Conventional wisdom has been for women who are taking antidepressant medication, to stay on it even while pregnant. Try to discontinue such medications can often be a long, slow process that has its own ups and downs. (Ask anyone who’s ever been on antidepressant for a year or more — it’s not fun trying to get off of it.)

It turns out, though, that conventional wisdom is largely wrong. Most infertile women who are taking popular antidepressants — such as Prozac, Paxil or Celexa — would help their unborn child by discontinuing the medication. With one exception — those women who are suffering from a severe depression (versus mild or moderate depression).

Why? Those women taking antidepressants nearly double the risk of a miscarriage if they stay on them during their pregnancy.

A few years ago one of my favorite bloggers and authors Therese Borchard penned this powerful post about the people in her life who just couldn’t grasp the pain of her depression.

She recounts the story of sending an article about her severe depression and suicidal thoughts to a family member who said “Thanks.” She shares another story of a good friend who implied she should stop taking medication that supposedly blunted her emotions — and “tough it out like the rest of humanity.”

Borchard also writes:

…I was both enraged and saddened that friends and family were shocked to hear that two doctors sliced me open — before full anesthesia kicked in — to save little David’s life in an emergency C-section. Yet when I voiced the desperation of depression — which made the knife cut feel like a knee scratch–they often brushed it off, as if I were whining to win some undeserved sympathy votes.

When we misunderstand mental illness — and its gravity — we do damage. Rather than give individuals our understanding, compassion and support when they need it most, we intensify their struggle.

But educating ourselves can help. Below, therapists share several common myths and misunderstandings about mental illness.

In the U.S., we had a sad, embarrassing time in our recent history where a large swath of our nation treated one race as “separate but equal.” This was particularly true for African Americans in the South, where they were socially segregated — from lunch counters to riding the bus. At one time, most (white) Americans seemed perfectly okay with this form of discrimination, prejudice, and stigma.

It took a 42-year-old woman named Rosa Parks (and others like her) to change things in America. But it also took time; change didn’t occur overnight.

In some of the same ways, mental health care in America suffers from the same “separate but equal” in our healthcare system. Mental health treatment is conducted in a parallel system that is often disconnected from regular medical treatment.

Because of this, patient care suffers.

I believe it’s time to lead a revolution in mental health care in America.

In 2007, The People’s Pharmacy, a newspaper drug advice column by Joe and Terry Graedon, noted on their website that they started getting reports from people taking a generic form of Wellbutrin called Budeprion XL 300 mg. These reports discussed how patients taking the generic version of this antidepressant weren’t experiencing the same beneficial effects of the medication as when they were taking the name-brand version. And the side effects were often worse.

The Graedons became so concerned that they commissioned an independent lab analysis of the generic version of Wellbutrin manufactured by Impax Lab and Teva Pharmaceuticals in 2007. This report found that the generic version of Wellbutrin simply wasn’t equivalent to the brand-name version.

In April 2008, the FDA reviewed their existing studies, and concluded they were the same. The FDA did not review the independent analysis, or any actual data on the 300 mg version of the product (you know, the one people were actually complaining about).

Here it is more than four years later, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finally agrees with the independent analysis, the Graedons, and the hundreds of people who’ve complained about the efficacy of Budeprion XL.

A common reason people don’t take their medication is because they simply forget. For instance, taking medication can become so reflexive that you’re unsure whether you took your pill or not, said Ari Tuckman, PsyD, a clinical psychologist and author of Understand Your Brain, Get More Done: The ADHD Executive Functions Workbook. He compared it to other autopilot activities, like driving to work.

You also might confuse thinking about taking your medication with actually doing it, he said. “This is especially likely with repeated activities where we have a lot of memories of the task [blurring] together,” he said.

With many medications there are also no immediate consequences. So you might not realize you missed a dose. It may take a few days or weeks to notice a big difference, said Kelli Hyland, M.D., a psychiatrist in outpatient private practice in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Some of the strategies you’re using to reduce your anxiety might actually perpetuate and heighten it instead.

Kathryn Tristan, author of the forthcoming book Why Worry? Stop Coping and Start Living (available December 4, 2012), reveals three common tactics that can backfire.

Q: What are some anti-anxiety strategies that actually don’t work?

A: Often people use three common coping strategies that do more harm than good. In a nutshell, these are pills, booze, or avoidance.

