"What was really most healing, for me, besides the drugs, was meeting my own people, my tribe. When you meet each other the relief of knowing you’re not alone and that you both feel like the walking dead. It’s such a relief to be with someone who will never say, “Perk up.” Black Dog Tribes is a (beta) social platform for people with depression created by Ruby Wax.
posted by lucia__is__dada on Dec 6, 2011 - 17 comments

Ten things not to say to a depressed person and Ten supportive things I’m glad somebody said to me
posted by fearfulsymmetry on Aug 3, 2011 - 183 comments

The epidemic of mental illness plaguing the Americans and the overmedication of psychiatric patients are in part artifacts of the diagnostic method. [more inside]
posted by hat_eater on Jun 22, 2011 - 50 comments

Is the contemporary epidemic of mental illness fueled by useless or even harmful anti-depressants and other psychoactive drugs? A review of books by Irving Kirsch, Robert Whitaker, and Daniel Carlat, notes that per Kirsch, "[a]n active placebo is one that itself produces side effects...there was no difference between the antidepressant and the active placebo" (new research claims very severe cases are different). Whitaker argues that psychoactive drugs may actively "disturb neurotransmitter function" and cause mental illnesses which a mounting cascade of drugs are then needed to manage. (previously, previously)
posted by shivohum on Jun 6, 2011 - 113 comments

Steinbolt1 battles with depression. On his Tumblr blog, he chronicles his week-long stay in a mental health facility somewhere in the American Midwest. First installment can be found here. There's two installments per day of his stay, and he posted part two of day four two days ago. And, by the way, he's currently feeling a lot better.
posted by Harald74 on Mar 30, 2011 - 13 comments

Donnie Moore was the California Angels' relief ace in 1986. After he gave up a home run that began the Angels' collapse in the ALCS, Moore's life and psyche steadily deteriorated, until he committed suicide in 1989. Steve Hofstetter wrote about Moore and the divergent paths taken by other athletes in similar situations.
posted by reenum on Feb 11, 2011 - 17 comments

Juko Martina Holliday is a psychology doctoral student who uses multimedia projects in her dissertation research process. She explores how creating visual narratives of one's personal experience with mental illness might hold value as a therapeutic tool. [more inside]
posted by jeanmari on Oct 6, 2010 - 4 comments

Suppose you have a problem with your thinking, your mood, or your relationships. Come in, sit down, and let the internet help. Meet MoodGym and its newer sister site, e-couch. [more inside]
posted by sondrialiac on Jun 15, 2008 - 8 comments

Are Omega-3 oils an effective treatment for Clinical Depression and Bipolar Disorder? This doctor thinks so and the data seems to support his theory. Several studies are going at this time. So why isn't it used more widely in treatment for mood disorders? Do doctors see it as junk science? Or is there another reason?
posted by echolalia67 on Sep 19, 2003 - 26 comments

Stanford links genius and manic depression... I feel SO much better now... (via FARK)
posted by Samizdata on May 23, 2002 - 7 comments