Thanks for bringing up that science doesn't know everything. This is really true. Sometimes the explanations that we're given by Big Pharma just really don't hold water and I think that's especially true of antidepressents.
One of the more interesting things that I've found in studying serotonin is that there is evidence that serotonin can be a cause of health problems when it's too high. Which is not the common narrative, but still seems to be true.
As a psychiatric survivor who was put on SSRIs as a teenager, the fact that my generation was experimented on whilst being told our brain's were "imbalanced" still infuriates me.
Thank you for getting this information out there and using your platform to educate the public about the myth of chemical imbalances and psychiatry. I spent decades being told by mental healthcare professionals that my brain was "imbalanced" and that I needed "meds for life." Lost decades of time and my health destroyed. Finally ended up disabled and non-functional with benzodiazepine-induced neurological dysfunction (BIND) as well as benzodiazepine-induced agoraphobia and monophobia. Your work has helped me tremendously. Wish I found it years ago 😊
I looked for a DO only to find out the first treatment approach to my anxiety symptoms was to give me hydroxyzine and Zoloft. She said take them whenever you feel anxious. When I picked them up from the pharmacy the pharmacist said that these were not instant fixes that one of the pills would take up to 4-6 months to even work and both can have side effects. She also said that these medications are typically used for a lifetime. I still have them in my medicine cabinet unused. For me I notice when I’m not anxious ( in my house, when I’m getting close to home) how can my brain discriminate when and where to feel anxious ..it’s my what if thoughts, my horror storylines, my bodily sensations, the memory of the panic that is maintaining this anxiety. The medication scared me more than the anxiety.
I'm having a hard time with the fact that someone with a medical degree told you to take an SSRI "as needed". That's an astounding level of ignorance and lack of knowledge on the part of that doctor. I'm so happy your pharmacist caught that for you and sorry that you were subjected to that to begin with.
Agreed. Being in the mental health field it’s disappointing and worrying that medication is being offered with this level of flippancy as if they were tictacs. On the flip side that gave me the push to approach this anxiety spiral a totally different way. Reading the anxious truth has helped me tremendously to see anxiety in a totally different way. It sometimes goes against what I was taught in grad school with all the methods to help and control anxiety but this is a revelation in truly seeing anxiety for what it is. Thank you for all that you do and continue to do for this community.
I was told by my wise Psychiatrist that its the other way around, that anxiety depletes the chemicals in the brain and that medication repletes whats been depleted basically. That makes sense to me. It also is aligned with your message that our brain isn't the cause and therefore as we work on our anxiety, those serotonin levels will begin to rise naturally as the disordered anxiety heals. He did have me on medication, but not for life 😊
Loved that you spoke on this. My brother is PA in mental health and I know he means well but if he tells me one more time, “maybe you need to go on an antidepressant/anti anxiety meds” I’m going to scream! My MR has cancer. My baby girl is getting married. My oldest daughter has cerebral palsy. I have aging parents. And I’m in menopause. Gosh that feels so good to say out loud! 😂. You bet I’m stressed and feel anxious. But I’d rather deal with her and become friends with her (anxiety) then have additional issues with meds. I hear and read the stories. If someone chooses meds I support you so why can’t you support me for not? I’m currently reading The Biology of Belief by Bruce H Lipton PhD. The science of how thoughts control life, biochemical effects of the brains functioning show that all the cells of your body are affected by your thoughts. Please do not misunderstand me, I do recognize those that need the medicinal interventions. But for me, I know there is a better way. Love you Big Guy!
Unless and until science can determine how much of any endorphin an individual needs and levels can be measured accurately, I won't buy the "imbalance" theory. I know how much Vitamin D3 science believes we all need depending on age, gender, etc. But even that, simple as it is to measure, changes over time. Has changed over the last couple of decades, in fact.
My thinking has always been that anti-deps work for some because they allow endorphins to basically sit in the brain longer. It's, of course, much more technical and complicated than that. Some people feel better in response. Others do not. There's so much to know beyond what is already known. But why bother figuring it out when people are eating anti-deps like candy already?
I find this study exciting because I want to see science dig further into helping those with depression and anxiety. For now, if your pill works, go for it, as Drew said. I took anti-deps off and on and they did take the edge off anxiety but made me feel crappy and out of it. Never have tried an ssri and don't want to. But that's just me.
I have read quite a bit on this too. And I am totally on the side of “ no imbalances”.
I recently had a discussion with my sister in law that I ADORE. She is sits on the other side of that fence, even with evidence to the contrary. And I felt….. well….🫤🤗 impatient with her.
This has turned out to be a lesson for ME.
No… not in pharmacology, SSRI’s, or all the variables involved.
But a greater lesson in love, and acceptance that I need. ❤️❤️
Was hoping you’d address this study! Exactly what my pcp told me- it’s just an imbalance and it can be fixed with this pill. Like Drew, it got me through a crisis (ppd), and gave me space to function when I needed to take care of an infant. however it also caused so many negative side effects and took me years to get off. Stuck on it for 7 years when the plan was 1 year. Thinking that I need this pill because my brain is broken kept me on the med and so fearful of tapering off.
