Depression Information

The Patients Guide to Vagus Nerve Stimulation and Depression


INTRODUCTION

Everybody has a story. My story is the one I know best and can write about. It is not a memoir of chemical dependency or self-abuse. Those subjects have been written about many times. This is a story of my winning battle against depression and the vagus nerve stimulation treatment that saved my life by bringing me Out of the Black Hole. And, this is the first book to be published about winning the battle with a medical implant procedure called VNS Therapy?.


Personally, I don't believe the stigma associated with depression has changed one bit in the past century, so I was apprehensive about sharing my story. After all, I had spent the majority of my life hiding my depression from family, friends, and business associates--and now I was writing a tell-all book.


I wrote the main part of this book as if I were having a conversation with my closest friend who was looking for guidance with his or her debilitating chronic depression. I discuss the misery I experienced, the seemingly unending search for answers, the vagus nerve implant procedure itself, and my subsequent recovery from the grip of depression. The last part, the appendices, contains technical information about depression; the VNS Therapy System?; and Cyberonics, the manufacturer of the vagus nerve stimulator.
I hope my journey and the treatment I chose helps readers with their depression treatment plans; especially when they consider whether or not to undergo vagus nerve stimulation therapy. When I decided to participate in the investigational trial there wasn't any information available to me. I just signed an eleven-page consent agreement and hoped for the best.


On June 15, 2004, the FDA's Medical Device Advisory Panel recommended approval of vagus nerve stimulation as an adjunctive long-term treatment for chronic depression. Cyberonics, the manufacturer of the VNS Therapy System?, is in the process of providing the FDA additional information required for the FDA to render a final decision consistent with the Panel's recommendation. Currently VNS Therapy for the treatment of chronic depression is available in Canada and Europe.


I also wrote Out of the Black Hole: The Patient's Guide to Vagus Nerve Stimulation and Depression for the loved ones of people who suffer from depression. When a patient reaches the severe, chronic level of this disease, often it is their family members who are making the medical decisions. At the other extreme, the family members may be in the dark about what is going on between the doctor and the patient, or they don't trust the information that they're receiving from their loved ones. One thing is for certain, the lack of knowledge about this disease and not knowing the best way to help and interact with the suffering loved one complicates everything.
.


I have been fortunate throughout my life because I have always had access to the best medical care available (for any illness), and I have a close and supportive family. I don't know how people survive severe depression if they don't have access to good doctors, the latest pharmaceutical drugs, psychologists, psychiatrists, and a strong support group. Many depressed patients have none of the above, yet they still endure. Their stories, in many ways, are more remarkable than mine.


Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton wrote a book titledIt Takes a Village. It's about how we can shape our society into the kind of village that enables children to grow into able, caring, resilient adults; physically, intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually. If my family wrote a similar book about the past ten years of my life, it would be titled It Took Heaven and Earth. So, I've also written this book for them. Let's get started.


Visit www.VagusNerveStimulator.com for more information on the book.

Charles Donovan was a patient in the clinical trial for the investigation of vagus nerve stimulation as a treatment for chronic depression.

  


MORE RESOURCES:

Lifescript Launches New Online Depression Center
MarketWatch (press release)
Lifescript.com, a women's health and wellness website headquartered in Mission Viejo, Calif., has launched a new online Depression Health Center to help women recognize and overcome symptoms of depression. MISSION VIEJO, Calif., May 24, ...

and more »


R&D Trends: Depression - Clinical attrition driven by mature market conditions
MarketWatch (press release)
Several drugs have progressed through the pipeline for depression in recent years, including Pristiq (desvenlafaxine; Pfizer), Oleptro (trazodone extended release; Labopharm), and Viibryd (Forest) in the US, and Valdoxan (agomelatine; Servier/Novartis) ...

and more »


Depression Recovery Groups Launches Online Peer-to-Peer Support Groups and ...
PR Web (press release)
Depression and other mental health issues are involved in 90% of these avoidable deaths. Today Depression Recovery Groups announced the launch of a new service expressly for young people; these teenage web conference depression support groups will ...

and more »


The Atlantic Wire

High-Fat Diets Have Pro-Depressive Effects
Food Product Design
"In addition to causing obesity, rich foods can actually cause chemical reactions in the brain in a similar way to illicit drugs, ultimately leading to depression as the 'come-downs' take their toll," says lead researcher, Dr. Stephanie Fulton.
Cheeseburger blues: High-fat foods may be making us depressedVancouver Sun
Cheeseburger blues: could high-fat foods be making us depressed?Ottawa Citizen
A Heart Made of Face Parts; The Eating Depression Cycle ExplainedThe Atlantic Wire
Irish Health
all 53 news articles »


Predicting Postpartum Depression
Wellington Daily News
By Angela Taylor Many studies have been completed to see if there is a way to predict postpartum depression. These studies have determined that iron deficiency and postpartum fatigue are linked to postpartum depression.

and more »


The Economist

Depression through the ages
The Economist
From Melancholia to Prozac: A History of Depression. By Clark Lawlor. Oxford University Press; 265 pages; $24.99 and £14.99. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk WHAT is depression? The ancient Greeks believed it resulted from an imbalance in the body's ...



IMF Chief: World Facing Possibly Worst Economic Insecurity Since Great Depression
Wall Street Journal
"Your generation is facing probably the worst economic insecurity in decades, possibly ever since the Great Depression," IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in her commencement speech to the John F. Kennedy School of Government graduates.

and more »


BigPond News

'Cheerful' Corby out of depression as clemency lifts spirits
The Canberra Times
Schapelle Corby is believed to be recovering from depression and bouts of psychosis that have affected her in jail. Kerobokan jail's doctor Agung Hartawan said yesterday that Corby was in good spirits following the news of her clemency.
Corby stages dramatic recoveryBigPond News
man whose love keeps Schapelle Corby saneNEWS.com.au

all 954 news articles »


One-Third of Arthritis Patients Also Experience Anxiety, Depression
PR Web (press release)
Impairments like arthritis can be complicated by other conditions, such as depression, so it's important that patients fully explain all symptoms to their physicians. A new national study finds that one-third of people with arthritis also experience ...

and more »


The many faces of depression
Chicago Tribune
Sadness touches all of our lives at different times, but depression can have enormous depth and staying power. It's more than a passing bout of sadness or dejection, or feeling down in the dumps. It can leave you feeling continuously burdened and can ...
Has depression become a cliché?InjuryBoard.com

all 2 news articles »

Google News

Article List | Index | Site Map
All logos, trademarks and articles on this site are property and copyright of their respective owner(s).
The comments are property of their posters, all the rest is Copyright © 2006 CanadaSEEK.com - All Rights Reserved.