Zoneboy
05-21-2008, 02:58 PM
Airs tonight on PBS, Check local listings for time.
Link (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080521/tv_nm/television_depression_dc;_ylt=AmTL0Bu.AnqOTZXvxZUatBFxFb8C)
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The TV schedule is filled with programs that are more entertaining than this one. For millions of people, though, none are more relevant.
This is a special on depression, which afflicts about one out of every 12 adults, about 20 million Americans. If you don't already someone who has it, chances are you will.
Writer-director-producer Larkin McPhee summarizes most of what is known about it and where new research is headed. Like any real disease, depression is traceable to a part of the body, in this case, the brain.
As you might expect, parts of the show are disturbing. People with depression feel anxious, lonely, anguished, isolated and unable to believe things will get better. Imagine the worst day of your life, says one expert. Now imagine that feeling never lifts.
McPhee speaks with people who have depression (and the family of a suicide victim). They are young and old, rich and poor and of all ethnicities. Doctors and researchers explain what this mental disorder is, how it makes you feel and the most common treatments. The good news: Nearly all cases are treatable. The bad news: It can take years to get the exact right treatment and most people with clinical depression don't seek help.
Along the way, McPhee dispels some widely held myths. For instance, talk therapy can be effective in many cases. And electroshock therapy (officially called electroconvulsive therapy) is safe and effective and often works in the most stubborn cases.
Well-organized and neatly edited, "Depression: Out of the Shadows" makes a solid contribution toward the understanding of one of America's most widespread and least understood illnesses.
Following the 90-minute program, Jane Pauley leads a half-hour discussion with three experts. Pauley's own diagnosis of a bipolar disorder, a form of depression, was widely reported in 2004 and her questions are practical and to the point.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
Link (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080521/tv_nm/television_depression_dc;_ylt=AmTL0Bu.AnqOTZXvxZUatBFxFb8C)
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The TV schedule is filled with programs that are more entertaining than this one. For millions of people, though, none are more relevant.
This is a special on depression, which afflicts about one out of every 12 adults, about 20 million Americans. If you don't already someone who has it, chances are you will.
Writer-director-producer Larkin McPhee summarizes most of what is known about it and where new research is headed. Like any real disease, depression is traceable to a part of the body, in this case, the brain.
As you might expect, parts of the show are disturbing. People with depression feel anxious, lonely, anguished, isolated and unable to believe things will get better. Imagine the worst day of your life, says one expert. Now imagine that feeling never lifts.
McPhee speaks with people who have depression (and the family of a suicide victim). They are young and old, rich and poor and of all ethnicities. Doctors and researchers explain what this mental disorder is, how it makes you feel and the most common treatments. The good news: Nearly all cases are treatable. The bad news: It can take years to get the exact right treatment and most people with clinical depression don't seek help.
Along the way, McPhee dispels some widely held myths. For instance, talk therapy can be effective in many cases. And electroshock therapy (officially called electroconvulsive therapy) is safe and effective and often works in the most stubborn cases.
Well-organized and neatly edited, "Depression: Out of the Shadows" makes a solid contribution toward the understanding of one of America's most widespread and least understood illnesses.
Following the 90-minute program, Jane Pauley leads a half-hour discussion with three experts. Pauley's own diagnosis of a bipolar disorder, a form of depression, was widely reported in 2004 and her questions are practical and to the point.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter