30 Years After Prozac Arrived, We Still Buy the Lie That Chemical Imbalances Cause Depression

[WantDisclosure]

When I saw that headline, I immediately thought of the work of psychiatrist Dr. Peter Breggin, whose YouTube video "Do You Have a Biochemical Imbalance? - Dr. Breggin's Simple Truths" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARZ2Wv2BoFs) I viewed years ago. In the video he states in clear language that the original claim by a pharmaceutical company was without foundation.


30 years after Prozac arrived, we still buy the lie that chemical imbalances cause depression

Written by Olivia Goldhill
December 29, 2017

Some 2,000 years ago, the Ancient Greek scholar Hippocrates argued that all ailments, including mental illnesses such as melancholia, could be explained by imbalances in the four bodily fluids, or “humors.” Today, most of us like to think we know better: Depression—our term for melancholia—is caused by an imbalance, sure, but a chemical imbalance, in the brain.

This explanation, widely cited as empirical truth, is false. It was once a tentatively-posed hypothesis in the sciences, but no evidence for it has been found, and so it has been discarded by physicians and researchers. Yet the idea of chemical imbalances has remained stubbornly embedded in the public understanding of depression.

Prozac, approved by the US Food and Drug Administration 30 years ago today, on Dec. 29, 1987, marked the first in a wave of widely prescribed antidepressants that built on and capitalized off this theory. No wonder: Taking a drug to tweak the biological chemical imbalances in the brain makes intuitive sense. But depression isn’t caused by a chemical imbalance, we don’t know how Prozac works, and we don’t even know for sure if it’s an effective treatment for the majority of people with depression.

One reason the theory of chemical imbalances won’t die is that it fits in with psychiatry’s attempt, over the past half century, to portray depression as a disease of the brain, instead of an illness of the mind. This narrative, which depicts depression as a biological condition that afflicts the material substance of the body, much like cancer, divorces depression from the self. It also casts aside the social factors that contribute to depression, such as isolation, poverty, or tragic events, as secondary concerns. Non-pharmaceutical treatments, such as therapy and exercise, often play second fiddle to drugs. . .

https://qz.com/1162154/30-years-after-prozac-arrived-we-still-buy-the-lie-that-chemical-imbalances-cause-depression/

Here is the bio for the reporter:


Olivia Goldhill reports on philosophy, psychology, and neuroscience for Quartz's science desk. She's especially interested in the hard problem of consciousness, challenging accepted truths, and how philosophy shapes contemporary society. She's from London and was a features writer at The Daily Telegraph in the UK before joining Quartz in New York. She has a BA in philosophy from Harvard University and an MA in journalism from City University, London.

https://qz.com/author/ogoldhillqz/

[Dreamtimer]

This is the flip side of reefer madness. The adverts and professionals told us these drugs would be OK. And the adverts told us marijuana would make us crazed. My parents' generation still believes it.

The businesses won't take responsibility. They may be "people too" but they won't take responsibility. That burden will be the human peoples'. The corporations will merrily go along doing more of this stuff.

And the lobbyists write our legislation.


There have been many good conversations about consciousness on this forum.

[Emil El Zapato]

I can with knowledge speak to this one.

They work, but there are no medical miracles to be found in chemicals. What they do is provide a light at the end of the tunnel. It is still a personal responsibility to walk the tunnel to get to the light. I fought for over 20 years from a behavioral approach the problem of 'dysthymia'. There was always a kernel of dysfunction that I couldn't overcome and then circumstances led me to a qualified psychiatrist that introduced me to the 'pill'. It was a life changer.

[Elen]

I can with knowledge speak to this one.

They work, but there are no medical miracles to be found in chemicals. What they do is provide a light at the end of the tunnel. It is still a personal responsibility to walk the tunnel to get to the light. I fought for over 20 years from a behavioral approach the problem of 'dysthymia'. There was always a kernel of dysfunction that I couldn't overcome and then circumstances led me to a qualified psychiatrist that introduced me to the 'pill'. It was a life changer.

No matter what...I am glad you have been helped...I would call it "riding on the devils back" to get there. ;) And in the end it matters not how you get there.

[PurpleLama]

One who is considering pharmaceutical remediation for the purpose of mental balance (as if there really were such a thing as normal) would be far better off researching gut health, instead.

[enjoy being]

From the many dozens of discussions I have sat in on on the topic, it can be very polarising and personal.
For some it is a 'good' thing. For others it is not. A regular occurrence seems to be a person is meant to tackle the problem with the two pronged approach of medication and counselling, however it seems, in this country anyway, that people JUST take the medication and can end up just numbing out and/or burying the causes of the issues.
It also seems, in this country at least, that medications are handed out very liberally.
Such a sensitive issue, where no answer fits all. It certainly is the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff for injury caused by things which in another version of society, would perhaps not be prevalent.
My very brief experience with them many years ago was not pleasant, making me manic, making me feel even a little possessed by crazy thoughts.
I just stopped taking them, within the shortest of times, deciding I was better off without. I actually think in my case, one of the symptoms was thinking I needed help.

I wasn't aware that people believe chemical imbalances cause depression. But I did presume people sort of understood that chemicals can disengage emotions and thought patterns though.

[Dreamtimer]

Gut health. Interesting. The flora in our guts is essential to health. Good health goes with a good mind.

Are there specifics? Food certainly affects the brain, but I'm not deeply knowledgeable about that.:garden:

[enjoy being]

Gut health. Interesting. The flora in our guts is essential to health. Good health goes with a good mind.

