"Antidepressant Use among Latter-day Saints" from FAIR

[Hemidakota]

Meridian Magazine :: Answers to Critics: Antidepressant Use among Latter-day Saints

Article Snippet:

Antidepressant drugs are prescribed in Utah more often than in any other state, at a rate nearly twice the national average.... Other states with high antidepressant use were Maine and Oregon . Utah 's rate of antidepressant use was twice the rate of California and nearly three times the rates in New York and New Jersey , the study showed.

What the study did not indicate is the reason antidepressant use was higher in Utah than in other states. Anti-Mormon critics were quick to jump on the high rate of LDS Church membership in Utah , blaming the Church and Mormon culture. Kent Ponder concludes:

This problem is clearly, closely and definitely linked to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Approximately 70% of Utahans are Mormons. Jim Jorgenson, director of pharmacy services for the University of Utah , confirmed that Utah has the highest percentage of anti-depressant use, hypothesizing that large families, larger in Utah than in other states, produce greater stress. (Large Utah families are primarily Mormon families.)

The same LDS Church that works so well for many works very badly for many others, who become chronically depressed, especially women.

[Elgama]

This is a purely personal view based on my own experiences - I think we need to train Relief Society better to act when women have children, it may be different in Utah where there are more members and I might be being unkind. There is a huge pressure on women these days to be perfect as Mothers we don't just have to raise righteous souls, but they need to be well educated to succeed (something that is increasingly falling on Mothers to do with falling state education standards), we need to be cleaner than previous generations, take children to a variety of things etc on top of that there is less support and we are increasingly having our instincts taught out of us- I have noone I can really fall back on, when my Mum had me - my Aunty, Gran and Dad were home with her for 6 weeks before she needed to parent alone, when she had my brother her Mother was away but one day my Great Aunt came round saw dirty dishes in the sink and after that 2 Great Aunts came 3 days a week to clean and help her rest. I left hospital 6 hours after I had, had my son had 3 days on my own with just my daughter, then a week of help. There is noone to really help me during my pregnancy with my 2 children. I don't have loads of women around me.

I was shocked at the number of Mums at church that criticise (its been my most difficult battle ground after my Mum), my background is in Family Archaeology, I had read a lot about how tribes did things and with Ellie I went into it confident and did things my way - you know I didn't have a day of PND, however one sister took things to extreme and critcised my parenting skills (there was nothing wrong with them btw), and I let her bully me to the point where I wasn't myself. I coslept with my baby, shared a bath with her, carried her everywhere in a sling held her nearly all day, didn't send her to nursery until I was sure she was ready to go, and she was always with us just fitted into our lives, I stupidly listened to people with my second I have no idea why, I put up a cot, felt guilty about constantly breastfeeding, thought him waking every 2 hours was a problem and my PND was awful and I really disliked him, best thing I did was started ignoring people I didn't let him scream himself to sleep and stuck to my guns, and as soon I started going with my instincts for both my kids my PND disappeared. I am just fortunate that my RS President is a similar parent but she was only middle aged sister that didn't critcise or offer much advice she is also the Mum with best relationship with her adult children (for which she gets criticised apparently its freaky her sons are affectionate with her)

It would be nice to get more practical help sometimes and less criticism from my RS, don't get me wrong I love every Sister in my branch and admire them a lot; they are just too ill or too busy. But more and more people don't have family and need help

-Charley

[Misshalfway]

This is my opinion.... but might be better characterized as a guess.

I think LDS people have just as many stressors on them as anyone in this country or this world. I think other groups of people take their unbalanced emotions to other "numbing" agents such as alcohol or even sexual pleasures. LDS populations don't have the same recreational outlets. I think this may be why the stats for these drugs are higher in Utah.

[MarginOfError]

Is it possible that the LDS subculture is also more likely to listen to authority. For example, doctor says, "take anti-depressants" and since the doctor said it, that's what we do?

I don't know...just speculating some.

[StrawberryFields]

I have heard these statistics for years and I believe that they are true.

There is a lot expected of us and I feel like if we need a drug to cope for a period of time then so be it. We certainly shouldn't add that to our plate of guilt.

[DigitalShadow]

This is my opinion.... but might be better characterized as a guess.

I think LDS people have just as many stressors on them as anyone in this country or this world. I think other groups of people take their unbalanced emotions to other "numbing" agents such as alcohol or even sexual pleasures. LDS populations don't have the same recreational outlets. I think this may be why the stats for these drugs are higher in Utah.

That was my first thought. More about the alcohol though than the sex. I think most of the people taking these anti-depressants are probably already married and most Mormon families I know have plenty of kids so I don't think that's the problem.

I also think it may have to do with the increased expectations from the community and family.

Edited October 21, 2008 by DigitalShadow
typo

[RainofGold]

I am all for medication when necessary,

including anti-depressants

But in some cases I think people misused them, it's like putting a band-aid on a wound without treating it.

Wouldn't it be important to find out what is causing all these lds woman to have the need of anti-depressants. Because medication alone doesn't do the job like a magic pill, you also have to do other things like counseling, exercise, meditation, and special diet.

Rain:p

[Maya]

Good article

[funkymonkey]

The article also stated:

"Shortly after Mr. Ponder released his paper, Brigham Young University sociologist Sherrie Mills Johnson used data from national surveys to show that Mormon women are less likely to be depressed than American women in general. Johnson's conclusions upheld findings of some earlier studies that Mormons have no more depression than the nation's population as a whole.

Although Utah does have the highest rate of antidepressant use in the United States , there is no evidence that this is because of stress from the LDS lifestyle and culture. Credible research has shown that LDS women are actually more likely to identify themselves as "happy" than non-Mormon women."

[DigitalShadow]

The article also stated:

"Shortly after Mr. Ponder released his paper, Brigham Young University sociologist Sherrie Mills Johnson used data from national surveys to show that Mormon women are less likely to be depressed than American women in general. Johnson's conclusions upheld findings of some earlier studies that Mormons have no more depression than the nation's population as a whole.

Although Utah does have the highest rate of antidepressant use in the United States , there is no evidence that this is because of stress from the LDS lifestyle and culture. Credible research has shown that LDS women are actually more likely to identify themselves as "happy" than non-Mormon women."

If the statistics for depression in utah are already high, but Mormons don't contribute to that and make up more than half the population of Utah, the percentage of depressed non-Mormons in Utah must be rediculously high to make those statistics consistent.

So then the question becomes, what is it about the LDS lifestyle and culture that is so depressing to everyone around them?

Edit: In case anyone didn't notice, the tone for this was meant to be jokingly. I am a non-member living in Utah and I don't find anything particularly depressing about the lifestyle and culture here... maybe a bit frustrating sometimes though

Edited October 21, 2008 by DigitalShadow

[Starfish]

Read the entire article.

[Guest ceeboo]

Hey Hemi, :)

Sorry to go off topic,

I found it amazing that 70 % of Utahans are Mormon. WOW, that strikes me as incredible.

Sorry again for being off topic :)

Peace,

Carl

[RobertP]

Er, my second post here and I might be about to pluck the same string. I told my wife to stop me here but she is laughing at me, so I guess that is the go ahead.

I get wordy, so conscious effort to not get wordy here.

Candida is a normal inhabitant of the GI tract.

Sugar feeds candida directly and brings it from its correct single celled stated to a multicelled aggressor that chemically and physically breaks down your body.

Unsaturated fats such as Canola and Flax (I know, you were told they were good for you) are gasoline for Candida. They are not good at all for someone in this mode. It reproduces very quickly in a person inclined to have this happen.

Sweet junk food with lots of junky fats, transfats, healthy fats mentioned above, others, have no inhibitory mechanism from keeping the candida from eating these substances.

This can cause people to feel extremely unwell.

A quick glance across the cupboards of America will show refined flours, sugar, and unsaturated oils. Every one of these by itself and together feeds candida (and 400+ species of bad bacteria) directly and encourages it to colonize and poison you. This is just a wildfire waiting to be ignited. When you start seeing that dysbiosis is related to autism, autism spectrum, OCD, depression, PMS, and you look at our society and wonder why we have things that were not heard of before while adding new additives to our foods expecting each one and all together have no significant effect, well, I would suggest another point of view. At the heart of all of these mental and emotional issues is a set of nerve toxins, different for everyone in ratios and mechanism of coping, chemically (liver detox capacity etc.) and emotionally.

