Most of us know what it means when it's said that someone is depressed. But commonly, true clinical depression brings with it a number of other symptoms. These can include anxiety, poor attention and concentration, memory issues, and sleep disturbances.

We all know that a good cry can make us feel better. Right? Well, maybe not. At least according to the results of a recent study conducted in the Netherlands and published in the Journal of Research in Personality.

The researchers looked at a group of women paticipants who kept tabs on their crying and mood for a two to three month period and found that crying improved mood in only about a third of the women. For the majority (61%), no improvement was seen.  

Children whose mothers use antidepressants during pregnancy may be more likely to develop autism than kids whose mothers do not, say researchers in California.

Most of us with Fibromyalgia know what the term 'Fibrofog' means. It's the fog-like feeling you get when you can't remember where you put your keys or you can't find the right words to tell a story or your memory isn't at all what it used to be. And those keys you were searching for.......are in your freezer! How did that happen?? I have Fibro fog quite often but the thing that is scaring me the most, is that I am having major difficulty remembering my childhood or great times in my life and my memories are quickly fading. The other day I was trying to stir up some memories in my life that make me happy or that I wanted to relive and none were coming to mind. I was trying to think of memories that once were so easy to conjure up and now I can't remember them and I feel they are all slipping away. I spent time alone trying to think of memories that are special to me or make me happy, but instead, grew frustrated and sad when I couldn't seem to remember them. Is this happening to you?

The words Fibromyalgia and Death don't normally go hand in hand, however, there are more and more reports that suicide is increasing at a rapid rate in those diagnosed with Fibromyalgia. I can honestly admit that in my darkest times, suicide has crept into my mind. Being in pain all day, everyday is difficult. Not having enough support or understanding can make it even more difficult. Hopefully this article will shed some light on this startling and unfortunate topic.

Down in the dumps lately? Feeling lonely, depressed or too shy to talk to that cute neighbor who moved in next door? Maybe all you need is a shot of oxytocin or the 'love hormone'?

"Martin Kuehne, a chemist at the University of Vermont, is quoted in the story, saying, "Pharmaceutical companies don't like cures. Really, they don't -- that's the sad thing. They like treatment. Something for cholesterol or high blood pressure that you take for years and years, every day. That's where the profit is."

No politics, no guns, nothing but bluegrass tonight! Last night, I caught a few seconds of a commercial for Letterman. Steve Martin was holding a banjo on the commercial, so I set the DVR and toodled off to bed. I'm not a fan of Letterman, so I only wanted to watch Steve, especially if he was picking. Waaay back in the late 70s, Steve Martin observed that it was impossible to stay depressed or mad when listening to a banjo pickin'. He even felt that Nixon could have kept his job if he'd a just played the banjo at his last few press conferences. (Glad Tricky dick didn't do it!) Hell, I'd even support ....... Never mind. I DID say no politics here, tonight.

SO, I was watching Steve talk about his Banjo award, and my kids didn't believe that a "Wild and Crazy Guy" could pick a banjo. So I pulled up Steve and Earl Scruggs (Earl Scruggs and Friends) on YouTube and showed the boys Steve Martin playing "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" with the master. Well, one thing led to another, and we wound up listening to 5 different versions of "Duelling Banjos" on YouTube (Arguably the most recognizable bluegrass song to the non-fan, made popular by the 1973 movie "Deliverance". It's the song y'all refer to when y'all say "I hear Banjo Music! Paddle Faster!!)

I grew up with an Elvis Mom and a country and western father. I sang "Hound Dog" and "Wabash Cannonball" from the beginning. I've been a banjo fan for as long as I can remember. Now, my playlist includes everything from Metallica to Hank Sr. It is Heavy Metal for those late night tired drives. A mix of everything for working or playing. And blugrass for the blues. If you're down a little pickin' and grinnin' will fix you right up. Roy Clark coined the term "Pickin' and Grinnin' on HeeHaw in the 60s and early seventies. And tonight, I didn't even realize I needed a little pickin' to pick me up. One of the worst things about the stroke is that I never learned how to play the banjo, and now, I doubt I can. BUT I WILL TRY!!

