Acceptance

   So here is the funny thing, I was told I was depressed, and I didn’t believe it.  I took a kazillion question test, scored 98/100 on the depression scale, and I didn’t think I was depressed.  I mean, aren’t all residents tired?  Don’t all residents do nothing but eat work and sleep?  I was not suicidal, hadn’t even had the thoughts. 

Depression, my story part two- Meltdown

  The events surrounding my transition from medical student to MD and resident were a tidal wave.  My education, training, mindset, social phobia, personal life, health all combined into what I can only refer to as the perfect storm.