It seems veteran American Idol contestant Kellie Pickler has joined the long list of celebrities who’ve struggled with mental health issues, and the slightly shorter list of celebrities who’ve actually spoken publicly about those struggles.

According to Yahoo! TV, Pickler discusses depression, antidepressants, emotional wreckage, and an overall “crumbling” of her personal life in an upcoming People interview.

Although Bucky Covington, Chris Daughtry, and Taylor Hicks were my season five faves, I always liked Kellie Pickler, and now I love the fact that she’s openly talking about her mental health. Like I said with Britney, it’s a great way to promote mental health awareness and bust stigma.

Image: PicApp.com

Post from: Blisstree

Kellie Pickler Discusses Depression With People

This post is part of Celebrity Health Week at the b5media Health & Wellness Channel. For more information about Celebrity Health Week posts here at Mental Health Notes, visit Introducing Celebrity Health Week: Celebrities And Mental Illness.

Because we’ve already highlighted the lives of celebrities who’ve battled depression, let’s now take a look at the illness itself so you can better understand what these famous folks are going through.

Keep in mind that this post is just an overview and by no means meant to act as a substitute for medical professional advice.

Actually, I gathered information for this post from three major sources: The National Alliance on Mental Illness and their section on Major Depression; the National Institute of Mental Health and their booklet about Depression; and the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance and their section on Depression.

So, after reading my overview of depression, I highly recommend checking out those Web sites for more detailed information about depression.

Read on!

Quick Facts about Depression

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), depression affects 15 million American adults (5-8% of the population) during any given year.

Depression is more than just “the blues.” Actually, depression is kind of like “the blues” on acid. In other words, it’s more severe and it lasts much longer. Depression can take hold of your life, interfering with your everyday routines, ability to function normally, and your relationships with other people.

Signs and Symptoms of Depression

NAMI, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) all list signs and symptoms of depression. Some of the most common depression symptoms include:

• Persistent feelings of sadness, hopelessness, despair, emptiness, irritability, anxiety, pessimism, and/or indifference.
• Loss of interest in activities, people, and/or jobs you once enjoyed.
• Sleep and/or eating too much or too little.
• Unexplained physical pain, fatigue, decreased energy, and/or restlessness.
• Thoughts of suicide or suicide attempts.

Different Types of Depression

Sometimes it’s not completely accurate to just say someone is “depressed” or has “depression,” because there are different kinds of depression, too. The NIMH gives a thorough list of the kinds of depression, as well as their symptoms, which includes:

• Major depressive disorder
• Dysthymic disorder
• Psychotic depression
• Postpartum depression
• Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)

Treatment Options for Depression

Depression can be treated with a variety of medications (such as SSRIs and SNRIs) and therapies (such as psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy, and electroconvulsive therapy). Check out NAMI’s list of medications and therapies used to treat depression, and scroll down the page for information about treatment side effects. Also take a look at the DBSA’s page Getting the Treatment You Need.

If you think you suffer from depression, contact your doctor. If you think someone you know suffers from depression, point him or her in the direction of these resources and encourage him or her to contact a doctor. There is absolutely nothing shameful or embarrassing about dealing with mental illness, and there are effective treatment options available.

Image: Newscom

Post from: Blisstree

Tell Me More About Depression: Signs, Symptoms, And Treatments

In this Celebrity Health Week post, we’ll take a look at some celebrities who have suffered from depression – or had, in the case of the deceased. We’ll look at actors and actresses, musicians, writers, political figures, and other well-known figures.

Please note that I am not an authority on celebrities and mental illness. For a celebrity to be on this list, either she or a spouse or reliable family member must have publicly discussed – verbally or otherwise – her mental illness, or, in the case of the deceased, professionals must have addressed it later on.

Many of the women from today’s earlier list of female celebrities and mental illness also make this list of celebrities and depression: Brooke Shields, Drew Barrymore, Halle Berry, Lorraine Bracco, Roseanne, Naomi Judd, Ashley Judd, Alanis Morissette, Natalie Cole, Marilyn Monroe, and Audrey Hepburn.

Read on for more.

Tipper Gore, wife of Al Gore and once a First Lady-hopeful, spoke publicly about her depression with CBS News an has advocated against stigma, including holding the first ever White House Conference on Mental Health.

Kitty Dukakis, wife of Michael Dukakis and another one-time First Lady-hopeful, struggled with drug and alcohol addiction and documented her battles with depression and her success with electroconvulsive therapy in her book Shock.

Mike Wallace, correspondent for 60 Minutes on CBS, has spoken publicly about his battles with depression, including a suicide attempt, through various outlets including 60 Minutes and Larry King Live, and has even advocated for the fight against depression before the Senate. Read this CBS interview with Mike Wallace.

