根據報載，台北監獄仍舊考慮將陳前總統送回監獄繼續服刑。假如此事當真，表示北監完全不瞭解重鬱症的嚴重性。陳前總統經由多位專家與精密儀器的檢查，確認是罹患重鬱症。重鬱症是一種大腦的疾病，不是心理疾病。在台北榮民總醫院與行政院衛生署桃園醫院的兩次核磁共振造影檢查，均顯示陳前總統的大腦皮質下出現許多異常的亮點。這種病理的變化表示，陳前總統的大腦曾經因為局部血管的血流量下降，導致腦血管周邊空間擴大或神經髓鞘的脫鞘現象，此與重鬱症的發作有關。重鬱症會出現全身痛的感覺，免疫力功能下降，嚴重的時候，會有生不如死的想法，因此重鬱症患者常有自殺行為，這是一般人很難想像的病痛。
今年五月筆者診視之後，就曾指出陳前總統罹患創傷後壓力症，卻從未接受治療，創傷後壓力症最常出現的共患精神疾病就是重鬱症。遭遇壓力之後，預防這些精神疾病發作的有效方法，就是透過談話紓解壓力與運動，但是陳前總統不論在看守所，或後來在台北監獄，都幾乎是單獨監禁，加上二十四小時燈照破壞生理時鐘，導致重鬱症之惡化。甚至筆者在診視之後提出，陳前總統已罹患這些精神疾病，也一概遭到行政院法務部的否認，不同意給予適當的治療，這對於曾經擔任我國政府最高領導人的對待方式，實在非常不人道。
陳前總統是在台北監獄罹患重鬱症，其認知功能與情緒已經遭此環境制約而受傷，一旦回到監獄，一定會更惡化。筆者堅決反對將陳前總統送回監獄。台灣不是野蠻社會，而是已開發的文明國家，任何人生病都有接受治療的權利，陳前總統一定要在行政院衛生署評鑑合格的醫院繼續接受治療。
（作者為精神科醫師）
2012-11-29
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Respect the Treatment Rights of President Chen Shui-Bian
By Prof. Chiao-Chicy Chen, Nov. 29, 2012
According to news reports, the Taipei Prison authority still intends to return former President Chen back to the prison to serve the remainder of his sentences. If these reports are true, it means that the prison authority still does not understand the severity of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Through the examination by several experts and precision instruments, it has been confirmed that President Chen suffers Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). MDD is a brain disease, not just a manifestation of psychological conflict. Through repeated Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) examinations at Taoyuan Municipal Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital, respectively, many unusual bright signals (hyperintensities) in the subcortical regions of President Chen’s brain were found. These pathological changes in the brain of President Chen indicate that there had been decreased local vascular blood flow, resulting in dilated perivascular spaces or neuron demyelination, contributing to the onset of his MDD. A person who suffers MDD could feel severe pain over the whole body in addition to a weakened immune response. At the peak of the symptom, the patient could feel that living is a fate worse than death. As a result, many patients with MDD committed suicide. For most people, the suffering of MDD patients is beyond their comprehension.
After examining President Chen in May this year, I pointed out that he was suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), but had never received treatments. PTSD often leads to MDD. When a person suffers major life changing events causing severe distress, one effective way to prevent the onset of these psychiatric illnesses is to relieve the stress through talk therapy by psychological counseling and physical exercise. President Chen, while in the detention center and later in Taipei Prison, was subjected to essentially solitary confinement in addition to twenty-four-hour surveillance under bright lights. His biological clock was thus destroyed, leading to the deterioration of his brain function. Namely, MDD became worse. However, Ministry of Justice not only denied my diagnosis of President Chen’s psychiatric illnesses but also refused to provide appropriate psychiatric treatments to him, such as drug therapy, psychotherapy or rehabilitation. Treating a former elected leader in such a degrading manner is nothing but inhuman.
President Chen was inflicted with MDD during his incarceration in Taipei Prison. His cognitive ability and emotion have suffered traumatic injuries due to this imprisonment. If he is forced back to any kind of prison environment, his symptom will deteriorate rapidly. I vehemently oppose returning President Chen to the prison. Taiwan is not a barbaric society, but a developed and civilized country. Anyone who is sick has the rights to receive proper medical treatments. President Chen must stay in an accredited hospital by Ministry of Health to continue his treatments.
