Depression and New Medications

ScienceDaily (2010-08-03) -- A single intravenous dose of the anesthetic agent ketamine appears to reduce symptoms of depression within 40 minutes among those with bipolar disorder who have not responded to other treatments. ... > read full article

“She lives in the here and now,” the young woman..

...commented on her friend. They were both in high school and were discussing the upcoming exams. This young woman was trying to convince her friend to set up regular study routines based on the exam schedule. The interaction fascinated me because the excuses/reasons to avoid routines were familiar.

How many of us have said or heard, “Others work so hard and get 90%. I hardly study and get 70%. So why not relax and enjoy instead of stressing about exams?”

Unfortunately, in education it’s a case of delayed gratification. Except for marks/grades and the ranking (if you are competitive), we don’t really see the true benefits of the formulas or how the bones heal after a fracture. It seems ridiculous that our performance in assignments, tests and other assessment tools plays such an important role in our day to day life for so many years.

This trip to India, I had the same conversation with a nine year old, who didn’t see the point of all this fuss…he was going to join the armed forces and not some professional course! So there was no reason for him to study everyday.

Understanding the need for a goal and how to set goals helps smooth our way in life-it gives us a sense of purpose. Of course, there is the other end of the stick as well-we shouldn’t be so focused on the goal that we are unable to adapt in life. Moderation works well in this as in other walks of life.

Parents can use every day activities like cooking a meal, family trips/vacations, festive celebrations, etc to teach these skills. How?

Have your children help with setting goals. Identify what is a realistic goal as opposed to wishful thinking. Discuss relevant factors.

For a meal, consider these
• it has to be something most of the family will want to eat,
• should be appropriate for the time of the day (breakfast items as opposed to dinner time)
• does the food prep need to be done in advance (as in making dosa batter the day before)...

For a trip,
• look at the number of days involved,
• locations which have something for every one in the family,
• accessibility of travel plans (train tickets vs flight tickets, vacation days for mom and dad), distance, etc.

The idea is to help kids realize that before you set a goal, there are various factors to take into consideration. Practicing these in real life contexts will help them as they go to higher classes as their assignments and projects start piling up. Many children struggle in school because they either have extremely unrealistic goals or challenge themselves so little, for the given time period and/or for the resources available.

Ms.S