Beyond Meds and invincible summers both had this video up yesterday, and it raises some very good questions in my mind.
This video is of Dr. Peter Breggin, an American psychiatrist and author, who argues that the side effects of psychiatric medications usually outweigh the potential benefit the medications can provide. Obviously, his views go against the mainstream and can be seen as controversial by some.
Take a look…
Right off the bat, here are the questions that come to mind…
- How do doctors say a person has a “chemical imbalance” if there is no way to test/measure for it before taking a medication?
- Animal testing shows that drugs can change the brain chemistry, who is to say that the new chemistry is “right”?
- Is depression, or “feeling hopeless about life”, simply a psychological or spiritual issue?
- Do people who come off of antidepressants feel bad because off the depression or because of withdrawal because of the medication?
- Can depression simply be solved by “finding the courage” to live?
I believe that people need to do what is best for them, what works for them, if they are informed and they are not harming others in the process – in no way would I ever tell someone that their actions are wrong for their well being if I am not involved in some way – so I am not saying if one should or should not be on medication… I am, however, wondering if Dr. Peter Breggin is on to something.
Actually, Marian from Different Thoughts, left a great comment in another discussion about medications…
As I see it, “depression”, just like any other behavior, is primarily caused by thoughts, by a person’s mind(set), which in it’s turn again is the result of this person’s life experience and conditioning.
Now. the question is whether you are your thoughts, or your mind, i.e. whether you are what the world has made you be. Or whether the true you maybe is something completely different from and far beyond that.
More and more I am starting to believe this – I am starting to see this as a possibility.
What if the cause of severe depression (not all mental illnesses, mind you) is because a person is denying some aspect of who they are and what they want from life? What if the act of rebalanced or changing what isn’t working – along with therapy to understand what is and is not working – is the major solution to the problem?
The big problem I see with this solution is that it causes an individual to work. Not trying to be a smart ass, it’s a reality. It seems that many people would rather take a pill and hope the issue goes away instead of evaluating their life and facing their flaws.
Some very interesting food for thought here.