So ask yourself today: Could I have elm blight?

[substitute]

Eli Lilly & Company were kind enough to put this brochure in my doctor's office. Actually, what they did was fund the University of Michigan who did it. It has things all over it saying how approved by all doctors it is, etc.

As you'll see it consists of wan, blurry folk-art people wondering if they might have depression or if their medical problems might be getting worse due to depression. The message is "you quite likely have depression even if you think you don't". The best part, I think, is the series of scripts for convincing your doctor that you need treatment.

Faux naive iconography and suspect language behind the cut:

Comments

The house is messy-- call the fire department

[piratepirate.livejournal.com]

I think it's getting to a point where the line between psychological disorders and, say, personality has been erased. There's no line anymore. A person's personality IS his psychological disorder. Love? An obvious sign of neurosis. Imagination? Is there a more telling sign of a psychopathic personality? Children, especially, thinking they're pilots, and doctors, and firefighters. It's very alarming.

I've discovered that a person can often, yes, get over depression. I don't look at it as an illness so much as an attribute. Sort of like some guys are really, really scrawny and some guys are really, really fat: "okay, you know this about yourself, now what are you going to do about it?"

"I'm going to take drugs so that I forget about it."

Re: The house is messy-- call the fire department

[substitute.livejournal.com]

There's a spectrum that runs from catatonics who need tube feeding to people who need a disease label for the human condition. Unfortunately a lot of us demand absolutes -- one or the other, damnit! -- when what we get is grey areas.

Drug companies selling antidepressants to everyone is just the latest Procrustean bed we jam unhappy people into.

Re: The house is messy-- call the fire department

[piratepirate.livejournal.com]

::Shudder::