Depression, addressing it and moving on / anti depressants

The problem with this is that it creates pseudo-cures based on placebo effects. Then these placebo effects build a reputation for effectiveness that they do not deserve and some choose the fake rather than the real.

This happens all the time in tragic cases with things like cancers. People who believed they were cured by copper wristbands, "electromagnetic therapy" or some other quackery. It's not a problem for people to believe this themselves but when they start recommending it to somebody asking if they should undergo chemotherapy then it becomes a moral issue.

Yeah fair point when you bring in cancer treatments or other physical issues which the likes of Noel Edmonds can cure with positive thinking.

Although the chemical imbalance is a clear root cause for many cases of mental illness, just expecting to take a pill and be cured may be equally dangerous and should always be part of a two pronged attack at the problem
 
Yeah fair point when you bring in cancer treatments or other physical issues which the likes of Noel Edmonds can cure with positive thinking.

Although the chemical imbalance is a clear root cause for many cases of mental illness, just expecting to take a pill and be cured may be equally dangerous and should always be part of a two pronged attack at the problem

That's only due to our current problem with understanding of low serotonin levels though and the knock on effects. In the future, and for many people right now, taking a pill is all that you need. Not to dismiss therapy at all and there's very good evidence from epigenetics to show how the brain's biology is altered into depression which follows that the reverse is possible. Remember - everything psychological is biological. The "taking a pill" thing though isn't a gamble and will work at a much higher rate than attempting to make your DNA alters itself or to put it more accurately, it will work much quicker.
 
That's only due to our current problem with understanding of low serotonin levels though and the knock on effects. In the future, and for many people right now, taking a pill is all that you need. Not to dismiss therapy at all and there's very good evidence from epigenetics to show how the brain's biology is altered into depression which follows that the reverse is possible. Remember - everything psychological is biological. The "taking a pill" thing though isn't a gamble and will work at a much higher rate than attempting to make your DNA alters itself or to put it more accurately, it will work much quicker.

Is it not too far fetched to suggest that at some point in the future we could test serotonin levels (similarly to blood sugar levels for a diabetic) and pre-empt the effect of any low levels?

If so, we could all but cure it no??
 
Is it not too far fetched to suggest that at some point in the future we could test serotonin levels (similarly to blood sugar levels for a diabetic) and pre-empt the effect of any low levels?

If so, we could all but cure it no??

Well presuming we had full knowledge of the brain we could cure it permanently. Unfortunately it's not just about serotonin but seems to be something to do with how various neurotransmitters interact with neurons. Or potentially it could be something completely out of left field.

Like much of the brain, the exact causes of depression are not nailed down but it IS known that SSRIs help inhibit the reabsorption rate which cures the problems. Just as some people in the past might not have known that dehydration is due to an imbalance of sodium or electrolytes but did know that drinking water solved the problems. Either way, like all mental health problems depression and anxiety are biological facets. One of the big problems with mental health is that the general public can't seem to absorb this knowledge and therefore think mental health is somehow less legitimate than non-mental health.
 
Last few posts have made for depressing reading...handy if you want to support the pharmaceuticals industry but apart from that?
 
Well presuming we had full knowledge of the brain we could cure it permanently. Unfortunately it's not just about serotonin but seems to be something to do with how various neurotransmitters interact with neurons. Or potentially it could be something completely out of left field.

Like much of the brain, the exact causes of depression are not nailed down but it IS known that SSRIs help inhibit the reabsorption rate which cures the problems. Just as some people in the past might not have known that dehydration is due to an imbalance of sodium or electrolytes but did know that drinking water solved the problems. Either way, like all mental health problems depression and anxiety are biological facets. One of the big problems with mental health is that the general public can't seem to absorb this knowledge and therefore think mental health is somehow less legitimate than non-mental health.

Fascinating stuff. I think the tide is turning on your final point
 
Ever had a tune stuck in your mind, driving you mad? Well, instead of a tune, substitute a really bad experience that affected you deeply. It's quite debilitating, it gets in the way of everyday things like relationships, managing time and money, enjoyment in fact most things we take for granted
In my case i was taking carbomezapine to treat trigeminal neuralgia, until i was on max daily dose and basically in a vegetative state. I moved to another address and a new doctor. He found it difficult to believe that i had been on this dosage for five years, and told me this should have been administered in a clinical environment, and also carbo was actually intended to reduce the frequency of epileptic fits and were a powerful depressant... Anyway i stopped taking them. Big mistake. Ended up in hospital after losing my sense of balance and being unable to sleep for seventy two hours. Apparently i should have come off the tablets over a period of two months. A month on steroids to cure the hypotension was next, an assessment as to how likely i was to sue the NHS (disguised as how likely i was to self harm) and now i am back to just being depressed. Sorry for the rambling but I would advise any one thinking of tablets, find out everything you can first.
 