Having known this for years, but found more information recently that has gotten me further through it than ever, I say this is not supposition or theory, I am doing this. If I walk this alone, I will do it happily, but I would be glad if people came along. It seems like a plague being poured out to me, and I am hoping to dodge this one as best I can, and possibly point out how others can consider doing the same. Like minded people can create a market where this becomes more possible.

And keep reading your scriptures and saying your prayers, but hopefully that is a given around these parts.

On the other hand, as I think about this, I only know a few who admit to being plagued by these. I know quite a few more who are just normal happy people.

I say diet is 80%. I first learned it from my dad, who learned it trading home remodeling for Mr Olympia at the time, and I have been working on that for 20 years. Will be interesting to see what I think of this in 20 more years. I have no problem identifying how an LDS diet could possibly contribute to this. Think of refreshments at any given activity. I can't eat any of them most of the time without obvious and semi-severe to severe consequences, so I just watch others eat them. It is not a mystery on that front at all. Also a delicious dinner brought over when my wife had a baby took me out hard core for a couple of days. I can't fault anyone, but being one who could look like the number in the question, this seems like a part of my ticket out.

[Misshalfway]

Could it be the culture amongst the health care providers in Utah?

I mean how often do I go the Dr.s office and list my complaints only to come out with a list of prescriptions. ( I live in Utah)

Being a female and having had children, I have been all over the map with regards to hormones imbalance and other issues. I have been surprised myself how fast and how often antidepressants are suggested. I have had them offered to me before I have even explained all my symptoms.

Edited October 21, 2008 by Misshalfway

[Misshalfway]

Er, my second post here and I might be about to pluck the same string. I told my wife to stop me here but she is laughing at me, so I guess that is the go ahead.

I get wordy, so conscious effort to not get wordy here.

Candida is a normal inhabitant of the GI tract.

Sugar feeds candida directly and brings it from its correct single celled stated to a multicelled aggressor that chemically and physically breaks down your body.

Unsaturated fats such as Canola and Flax (I know, you were told they were good for you) are gasoline for Candida. They are not good at all for someone in this mode. It reproduces very quickly in a person inclined to have this happen.

Sweet junk food with lots of junky fats, transfats, healthy fats mentioned above, others, have no inhibitory mechanism from keeping the candida from eating these substances.

This can cause people to feel extremely unwell.

A quick glance across the cupboards of America will show refined flours, sugar, and unsaturated oils. Every one of these by itself and together feeds candida (and 400+ species of bad bacteria) directly and encourages it to colonize and poison you. This is just a wildfire waiting to be ignited. When you start seeing that dysbiosis is related to autism, autism spectrum, OCD, depression, PMS, and you look at our society and wonder why we have things that were not heard of before while adding new additives to our foods expecting each one and all together have no significant effect, well, I would suggest another point of view. At the heart of all of these mental and emotional issues is a set of nerve toxins, different for everyone in ratios and mechanism of coping, chemically (liver detox capacity etc.) and emotionally.

Having known this for years, but found more information recently that has gotten me further through it than ever, I say this is not supposition or theory, I am doing this. If I walk this alone, I will do it happily, but I would be glad if people came along. It seems like a plague being poured out to me, and I am hoping to dodge this one as best I can, and possibly point out how others can consider doing the same. Like minded people can create a market where this becomes more possible.

And keep reading your scriptures and saying your prayers, but hopefully that is a given around these parts.

On the other hand, as I think about this, I only know a few who admit to being plagued by these. I know quite a few more who are just normal happy people.

I say diet is 80%. I first learned it from my dad, who learned it trading home remodeling for Mr Olympia at the time, and I have been working on that for 20 years. Will be interesting to see what I think of this in 20 more years. I have no problem identifying how an LDS diet could possibly contribute to this. Think of refreshments at any given activity. I can't eat any of them most of the time without obvious and semi-severe to severe consequences, so I just watch others eat them. It is not a mystery on that front at all. Also a delicious dinner brought over when my wife had a baby took me out hard core for a couple of days. I can't fault anyone, but being one who could look like the number in the question, this seems like a part of my ticket out.

