Fighting Depression
$1 million gift to WSU in doctor's honor
to aid battle for new treatments.
Judith Doner Berne
Special to the Jewish News
H
is mother suffered from depres-
sion most of her adult life.
"There were no medications
available at that time: said Dennis Rogers, a
retired real estate developer. "She lived in a
state of depression!'
Rogers hopes he and wife Leslie's recent
gift of $1 million to the Department of
Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences
at the Wayne State University School of
Medicine in Detroit will lead to new treat-
ments to battle depression.
"I want to see people who have these
kinds of problems get help from newer
medicines and WSU has a research depart-
ment for that': said Rogers.
The Rogerses, who recently celebrated
50 years of marriage, divide their time
between Bloomfield Hills and Boca Raton,
Fla. Their gift establishes the Elliot D. Luby
M.D. Endowed Professorship at the medi-
cal school. Luby, a professor emeritus of
psychiatry and law at WSU, treated Rogers'
mother, who died in 1977.
"It was a total surprise': Luby said. "In
many ways, it would have been appropriate
in their name. I think it was an expression
of gratefulness on their part."
Treatment for depression, which affects
approximately 19 million Americans, "has
progressed substantially" since Luby, 82,
began practicing psychiatry more than 50
years ago.
It affects about 16 percent of the world
population at least once in their lives and
is the current leading cause of disability
in North America, according to the World
Health Organization.
"Depression can be terrifying to the per-
son and the people around him': Luby said
during an interview at his Farmington Hills
psychiatric practice.
"The suffering can be intense because it's
like pain. You look through a glass darkly.
Many forms are recurrent; many forms are
resistant to treatment because of the nature
of the beast.
"Unfortunately, relatives and friends
may not understand," Luby said. They may
view it as a character flaw even though "the
major forms are biological disorders — dis-
orders of brain function."
Lithium, considered the breakthrough
Dr. Elliot D. Luby with Leslie and Dennis Rogers
medication for regulating mood disorders,
"was a godsend': Luby said. He began
experimenting with it in 1967 at the
Lafayette Clinic in Detroit, where phar-
maceuticals were used to treat psychiatric
patients early on.
"We made our own because no drug
company would make it," Luby said. "We
were certainly one of the first groups
[across the country] to use it:'
Lafayette Clinic was forced to shut its
doors in 1992, when Michigan emptied
state mental hospitals. "The way that was
done reflected an indifference on the part of
the state of Michigan': Luby said.
Depression, Luby said, "is a disease to be
managed, like diabetes. It requires treat-
ment, but "non-compliance [by the patient]
The Symptoms Of
Clinical Depression
• Depressed mood (or irritable mood if
a child or adolescent).
• Decreased interest or pleasure.
• Significant weight loss or weight gain
when not dieting or appetite is mark-
edly decreased or increased.
• Insomnia or hypersomnia (excessive
sleep).
• Psychomotor agitation or retardation.
• Fatigue or loss of energy.
• Feelings of worthlessness or exces-
sive or inappropriate guilt. This "nega-
tive thinking" usually causes a marked
lowering of self-esteem and self-con-
fidence, with increased thoughts of
pessimism, hopelessness and helpless-
ness.
tends to be a very knotty issue." And many
go untreated because of unrecognized
symptoms, social stigma and failure of
insurance to cover treatment.
"I'm very optimistic about what research
is beginning to tell us but not about chang-
ing public attitudes," he said. "The drugs
and the validated forms of psychotherapy
are very useful. However, we still have a dis-
tance to go!'
Estimates are that as many as 950,000
Michigan residents suffer from depression;
yet it's one of the few states that doesn't
treat mental illness on a par with physical
diseases, Luby said.
That looms large during the current
economic crisislob loss has an immense
influence as a precipitant of depression': he
• Diminished ability to think or con-
centrate. Marked forgetfulness often
accompanies this disorder.
• Recurrent thoughts of death, recur-
rent thoughts of suicide (with or
without a plan) or has made a suicide
attempt.
These depression symptoms must
cause clinically important distress or
impair work, social or personal func-
tioning. At least five of them must
be present in the same two weeks,
nearly every day, as noted by the
patient or by others, and are a definite
change from usual functioning. Either
depressed mood or decreased interest
or pleasure must be one of the five.
— Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders (DSM-IV)
said. "As the economy moves into a reces-
sion, the funding decreases even as the
number of cases increase."
Those sentiments were echoed by Dr.
Manuel Tancer, professor and chair of psy-
chiatry and behavioral neurosciences at
WSU, who was named to the Luby profes-
sorship.
"At Wayne State, we focus on real-world
psychiatry': said Tancer, 48, who spends
a good part of his week seeing patients,
overseeing clinical studies and training resi-
dents at the university's downtown clinics
on East Jefferson in Detroit.
"We study what walks through our doors
every day. Mental illness associated with sub-
stance abuse, disease and job-related stress
— including depression associated with the
poor economy. Many people have their iden-
tities wrapped up in their paycheck.
"I think of myself as a biological psychia-
trist looking for new medications and inter-
ventions to improve the lives of mentally ill
people': Tancer said.
He'll use the Rogerses' gift to apply for
federal grants, with a focus on innovative
treatments and novel approaches that show
promise through clinical studies.
Social anxiety disorders, substance abuse
and bipolar disease are all on his docket
of research interests. "I'm the ecstasy per-
son': Tancer said, reporting that use of that
drug is down. "Now we're seeing a lot more
heroin use among youngsters. The history
of American drug use is it goes in cycles,
depending on trends and availability."
Luby and Tancer are cheerleaders for
each other's work. "Manny Tancer's a very
gifted man': Luby said. "It's an honor to fol-
low after the work of Dr. Luby:' said Tancer,
who regards him "as a sort of Renaissance
man. He was a pioneer in the use of anti-
depressants and his model for treating
schizophrenia is still being used today.
"He is a superb teacher and clinician and
a surprisingly modest man — who still
works more hours than I do."
"I'm locked out of the house until 6
p.m.," Luby explained. "I'm planning to
work full-time until I can't find my way to
the office."
Mike Gentile, communications manager for
Wayne State University's School of Medicine,
contributed to this article.
March 22 • 2007
19