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No offence, but the book you cited is nonsense. 99% of the science community would disregard it as a conspiracy book for entertainment purposes
To say that SSRI's are minimally ineffective for the treatment of mental illness would be pretty ignorant at this point given the massive amounts of research on the subject. I don't know how old you are, but I can tell you that Prozac was literally a wonder-drug when it came out and not just for the treatment of depression. Prozac changed the lives of people suffering from disorders like OCD, anorexia and panic disorder in a way that older psych meds such as tricyclics could not. As someone that works in the medical field, Iv'e always felt that there is no debate as to these drugs being effective for some people, but the real question is why are they effective. Do we truly understand why these drugs work. That seems to have always been a question in other treatments as well. Anyone that's ever had the pleasure of working in a a state mental hospital that administered electroshock treatment can tell you that it work's, but even in this day and age we still don't know !00% why it works. All we know is that resets the brain (like turning a computer on and off)
Please elaborate. I have no ideological commitments to this issue or to anything in life, and I'd truly encourage you to expand on your knowledge of SSRIs to the best of your ability. I have no problem saying I'm wrong if the evidence demonstrates that to be so; I just haven't ever been exposed to sufficient evidence to think that I am (not that I'm typically in environments that are relevant to issuing judgments one way or the other, admittedly). Nothing you've said so far has occupied the realm of explanation as opposed to bald assertion. "As someone who works in the medical field" means nothing to me.
The book I cited was nothing more (and nothing less) than [an attempt at] a meta-analysis of all existing (and accessible) double-blind studies regarding the efficacy of SSRIs at the time that it was written. You do realize what a meta-analysis is, right...an attempt to derive a statistical consensus/aggregation of all valid clinical trials that have been conducted on a particular topic. Now, there's certainly a chance (a 100% chance, in fact) that there's better data available now, 7 years after I read this book. But there's approximately zero chance that said book was the work of a conspiracy theorist. So you're already looking quite disingenuous to me.
The link between dopamine and "happiness" seems a bit more straightforward than the link between serotonin and the same, no? Go ahead and demolish my ignorance with your expertise, you medical professional, you. But facts are of course required in any such demolition.
Everyone gets down at times in their lives, but I believe there are truly depressed people in this world, whether it is a product of their environment or a chemical imbalance.
No such thing as true depression? pfffttt! tell that to someone who has attempted suicide.
I have known several people over the years who claim they have a mental illness and take medication to treat their depression. Problem is, all of these people are still depressed and never seem to nail down that perfect drug or perfect combination of drugs to cure themselves or treat the illness to the point they can say they are less depressed. This is because there is no cure for a mythological illness, I think depression is simply a copout and making people into legal drug addicts on meds that can many times make matters worse up to and including suicide. Get clean, its not working. There isn't a cure because its a state of mind for those who believe a pill can make them cope with life, the answer is within and requires belief in oneself and the power of their minds.
I don't believe in the myth of depression, the biggest mental health problem of our time. The problem is a lack of initiative, looking for an easy way out and buying into the 'chemical imbalance' BS. I call BS.
Discuss...
What are your medical qualifications? Do you have research to back up your claims? It's easier to take a post like this seriously if you actually have done the leg work to become qualified to make a declaration like this.
My niece is a psychologist and she'd disagree with you. (I've discussed what depression is/is not with her before) She'd tell you that it's a difficult condition to treat and that they have not found the perfect combination of drugs that works yet but not being able to cure something doesn't make it not a disease. It makes it a disease/condition they haven't yet figured out how to treat. Unfortunately, there are lots of those.
Everyone gets down at times in their lives, but I believe there are truly depressed people in this world, whether it is a product of their environment or a chemical imbalance.
No such thing as true depression? pfffttt! tell that to someone who has attempted suicide.
I have no doubt depression is real. When you're thinking about it, you're talking about a condition that overrides the mind's self preservation mechanism when you're talking about someone who commits suicide. IMO that would be an indicator that something has gone horribly wrong. unfortunately, with the stigma on mental illness people often don't get the help they need.
I didn't realize there were so many doctors on City Data.
No kidding. But as we all know, everyone has an opinion and as a rule, the first thing out of their mouth is, "I think...", wherein there lies the problem: just 'thinking' about any subject is subjective.
You nailed it! You figured it out! And I have MORE information: diabetes is not an illness either. It's just an excuse for people who gain weight and to carry around snacks and eat, claiming their "blood sugar is low". And companies are always coming up with diabetes medications, but no one gets cured. The *** is up, the original poster is right! Use the power in your mind to overcome this fake disease!
Intense sarcasm/fake patronism, that's exactly what the brother in law does over politics if there is a disagreement. Wes?
What are your medical qualifications? Do you have research to back up your claims? It's easier to take a post like this seriously if you actually have done the leg work to become qualified to make a declaration like this.
My niece is a psychologist and she'd disagree with you. (I've discussed what depression is/is not with her before) She'd tell you that it's a difficult condition to treat and that they have not found the perfect combination of drugs that works yet but not being able to cure something doesn't make it not a disease. It makes it a disease/condition they haven't yet figured out how to treat. Unfortunately, there are lots of those.
BS Finance, MBA, CIA. No. I an business educated and perhaps its the drug company angle that gets me the most. I mean, who hasn't had these silly commercials with a million side effects pounded into their head over and over and over? Its almost as bad as the for profit college commercials airing between breaks from the Steve Wilkos show.
Interestingly enough there was a post about a person praising bodybuilding over drugs who has depression, so maybe im not as arrogant and wrong as you think.
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I have no doubt depression is real. When you're thinking about it, you're talking about a condition that overrides the mind's self preservation mechanism when you're talking about someone who commits suicide. IMO that would be an indicator that something has gone horribly wrong. unfortunately, with the stigma on mental illness people often don't get the help they need.
