Less educated, older men are more likely to view depression negatively, while almost one in five Australians say they wouldn’t work with someone suffering depression, according to researchers from The Australian National University.
April 2008
 This week The New York Times  featured an interesting article on the growing number of people who have been taking antidepressants since childhood.
“I’ve grown up on medication,” my patient Julie told me recently. “I don’t have a sense of who I really am without it.”
Who Are We? Coming of Age on Antidepressants
By RICHARD A. FRIEDMAN, M.D.
Published: April 15, 2008
Anthropologist Helen Fisher studies love: its evolution, its biochemical foundations and its vital importance to human society. She outlines the three stages of love (lust, infatuation and long-term attachment), shedding light on eternal questions like why we love, and why we cheat. She also discusses the natural talents of women, and their new significance in the modern world. She ends with a warning about the widespread use of antidepressants — and a truly hilarious story of romantic pursuit.
This week’s fax from the Center for Substance Abuse Research at the University of Maryland focuses on”how addictive” different drugs of abuse may be. The fax reports rates of discontinuation, continued use without dependence and dependence for most major drugs of abuse. These data can help us to answer the question of “how addictive” are various recreational drugs.
Alcohol & Marijuana Have Highest Rates of Continued Use in the Year After Initiation; Heroin & Crack Cocaine Have Highest Rates of Dependence
Source: CESAR, University of Maryland
