It's a little ironic that unfortunately, on the front page of the Personal Journal section today, the WSJ has another article touting the benefits of ECT for depression in the elderly. So we're not talking complete enlightenment yet but I guess we have to be thankful for two steps forward and one back.

Hello. Where is our Protector, Dr. FDA. No question about it - this is a form of euthanasia. A colleague of mine last year admitted as much, saying "If you could have seen the situation, you would have been relieved, too." (Speaking about her mother).

Surely there aare other more appropriate ways to go about euthanasia than this - and more appropriate ways to calm someone down who has dimentia.

I guess this is "Viva Zyprexa" writ big.

There was an article in the Nytimes last week about suicide and the elderly http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/27/health/27brod.html

Perhaps the elevated suicide rates are somehow correlated to horrific way our elderly are treated, as well as the fact that so many people are now living so much longer, etc.

Thanks for covering this important topic. It's cool WSJ mentioned your blog.

Sally,
I think suicide amongst the elderly doesn't just happen suddenly. I think it's not only related to the way we treat the elderly but the way we fail to treat depression throughout a person's life. I find the older I get the more I realize how bogus most depression "treatment" is. If you've been struggling with depression for many years, you run out of one option after another.

I'm nearly 60 and wouldn't go for help if I were to get into trouble at this point because "help" only made a bad situation worse. As a former geriatric social worker, I live in dread of falling back into the clutches of the medical profession when I get old. I take the best possible care of myself mainly to avoid doctors and their harmful nostrums. The fact I feel better is almost secondary to me.

By the way, I forgot to mention that drugging the crap out of elderly nursing home patients is nothing new. It used to be miltown, thorazine and the like. Now it's the atypicals. Next generation it will be another powerful drug. The one thing they all have in common is the ability to sedate.

Sometimes I wonder why we don't just cut the crap and just sedate every troublesome child and adult in our society instead of using the dangerous smoke screen of "treatment". When I was a kid my mother put paragoric (tincture of opium, available over the counter) in my sister's baby bottle. That sisters children were all duly medicated with Ritalin. Our father's generation used whiskey.

Sorry to be such a grump today. I really appreciate the work you do. It's helping me set myself free, so thanks.