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Kevin comments on Open Thread: March 2010 - Less Wrong
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TL;DR: Help me go less crazy and I'll give you $100 after six months.
I'm a long-time lurker and signed up to ask this. I have a whole lot of mental issues, the worst being lack of mental energy (similar to laziness, procrastination, etc., but turned up to eleven and almost not influenced by will). Because of it, I can't pick myself up and do things I need to (like calling a shrink); I'm not sure why I can do certain things and not others. If this goes on, I won't be able to go out and buy food, let alone get a job. Or sign up for cryonics or donate to SIAI.
I've tried every trick I could bootstrap; the only one that helped was "count backwards then start", for things I can do but have trouble getting started on. I offer $100 to anyone who suggests a trick that significantly improves my life for at least six months. By "significant improvement" I mean being able to do things like going to the bank (if I can't, I won't be able to give you the money anyway), and having ways to keep myself stable or better (most likely, by seeing a therapist).
One-time tricks to do one important thing are also welcome, but I'd offer less.
Do you take fish oil supplements or equivalent? Can't hurt to try; fish oil is recommended for ADHD and very well may repair some of the brain damage that causes mental illness.
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1093866
Use with caution, however.
I don't understand the link. It doesn't mention fish oil but does suggest that she changed her medication (for depression and anorexia) and then experienced suicidal ideation, which she later acted upon. Medications causing suicidal ideation is not unheard of but I haven't heard of Omega-3 having any such effect.
Some googling gives me more information. It seems that her psychiatrist was transitioning her from one antidepressant to another, and adding fish oil supplements. There is also suggestions that her depression was bipolar. Going off an antidepressant is known to provoke manic episodes in bipolar patients and even those vulnerable to bipolar that had never had an episode. Going on to an antidepressant (and in particular SSRIs, for both 'on' and 'off') can also provoke mania. A manic episode while suffering withdrawal symptoms and the symptoms of a preexisting anxiety based disorder is a recipe for suicide. As for Omega-3... the prior for her being responsible is low and she just happened to be on the scene when people were looking for something to blame!
Ah, sorry, I should have checked. (I guess it seemed an important enough detail that I just assumed it would be mentioned.)
Here (18:20 in the video) is an explicit mention of the fish oil, by her mother; apparently she was taking 12 tablets daily.
The way I had interpreted it, which prompted my caution above, was as a case of replacing antidepressants with fish oil, which seems unwise. Looking at it again now reveals there was in fact a plan to continue with antidepressants. It's unclear, however, how far along she was with this plan.
In any case, you're right that fish oil may not necessarily have been to blame as the trigger for suicide; but at the very least, it certainly didn't work here, and to the extent that it may have replaced the regular antidepressant treatment...that would seem a rather dubious decision.