Rod Steiger, actor famous for is Academy Award-winning role as a bigoted Mississippi cop in 1967’s In the Heat of the Night, struggled with depression and, in addition to sharing his own story, also narrated Depression: Voice of an Illness.

Terry Bradshaw, former Pittsburgh Steelers star quarterback, has spoken publicly about his depression as well as encouraged others who suffer from depression to seek help.

Tom Wolfe, well-known author, claims to have been able to write his character Charlotte Simmons so well because of going through depression himself.

F. Scott Fitzgerald, an important author in American history, battled depression and alcoholism.

Dick Cavett, former talk show host, openly discussed his bouts with depression (I’ve also read manic depression), praised electroconvulsive therapy in People, and was the subject of A Patient’s Perspective, a Depression and Related Affective Disorders Association film in 1993.

Buzz Aldrin, the astronaut who – hello! – walked on the moon with Neil Armstrong in 1969, battled depression and alcoholism. Read Psychology Today’s Buzz Aldrin: Down to Earth and TIME’s 10 Questions for Buzz Aldrin.

Frederic Chopin, often regarded as the greatest Polish composer (I absolutely love Nocturne and am, as a matter of fact, listening to it right now) battled depression before his death 1849.

Clara Barton, regarded as the “angel of Civil War battlefields” and founder of the American Red Cross, struggled with depression and reportedly considered suicide.

Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States and the one who issued a proclamation allowing my state to secede from Virginia, suffered from depression and “breakdowns,” all of which is documented in Joshua Wolf Shenk’s Lincoln’s Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness.

Eugene O’Neill, famous playwright and Nobel Prize-winner, battled depression and alcoholism.

Tennessee Williams, another major American playwright, suffered from depression, alcoholism, and substance abuse, and never forgave his parents for allowing his sister to undergo a prefrontal lobotomy to treat mental agitation – it left her incapacitated for the remainder of her life.

Note that this is not a comprehensive list of celebrities who have battled depression; it’s merely a list of the celebrities for whom I’ve found information. If you know of any others – and can provide credible sources – feel free to leave them in the comments.

Stay tuned for information about male celebrities and mental illness, athletes and mental illness, and political figures and mental illness all this week!

Images: Newscom

Post from: Blisstree

Celebrities And Depression

Starting Monday, June 9, 2008 and running until Saturday, June 14, 2008, the b5media Health & Wellness Channel is rolling out the red carpet and holding Celebrity Health Week!

Given that this is a mental health blog, I figured I’d go the celebrities and mental health route.

While I generally try to stay away from talking about celebrities wait, that’s a lie, I talk about celebrities a good deal. Especially my Wenti. So let’s start over.

While I generally try to stay away from talking about the mental health of celebrities here at Mental Health Notes, there have still been times when I’ve written about celebrities and mental health issues.

Why?

Well, like I’ve said before, while I believe a person’s mental health (and any kind of health, for that matter) is his or her own business, I also believe that when a celebrity brings his or her mental illness out into the open, it helps bust stigma and show others that they, too, can live full and productive lives even with mental illness.

So, I try to limit my writings of celebrities and mental illnesses to posts only about celebrities who have either publicly spoken about or written about their mental health issues, or have had reliable sources such as family members come forward with the celebrity’s mental illness.

Seriously. If you were a famous actor or singer, would you want some random bloggers, journalists, and entertainment shows who don’t really know squat about you talking about what’s going on with your brain unless you’d already announced it?

I didn’t think so.

So, during Celebrity Health Week, I’ll be blogging about celebrities who have already publicly announced, talked about, or written about their own mental health issues; giving you more information about several kinds of mental illness; and publishing letters to three different people – alive and dead – who reportedly have or had a mental illness.

There will be 18 posts in all during Celebrity Health Week, and once it gets underway the chart below will act as a “home base” for all the links. You know, to help you stay organized.

As you wait for Monday, let these mental health- and celebrity-related posts tide you over:

• Meet Famous Poets Who Lived With Mental Illness
• Harry Potter Saved Rowling’s Sanity
• In The World Of Show Biz, It Pays To Be Crazy
• Celebrities With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Smile For The Camera!
• And The A.S.S Award Goes To…TMZ.com
• Is Paris Hilton Mentally Ill?

Image: Newscom

Do you want to tell the world why you ROCK? If you have a mental illness and are still living the life you love, head on over the the official announcement post and enter This Is Why I ROCK! today!

Post from: Blisstree

Introducing Celebrity Health Week: Celebrities And Mental Illness