(Who you say you are–Britt Nicole)
Are allergies *really* that dangerous?
It is allergy season, and while itchy eyes and sneezing can be irritating, allergy can be much more.
Researchers have recently discovered that Major Depressive Disorder, MDD, was linked to excessive release of cytokines, substances that promote an immune reaction. In patients with MDD, stress elicits an immune reaction.
This new understanding of the biologic basis of depression elucidates a novel approach to treatment. Monoclonal antibodies that neutralize the cytokines the body erroneously releases was shown to effectively eliminate depressive symptoms.
It is significant to have the ability to effectively treat depression, because depression can create impulses similar to the urge to sneeze—patients are not thinking about alternatives, they just feel the need to sneeze—and that sneeze is suicide. They do not truly want to die.
We tend to put emphasis on the why. Why did the person die? But what we should be looking at is how. Similar to evidence from the British Coal-Gas Conversion, gun availability plays a crucial role. If the death had been an impulsive homicide, we would not question the importance of the how, yet when encountered with depression we seem to turn our focus from the how.
How can we both recognize and treat allergies, and how can we prevent the death of those who slip through the cracks and feel the impulse to sneeze?
Want more information? See below for links to further information.
Open minds was created to spread awareness
and stretch your perspective and understanding about a variety of topics. Open minds seeks to create an environment where everyone’s voice will be heard and respected. If you would like to contribute or have ideas or suggestions please comment below. Open minds would love to hear your commentary, and incorporate your suggestions or partner with you.
For more information on the research on the link between allergy and depression, click here!
For more information on how suicide is essentially a sneeze, click here!
For more information about suicide in general, and the British Coal-Gas Conversion, click here!
If you are in currently hurting or feel the impulse to sneeze, click here for anonymous online chat with a friendly, supportive operator between noon and midnight, or a number to call for help between midnight and noon.
These people do not judge, and you don’t need to tell them anything that doesn’t feel comfortable to you. They want to help you feel better regardless of what your concern is, big or small. They are trained to listen and help you through anything that is bothering you. If they are worried about your safety they may ask for more information about your location, but you do not need to answer if it doesn’t feel good to you.
Open Minds recently had a second meeting–if you were already on break check out the Open Minds blog to find out what we talked about!
(So this was supposed to be in an email to go out to my pharmacy school. Unfortunately, a certain someone was being this person’s usual self: power hungry and controlling and doing whatever possible to make my life miserable and shot it down, but no one can regulate what I post and share here, so here it is, moderately less well formatted, because formatting on wordpress is a LOT more difficult than on email, word, or blogger, and I am not great at it any of those places either–I tried out publisher for the first time last week because my email kept “helping me out” by re-formatting my email completely each time I opened it which was NOT helpful. Like usual it seems, the amount of time and effort I put in is inversely proportional to the positive results I obtain…but we can sometimes change that…and that’s where I need your help! No, I am not starting a petition.
Just watch me get more views on this post than I was ever going to get from an email…’cause we all know, many people would delete the email before even knowing what it was about and without even reading as far as the subject line regardless of how intriguing it may have been…so yeah…if you don’t mind, I’d love to see this post shared with everyone you know or even have never met before…’cause I am stubborn like that…you tell me it isn’t a message worth sharing and I’ll prove just how many people I can reach with it! You better believe if I am passionate telling me no will light a fire underneath my feet to press on harder towards what I want…life is not bad…I overheard some people having a conversation the other day and I was laughing so hard…Person 1: Do you have OCD? Person 2: just parts of it. Person 1: Just the O and the C? (and then later in the conversation Person 1 started talking about something I taught her last year and I was SO proud that the teeny tiny lesson I interjected that day apparently had some impact…spreading OCD awareness one little lesson at a time…)…so yeah…)
A journey through trauma & triumph 