Eminem's mother fears depression will kill son

Eminem is a manic depressive who could do something stupid at any minute, according to the rapper's mother.
In new book 'My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem', Debbie Nelson reveals the rapper has been dogged by depression, which worsened after his ex-wife Kim gave birth to their daughter Hailie, who is now 11.

Eminem's estranged mother fears her son's blues have worsened since the rap star and his wife split for a second time last year. She prays her book will be a wake-up call for her son. A family friend tells America's Life & Style magazine: "She just hopes he'll read it and realise how loved he is. "She fears she'll end up burying him unless he gets help… We all see him teetering on the edge of self-destruction."

Taking Champix to quit smoking may induce depression

BRENDAN TREMBATH: A pill designed to help smokers quit is causing concern because of reports that it led to suicides and depression among some patients in the United States. The prescription drug sold as Champix was launched in Sydney today and will be available on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme from January. The drug has been available in the US and Europe for over a year where there have been reports of depressive symptoms in some patients. Just last week the European Medicines Agency asked the pharmaceutical company Pfizer to update its product safety information. The safety information has been changed in Australia too to include a warning that people with mental illness should take the drug with caution.

Jennifer Macey reports.

JENNIFER MACEY: With the new year fast approaching, it's time to think about New Years resolutions. And giving up cigarettes will be top of the list for many smokers. So it's no coincidence that the drug company Pfizer today launched the latest anti-smoking drug, Champix.

Nick Zwar is a professor of general practice at the University of New South Wales. He says the drug works by blocking the effect of nicotine on the brain.

JENNIFER MACEY: And the drug is recording good results. In two studies, about a quarter of all Champix users were still off cigarettes a year after taking the drug. But there are growing concerns about the drug's possible side effects. There have been reports in the UK and the US that some patients have become depressed and some have committed suicide during the treatment. Of the 20,000 Champix users in Britian, 50 people reported depression and suicidal thoughts

NICK ZWAR: Sure. Well, they're clearly important concerns. The smoking sensation itself can be a cause of mood changes and feelings of depression, and that's been recognized for some time. The other thing to say is that this medicine has not been used to any large degree in people with a history of mental health problems such as depression or psychosis, so it's not recommended, or it's certainly cautioned about use in those people.

JENNIFER MACEY: The pharmaceutical company Pfizer says depression did not emerge as a side effect during the clinical trials of the drug.

Dr Bill Ketelbey is the senior medical director with Pfizer Australia.

BILL KETELBEY: Clearly very unusual, very rare side effects may not be picked up in the standard clinical research program that is undertaken leading up to the registration of a product. And only side effects that are picked up through standard surveillance of patients who are on products under the care of their doctors over the months and years after its launch, only those side effects will be picked up through the standard surveillance, and that's why we undertake the surveillance.

JENNIFER MACEY: Drug regulatory authorities in the US and Europe are investigating the reports of depression and suicide. Just last week the European Medicines Agency asked Pfizer to update its product safety information to include a warning that people with a history of mental illness should inform their doctor. Pfizer's Dr Ketelbey says this warning is also in the Australian leaflet.

BILL KETELBEY: The prescribing information in Australia has already been changed to include a statement that doctors should be aware that the side effects have been reported in patients on Champix who are ceasing smoking, and the same information has now been included in the European product information.

JENNIFER MACEY: But Associate Professor Renee Bittoun from the Brain and Mind Research Institute doubts there's a link between Champix and depression.

RENEE BITTOUN: Probably 40 per cent of all cigarettes smoked in Australia are smoked by people with depression. So smoking causes depression and depression causes smoking, so it is a bit of a circular event, I'm afraid. With regard to suicide, there's also a link with depression. We do know that smokers have many other co-morbidities, many other medical problems. So unfortunately, with regard to smoking and any medications, it's really predicted that, there are going to be a group of people who a - are depressed, b - may consider suicide, and also, quitting smoking exacerbates the problem, so smoking causes depression causes smoking, and quitting also can exacerbate depression. It's a symptom of withdrawal. Now, sometimes those symptoms of withdrawal just abate very quickly and sometimes they take a little while to get over. Most of the time it goes away.

BRENDAN TREMBATH: Associate Professor Renee Bittoun from the Brain and Mind Research Institute in Sydney ending that report by Jennifer Macey.

