The Speculation Surrounding Heath Ledger’s Death

We’ve all heard the recent speculation about Heath Ledger’s death, and I want everybody to just shut up about it already. At this point, no one knows the cause of his death, and all this talk is all just a lot of idle gossip.

Bottles of Valium, Zoloft, Ambien, and an unidentified antihistamine were reportedly found in Ledger’s apartment, fueling speculation that he died from a drug overdose. That’s very possibly so, but the innuendo is that Ledger was abusing drugs and that that abuse was the cause of his death.

There are valid reasons that people take Valium.

There are valid reasons that people take Zoloft.

There are valid reasons that people take Ambien.

There are valid reasons that people take antihistamines. 

Unfortunately, however, most people don’t take into account the fact that a combination of legally-prescribed chemicals (which is what medications are) can be deadly and the user can end up just as graveyard dead as the unfortunate user of illegal substances. For those of you who are interested in an official discussion of how serious the problem is, U.S. Pharmacist has a good article on nonprescription and psychotropic medication interactions. Valium, Zoloft, and Ambien are all considered psychotropic medications.

Anyway, my point is this: let’s avoid any further speculation and allow the official investigation to proceed. If anything should be taken from this unfortunate situation, it’s that in the case of medication usage, we should all take medication exactly as it is prescribed.

No more.

In the case of medication, it is not “if one works, then two (or more) will work better”.

Try to remember that.

Mental health blogs. Where are you?

I’ve spent much of this afternoon wandering the web looking for good and responsible mental health/psychiatric-related blogs to share with you. I’ve found a few and I’ll post information on them in a future blog. But if anyone knows of a good one that you would like to let others know about, please tell us.

Where the Presidential Candidates Stand on Mental Health

Having been involved in the mental health field for so long, I’m naturally wondering where our presidential candidates stand on mental health issues.  The National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI) recently sent a questionnaire to all presidential candidates in each party to elicit their thoughts on mental health. NAMI does not endorse political candidates, and the questionnaires were to be used to educate the public about the candidates’ beliefs and stands on mental health issues.

I waited a while before blogging about this, as when I first became aware of NAMI’s endeavor, only one candidate had responded: John Edwards. As of this date, there are but a few more responses to this very important issue. Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Senator Barack Obama have answered NAMI’s questionnaire. Senator John McCain has provided a statement on his beliefs about mental health. Mitt Romney has indicated that he does not respond to questionnaires. He was then encouraged to offer a statement to NAMI regarding his views on mental health. He has not done so.

It appears as if those interested in the highest office in this land have no opinions on an issue that affects an estimated 26.2 percent of our adult population (translation=57.7 million people over the age of 18) and 20 percent of our children (translation=between 6.4 and 9 million people under of the age of 18) until and unless they become front runners.

Shame on those candidates who have not responded. Mental illness and mental health care is not a new issue. It has always been with us. The candidates have beliefs and stands on this issue, whether or not they are presidential front runners. We need to know whether they, like recently-defeated Virginia GOP Senator Nick Rerras, hold a belief  as strange as his belief that some mental illnesses might partially be attributed to demonic possession. You never know.

Given the extent and gravity of the mental health care issues facing us today, I encourage you to call or write to your favored presidential candidate and ask for their policy statement on mental health or ask that they at least provide answers to NAMI’s questionnaire for all to see.

Way Beyond OOPS!

Well, Britney Spears has done it again. The Huffington Post reports this morning that the 26-year-old pop star was taken by ambulance to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center late last evening. And while I personally couldn’t care less about Britney’s lifestyle, there are two reasons that I do care about what she does: her children.

Britney has two babies who very much love her and who are dependant on her for much of their healthy emotional development. They have been shuffled around again and again and have most likely seen Britney at all levels of sobriety. Not good. Fortunately Sean Preston and Jayden James are both too young to undertand their mother’s stand aganst wearing underwear in public, but I’m sure they have been exposed to her alleged substance abuse and angry out-of-control behavior many times.

For some reason, she seems to still have a following. I have to wonder whether they are admirers or whether they pity her. Or do they hope that she will finally snap out of whatever is causing her wretched self-distructive behavior?

Judy Garland, long-time party-girl of the 1960s, never snapped out of her downward spiral and she died at the age of 47 from “an incautious self-overdosage” of barbiturates. She never lived up to her potential, she left behind children who loved her, and was never mandated to the treatment she so desperately needed.

Britney has been to drug rehab several times … and has walked out of those same rehabs several times. Rehab has not worked and Britney may need intensive psychotherapy and meds (did I say meds?) to recover her lost self. While having someone committed to treatment is serious stuff and usually requires that the person is a danger to himself/herself or others, Britney may be very close to the point where she needs someone to step in and take legal control of her life.

Before it’s too late.

Cornell University Responds to America’s Mental Health Crisis

The Wall Street Journal recently carried a story by Elizabeth Bernstein regarding Cornell University’s responsible response to the mental health crisis plaguing so many of our college-age students. Cornell has determined that there really is a need among their student population to have the university act in loco parentis in the case of students’ mental health status. Despite the fact that it has been decided that young people become adults at age 18, it is also a fact that the stressors faced by young people today can be so overwhelming that their ability to function can be seriously impaired. Cornell University is to be commended for taking such a stand, and other colleges and university should be encouraged to follow suit.