My wife and daughter are in Cincinatti, having Marie's trach removed (Out on Friday, she's doing GREAT!) I'm just sitting there, missing my girls, and the whole thing with the boys started. Next thing you know, I'm in a great mood, and now. I'm listening to a bunch of F&S, and writing about the cure for everything, BANJO MUSIC!! No matter what ails you, download a litlle "Foggy Mountain Breakdown", or "Earl's Breakdown", and whatever ails you will just leave. Hell, even if the song is about your girlfriend leavin', your impending execution, or orange blossoms, Bluegrass cures everything!

(Legal Disclaimer- we do NOT recommend actually using banjo music to cure diseases. Take the medicine the doctor gave you. RIght NOW, Damnit!. Okay, NOW put on the banjo music, and the medicine will work better. SEE?)

Anyone with Fibromyalgia knows how miserable it is. The pain, the stiffness, the insomnia, the fatigue, etc. But Fibromyalgia doesn't just affect the one diagnosed with it. It can also have a major impact on your spouse, care giver or loved ones.

Feelings of being ugly as a teen, drove him to attempt suicide. Thankfully for all of America he wasn't successful.

Your body's stress reaction was meant to protect you. But when it's constantly on alert, your health can pay the price. Take steps to control your stress.

Your body is hard-wired to react to stress in ways meant to protect you against threats from predators and other aggressors. Such threats are rare today, but that doesn't mean that life is free of stress.

.This has been a very bad year. As I sat at my computer thinking and reading the thoughts of others, I realized how much I really didn't give a rats ass about anything. Wow, it really hit me hard. I had some emotional issues in my 20's and took my delivered dose of Med's and therapy. Actually took Paxil for so many years , until one day I thought screw it. If I am going to be a nut job, so be it. I have to say I did not totally run amok....some of you out there might disagree....lolrotf. BUT I did manage to find a common ground in life where I realized @!$%# happens and no one promised me a rose garden.

I finally became OK with my core values and decided to just let the flack fall where it may. I was way to old to be held hostage by my own indecision's about who and what I was AND MAYBE ,WHAT I WAS, REALLY ABOUT, was OK. So I sort that out and I still feel like crap. Then I remember my old long time friend , Fibromyalgia. I have had it so many years it seems like I forgot I had it. Life was just a world of one kind of pain,or another. I thought that just was what being alive meant. I have Ostio-Arthritis so bad my hands look like a Bonsai Tree. I drop every other thing I grab and it seems life is a succession of bending my corpulent self over, every other time I grab something , as it falls right through my grasp.The Arthur is so bad, made the Fibro float away so far, the grey cells forgot to remember my old friend.

It hit me last spring that my neighbor across the street...my age, seemed to always be bragging about still climbing a ladder to clean her gutters...she is like a Gad-fly. She flits here and there and preens her slim,nimble body like a Peacock....{male,that is] Me I hobble here and I hobble there, I am jealous. That bothers me also. See I am one of the old hold outs that believes in GOD. It took allot of meditation to not be really, really, pissed at Him. It has seemed He has heaped and inordinately large amount of "CRAP" on my plate. Then I see the Gad-Fly and boy that can do it for me....bummmerrrrrrrrrrrr. If I see her up on the roof I have to restrain my self from wishing she'd fall off. One day she did, fall off the ladder into a gopher hole....Well that did it...Now I have to listen to how much pain she is in because she "strained a muscle" in her back. So I made a deal with God..... I'll never wish for her to fall off the roof,if He just shuts her up! OK , I got side tracked.

Fibromyalgia....well in 1970,when I was diagnosed...possibly Lupus at the university of Oregon Medical School, I sort of did the Ostrich thing and thought if I was going to live a long and full life I had to "FORGET ABOUT IT". I soon found there was no-one remotely interested in the fact that I had A LITTLE PAIN. Where? every where, "Yah,right" they'd say. I even had a doctor once actually say to me,when I listed it as a presenting condition...."You mean, there really IS a real medical condition called,Fibro....what"? I thought it was just a bunch of whiners!!!!! I resisted kicking him in his crotch and asking him to whine for me.

