Mental Health: It's Life, Not Depression

(NaturalNews) November 2008 - Dr. Julian Whitaker's Health and Healing, Vol. 18, No. 11Sharon's husband was diagnosed with cancer, and they were looking at months of chemo and radiation. She was worried, had trouble sleeping, and found it hard to stay positive and upbeat for her husband. When she mentioned this to her doctor, he prescribed an antidepressant.Laura was exhausted after the birth of her second child. 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(NaturalNewsNovember 2008 DrJulian Whitaker's Health HealingVol18No11Sharon's husband was diagnosed with cancerand they were looking at months of chemo and radiationShe was worriedhad trouble sleepingand found it hard to stay positive and upbeat for her husbandWhen she mentioned this to her doctorhe prescribed an antidepressant.Laura was exhausted after the birth of her second childUnlike her first babythis one was fussy and rarely slept more than two hours at a stretchOn bad daysLaura questioned her ability to copeShe talked her symptoms over with her doctor and was prescribed an antidepressant.Elizabetha bright and outgoing college studentwould often wake up during the night worrying about one thing or anotherOne nightshe awoke in a full-blown panic attackher heart pounding so hard that she was sure she was going to dieShe visited the campus infirmary the next day and was given a prescription for an antidepressant.Thirteen-year-old Matt had just changed schools and was having a hard time adjusting to his new surroundingsHis parents took him to see a psychiatristwho-you guessed it-gave him an antidepressant.Without questionSharonLauraElizabethand Matt were going through some tough timesBut we all go through rough patches-it's part of being humanSo how in the world did we arrive at such a place where normal emotions and reactions to life's events warrant treatment with drugs?Let Them Eat ProzacAccording to David HealyMDprofessor at WalesCardiff Universitywe can blame it on the drug companiesDrHealy is a conventional psychiatristbut his well-documented and vocal criticisms about the safety and overuse of Prozac and other selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRIantidepressants set him apart from his colleagues.In his book Let Them Eat ProzacThe Unhealthy Relationship Between the Pharmaceutical Industry and DepressionDrHealy describes Prozac as a drug in search of a diseaseIt was the first SSRI to hit the market back in 1988andthanks to aggressive marketingsales of antidepressants quadrupled in just two yearsAs Prozac's popularity soaredit was joined by PaxilZoloftLuvoxand others like them.Then Pandora's Box of direct-to-consumer advertising openedBefore longdrug company propaganda had people believing that unhappinessanxietyshynessstressobsessive thoughtsPMS"baby blues,and other normal emotional reactions are diseases that can-and should-be treated with a pillPatients started asking their doctors for prescriptionsand sales went through the roof.Depression took on a whole new meaningNo longer was it limited to major depressiona clinical diagnosis marked by extreme emotional pain and inability to functionMild-to-moderate depression has become a catchall diagnosis that will be slapped on one in four Americans at some point in their lives.Inventing IllnessSelling DrugsToday4 percent of men and 10 percent of women in this country are taking antidepressantsThe bulk of the prescriptions for these meds are written by primary care physiciansnot psychiatristsand most of these "depressedpatients receive no other treatment or follow-upIn factthe drugs seem to be handed out indiscriminatelyThe Centers for Disease Control reported thatafter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)antidepressants are the most frequently prescribed of all classes of drugs!DrHealy describes this mess as "wholesale creation of depression on so extraordinary and unwarranted a scale as to raise grave questions about whether pharmaceutical and other health care companies are more wedded to making profits from health than contributing to it."If this sounds familiarit's because you've heard me harping on this concept of "inventing illnessfor over 20 yearsMost of the ballyhoo about high cholesterolADHDfibromyalgiagastroesophageal reflux diseaseand even high blood sugar and blood pressure is fueled by market-driven campaigns designed to do one thingsell more drugs.But the antidepressant story may be the worst of them allAs I will show youthese drugs do not workthey have the