Mother suspected of tossing kids in bay suffered from schizophrenia
Oakland woman says she had stopped taking her medication
Jaxon Van Derbeken and Kevin Fagan, Chronicle Staff Writers

Thursday, October 20, 2005

14:10 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- The Oakland woman suspected of throwing her children into the bay to die told investigators that she had been treated for schizophrenia over the summer while staying with her sister in Florida and had thought she was cured, authorities said today.

Lashuan Ternice Harris, 23, told authorities that she had stopped taking her medication when she returned to the Bay Area a couple of months ago. Soon, she started hearing voices, Harris told investigators.

Those voices were talking to her Wednesday evening, she said, when she allegedly stripped her three small sons naked and threw them off the end of Pier 7 on San Francisco's waterfront.
posted by Matthew Norman, M.D. at 9:48:00 PM

Exploring Abraham Lincoln's 'Melancholy'
by Robert Siegel

All Things Considered, October 26, 2005 · In January 1841, a young Abraham Lincoln suffered his second breakdown. He collapsed, and was treated by a doctor who may have done him more harm than good. A new book explores how the Illinois lawyer went on to become president despite suffering from lifelong depression.

Robert Siegel talks with Joshua Wolf Shenk, author of Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness.

"When you read the reminiscences of Lincoln's friends and you hear him described in their terms, he's always the most depressed person they've every seen. It's always this radical gloom that they were shocked by," Shenk says.
posted by Matthew Norman, M.D. at 9:44:00 PM

Drug maker seeks approval for ADHD patch

WASHINGTON, Oct. 26 (UPI) -- Children who are prescribed attention deficit medications may soon be able to wear a patch instead of taking a pill.

A new patch system delivers methylphenidate -- the main ingredient in Ritalin, Concerta, and Methylin -- throughout the day, reported WebMD.

The patch, made by Noven and Shire pharmaceutical companies, is the first attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, drug that does not have to be taken orally. Pending FDA approval, the companies plan to call the patch Daytrana.
posted by Matthew Norman, M.D. at 9:43:00 PM