So maybe the problem is that LDS people medicate with ice cream and brownies? :)

PS. I actually really think diet is such a contributer to emotional well being. And I really believe that candida is an evil little thing when it is out of control!!!

[Bookmeister]

Hang on while I take my pills......

Okay, that's better.

Lots of what you all have said makes some sense for some portion of the population as a while. Diet, physician culture, stresses from outside, pressures of larger families, comments/criticism from "well meaning" members, and so forth. I imagine that there's a combination of all these factors that could result in the overall statistical figures.

I, for one, self-medicated with pretty much any food that didn't manage to run away from me. Once I took other steps to deal with the issue (including weight loss surgery), I found out that I didn't need my happy pills any longer (and for those of you who might be offended by the term "happy pills", I took them for almost 15 years, so I can call them whatever I want to...so there!).

Until the root causes of the need for antidepression medication are understood, I imagine that saying Utah has a higher rate than any other place because of the mormons is similar to saying that if you ate 30 pounds of pickles a day and then died, that pickles must be bad for you. In fact, it seems logical to think that additional information (suicide rates, attempted suicide rates, misdiagnoses, prescription abuse, marital stress, job stress, etc) would be necessary before any responsible researcher or scientist would say that church membership was a contributing cause.

On the other hand, every church member outside Utah knows that the members inside Utah are just really wayyyyyy different.

[Elgama]

Actually RobertP you may have a point - having said that my Gran always said a little bit of apple pie and custard was what kept you sane lol

-Charley

[Moksha]

I don't find apologetic reasoning, to help explain away the results of data, particularly helpful. I doubt any other state feels compelled to explain away the data. Beyond the results, the rest is just conjecture.

[Snow]

I was shocked at the number of Mums at church that criticise (its been my most difficult battle ground after my Mum), my background is in Family Archaeology, I had read a lot about how tribes did things and with Ellie I went into it confident and did things my way - you know I didn't have a day of PND, however one sister took things to extreme and critcised my parenting skills (there was nothing wrong with them btw), and I let her bully me to the point where I wasn't myself. I coslept with my baby, shared a bath with her, carried her everywhere in a sling held her nearly all day, didn't send her to nursery until I was sure she was ready to go, and she was always with us just fitted into our lives, I stupidly listened to people with my second I have no idea why, I put up a cot, felt guilty about constantly breastfeeding, thought him waking every 2 hours was a problem and my PND was awful and I really disliked him, best thing I did was started ignoring people I didn't let him scream himself to sleep and stuck to my guns, and as soon I started going with my instincts for both my kids my PND disappeared. I am just fortunate that my RS President is a similar parent but she was only middle aged sister that didn't critcise or offer much advice she is also the Mum with best relationship with her adult children (for which she gets criticised apparently its freaky her sons are affectionate with her)

It would be nice to get more practical help sometimes and less criticism from my RS, don't get me wrong I love every Sister in my branch and admire them a lot; they are just too ill or too busy. But more and more people don't have family and need help

-Charley

No offense intended but it sounds like the problem is with you, not the RS or mums at Church. No one I know - that I can think of - would dare criticize my parenting skills - but if they did, what on earth would I care? I wouldn't, not one bit, unless they had a valid point and then I'd be grateful, not bent.

[Snow]

Is it possible that the LDS subculture is also more likely to listen to authority. For example, doctor says, "take anti-depressants" and since the doctor said it, that's what we do?

I don't know...just speculating some.

Do you know of any evidence that shows that Mormons even take more medications than non-Mormons?

[Snow]

If the statistics for depression in utah are already high, but Mormons don't contribute to that and make up more than half the population of Utah, the percentage of depressed non-Mormons in Utah must be rediculously high to make those statistics consistent.

So then the question becomes, what is it about the LDS lifestyle and culture that is so depressing to everyone around them?

