“The drugs have helped millions of people ease depression and anxiety, and are widely regarded as milestones in psychiatric treatment”
Wrong. Putting a “happy face” chemical in your bloodstream doesn’t stop depression or anxiety. It causes the body to exhibit the external symptoms of happiness but does not, obviously, change the root cause of the depression.
So the person is still depressed/anxious but has a happy face.
Chemical fake happiness does not equal happiness.
A “chemical imbalance” is so often touted as the root cause of depression to the point that even talking about other causes is considered uncaring or ignorant: it's wrong to reconsider the spiritual and psychological imbalance of the mind or the will, not to speak of how nature has dealt you a bad hand, or how the music you love to listen makes you less of a person, that you don't bother about nutrition and exercise. But shutting that out from the conversation is probably not wise. OTH the health care profession at the first level makes the most profit from prescriptions.