Side Effects of Champix

Side effects that have been reported to date include the following:

• 
  
  Vomitting and nausea


• 
  
  Headaches


• 
  
  Sleep disturbances and atypical dreams


• 
  
  Gas (wind)


• 
  
  Changes in the way food tastes (Dysgeusia)


• 
  
  Constipation

Of the above side effects, the most commonly reported one is nausea. If you get any other side effects that you think may be attributable to Champix, let your doctor know straight away. The less common side effects are detailed on the leaflet in the tablet packet.

It is not yet known whether or not it is safe to use Champix alongside nicotine replacement products such as chewing gum and patches.

Contraindications

Champix has not been studied in children and should not be taking by young people who are under 18 years of age.

What does my doctor need to know?

Your doctor needs to know:

• 
  
  if you suffer from kidney problems or you are on dialysis. It may be appropriate for you to receive a lower dose.


• 
  
  if you are pregnant. The effects of Champix on the foetus are not known and it would be better if you gave up smoking before getting pregnant.


• 
  
  if you are breast feeding. Champix may pass into breast milk and other ways of feeding your baby may be appropriate if you are currently taking the drug,


• 
  
  All medicines and herbal pills that you are taking, whether they are prescription drugs or no

JK Rowling speaks out about the depression that inspired her to write Harry Potter books

Best-selling author JK Rowling has spoken out about the depression and difficult childhood that inspired her to write the Harry Potter books. At one point she suffered so severely with depression that she woke every morning expecting to find her baby daughter dead. Joanne Rowling made the revelation after agreeing to let a film crew follow her for a year in the life of documentary during the release of her latest novel Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. She admitted the Harry Potter series began as an attempt to reclaim her childhood and even ends the series by giving Harry Potter a family. She said: “I was very frightened of my father for a very long time and also tried desperately to get his approval and make him happy. ” Then there came a point I couldn’t do that any more so I haven’t had any contact with my father now for a few years.”

 

Rowling’s mother Anne was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when Rowling was 15 and died in 1990 completely unaware of the success her daughter was about to become. The mother of three admits her mother’s painful death influenced her writing. “It has seeped into every part of the books,” she said. “She would have odd losses of feelings in limbs, her balance was poor for a long time and then it got worse and worse and she decided it was time to visit the doctor. “She had a very virulent form of the illness and at that time there were no drug treatments at all.” The hit author opened her heart by admitting she regrets not seeing her mother’s body before her funeral. “I wanted to see her but my father didn’t want me to see her and I mistakenly agreed not to,” she said. “I deeply regret that. I really wish I’d seen her. It didn’t matter what she looked like. It would have made thing easier.”

Depression hit Rowling when her first marriage to a television journalist broke down after just two years. She had moved to Portugal to teach English and gave birth to her first daughter Jessica. She said: “I’d had a short and quite catastrophic marriage. “I had to get my baby back to Britain and re-build us a life and adrenaline kept me going. “It was only when I came to rest it hit me what a complete mess I had made of my life. That hit me quite hard. We were as skint as you can be without being homeless and at that point I was definitely clinically depressed. That was characterized my a numbness, a coldness and an inability to believe you will feel happy again. All the color drained out of life.”

Rowling hit an all-time low when she convinced herself something awful was destined to happen to her two-year-old daughter. She said: “I loved Jessica very very much and was terrified something was going to happen to her. “I’d gone into that very depressive mind set where everything has gone wrong so this one good thing in my life will now go wrong as well. “It was almost a surprise to me every morning that she was still alive. I kept expecting her to die. It was a bad bad time.”

Film crews took Rowling back to the flat a few miles from Edinburgh where she overcame depression by writing first novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Tears began to flow as she walked into the small lounge room where she first put pen to paper. She said: “This is really where I turned my life around completely. My life changed so much in this flat. I feel I really became myself here. Everything was stripped away. I’d made such a mess of things. I just thought I want to write so I wrote the book. What was the worst that could happen? It could get turned down by every publisher in Britain. Big deal.” As she walked into the bedroom she spotted the whole Harry Potter series on the current owner’s bookshelf. “If it all disappeared this is where I would come back to,” she said. “Because it’s such a well worn part of my story now it’s a big yawn to hear how I wrote it as if it was some publicity stunt I did for a year, but it was my life and it was very hard. “I didn’t know it was going to be this fairy tale resolution. Coming back here is just full of ghosts.”

