Sent: Tuesday, August 04, 2009 10:41 AM
To: garthmaier@ktbb.com
Subject: Talkback question regarding the rise in the use of antidepressants - Action Requested
To: Garth Maier, KTBB Program Director, garthmaier@ktbb.com
CC: NAMI members and other mental health advocates
Mr. Maier,
I am glad that you choose at times to discuss mental health issues and include these issues in your Talk Back section. However, I must admonish you for supporting, or at least, not tempering some of the cynical remarks about depression and the use of antidepressants. Whether reflective of your beliefs or callers’ statements, you made a statement that depression is a result of a lack of religion, poor moral character, and family break up, among other issues. Hopefully I am mistaken in what I heard you say, but, either way, to a listener suffering from symptoms of depression, possibly suicidal, these statements can be crippling in the effort to get help. Depression, or any mental illness, is just as serious as diabetes or heart disease. If you were to suggest that a person’s reliance on medication for the treatment of diabetes to be a character flaw, this comment would be outright irresponsible. Your radio show is so impressionable, and I cringe to think that someone on the verge of getting help might have heard the things that were said and feel that they are defective and should just get over it.
I did make attempts to call in my comments so that listeners with depression and other mental illnesses would know that there is someone to support them, but was cut off. Nonetheless, I am sending this cc’d to fellow mental health advocates for whom I encourage to let you know what they think about the issue. There should be more efforts to fight the stigma of mental illness, and less cynicism about it for the sake of entertainment. I look forward to your response and would like to post it to our website.
Sincerely, Valerie Holcomb, NAMI Tyler Board Member
I didn’t hear the show nor the comments so do not have all the facts on which to base a decision.
I can and will say I deal with mental illness on a regular basis in my the family law court. It is horrible to say the jails are the primary provider of mental health services. That is because untreated mental illness leads to self-medication with illegal drugs and/or alcohol which leads to criminal behavior. Drug addiction is taking a huge toll on our community.
I also see a huge impact in the CPS (child protective services dockets.) There is such a lack of services not only for parents but for children. We know from research that children who suffer trauma have a change in brain chemistry similar to many mental illnesses. Because the chemicals in the brain can over produce in trauma, the brain can be injured permanently much as a brain injury from a car wreck or other physical trauma. This is progressive and ultimately, as I have on my caseload, children become permanently mentally ill. I am currently working with mental health providers to try to do something to prevent this in children who are in foster care. The moves traumatize children additionally.
Mental illness is difficult because it is stigmatized. It is often chronic, like some cancers, heart conditions, diabetes, and other chronic physical ailments. With proper treatment, people’s brain chemicals can be rearranged to their proper functioning levels.
I am currently working with Dr. Karyn Purvis at TCU on attachment disorder in children. She has done a great deal of research on the brain chemical components in children who have been traumatized and I recommend her work.
If you have questions, please call me or e-mail me.
Judge Carole Clark
321st District Court
Greetings and I thank you for your comments.
When I add statements during the Morning Talk Back subject, it is almost always a review of comments already made by callers to generate more discussion. In other words, "Why are so many Americans on Anti-Depressants?...lack of religion, breakdown of the family...etc." The suggested reasons were comments already advanced by listeners.
On a complete personal level, I am a reader of the Bible, which speaks frankly about various mental illnesses cured by the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, to me (personally), all discussion ends here. Mental illness is a fact. It is treated in the Bible just the same as physical infirmities. Again, to me, all debate ends here!
Respectfully,
Garth Maier
Mr. Maier,
I share Ms. Holcomb’s point of view. Statements to the effect that depression is the result of a lack of religion, poor moral character, family break up’s, or other similar explanations, have no basis, as the science and research clearly show. Furthermore, it continues the stigma and spread of misinformation. To take this position, when one in every four adults will experience mental illness, is irresponsible.
