Moody Blues

If you're studying nervousness and depression, what better place to do research than Hollywood? At least that's the thinking of Ron Podell, M.D., who codirects the L.A.-based Center for Mood Disorders. Trying to recruit subjects for ongoing FDA-approved clinical trials for the new mood-altering drugs abecarnil and zatosetron, Podell is running an ad in the Hollywood Reporter for volunteers with anxiety disorders. ''I don't know that people in the entertainment business have more emotional problems than others,'' Podell says, ''but they are more motivated to get help.'' So far the ad respondents have included actors, writers, directors, producers, and ''a fair amount of lawyers,'' adds Podell.