Stop. You're talking about things you don't know about and in turn spreading dangerous misinformation. You're entitled to believe whatever claptrap you like but you're not entitled to spread that harmful view to others.

Neurotransmitter reabsorbtion problems are literally what depression currently is defined as. It is NOT bipolar or schizophrenia which are entirely different things.

Again, you're entitled to your poorly educated viewpoint but in a thread where there's people who are wondering whether to take the medicine that will help their problem because social pressure from other poorly educated people, you need to shut up.

Fuck you!!

I, specifically asked you if you've been through depression. You haven't, clearly!

It's easy to read about drugs and give that as the answer to everything! I'll tell you what, why don't you break down what your post meant, to the layman? Explain it and see if anybody agrees and relates it to whatever issue you're broadly painting everyone with.

I'm happy to call you out on it.

You should also explain to the raped child/ woman/ man that hey! take some drugs and you'll be happier as it will solve all your problems! To the child beaten up by parents, same thing, man!

From someone who tried to take his own life, was put on a PLETHORA of different drugs to correct a 'possible chemical imbalance' to 'make things easier to function', I KNOW what my personal journey was! You've got some fucking nerve!

You're telling people to put drugs into their bodies, carte blanche and I'M IRRESPONSIBLE...??!! Is your solution 'one size fits all'??

Unless you've walked in the shoes of depression, it's YOU that needs to shut up!! You've, basically, insulted everyone who have decided drugs weren't for them in their quest to get better by their own volition!
 
Fuck you!!

I, specifically asked you if you've been through depression. You haven't, clearly!

It's easy to read about drugs and give that as the answer to everything! I'll tell you what, why don't you break down what your post meant, to the layman? Explain it and see if anybody agrees and relates it to whatever issue you're broadly painting everyone with.

I'm happy to call you out on it.

You should also explain to the raped child/ woman/ man that hey! take some drugs and you'll be happier as it will solve all your problems! To the child beaten up by parents, same thing, man!

From someone who tried to take his own life, was put on a PLETHORA of different drugs to correct a 'possible chemical imbalance' to 'make things easier to function', I KNOW what my personal journey was! You've got some fucking nerve!

You're telling people to put drugs into their bodies, carte blanche and I'M IRRESPONSIBLE...??!! Is your solution 'one size fits all'??

Unless you've walked in the shoes of depression, it's YOU that needs to shut up!! You've, basically, insulted everyone who have decided drugs weren't for them in their quest to get better by their own volition!

Yes. Just as I insult all the people who use lavender flavoured water to battle kidney failure or think the way to cure their kid's leukaemia is to pray.

And I love how people who talk negatively about "putting drugs into your body". Water is a drug. A potato contains drugs. Toothpaste is a drug. So is chocolate.

You can have whatever placebo you like, but it doesn't change the science. No more than if you drank grass to get rid of the flu, you can credit the grass as much as you want but it doesn't change the fact that you're better because your immune system worked
 
Yes. Just as I insult all the people who use lavender flavoured water to battle kidney failure or think the way to cure their kid's leukaemia is to pray.

And I love how people who talk negatively about "putting drugs into your body". Water is a drug. A potato contains drugs. Toothpaste is a drug. So is chocolate.

You can have whatever placebo you like, but it doesn't change the science. No more than if you drank grass to get rid of the flu, you can credit the grass as much as you want but it doesn't change the fact that you're better because your immune system worked

Wow! At least you show, for the second time, you have never experienced depression and are only viewing this as through a window of a house you've never stepped in, but are assuming its history is exactly the same as every other house on the street!

And, in clear knowledge of this, you use reductive argument to underline your point; if water and food are drugs then we are what we eat?

Let's take your philosophy to a logical place of reasoning; I, along with many others, choose not to ADD man made substances into our already drug packed bodies. Many of us would rather 'self medicate' by releasing own natural chemicals, so we're strong enough to fight our issues ourselves or seek further help for that fight.

Simply painting with broad strokes may cover everything for you, but you miss the underlying details of the picture that's there.

So, yes, some may want the broad strokes, but some want to deal with the details when they're ready.

Don't judge them for that choice.

Oh, and by the way, comparing cancer/ leukaemia to mental illness is staggeringly stupid! Staggeringly!

The pathways may have similar traits, but you can learn to live with depression better than learning to live with cancer or leukaemia!
 

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