Are there specifics? Food certainly affects the brain, but I'm not deeply knowledgeable about that.:garden:

I have a few theories with a few connecting anecdotes and commentaries of others.
I believe that low quality food is a contributor to all kinds of disease and disruption. I believe it links into things like contentedness as well and is one factor behind obesity and addictions.
Most vegetables degrade at alarming rates after harvest. Commercial varieties of vegetable are selected and modified for their saleability, which includes shelf life, yield, beauty. These factors often compromise their mineral contents.
So often the foods one buys simply don't have enough minerals in them, leaving the person, malcontent.
Then we have the stress factor effect on diet. Comfort food tends to bring the system into a catabolic state, which means it begins to feed off itself and craves grease and oils and such things which add to a spiral of low energy and mental fatigue.
Eating foods known to combat stress can have a profound effect and shift the body into the anabolic digestive state.

Tomato, capsicum, and I think it was eggplant, are about the only fruit/vege that increase in their mineral content after picking.
Within the 5-12 day period from picking, a study showed that the best keeping vegetable dropped to around 60% by 5 days, while the average was around 30% and the worst was 16%. After 12 days, the best was 35% and the average was something like 18% with some vegetables getting to practically zero usable minerals.

It was also stated that each step of processing that a food product has, speeds up the drop off of minerals. Such as slicing, and even rough handling and freezing. So, sliced frozen green beans are going to have less mineral content than whole frozen green beans.

I wish I could track the survey data down again.

[Emil El Zapato]

No matter what...I am glad you have been helped...I would call it "riding on the devils back" to get there. ;) And in the end it matters not how you get there.

well, life still sucks, but now I'm ok with that... :)

[Emil El Zapato]

From the many dozens of discussions I have sat in on on the topic, it can be very polarising and personal.
For some it is a 'good' thing. For others it is not. A regular occurrence seems to be a person is meant to tackle the problem with the two pronged approach of medication and counselling, however it seems, in this country anyway, that people JUST take the medication and can end up just numbing out and/or burying the causes of the issues.
It also seems, in this country at least, that medications are handed out very liberally.
Such a sensitive issue, where no answer fits all. It certainly is the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff for injury caused by things which in another version of society, would perhaps not be prevalent.
My very brief experience with them many years ago was not pleasant, making me manic, making me feel even a little possessed by crazy thoughts.
I just stopped taking them, within the shortest of times, deciding I was better off without. I actually think in my case, one of the symptoms was thinking I needed help.

I wasn't aware that people believe chemical imbalances cause depression. But I did presume people sort of understood that chemicals can disengage emotions and thought patterns though.

Those are just impressions from the outside looking in, Nothing.

For some people chemicals are a real necessity, it makes the difference between being aware of one's surroundings and living in a fantasy environment. A remarkable story is the one that was done on John Nash. Through sheer will he overcame his disability to win a Nobel Prize in Economics...A strong mind, indeed. Lesser folk that I know have abandoned their medications to the detriment of their very lives, physical and social.

I would consider myself a borderline case...I functioned without them but hardly at full potential. The medication gave me the impetus to continue my journey and to at least not endure unnecessary suffering along the way. Which, by no means suggests that suffering has ended, it just has better root causes and in some cases at least are not self-imposed.

There is no scientific or medical question regarding the neurochemical basis of most brain diseases. In fact, it is explicit in the definition of organic.

[PurpleLama]

Gut health. Interesting. The flora in our guts is essential to health. Good health goes with a good mind.

Are there specifics? Food certainly affects the brain, but I'm not deeply knowledgeable about that.:garden:

Read up on the GAPS diet (http://www.gapsdiet.com), it is a good start for the topic.

Guts and Psychology Syndrome

[Melidae]

Gut health. Interesting. The flora in our guts is essential to health. Good health goes with a good mind.

Are there specifics? Food certainly affects the brain, but I'm not deeply knowledgeable about that.:garden:

Last year I was diagnosed with candida and leaky gut...over 4 years after taking the antibiotic that triggered it. The diet I am still on consists of most vegetables and certain fruits and nuts. The big "no-no's" are no grains, no carbs, and no sugar...things bad bacteria in your gut feed on. Guess what is causing all those cravings for sweets and breads...yep, the bad bacteria.

One of the symptoms is 'brain fog' or 'cloudiness' as my acupuncturist/chinese herbalist likes to call it. Whatever you call it, it is bad. I thought I was going crazy for a while, which is why I stopped posting here. There is a reason they call the gut the "second brain".

Diet and herbal supplements have brought me back to myself, thankfully...with the exception of weight. I was thin to begin with, but now I look anorexic.

[Amanda]

Felt compelled to join this conversation. Sadly I have known the 'dark place' but not since ceasing to drink the tap water. I have learned that Sodium Fluoride is known to not only harden the Pineal Gland but is causative to depression and suicidal tendencies. I also learned that when you heat it up - as in boil an egg or potatoes or to make tea and coffee et cetera - Sodium Fluoride becomes even more toxic.

Before I forget - when I first started to research Sodium Fluoride properly I learned that it is used in the manufacture of rat poison as well as medications prescribed for mental health issues. Interesting thought isn't it? My understanding of mental health medications is that there can be a worsening of symptoms when the person stops taking the medication.

Should prescription medication such as prozac be of help - then that is a good thing.

I too am learning of gut health. Diatomaceous Earth has been very helpful for me as is modifying my diet by excluding certain foods. Have now subscribed to no grains - essentially - no breads or foods with a pastry base or flour included. Have gleaned a lot from shared information and evidence, as well as personal experimentation. I can vouch for no grains - feel so much better when even just bread is removed from my diet.

Cannot expressly state that food additives, flavourings and colourings et cetera cause people to go to the 'dark place' but as I learn more and look at what I am putting into my body - the more I realise that processed foods are not good.

So much to learn in one lifetime. Imagine a world where no one has to battle depression and extreme grief and sadness. Sigh ....

Much Respect & Much Peace - Amanda