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…

1. How do doctors say a person has a “chemical imbalance” if there is no way to test/measure for it before taking a medication?
2. Animal testing shows that drugs can change the brain chemistry, who is to say that the new chemistry is “right”?
3. Is depression, or “feeling hopeless about life”, simply a psychological or spiritual issue?
4. Do people who come off of antidepressants feel bad because off the depression or because of withdrawal because of the medication?
5. Can depression simply be solved by “finding the courage” to live?

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.

Yesterday was a really, really hard day for me.  I won’t go into the specifics as to why, they are unimportant for this discussion.  While simply walking through the haze that was my day, I started to question if antidepressants – or any med that helps with a mental health issue –  prevents the “real” you from coming out.

Now, this question is not asking if medications help individuals deal with the issues and sickness they face – I am asking if taking the medications prevent behaviors, normal healthy behaviors, from manifesting.  Part of the motivation for asking this question stems from the fact that I do not feel like “me” any more.  I attribute this to my depression, but I also wonder how much influence the medication has in the sensation.

As I was pondering the question, I remembered back to an interview with David Neeleman, the founder and former CEO of Jet Blue. It turns out that Mr. Neeleman has Adult ADD, but a very interesting fact was attributed to his dealing with the issue:

Yet Neeleman views his hyperactivity as an asset. He won’t take medication for fear he might be robbed of the creativity and energy propelling JetBlue to rapid growth through intense customer service and innovations such as 24 channels of live TV at every seat. 

Neeleman won’t take the medication as he fears it may rob him of who he is. Interesting…

So, is the ADD aspect the David Neeleman, or is the focused individual who deal with ADD the real driving force?  Likewise, is the depression I face the real “me”, or am I in there somewhere and the antidepressants stop that from coming out while performing their function?

I have no answer to this question, it was something that game to mind as I no longer know who the real me is.

Two days ago I was involved in what one may call a “heated” discussion about different treatments for depression.  One of the potential options, either as an alternative or supplement to medication, introduced into the conversation was meditation.  I did not respond well to this suggestion at all, actually I was a bit insulted by the suggestion. 

After my… um… animosity for what was suggestion dissipated, I decided to do a bit of research on the suggestion.  After a bit of luck I found out the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology recently published information showing that for the first time group-based psychological treatment, called Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), is a potential alternative for medication with individual suffering from long term depression.

What is Mindfulness based Cognitive Therapy?  It is not “meditation” in the classical sense.  It is attempting to have individuals become aware of their current situation, pay attention to their breathing… one may call it “living in the now”.

Hmmm…

Let’s say you try one medication, which doesn’t work, so you try another.  Much to your dismay the second medication doesn’t help either.  Ok, so here comes the third.  You guessed it, nothing happens.  So what does one do?  It could be really, really easy to get fed up with trying to different options only to run into a dead end.  Essentially the hopes of an individual get raised only to be dashed by disappointment.  It gets quite frustrating – trust me.

What riled me up about the original suggestion of meditation came down to two things.  One, sitting around a bunch of candles in a lotus position singing Ladysmith Black Mambazo isn’t me.  Two, I’m tired of trying.

What is suggesting in MBCT is an interesting theory and may be something worth looking into, but it’s not “meditation”.

It seems that humanity has constantly searched for a cure to all their ills in chemical form. If you happened to be a woman back in the 1870 and had cramps why don’t you take yourself some opium to get rid of that pain. Back in the late 60’s / early 70’s if you were having problems in your relationship, and in some cases depression, you may have been given ecstasy (yes, you read that correctly). Can’t sleep these days… easy, take Lunesta or Ambien.

Please note – I am not comparing modern day sleep meds and their effects to opium. Just going to show how doctors have treated problems chemically over time. I also have no issue with medical professionals using medication to treat issues. In doing so they must weight the risk of the long term effects but, hey, if it works for you – great. Sometimes people simply need to do what works for them.

News came out today that a new drug appears to have the ability to mimics the effect of melatonin, and can reset the body’s circadian rhythms in as little as one application. Tasimelteon, the new medication, also allegedly has no potential for addiction or abuse.

If such a medication was available, individuals with sleeping disorders (or suffering from Jet Lag) may be able to find relief from their insomnia. Mind you, not cure, simply aide.

While this sounds all well and good, pharmalot.com points out the following:

The study, which was designed and funded by Vanda Pharmaceuticals, which developed the drug, involved a rather small group of patients and researchers were unable to measure performance and mood after the drug was used. All of the researchers, the Times notes, reported receiving funds from Vanda or other drugmakers.

Not only that, a Pharmalot.com commenter points out:

This story seems incomplete without mentioning that tasimelteon is nothing more than a “me too” version of the commercially available ramelteon. At the very least it would be appropriate to have a clarifying statement that this compound is not even close to a novel drug, and perhaps that ramelteon, as well as the dietary supplement melatonin have similar caliber data for helping with jet lag.

Hmmm… makes one wonder if the press may be jumping the gun a bit here. It sounds like Vanda may, potentially, have a marketable product that is years away from actually being applied in practice and is trying to create a bit of press for themselves.

So, in the mean time, I will keep hoping for that magic pill that cures all but still live with the reality that I may simply always suffer from sleep issues.