President George W. Bush issued the Presidents New Freedom Commission Report on Mental Illness and this report speaks directly to how this country can best address mental illness and the devastating toll it takes on those who suffer from these illnesses.
The link to this report is below.
http://www.nami.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Inform_Yourself/About_Public_Policy/New_Freedom_Commission/Default1169.htm
Please consider changing your approach on this issue during your show and providing your listeners with accurate information.
Thank you.
Robin Peyson
Executive Director
National Alliance on Mental Illness Texas
(512) 693-2000
To Mr. Maier and all my NAMI associates,
I very much agree with Robin Peyson and Valerie Holcomb about your very harmful comments regarding persons that live with Depression. We all enjoy the right to free speech and think that in fairness an opportunity should be afforded to Ms. Holcomb to respond to you and your radio audience. I do not know the format of your program but about 15 years ago there was a fellow here in Dallas that had an afternoon radio talk show that said some terrible things about persons that lived with Mental Illnesses and the Homeless. After several calls to him, his producer and the station manager I was given the opportunity to be on a subsequent broadcast and discuss the comments with him and his call in audience.
Please consider this.
Thanks.
Mike Katz
Dallas
My feelings are directly in sympathy with Valerie's. It could not have been said it better, so I will not even try. I am sure that there are many out here who agree with her passion, information and impassioned statements. Here is a strong supporter.
Sunny Davidson
I have no idea why Ms. Holcomb passed her comments on to so many people who did not hear the program. Her comments to not accurately represent the morning news format or my statements. Nevertheless, I have explained the format to her and my personal feelings. I stand by the "Talk Back" format and the basis for the programming.
Respectfully,
Garth Maier
Mr. Maier,
In response to your previous comment,
Your morning news segment solicits opinions. I merely provided mine and encouraged others to do so, as well. I am familiar with your format because I have been listening since the digital TV conversion. I have not upgraded my TV in my bedroom.
I appreciate your loyalty to the format of your radio station and I do not offer an opinion about changing that; in fact, if you have an audio archive that I can provide a link to yesterday morning's broadcast I will put that on the NAMI website for anyone to hear.
I've re-read my email and do not see anything inaccurate or skewed, but I welcome your comment on this. My purpose is simple - to decrease the stigma of mental illness.
I suspect you underestimate the power of your words. It is irrelevant who generated the stigmatizing comments on your program; you supported and perpetuated them by stating these same "choices" repeatedly and with emphasis, thereby, implicating a forced choice response. This is a common technique used in arguments and debates to furtively elicit a desired response from the other party. The "choices" you repeatedly stated were only subtly different - lack of faith, breakdown of family (the two that standout in my mind) - all imply character flaws. Mental illness is not a character flaw and responsible solicitation of comments should not encourage the same through implied force choice.
What if you were to offer a genuinely alternate "choice" by saying, "or is it an increase in awareness?" With the power of your words, by offering a mitigating choice, you can educe change in the stigma.
I could go on with this analysis or just come out and ask that, when it comes to mental illness, will you do more to temper stigmatizing comments? I do not see how complying with this request could be considered incongruent with the current format. Do you have any other suggestions how to accomplish this?
Thanks for your consideration in this matter, VH
The format offers your chance to voice your opinion "on the air."
Your e-mail was sent out to people who don't even listen to the radio station.
The subject matter, by the way, was "depression," and not necessarily "mental illness" (a word never used).
There is a difference. To continue this discussion by e-mail is fruitless.
Respectfully,
Garth Maier
Dear Mr. Maier,
Regarding your recent Talk Back program on Depression and Medication, I would appreciate your reading on the air Ms. Valerie Holcomb's message which she sent to you after not being able to actually speak during your program. Her message is valid and one which would be of help to your listeners -- to us all. I appreciate the fact that you have a program which allows listeners to express themselves and hopefully would actually serve to the betterment of our community.
Thank you for your consideration to my request.
Because I care,
Janet Helgesen
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