Scientific studies suggest that 1 out of 2 people in the U.S. will suffer at some time in their life from anxiety, depression, or addiction. That means you, me, someone in our family, a friend, etc., is currently or will be dealing with one of more of these life-altering issues.

Why?

I’ve been part of too many heated discussions lately on bipolar disorder among kids. Because I know of several cases where it’s been sheer heartache for the parents, it’s difficult for me not to respond defensively at folks who dismiss all child mood disorders as proof of an over-medicated nation.

So I thought I’d republish excerpts from Jennifer Egan’s excellent, comprehensive article that ran awhile back in the New York Times Magazine. She profiles several different families as well talks to experts in the field, asking doctors how they go about diagnosing a child with bipolar disorder and why the percentage increase among kids.

I have excerpted more of the medical paragraphs. But the descriptions of the kids’ symptoms is worth reading.

If you’re obese and are at the end of your ropes looking for weight loss help, there’s good news from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA in the past few months has approved two new weight loss drugs for people who struggle with obesity and being overweight — Qsymia and Belviq.

Both Qsymia (pronounced kyoo-sim-EE-uh and manufactured by Vivus Pharmaceuticals) and Belviq (pronounced bel-VEEK and manufactured by Arena Pharmaceuticals) have been shown to be effective in their clinical trials to help people lose significant amounts of weight.

Qsymia is composed of two generic drugs, phentermine (an appetite suppressant) and topiramate (a seizure and migraine medication). Belviq focuses on changing on how serotonin is processed by the brain. Qysmia will be on sale by the end of the year, while Belviq won’t be available until sometime in early-to-mid 2013.

Should you consider these drugs if you’re obese or seriously overweight?

All individuals have the right to aspire toward their own personal goals and desires. At times, mental health conditions and problem behaviors, such as aggression or property destruction, can create barriers to reaching those goals.

Fortunately, a number of treatment practices exist that can assist an individual in adopting positive behaviors. If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with a mental health condition and has problem behaviors, consider talking to a mental health provider about the benefits of Positive Behavior Support (PBS).

What is PBS?

Positive Behavior Support (PBS) is a philosophy for helping individuals whose problem behaviors are barriers to reaching their goals. It is based on the well-researched science of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). A key component is understanding that behaviors occur for a reason and can be predicted by knowing what happens before and after those behaviors.

Medical marijuana is a hot topic that has slowly made its way into politics, health care, psychiatry, and education — into society itself.

Diverse opinions on either side of the many issues in our society are common; the people in power still argue about gay marriage and abortion, religion and taxes. It’s fair enough for people to take sides, but when it comes to medical marijuana, it is worth the debate.

Like all social and political issues that start slowly and suddenly catch fire, the opinions regarding the use of medicinal marijuana are exhausting. ProCon.org, an accredited website that focuses exclusively on the use of medicinal marijuana asks the question: “Is medical marijuana an effective treatment for depression, bipolar disorders, anxiety, and similar mood disorders?”

Let’s find out.

This month I had the pleasure of talking to Joe Pantoliano about his recently published book Asylum: Hollywood Tales from My Great Depression: Brain Dis-Ease, Recovery, and Being My Mother’s Son. Below, he discusses everything from stigma toward “brain dis-ease” to his personal struggles with and recovery from the “seven deadlies.”

Pantoliano is also the founder of No Kidding, Me Too! (www.nkm2.org), a nonprofit organization “whose purpose is to remove the stigma attached to ‘brain dis-ease’ through education and the breaking down of societal barriers.” He produced and directed the documentary No Kidding! Me 2!!, an intimate look at the experiences of Americans living with mental illness.

Pantoliano has more than 100 movie, TV, and stage credits, and won an Emmy Award for his work on “The Sopranos.” His first book, the memoir Who’s Sorry Now? The True Story of a Stand-up Guy, was a New York Times bestseller. He was born in Hoboken, N.J., and today lives in Connecticut.

Experiencing one depressive episode increases your risk for experiencing another. So in order to reduce the risk, it’s important to be proactive and take good care of yourself.

In his new book, Depression: A Guide for the Newly Diagnosed, clinical psychologist Lee Coleman, Ph.D, ABPP, includes a valuable chapter on how to take care of yourself after a depressive episode. Coleman also serves as the assistant director and director of training at the California Institute of Technology’s student counseling center.

Below you’ll find four helpful tips for caring for yourself after an episode of depression.