Edit: In case anyone didn't notice, the tone for this was meant to be jokingly. I am a non-member living in Utah and I don't find anything particularly depressing about the lifestyle and culture here... maybe a bit frustrating sometimes though

Nope -that's not how the statistics work. Overall usage in Utah for both non-Mormon and Mormon might be higher than their corresponding non-Mormon and Mormon peer groups in other states but Mormon usage may be lower than non-Mormon usage.

[FernRL]

My doctor who just retired, not LDS, had a theory about the overwhelming use of Anti-depressant use in Utah:

Non-Mormons attempt self-medication with alcohol for their depression.

My thoughts:

1. But in Utah, where many doctors are very aware of depression, they may also prescribe more for Non-Mormons as well.

2. Diet may make a difference but possibly in a different way than usually thought--restrictive dieting may not provide the essential ingredients for making serotonin (the brain chemical usually targeted with anti-depressants.) And because women and LDS people may be more prone to dieting than others.

[rampion]

I have theorized before that in a group of people who believe that alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, gambling, compulsive sexual behaviors, etc. are not an option, they will deal with stress in some other way, which may or may not be healthy. I'm willing to bet that there are increased percentages of Mormons or others with similar values who develop eating disorders, overuse of prescription or OTC medications, compulsive caretaking behaviors (aka co-dependence), self-injurious behaviors, OCD, and any number of other problems, including depression and anxiety. And we don't generally self-medicate with alcohol or illegal drugs. Everybody has stress. Some more than others. Some are more sensitive to it than others. And not everybody deals with it in the same way.

Maybe people in Utah are more likely to turn to prescriptions rather than psychotherapy also. I think that there is a bias or fear against the influence of therapists, especially if they don't have the same values that we do. And even LDS therapists are educated in a modality that favors science over spirituality. It's only recently that the mental health profession has started to recognize how important spirituality is to mental health and overall well-being.

I'm willing to admit that I'm LDS, and I struggle with depression and anxiety. Sometimes quite severely. Although I don't take prescription anti-depressants, I self-medicate with herbs and light therapy and go to therapy. But I'm not a typical Utah Mormon. I'm from out of state. There are differences. Yes, the pressure to have the perfect family, raise perfect children, and put half a million things ahead of ourselves has been a major contributor for me. And also lack of family support. My children didn't even meet my mother until my oldest was almost in Kindergarten. That's not typical of the LDS people. And nobody else stepped in to help (some did step in to criticize). I wondered a lot if it never occurred to anyone that we don't all have supportive extended families. But everybody has stress. We just don't all deal with it the same way.

[Maya]

Maybe the doctors give antidep. medication easier than elswhere??

Maybe the non mormons get so depressed among the happy LDS that they need a LOT more antids....

[Dove]

I was born and raised a "Utah mormon," and it was upon the sacrifices of my female ancestors that this state was founded. I and my family have felt a great deal of persecution by our mormon neighbours while growing up, and it has left me feeling like I am a stranger in the place that my ancestry founded.

I have been on different psychiatric meds for quite a while~ Yesterday I was diagnosed with the bi-polar disorder. I was given medication that allowed me the first real nights sleep I've had in weeks. I am finally able to stay awake at work. Quite frankly, I have a valid need for these medications, and I am so grateful that they are there to be had. It does not mean that I am an abnormal person, or a statistic to be analyzed. I'm a living, breathing person with feelings, who is deeply effected by chemical imbalances. They have had a major effect on my experiences and life.

I am so grateful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, even if my association with other members has lead to the most painful experiences of my life.

My husband is a member of a different religion. The pastors' wife turned to me at one of their gatherings. Ever so accusingly she quoted me this statistic about how anit-depressants are so prevalent in Utah, and how that showed that something was wrong with my religion. That was quite offensive to me. I am not a victim of the religion I choose to embrace.

What I'm trying to say, is that there are people who authentically deal with mental illness. It's not the fault of any given religion that this is so. Nor is it the fault of the people who have these chemical imbalances. Why criticize them when they are doing the responsible thing by getting the medication necessary to manage their illness? Isn't this more valid than the avenues of self medication already mentioned?

PS, all of my psychiatric doctors have also advised that counseling/therapy is a part of the process of mental healing, along with meds.

Edited October 22, 2008 by Dove