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DEPRESSION: WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO TREAT DEPRESSION IF THE CHEMICAL IMBALANCE THEORY IS, IN FACT, INVALID?
ANGEL February 23, 2008 03:31:38
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Recent research has shown that there is no actual basis for the “chemical imbalance theory. A paper on this subject was pubished on 11/28/07, “The Media and the Chemical Imbalance Theory of Depression”, by Jonathan Leo PHD, Assoc. Professor of Neuroanatomy & Jeffrey R. Lacasse, MSW. They researched the validity of the theory that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance. They solicited info from many sources,including psychiatrists, clients, and a major pharmaceutical company but found “The evidence offered was not compelling, and several of the cited sources flatly stated that the proposed theory of serotonin imbalance was known to be incorrect.” They reviewed many articles about serotonin research, “but not a single citation could be considered direct proof of an underlying chemical imbalance as the cause of depression. “ They go on to state: “To our knowledge there is not a single peer-reviewed article that can accurately be cited to directly support claims of serotonin definiciency in any mental disorder. “
The researchers found that “In spite of the enormous amount of money and time that has been spent in the quest to confirm the chemical imbalance theory, direct proof has never materialized. Moreover, during the past several decades, a significant amount of evidence has accumulated which calls the theory’s validity into question.”
As a result of their published paper “numerous scientists and psychiatrists have responded either in interviews, or in published letters to-the-editor about our thesis, and not a single one has disagreed.” “In one interview about our article, the head of the FDA Psychopharmacology Advisory Committee stated that the chemical imbalance theory is a “useful metaphor” but not one that he uses with his own patients.”
I believe (ANGEL SPEAKING) that the public has been manipulated by the pharmaceutical industry, because dispensing psychotropic drugs is BIG BUSINESS. The article confirms this: “Zoloft was the sixth bestselling medication in the US in 2004, with over $3 billion in sales likely due, at least in part, to the widely disseminated advertising campaign” “In July of 2007, a government study found that antidepressants are the most prescribed drugs in the US; during the past 6 years patients spent $123 billion on psychotropic drugs; in 2005, doctors wrote 31 million prescriptions for antidepressants; and in 2004, the pharmaceutical companies spent $1.5 billion promoting antidepressants..”
“There is then a dilemma for the majority of the population who do not read psychiatry journals and who
are much more likely to learn about scientific concepts from the mainstream media, either from magazines, such as Time and Newsweek, or from newspapers, such as the New York Times or LA Times. “
In fact, the researchers found that only a very small percentage actually benefit from the medications -- for every 10 people who take the meds only 1 or 2 actually receive benefit. “What about the eight or nine people getting no benefits from the medication but now put at risk for the medication’s side effects?”
Given the findings of this research, as well as the much published negative side effects of psychotropic medications, what alternatives are there?
The researchers found that “In spite of the enormous amount of money and time that has been spent in the quest to confirm the chemical imbalance theory, direct proof has never materialized. Moreover, during the past several decades, a significant amount of evidence has accumulated which calls the theory’s validity into question.”
As a result of their published paper “numerous scientists and psychiatrists have responded either in interviews, or in published letters to-the-editor about our thesis, and not a single one has disagreed.” “In one interview about our article, the head of the FDA Psychopharmacology Advisory Committee stated that the chemical imbalance theory is a “useful metaphor” but not one that he uses with his own patients.”
I believe (ANGEL SPEAKING) that the public has been manipulated by the pharmaceutical industry, because dispensing psychotropic drugs is BIG BUSINESS. The article confirms this: “Zoloft was the sixth bestselling medication in the US in 2004, with over $3 billion in sales likely due, at least in part, to the widely disseminated advertising campaign” “In July of 2007, a government study found that antidepressants are the most prescribed drugs in the US; during the past 6 years patients spent $123 billion on psychotropic drugs; in 2005, doctors wrote 31 million prescriptions for antidepressants; and in 2004, the pharmaceutical companies spent $1.5 billion promoting antidepressants..”
“There is then a dilemma for the majority of the population who do not read psychiatry journals and who
are much more likely to learn about scientific concepts from the mainstream media, either from magazines, such as Time and Newsweek, or from newspapers, such as the New York Times or LA Times. “
In fact, the researchers found that only a very small percentage actually benefit from the medications -- for every 10 people who take the meds only 1 or 2 actually receive benefit. “What about the eight or nine people getting no benefits from the medication but now put at risk for the medication’s side effects?”
Given the findings of this research, as well as the much published negative side effects of psychotropic medications, what alternatives are there?
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OTHER
all of the above PLUS pharmaceutical help as needed - I know from personal experience that tricyclic anti-depressants can and do work. they saved my life back in the day,. They are not without side effects however. I do believe so-called clinical doses are too high and that's where the manipulation from big Pharma may be coming into things. I responsed well on a sub clinical dosage. However having said that what works for one person may not work for another...View thread
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1) http://www.tampabay.com/news/...
2) "Comfortably Numb/How Psychiatry is medicating a Nation" by Charles Barber (Pantheon Books,
2008).
3) Albuquerque Journal
State Sues Maker of Risperdal
September 12, 2008
By Scott Sandlin
4) http://www.americanchronicle....
THE ANTIDEPRESSANT SCANDAL- WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE? By Bill Burniece, Consumer Advocate February 07, 2008
How Pharmaceutical Companies Are Suppressing Data About The Effectiveness And Safety Of Antidepressant Drugs While The FDA Looks The Other Way
Ronald Brown, a Temple University psychology professor who headed an American Psychological Association committee that examined the issue of psychotropic drugs, told The St. Petersburg Times last year. “The bottom line is that the use of psychiatric medications far exceeds the evidence of safety and effectiveness.”
