| Your husband watches in dismay as the men in the | | | | classic psychiatric conditions like schizophrenia. |
| white coats chase you about the living room. Finally, | | | | Myxedema Madness typically manifests as a simple |
| with skill befitting a giant botanist, an attendant captures | | | | bout of depression and is often treated as such, with |
| you in a large net and wrestles you to the ground. The | | | | antidepressants and advice to, "Slow down - take it |
| second adds his expertise to the effort, his | | | | easy for a bit." Unfortunately, neither the pills nor the |
| three-hundred-fifty-pound bulk, by sitting squarely atop | | | | pontification strike at the root of the issue. |
| your skull. You now consider your rage over the fallen | | | | If let untreated, Myxedema Madness can quickly |
| flapjack to have been somewhat of an overreaction. | | | | devolve into a deadly serious condition. Minor anxieties |
| With the straightjacket chaffing at your neck, you call | | | | may give way to major psychoses, delusions, |
| to your husband for help. Though his hesitation is brief, | | | | hallucinations and paranoia. An otherwise affable |
| you see the fear in his eyes. He thinks you've lost your | | | | person may snap at the slightest annoyance, exhibiting |
| mind. You begin to tear up but, in a flash, you see that | | | | a degree of rage previously unseen. The patient may |
| fatally wounded flapjack laying helplessly on the | | | | be diagnosed as schizophrenic, psychotic or |
| kitchen floor and the nightmarish rage overtakes you | | | | manic-depressive. |
| once again. Feeling it all slip away as they carry you to | | | | The risk of misdiagnosis is increased because |
| the ambulance, you make one last desperate effort to | | | | hypothyroidism inordinately impacts women - |
| escape the beds at Bellevue. Looking over your | | | | particularly women over the age of forty. As a result, |
| shoulder you spot your husband, take deep breath and | | | | the emotional difficulties are often attributed to the |
| shout, "It's not my fault - it's my thyroid!" | | | | "natural" process of aging, possibly due to the |
| Your thyroid? Yes indeed - a condition known as | | | | empty-nest syndrome, the onset of menopause or |
| Myxedema Madness mimics many psychiatric | | | | other adjustments and changes in life. The elderly, |
| conditions. | | | | especially those already living in a group home setting, |
| Myxedema, the medical term for hypothyroidism, is | | | | face a doubly difficult task in receiving both the proper |
| most commonly recognized by well-known physical | | | | diagnosis and treatment for this condition. |
| symptoms: weight gain, puffiness about the face, dry | | | | That's the bad news. The good news is that diagnosis |
| skin, fatigue and a general slowing of the metabolism. | | | | is actually quite straightforward. A simple blood test is |
| However, the emotional signs and symptoms are quite | | | | all that's needed to identify a thyroid problem. The best |
| often overlooked. Or, even more disturbingly, are | | | | news? When properly treated with a daily thyroid |
| attributed to non-existent mental health and psychiatric | | | | hormone you'll be your old self in no time flat. No more |
| conditions. | | | | outbursts, no more voices and no more men in white |
| Myxedema Madness is a catchall phrase, coined by | | | | coats. Which, unfortunately, means no more shouting, |
| Dr. Richard Asher in 1940, that encompasses a broad | | | | "It's not my fault - it's my thyroid!" |
| swath of emotions ranging from minor anxieties, | | | | Yes... modern medicine is a double-edged sword |
| doubts and worries to full-blown panic attacks and | | | | indeed. |