So my fellow Fibromyalgia sufferers....that is a word right? It does not get any better. It does not go away. In fact it is worse. It makes me depressed even on a good day,when my brain says,"Hi World,lets dance"....It is a sneaky,@!$%#ty,not fair illness and so every day NOW....I take the pain meds..."how addicted can a 70 yr old woman get and who cares anywayJust give me the drugs and let me live a quasi normal life,even if it is not on a ladder...( I offered to take her up on her offer to clean my gutters) me bad! I even ordered up my "medical Tobacco" card as my grandson calls it....There have to be some perks to off set the down side, right?

Did I have a point when I started? I do not know. Maybe you all do not care.... It could be the pain meds,

all-time-ers/old-time-ers, dementia, or just plain OLD....but who gives a rip anyway....Have a good one, one and all.

If there is one issue that is more reviled in the healthcare debate, other than mental health, I don't know what that is. If u r asked: "How do u feel", the *expected* response is "Fine, and u"??? Yet, let's take another look: "How do u feel???". The response that some may *WANT* to say is: "I'm depressed", "I'm dealing w suicidal ideations", "I'm coping w schizophrenia". Yet, if u were to really say that to someone, they would turn and run the other way... QUICKLY!!!

Why is it, we can talk about breast cancer, testicular cancer, leukemia, hydrocephalus, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, etc... yet, we cringe when discussing someone that is dealing with a mental health issue. We cower or flee the scene.

The main reason, I feel is that if someone has insurance, the reimbursement for mental health related care is usually around 50%, whereas the coverage for a physical ailment (broken foot, cold, infection, surgery for whatever) is usually covered at between 80 and 100%.

So, right there, people r stigmatized into *NOT* dealing w a mental illness becuz treating the illness is more costly *to them*. Add onto that, the cost of medication and u just bankrupted that individual. Or maybe if they r dealing w paranoid schizophrenia, they *don't* take their meds... becuz they r afraid to take the medication. And their condition gets worse.

People can go to their doctor for drugs if they have "Erectile Dysfunction"... Yeah, that "little blue pill", it works *WONDERS*. Yet, if that same person went to the doctor to treat their paranoid schizophrenia, they'd have to be "referred" to a psychiatrist, then the psychiatrist would right them a prescription for a drug that they may or may not take. All due to the stigma surrounding a mental illness.

But, there r people who deal w mental illness on their own (raising hand), all due to the fact that 1) they can't take medications becuz of medications they r already on for *another* medical condition. 2) Maybe they have been to docs and instead of treating the person, the doc was just wanting to shove a pill in their mouth and "move them on", so that they could "treat" yet another poor soul dealing w a mental illness, 3) the stigma of having a mental illness is too great to share w someone, so they shut themselves away... Avoiding people... thereby making things worse... They become agoraphobic!!! So, not only do they have to deal with the initial mental illness, they back themselves into *another* mental illness (condition, phobia).

And things exponentially gets worse... Yay!!! (sarcasm, if u couldn't tell).

We all have boobs, yet, women get the majority of care when it comes to breast cancer. Yet, *MEN* can get breast cancer in their tissue. Do we degrade men for getting breast cancer... NO!!! What is the difference then, when dealing w a mental illness. Not everyone is gonna be "affected" by a mental illness, yet, the treatment of a mental illness should *NOT* come w a stigma attached to it.

I have been dealing w major depression since I was a kid. BIG DEAL!!! That is who *I* am. I am no better nor am I no worse than anyone else on the planet. People that don't know me, don't know the issues I deal with. That's fine. It's time that those of us that deal w mental illness were able to "come out of the closet", just as those dealing w other issues have.

Fibromyalgia is a very real, complicated condition. Many of the symptoms are similar to other conditions, such as CFS, Lyme disease, depression, etc. You may also suffer from more than just one of the conditions, making it even more confusing and complicated.

No one can figure out what causes Fibromyalgia... Is it an impaired central nervous system that causes the illness? Infections, such as Mononucleosis? A brain abnormality? Severe physical and emotional trauma? When will we know? If we don't know what causes it, how can we cure it?