The article points out 1) therapeutic doses of lithium as a prescription medicine for mood disorders are MUCH higher than doses occurring through lithium in th

The article points out 1) therapeutic doses of lithium as a prescription medicine for mood disorders are MUCH higher than doses occurring through lithium in the water supply, and yet 2) there is perhaps some epidemiological signal suggesting differing rates of suicide and depression in places where lithium levels in the water supply are higher. Kay Redfield Jamison, author of some of the most compassionate books about depression you will ever read,[1] credits lithium with saving her life. I'm glad her life was spared so that she could write from the inside about what it is like to have a severe mood disorder, and apply her creativity to communicating with people who cannot directly understanding her personal experiences or the experiences of other patients. I think the article's call for further research, at a minimum, is worth taking seriously. The neuroprotective effect of lithium demonstrated in animal studies (verified by necropsy and examination of the animal's brains after the animals die) is well established, so we may as well check whether adjustment of water supplies by intentional supplementation has a beneficial effect if (and only if) epidemiological studies and animal experiments suggest doing so. This is, after all, how the beneficial effects of fluoride on tooth enamel strength and resistance to decay were discovered. [1] http://www.amazon.com/Kay-Redfield-Jamison/e/B000AQ1IC8 http://www.amazon.com/Kay-Redfield-Jamison/e/B000AQ1IC8