I've been disturbed of late by a print media trend towards what looks an awful lot like a reactionary bandwagon on mental illness. A prime example was the NY Times Magazine story of 2.28.10 titled, "Depression's Upside." If the reader can get past the feeling of revulsion that depression need have an "upside," there's plenty more in this story to anger anyone who's ever battled this disease or dealt with it in a family member. This block quote sums up Jonathan Leher's main point... "The depression might be worth it if it helps you better understand social relationships. Maybe you need to be less rigid or more loving." In light of the direct connection between depression and suicide (60 percent of the 33,000 Americans who die by suicide each year suffer from clinical depression), if Lehrer can't think of another less dangerous way of improving social relationships, I pity anyone who consults with him about their depression. But I'm also very concerned about his message, and how it appears to be part of a trend (back) towards the denial of mental illness, especially the debilitating disease of depression. I've written about the toll it and other mental illneses have taken on me and my family. I also have reported on some important research that I believe represents the future of mental health treatment: a better assessment of risks in families with the help of a thorough examimination of a family's health/mental health history, and the early intervention with high risk children as soon as symptoms appear...with many effective clinical trials treating kids as young as five. Studies showing the effectiveness of these approaches are being done in Europe and the U.S.(Columbia/N.Y., Kings College, London, Stanford/CA) where researchers have tracked three or four generations of families in order to track possible links between brain disorders previously thought to be unrelated to each other. Among the diseases being tracked for possible connections are addiction and anxiety disorders, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. When links are made, risk levels are better extrapolated. Interventions include therapy for children and parents, as well as medications, when warranted. I'm sharing here some of my reporting from my science-memoir in process. I call it a science memoir because within and around the brain research I cover, I offer three generations of mental illness within my own family as a case study. READ THE WHOLE POST AT.... https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/awakening-psyche/201003/the-dangerous-upside-denying-mental-illness