potential of inflicting tremendous harm-andworst of allthe drug companies have known this for decades.Antidepressants Don't Work...Earlier this yearresearchers evaluated published and unpublished pre-approval clinical trials that compared SSRI drugs with placebosThey combined the results in a meta-analysis and came up with some disturbing findingsSSRI antidepressants work no better than placeboand their benefits do not meet the criteria for clinical significance.For patients with moderate depressionSSRIs were a complete bustThe differences in improvement between people with severe depression taking a drug and those on placebo were virtually nonexistentThe sole group in which the drugs outperformed the placebo consisted of the most severely depressed patientsbut the researchers concluded that this small difference was probably due to "decreased responsiveness to placebo..rather than to increased responsiveness to medication.(The placebo response in these studies was very highAn average of 80 percent of study participants felt better taking sugar pills.)...And They Kill PeopleIn addition to being ineffectiveSSRIs are dangerousThey cause sexual dysfunctionweight gainemotional apathyheadachesinsomniaand gastrointestinal (GIupsetand they have been linked with GI and uterine bleedingBut their most alarming side effect is an increased risk of suicidehostilityakathisia (extreme agitation)and violent behavior.Thousands of suicidessenseless murdersand other random acts of violence have been committed by people who were taking SSRIsMichael McDermott went to work with an AK-47-type riflea shotgunand a semiautomatic pistoland killed seven of his coworkersKip Kinkel murdered his parents then went to school where he killed two and wounded 22 of his fellow studentsKristine Cushing used a .38-caliber pistol to shoot and kill her two young daughters while they sleptshe then shot and wounded herselfSeung-Hui Cho went on a murderous rampage that resulted in 33 deaths and dozens of injuries.At greatest risk are our childrenThe instigators of virtually all of the tragic school murder/suicides in recent years were taking an antidepressant or other psychotropic drugsThe same goes for more personal family tragediessuch as uncharacteristic suicidesself-harmand violent behaviors that rip families apart.Last yearI met Mathy Downingthe mother of Candace Downinga beautifulexuberant 12-year-old honor student who had been put on Zoloft for "generalized anxiety disorder.A few months laterMathy found her daughter deadhanging above her bedJust an hour beforeshe'd been watching Animal Planet on TV with her father.Authorities in Great Britain have openly opposed the use of antidepressants in young peopleThe FDAon the other handhas decided only to require a black box warning label stating that these drugs increase risk of suicidal behavior in childrenadolescentsand young adultsSales have fallen off a little but remain strongThis is yet another example of the failure of the FDAblinded by their incestuous relationship with the pharmaceutical industryto protect the public."LiesDamned Liesand Statistics"You're probably wondering how in the world such awful drugs generate $16.9 billion annually in global salesI'll tell youIt's because the companies that push these pills have made a concerted and successful effort to deceive physicians and patients.A 2008 studypublished in The New England Journal of Medicineexamined the results of 74 drug company-sponsored clinical trials on antidepressantsIt turns out that of the 38 studies with positive outcomes37 were publishedHowever33 of the 36 studies with negative outcomes were either not published or they were reported in a way that "conveyed a positive outcome."The drug companies also knew about the deadly side effects of SSRIsInternal Eli Lilly documentswhich date back to 1988 and were part of a product liability suit filed against the company in 1994show that the company was aware Prozac conferred a 12-fold greater risk of suicide attempts than other antidepressantsThe document also stated that the drug was associated with hostile behavior and that it more than doubled the risk of psychotic depressionWhat did they do with this knowledgeNothing.In an editorial in the September 32008issue of JAMAMarcia AngellMDhad this to say about pharmaceutical company-sponsored research"Physicians can no longer rely on the medical literature for valid and reliable informationThis is the conclusion I reluctantly reached toward the end of my two decades as an editor of The New England