Medication

Is medication the answer?

So, here I am, sad beyond words, I don’t know how to fix things in my life and can’t see a way out of my predicament. Is medication my road to freedom? For me, the answer is no. Anti-depressant medication is not the answer. Taking medication for depression would not remove my depression. All the things that brought on my depression are still there, and if I want real freedom, I still have to make an effort and do the work to resolve those things whether or not I take medication. Also, there is evidence that anti-depressants don’t really work anyway. There is also documentation saying that there is value in its use, so the choice of whether or not to add medication to your fight against depression is clearly a personal choice. I cannot say, “Don’t use medication” or “Yes, medication is a good thing.” I can only say that for me, the choice was not to use anti-depressant medication, and that has worked out well.

Do Anti-Depressants Really Work?

Depression affects many Americans, but are we reaching for the wrong treatment? Carolyn Ross, M.D, M.P.H. Posted Feb 20, 2012 – Psychology Today

The television program 60 Minutes recently addressed the volume of research on the lack of efficacy of anti-depressant medications. This research began over a decade ago and has shown that anti-depressant medications are not much more effective than placebo (sugar pills). In fact on 60 Minutes, Dr. Irving Kirsch (associate director of the placebo research program at Harvard) questions whether the only benefit they have is the placebo effect. The placebo effect creates an expectation of healing so powerful that it can actually decrease symptoms. The placebo effect works with pain, irritable bowel syndrome, knee pain, and much more. Even though individuals with depression may get better at taking these medications, it may not be due to the medication but rather to the placebo effect.

Here are the statistics on depression in the US:

• 11.3 billion dollars is the annual amount of money spent on anti-depressant medications in the US
• Americans consume more anti-depressants than any other developed nation
• 17 million Americans take anti-depressant drugs
• From 1988-1994, the use of anti-depressants increased by 400%
• 1 in 10 Americans over the age of 12 take an anti-depressant

In Great Britain, a review of studies published and non-published (which are often not published because they don’t show a positive benefit of medications) research showed the same lack of efficacy, especially for mild-moderate depression. The medications seem to be more effective for moderate-severe depression. Great Britain has now revised their recommendations for the treatment of depression to limit the use of medications as first-line treatment to only those individuals with more severe depression. For mild depression, exercise, for example, is as effective as medication.  

Integrative medicine also offers many substitutes to medication, which may be better first-line treatment for mild-moderate depression instead of medications:

1. Omega 3 fatty acids have been shown in several studies to boost the effect of medication and reduce suicide risk in those with depression.
2. B-vitamins such as B-12, B-6, and folic acid are important in the manufacture in the body of the neurotransmitters that help our moods – dopamine, serotonin, etc and have also been shown to boost the effectiveness of medication
3. Inositol – is another B vitamin that has been shown to improve depression without medication
4. 5-Hydroxytryptophan, a serotonin precursor, is an amino acid that has shown effectiveness similar to prescription medications in some studies
5. Yoga, acupuncture, and massage have all been shown, along with physical activity to improve mood
6. Therapy also helps.  Many people on medications do not seek therapy and studies show that it helps!

It’s difficult to explain why so many Americans are depressed and anxious and why this number has increased so dramatically.  Is it possible that our lifestyle — the Western diet, lack of activity, stress — is really the cause of this problem?  It is known that high levels of the stress hormone cortisol are associated with a higher risk for depression. Traditional Chinese medicine believes all illnesses are due to an imbalance.  Rather than going for the quick fix — a pill — maybe the focus should be on modifying our lifestyles to be more balanced — at least as a first step. 

So, after reading all this medication information, should we take psych drugs to cope with our depression? The answer continues to be that it is your personal choice to make, but I suggest you give it thought and don’t just rely on what you are told my a doctor. Try other nonmedical aids before you resort to medication. You should also remember the three rules for coping with depression.

1. Don’t put your happiness in someone else’s pocket. That means you and only you are in charge, and you alone make the decisions that guide your life and secure your future.
2. Find something beautiful every day and contemplate it. Your brain cannot tell the difference between what happens in the real world and what happens in your thoughts about the real world. Fill your mind and spirit with beauty and the pleasure of surrounding yourself with those things.
3. Give something back. It is in doing good and serving others that we find pure joy. When you brighten someone else’s day or make their load lighter, you change them for the better in a physiological way, and at the same time, you change yourself for the better. in a physiological way.