Must be a Scientologist.
Depression has been proven, at least by the docs and people associated with Watercure.com, to be dehydration. A symptom of dehydration. You cure depression by hydrating and staying hydrated. Why do you think the ads that say “depression hurts” show muscle soreness, sore throats, cramps, etc. Dehydration. ‘nuff said.
Another player is entering this debate and is represented by holistic practitioners. The theory is that trauma (wide definition) impacts the body at the cellular level, and is not limited to just the brain. Psychology and Psychiatry deal with the brain, but the holistic practitioner deals with the entire body. If in fact trauma impacts the entire body, then depression is not limited to the brain. Unfortunately, this field of science is in its infancy and is not given any credibility by medical science, which likes to compartmentalize things.
Wild Mood Swings
Homicidal (thoughts)
Suicidal (thoughts)
and that's just the beginning...
How about severe depression?
I can see how a placebo would work on mild depression, but severe depression would be the real test of whether they worked or not.
I’ve always perceived depression as simply the body’s natural response to prolonged stress—a defensive mechanism. Obviously there’s a “chemical” reason for it, but I think even in the nineteenth century it was known that you could relieve it with any kind of bodily shock—and that’s really not surprising.
I had a bout of depression years ago, that I felt helpless against, but I fought it and beat it by changing my lifestyle, diet, and gave myself a kick in the pants and told myself to stop feeling sorry for myself. Wasn’t easy, but the more you do, the easier it gets - the problems that caused my depression were under my control all along, I just had to realize that, and do something about it.
I never once thought, hey, i can just take a pill!. Why?
Because, I’d seen personally what these pills do to people. I experienced it briefly when I took Wellbutrin to try and quit smoking. These pills numb you out, grind off the peaks and valleys of normal emotion - you aren’t mad, you aren’t happy, or sad, you just...are. Zoned out. Numb. I took them for a week, and then threw them out. They scared me.
I watched other people, who needed serious therapy for things like being sexually abused as a child, get put on the pills, and never have any work done on their issues. Then, they go off the pills, and it’s a complete trainwreck, jobs are lost, relationships in tatters or abandoned, in one case ending up committed to the county psych ward. That was fun.
Now, i see most people I know on them. It’s scary. Not that they’re on them, but fearful of what will happen when they come off them, and all those issues have been simmering all along, underneath.
So, now I have a rule, and I do not break it: I will not, under any circumstances, get emotionally involved with anyone on these drugs. If involved with someone, and they start, it IS a dealbreaker.
I know there are some that NEED these pills, but I bet 90% or more of the people on them don’t need them, and are being prescribed them by their doctors to simply warehouse them in the pill zone, where they don’t have to deal with their icky problems, and can guaranteed decades of billing for doing nothing more than writing out a script, and adjust the meds once in a while.
Depression sucks, but my layman hunch is most of it is dietary in nature, combined with a lack of exercise, and a culture that encourages people to wallow in their misery and take on the victim title.
My thought was that they were admitting they had no clue what their drug did, or how it did what they didn't know it was doing.
But I quit that! I’ve quit ALL drugs. Well... let me say one thing: I twisted my ankle this morning, and I was in quite a bit of pain... so I went to the doctor, and I asked him to give me some pain pills. And he didn’t want to do it, but I talked him into it. So he gave me some pills — and I shouldn’t have done this, but I took some about an hour before the show tonight, and right now... I am high... as a KITE! I mean, it is unbelievable! And I would NEVER say this to you people, but, in this case: if you EVER get a chance, to take these drugs... DO IT! They’re called... Placebos!
-Steve Martin
Admits that antidepressants ARE effective for severe depression. I have seen people who were suicidal completely turn around after receiving the correct medication.
Antidepressants can be a blessing to some and as bad as LSD to others. I've seen first hand the good and the harm they can do to different people. I doubt one in ten doctors prescribing them would recognize Serotonin Syndrome for example. Many Shrinks as well are quite clueless about it.
If you take SSRI's and get a headache and/or upset stomach tell your doctor. If he brushes it ff find another or another till you find one with enough smarts to listen.
If a person has sensory processing related issues such as Inner Ear disorders be very careful with these drugs.
I don't doubt for a minute people can get severely depressed to the point of needing an appropriate medication. This could be true no matter the origin but the origin of the depression should be by all practical attempts to be determined. The origin needs to be determined so proper treatment can be obtained.
Doctors need to take the potential for adverse reactions seriously. It really gets me how many doctors come unglued at the mention of such medications as Xanax, Valium, Librium, or other related benzodiazepine class medicines. The same doctors will write a prescription for say Zoloft or Paxil and not give any thought to it. I have never seen anyone taking Valium, Xanax, or Other Benzo, hallucinate from it. On the contrary benzodiazepine are the protocol antidote medication for stopping a Serotonin Migration in progress. I have however seen persons given SSRI's and other antidepressants do just that.
I am among those who must never take any antidepressant due to sensory processing damage. It can affect me like LSD. Sad to say many persons taken into emergency rooms with advanced Serotonin Syndrome will only be given more of it as the treatment. They will label the patient psychotic and treat with medications that only make matters worse. No not even an unconscious patients makes some doctors think hey maybe there is something bad wrong here.
I'm not on an anti-antidepressant rant but doctors need to realize the somewhat rare but very real dangers of these drugs. They can be far, far, more dangerous than any benzodiazepine tranquilizer such as Valium, Xanax, or Librium. Patients would be very surprised to know just how little many shrinks know about the medications they prescribe.
Anti-depressants are called “soul suckers” on the street because of their massively inhibiting effect on a person’s conscience and empathy.
These effects also suppress anger, which is why if someone stops taking them suddenly, without at least a six-month tapering-off, they can (and often do) explode into rages, many times murderous.
So people who take them can destroy others mentally, emotionally or physically and simply not care, while people who come off of them wrong can destroy people mentally, emotionally or physically out of uncontrollable rage.
Yes, they help *some* depression. But they are given out like candy to millions of people at every age group, and as a result have massively negative, chronically sociopathic psychological effects on vast swaths of the population, from children to youths to adults.
And MOST liberals are on them - WAY more than 50%.
The usual quack psychologist.
Lazy social science PhD pretending to be a “doctor.”
Hi, my name’s Jeff. I’m addicted to placebos.
I’d quit. But it wouldn’t make a difference.
They might just be fancy placebos - but they still muck with brain chemistry... and that’s NOT good.