Recently, in the news, there was another incedent where someone went into a school and shot people. I'm speaking of the Virginia Tech shooting and my sincere prayers are with the victims and their families. There seems to be a trend of these shootings where someone looses their mind and commits acts of violence against innocent people. There are many facets to these events and all of them have been analyzed ad nauseum. The facet that I want to talk about, that all of these events have in common, is that in each instance, the shooter was taking some kind of medication for mental illness or depression.

Now I know what the some will say, "Well of course they were on medication for mental illness, only someone with a mental disorder would commit these acts.", and they would be correct. The thing I'm wondering about is which came first, the chicken or the egg, and is there anything in the chicken feed that is causing the production of these rotten eggs.

Recent studies have shown that people taking antidepressants are roughly twice as likely to commit a hostile act or violence. Other studies have shown that taking antidepressants increases your chances of committing suicide. This alone has prompted a stronger warning requirement on them by the FDA.

Controversy surrounds the use of antidepressants since a study came out showing the effects between SSRI's and placebo was negligible. Still further problems have surfaced. Through a Freedom of Information Act request, two psychologists obtained 47 studies used by the FDA for approval of the six antidepressants prescribed most widely between 1987-99. Overall, antidepressant pills worked 18% better than placebos, a statistically significant difference, "but not meaningful for people in clinical settings", says University of Connecticut psychologist Irving Kirsch. He and co-author Thomas Moore released their findings in "Prevention and Treatment", an e-journal of the American Psychological Association.

There are other options. Exercise and St. John's Wort have been shown to be very effective in treating depression without the chance of shooting yourself or a room full of students. Also, fish oil has been shown to work well on depression in addition to a whole host of other positive effects.

As always, there is a time and a place for medicine, in my opinion, it's after you've tried safer alternatives.

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Laughter Therapy

This is a true story from the WordPerfect helpline. Needless to say, the help desk employee was fired; however, he/she is currently suing the Word Perfect organization for "Termination without Cause."

Actual dialogue of a former WordPerfect Customer Support employee with a caller:

"Ridge Hall computer assistant; may I help you?"

"Yes, well, I'm having trouble with WordPerfect."

"What sort of trouble?"

"Well, I was just typing along, and all of a sudden the words went away."

"Went away?"

"They disappeared."

"Hmm. So what does your screen look like now?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"It's blank; it won't accept anything when I type."

"Are you still in WordPerfect, or did you get out?"

"How do I tell?"

"Can you see the C: prompt on the screen?"

"What's a sea-prompt?"

"Never mind. Can you move the cursor around on the screen?"

"There isn't any cursor, I told you, it won't accept anything I type."

"Does your monitor have a power indicator?"

"What's a monitor?"

"It's the thing with the screen on it that looks like a TV. Does it have a little light that tells you when it's on?"

"I don't know."

"Well, then look on the back of the monitor and find where the power cord goes into it. Can you see that?"

"Yes, I think so."

"Great. Follow the cord to the plug, and tell me if it's plugged into the wall."

".......Yes, it is."

"When you were behind the monitor, did you notice that there were two cables plugged into the back of it, not just one?"

"No."

"Well, there are. I need you to look back there again and find the other cable."

".......Okay, here it is."

"Follow it for me, and tell me if it's plugged securely into the back of your computer."

"I can't reach."

"Uh huh. Well, can you see if it is?"

"No."

"Even if you maybe put your knee on something and lean way over?"

"Oh, it's not because I don't have the right angle - it's because it's dark."

"Dark?"

"Yes - the office light is off, and the only light I have is coming in from the window."

"Well, turn on the office light then."

"I can't."

"No? Why not?"

"Because there's a power outage."

"A power... A power outage? Ah, Okay, we've got it licked now. Do you still have the boxes and manuals and packing stuff your computer came in?"

"Well, yes, I keep them in the closet."

"Good. Go get them, and unplug your system and pack it up just like it was when you got it. Then take it back to the store you bought it from."

"Really? Is it that bad?"

"Yes, I'm afraid it is."

"Well, all right then, I suppose. What do I tell them?"

"Tell them you're too stupid to own a computer."

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Health Tools

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