Families For Depression Awareness To Testify To The FDA's Psychopharmacological Drugs Advisory Committee

Families for Depression
Awareness will address the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as they
convene for the Psychopharmacological Drugs Advisory Committee (PDAC)
meeting, December 13. The FDA panel will address suicide risk data from
adult antidepressant trials. Families for Depression Awareness speakers
include: Julie Totten (president and founder) and depression-affected
participants Nancy Sharby (advisory board), Anne Sheffield (advisory
board/noted author) and Mary Margaret Dick (member).



In their testimony, each will stress how depression is a real medical
condition that is highly treatable with antidepressants, talk therapy and
other appropriate interventions. However, it is critical to monitor
symptoms and potential side effects -- individually and with the help of
family and friends. In related news, Families for Depression Awareness
recently launched its Depression Wellness Guide, the first practical tool
to help adults monitor depression with their clinician and families.


What:


FDA's Psychopharmacological Drugs Advisory Committee (PDAC)
meeting: Suicidability Data from Adult Antidepressant Trials


Who:



Julie Totten, president and founder: Julie formed Families for
Depression Awareness to help families and friends recognize and
cope with depressive disorders.


Nancy Sharby, advisory board member: Nancy has experienced
depression and her two children have bipolar disorder. She lost
relatives to suicide and others made suicide attempts. Nancy has
depression and is successfully treated.


Anne Sheffield, author & advisory board member: Anne is the author
of several notable mental health books, including Depression
Fallout: The Impact of Depression on Couples and What You Can Do
to Preserve the Bond (HarperCollins, 2003). She, her mother and
her daughter have depression.


Mary Margaret Dick, Depression Wellness Guide pilot participant:
Mary used the Depression Wellness Guide in pilot form, which
helped her realize her bipolar depression was improving. She
firmly believes that depressive disorders are medically based and
not a character issue.


Where:


Hilton Washington D.C./Silver Spring

The Maryland Ballroom

8727 Colesville Rd.

Silver Spring, MD


When:


Wednesday, December 13, 2006

8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time



About Families for Depression Awareness




Families for Depression Awareness, familyaware, is a
national nonprofit organization helping families recognize and cope with
depressive disorders. The organization provides education, outreach, and
advocacy to support families and is comprised of families who have lost a
family member to suicide or have watched a loved one suffer with
depression, with little knowledge about how to help. For more information
please go to familyaware.


Families for Depression Awareness

familyaware