Journal of Medicineand it has been reinforced in subsequent yearsClinicians just do not know anymore how safe and effective prescription drugs really arebut these products are probably nowhere near as good as the published literature indicates."Life Isn't Always EasyFolksdrugs aren't the answerMost of the people treated with antidepressants are simply dealing with emotional upheavals in their livessuch as divorceslayoffsand other lossesIt's normal to be "sad and gloomydejecteddowncast(the definition of depressedevery once in a whileBut it isn't clinical depression (defined as "so severe as to be considered abnormaleither because of no obvious environmental causesor because the reaction to unfortunate life circumstances is more intense or prolonged than would generally be expected").Life isn't always prettyPuberty is toughOur hearts get brokenMarriage isn't all smooth sailingDivorce happensTeenagers drive you crazyWork isn't necessarily funFinancial difficulties crop upPeople get sickLoved ones dieBut the reality iswe have to use whatever tools we have to pull ourselves together and work through it.Faithreligionmeditationfriendsfamilyand counseling can help you weather griefworrychangeand other aspects of the human conditionRegular exercise is an excellent mood lifterand a diet containing minimal amounts of starches and sugar prevents drops in blood sugar levels that can affect moodCorrecting hormone imbalancesparticularly those involving thyroidadrenaland sex hormonesalso makes a big difference.So does a good nutritional supplement programOmega-3 fatty acid deficiencies are associated with depressionso take six to eight fish oil capsules dailySAMe (200-400 mgand StJohn's wort (900 mgare proven mood enhancersand vitamin B12 (1,000 mcg)magnesium (500-1,000 mg)and zinc (30-50 mgare also helpfulAll of these supplements should be taken daily in divided doses.PostscriptI want to close with an update on the people I told you about in the opening of this story.Sharonwho started taking Luvox after her husband got sickis still taking it nine years laterThe drug doesn't make her feel all that greatand she's gained weight and has zero libido-common side effects of these drugsBut like so many othersshe's afraid she'll feel worse if she stops taking it.Laurathe young mother with the fussy babydecided not to fill her prescriptionWithin a few weeksthe baby started sleeping six hours a nightand she was able to get more restTodayshe feels great.Elizabeth stayed on Paxil for five years-a time of her life she describes as going through "like a zombie.After learning about the downside of antidepressantsshe started taking multivitaminsfish oiland other supplements while slowly weaning herself off the drugShe's recently married and couldn't be happier.And 13-year-old MattHe hanged himself in his closet one week after starting Paxil.References*AngellMIndustry-sponsored clinical researcha broken systemJAMA2008 Sept 3300:1069-1071.*BarberCThe medicated Americansantidepressant prescriptions on the riseScientific American Mind2008 Feb 27.*HealyDLet Them Eat ProzacThe Unhealthy Relationship Between the Pharmaceutical Industry and DepressionNew YorkNYNew York University Press2004.*Kirsch Iet alInitial severity and antidepressant benefitsa meta-analysis of data submitted to the Food and Drug AdministrationPLoS Medicine 2008 Feb;5(2):e45.*Turner EHet alSelective publication of antidepressant trials and its influence on apparent efficacyN Engl J Med2008 Jan 17;358(3):252-260Reprinted from DrJulian Whitaker's Health Healing with permission from Healthy DirectionsLLCFor information on subscribing to this newslettervisit www.drwhitaker.com or call (800539-8219.ShareyahooBuzzArticleHeadline "Mental HealthIt's LifeNot Depression";yahooBuzzArticleCategory "health";yahooBuzzArticleType "text";yahooBuzzArticleId window.location.href;digg_topic 'HEALTH';About the authorReprinted from DrJulian Whitaker's Health Healing with permission from Healthy DirectionsLLCFor information on subscribing to this newslettervisit www.drwhitaker.com or call (800539-8219.About the AuthorJulian WhitakerMDis the author of Health Healinga monthly newsletter that has reached millions of readers since 1991He has also written 13 books and hosts The DrWhitaker Showa popular radio programIn 1979DrWhitaker founded the Whitaker Wellness InstituteTodayit is the largest alternative medicine clinic in the United StatesTo learn morevisit www.whitakerwellness.com or call (800488-1500. 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