Rowling revealed how she wished to be a writer since her childhood but says she never expected the fame that has come with it. “I wished to be published and I wished more than anything in the world to be a writer,” she said. “It never occurred to me in a million years that people would search my dustbins, put a long lens camera on me on the beach or bang on the door of one of my oldest friends and offer her money to talk about me.” Rowling has ruled out writing any more Harry Potter books but let slip she is working on a new novel. “It’s definitely time to stop now. I don’t want to write any more Hogwarts books,” she said. “I’m happier now than I’ve ever been in my life.

Rowling described her new novel as a political fairy tale. She said: “I’m not in a mad hurry to publish, I would like to take my time. I’ve lived with deadlines for ten years and I’m currently able to luxuriate that no one’s really expecting it so I feel as if I’ve gone right back to the beginning where I was with the Philosopher's Stone in my own private world. “I’d really like to enjoy that sole possession for a little while,” she said on ITV’s JK Rowling, A Year in the Life.

Actor PATRICK DEMPSEY suffered crippling bouts of depression

Actor PATRICK DEMPSEY suffered crippling bouts of depression in his youth when his acting career failed to take off. The Grey's Anatomy star, 41, was convinced he was tipped for Hollywood stardom after his initial success in hit 1987 comedy Can't Buy Me Love. But the actor found it difficult to stay positive when he failed to land any more high profile roles. Dempsey's marriage to his former manager Rocky Parker - a woman 26 years older than him - also collapsed and it led to a period of severe depression for the star. He says, "It was a very difficult time. I was insecure. I felt I was no good. "It took me two days to get psyched and it was very hard to stay positive. There were years when I wasn't working and people didn't care about me." Dempsey - who divorced Parker in 1994 after seven years of marriage - has since re-married and had three children with make-up artist Jill Fink. He is now enjoying a career revival after being cast in hit U.S. drama Grey's Anatomy.

 

Read more about the most researched Sr. John’s Wort formulation in America.

Depression: 44 years marks the start of mid-life depression. Study says

Researchers from Warwick University in Britain and Dartmouth College in the U.S. who analyzed data on two million people from 70 nations found an extraordinarily consistent patterns of depression and happiness.

They have confirmed something suspected for years: that middle aged men and women are more likely to experience depression than any other period in their life. Though most of us enjoy a happy start and end to life, there is a rough patch in the middle, topping out at the age of 44 for many. They see depression at the bottom of the U shape and happiness at the two ends. They also believe the depression valley lasts for several years.

From Australia and Italy to Nicaragua and Azerbaijan, analyzing data from over two million people from 80 countries.the same U-shape was observed. The good news is that while during the middle years we are more likely to feel depressed, we get over it and can experience the same degree of happiness as a 20 year old. Previous studies have suggested psychological well-being stays relatively flat and consistent as we age, but this report turns former studies upside down. The study, Is Well-Being U-Shaped Over The Life Cycle? will be published in the forthcoming Social Science & Medicine journal.

Using a sample of a million Britons, researchers found both men and women faced their biggest dip in happiness at 44, regardless of marital status, wealth or children. In the U.S., by contrast, there was a big difference between the sexes, with unhappiness peaking at about 40 for women and 50 for men. Warwick's Professor Andrew Oswald said signs of mid-life depression are found in all kinds of people. "Some suffer more than others but in our data the average effect is large. It happens to men and women, to single and married people, to rich and poor, and to those with and without children."

Oswald admits that what causes the U-shaped curve is unknown, but added: "It looks from the data like something happens deep inside humans. "For the average person in the modern world, the dip in mental health and happiness comes on slowly, not suddenly in a single year. "For the average person, the dip in mental health and happiness comes on slowly, not suddenly in a single year. But encouragingly, by the time you are 70, if you are still fit then on average you are as happy and mentally healthy as a 20-year-old," Oswald said.

According to Oswald there are a number of theories why this happens. "The first theory is that when you are young you have high aspirations and then in middle age have to learn to quell them. After all we cannot all be captain of the national football team or a rock star. The 30s and 40s are therefore painful times when reality sets in but when you get older you've learnt to accept yourself.

The second theory is that people who are happier live longer. Therefore if the unhappy people have died younger then those who remain are happier.

The third theory is that we learn to count our blessings when we get older. We see friends and family die and we see bad things happen and are just happy to be alive."