5) There is No Evidence for Biological Basis, so Why Use Biological Intervention?
* "There is no laboratory test, or abnormality in brain tissue that can identify mental illness." in Surgeon General's report on mental health December, 1999.
* “psychiatry ...
1) http://www.tampabay.com/news/...
2) "Comfortably Numb/How Psychiatry is medicating a Nation" by Charles Barber (Pantheon Books,
> 2008).
3) Albuquerque Journal
State Sues Maker of Risperdal
September 12, 2008
By Scott Sandlin
4) http://www.americanchronicle....
THE ANTIDEPRESSANT SCANDAL- WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE? By Bill Burniece, Consumer Advocate February 07, 2008
How Pharmaceutical Companies Are Suppressing Data About The Effectiveness And Safety Of Antidepressant Drugs While The FDA Looks The Other Way
Ronald Brown, a Temple University psychology professor who headed an American Psychological Association committee that examined the issue of psychotropic drugs, told The St. Petersburg Times last year. “The bottom line is that the use of psychiatric medications far exceeds the evidence of safety and effectiveness.”
5) There is No Evidence for Biological Basis, so Why Use Biological Intervention?
* "There is no laboratory test, or abnormality in brain tissue that can identify mental illness." in Surgeon General's report on mental health December, 1999.
* “psychiatry is the only medical specialty that…treats disorders without clearly known causes…including disabling diseases such as schizophrenia.” In American Psychiatric Association. (1998). Textbook of Psychopharmacology.Washinton, DC: American Psychiatric Press, AND American Psychiatric Association. (1999). Textbook of psychiatry. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press. (Texts used by Psychiatry Students)
6) Psychotropic Drugs Create, not correct, Chemical Imbalances & Disorders.
* Psychotropic drugs...increase the susceptibility to having the very symptoms or problem they are attempting to reduce. Dr. Peter Breggin, MD, Harvard Graduate, Psychiatrist and Researcher, Breggin, P. & D. Cohen. (2000). Your Drug May Be Your Problem: How and Why to Stop Taking Psychiatric Medication. New York: Perseus Books. Also see Grace Jackson, M.D.(2005) Rethinking Psychiatric Drugs: A guide
7) Many Psychotropic Drugs Increase Risk of Suicide-Aggression.
* Taking almost all of the SSRI antidepressants increase the patient’s risk of having and acting upon suicidal thoughts & agitation. Dr. David Healy, MD, medico-legal expert witness/researcher, former Director of North Wales Dept. of Psychological Medicine and Secretary of British Association of Psychopharmacology, author of over 120 peer reviewed articles and 12 books.
8) We Don’t Really Know If The Drugs Are Safe or Risks All Known.
* “Our current drug approval system has demonstrated that we don’t always understand the full magnitude of drug risks prior to approval of products.”
Dr. Steve Galson, director of FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research,reported in the N.Y. Times, Nov. 6, 2004, in FDA’s Drug Safety System Will Get Outside Review.
* Since 1997, almost two dozen prescription drugs have been taken off the market due to serious side effects–some causing numerous deaths. (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/page...
* Whitaker, R., The case against antipsychotic drugs: a 50-year record of doing more harm than good, Medical Hypotheses, Volume 62, Issue 1 , 2004, Pages 5-13.
9) Drugs simply do not work.
* Approximately 75%-90% of sugar pills were EQUALLY EFFECTIVE as SSRI-Antidepressant drugs, and that when the sugar pill-placebo gave a side effect,there was NO CLINICAL DIFFERNCE BETWEEN THE DRUG AND THE SUGAR PILL. (J. Moncrieff & I. Kirsch, July 16, 2005, British Medical Journal, doi:10.1136/bmj.331.7509.155 2005;331;155-157 BMJ.
* Kirsch, I,. & J. Thomas, at el, The Emperor's New Drugs: An Analysis of Antidepressant Medication Data Submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration,, In Prevention & Treatment, Volume 5, Article 23, posted July 15, 2002
10) FOX 11 NEWS, reported that recent studies on effectiveness of the meds actually found that compared with placebo, the antidepressants do not produce clinically significant improvements in depression in patients who initially have moderate or even very severe depression. Basically, psychotropic meds were no better than placebos! (See “Initial Severity and Antidepressant Benefits: A Meta-Analysis of Data Submitted to the Food and Drug Administration”)
11) Big Pharma (PhRMA) Hammered on Boston Legal
September 30, 2008
OTHER
Talking from my own experience, just get a good psychotherapist. It took me years to find one who understood and could help but it's so worth going through 50 bad ones for one who fits you.
THROUGH HEALTH & NUTRITION
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When you find a new treatment, let me know. Oh yeah-Legalize, it's the only medicine I can take that doesn't rot my kidneys or liver, and I don't drink.
Durf
SEEK SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE
You'll get the same results.
OTHER
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Lots of good info 'why' here....
http://profile.myspace.com/in...
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http://www.americanchronicle....
THE ANTIDEPRESSANT SCANDAL- WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE? By Bill Burniece, Consumer Advocate
February 07, 2008
How Pharmaceutical Companies Are Suppressing Data About The Effectiveness And Safety Of Antidepressant Drugs While The FDA Looks The Other Way
peace
I hope you continue to do well. Peace back to you. Angel
thanks ;)
OTHER
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Just don't let it get you down. Your picture is way too serious!
Here's a quote that I love: "Everything will be all right in the end. If it isn't all right -- it isn't the end." The best to you!
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