Sunday, November 30, 2014

Next Meeting: December 18!

I pray that everyone had a peaceful Thanksgiving this year, and that everyone is celebrating a very holy first Sunday of Advent.

Because Christmas will fall on the fourth Thursday of December, we will once again be moving our meeting up by a week.

We will meet again on Thursday, December 18, at 6:30pm in the Parish Center Fireplace Room.  Please join us as we support each other through this Advent season!

Article: "What If We're Wrong About Depression?"

Anna North, "What If We're Wrong About Depression?" The New York Times, November 26, 2014.

North examines two new lines of thinking about depression in medical research, one that considers the possibility that depression is related to infectious disease, and one that considers depression from the point of view of evolutionary psychology.  Both ideas are leading to innovations in diagnosis and potential treatment.  And both are leading to a consideration that what we've been calling by the same name - Major Depressive Disorder - may not be one disease at all, but may in actuality be different illnesses with many different causes.

Friday, November 28, 2014

Article: "The View from Vista Bridge"

Christen McCurdy, "The View from Vista Bridge,"Narrative.ly.

McCurdy narrates the story of her housemate's suicide by jumping off the Vista Bridge in Portland, her experience of grief, and the community's disputed efforts to build a protective fence around the bridge to prevent future attempts.  McCurdy covers a lot of ground here, from Portland's reputation as a city of suicidality to the inadequate efforts of public health and law enforcement in treating the suicidal.  A touching and informative read.

Monday, November 3, 2014

Article: "The Secret Dual Lives of People Living with Mental Illness"

David Rosenberg, "The Secret Dual Lives of People Living with Mental Illness," Slate 10/28/2014.

David Rosenberg covers photographer Liz Obert's series "Dualities," in which she documents the "dual lives" of those with depression and bipolar disorder.  As a sufferer from bipolar II disorder herself, Obert feels that it's important to expose these dualities, which she says many people with mental illness must use to "mask their symptoms so they can function in the outside world."  The result of Obert's efforts is a series of striking portraits of people with mental illness as they show both what their internal world of struggle is, and how they want the world to see them as they try to hide their struggles.