I actually haven’t seen this study, but this info is most definitely not new! My psychiatry textbook (so I’m saying, an official source used in a graduate psychiatry program) refers to the “chemical imbalance model” as “simplistic” and makes it clear that there’s no evidence for the vast majority of “chemical imbalance” claims. The current buzzword is biopsychosocial!— meaning that most conditions are the result of some combination of biology, psychological factors, and social factors.
Hey Drew. I thoroughly recommend you check our Dr John Campbell on YouTube. He very recently did a video talking about this and saying how wrong the medical world has been about this. Great guy to follow. Great post here, thanks x
Thanks for bringing up that science doesn't know everything. This is really true. Sometimes the explanations that we're given by Big Pharma just really don't hold water and I think that's especially true of antidepressents.
One of the more interesting things that I've found in studying serotonin is that there is evidence that serotonin can be a cause of health problems when it's too high. Which is not the common narrative, but still seems to be true.
https://mattcook.substack.com/p/happy-to-horrified-the-lies-of-serotonin
"Science kinda doesn't know"
As a psychiatric survivor who was put on SSRIs as a teenager, the fact that my generation was experimented on whilst being told our brain's were "imbalanced" still infuriates me.
Thank you for getting this information out there and using your platform to educate the public about the myth of chemical imbalances and psychiatry. I spent decades being told by mental healthcare professionals that my brain was "imbalanced" and that I needed "meds for life." Lost decades of time and my health destroyed. Finally ended up disabled and non-functional with benzodiazepine-induced neurological dysfunction (BIND) as well as benzodiazepine-induced agoraphobia and monophobia. Your work has helped me tremendously. Wish I found it years ago 😊
I looked for a DO only to find out the first treatment approach to my anxiety symptoms was to give me hydroxyzine and Zoloft. She said take them whenever you feel anxious. When I picked them up from the pharmacy the pharmacist said that these were not instant fixes that one of the pills would take up to 4-6 months to even work and both can have side effects. She also said that these medications are typically used for a lifetime. I still have them in my medicine cabinet unused. For me I notice when I’m not anxious ( in my house, when I’m getting close to home) how can my brain discriminate when and where to feel anxious ..it’s my what if thoughts, my horror storylines, my bodily sensations, the memory of the panic that is maintaining this anxiety. The medication scared me more than the anxiety.
I'm having a hard time with the fact that someone with a medical degree told you to take an SSRI "as needed". That's an astounding level of ignorance and lack of knowledge on the part of that doctor. I'm so happy your pharmacist caught that for you and sorry that you were subjected to that to begin with.
Agreed. Being in the mental health field it’s disappointing and worrying that medication is being offered with this level of flippancy as if they were tictacs. On the flip side that gave me the push to approach this anxiety spiral a totally different way. Reading the anxious truth has helped me tremendously to see anxiety in a totally different way. It sometimes goes against what I was taught in grad school with all the methods to help and control anxiety but this is a revelation in truly seeing anxiety for what it is. Thank you for all that you do and continue to do for this community.
I was told by my wise Psychiatrist that its the other way around, that anxiety depletes the chemicals in the brain and that medication repletes whats been depleted basically. That makes sense to me. It also is aligned with your message that our brain isn't the cause and therefore as we work on our anxiety, those serotonin levels will begin to rise naturally as the disordered anxiety heals. He did have me on medication, but not for life 😊
Loved that you spoke on this. My brother is PA in mental health and I know he means well but if he tells me one more time, “maybe you need to go on an antidepressant/anti anxiety meds” I’m going to scream! My MR has cancer. My baby girl is getting married. My oldest daughter has cerebral palsy. I have aging parents. And I’m in menopause. Gosh that feels so good to say out loud! 😂. You bet I’m stressed and feel anxious. But I’d rather deal with her and become friends with her (anxiety) then have additional issues with meds. I hear and read the stories. If someone chooses meds I support you so why can’t you support me for not? I’m currently reading The Biology of Belief by Bruce H Lipton PhD. The science of how thoughts control life, biochemical effects of the brains functioning show that all the cells of your body are affected by your thoughts. Please do not misunderstand me, I do recognize those that need the medicinal interventions. But for me, I know there is a better way. Love you Big Guy!
Unless and until science can determine how much of any endorphin an individual needs and levels can be measured accurately, I won't buy the "imbalance" theory. I know how much Vitamin D3 science believes we all need depending on age, gender, etc. But even that, simple as it is to measure, changes over time. Has changed over the last couple of decades, in fact.
My thinking has always been that anti-deps work for some because they allow endorphins to basically sit in the brain longer. It's, of course, much more technical and complicated than that. Some people feel better in response. Others do not. There's so much to know beyond what is already known. But why bother figuring it out when people are eating anti-deps like candy already?
I find this study exciting because I want to see science dig further into helping those with depression and anxiety. For now, if your pill works, go for it, as Drew said. I took anti-deps off and on and they did take the edge off anxiety but made me feel crappy and out of it. Never have tried an ssri and don't want to. But that's just me.
Hello from Az Drew,
I always feel soo educated here❤️.
I have read quite a bit on this too. And I am totally on the side of “ no imbalances”.
I recently had a discussion with my sister in law that I ADORE. She is sits on the other side of that fence, even with evidence to the contrary. And I felt….. well….🫤🤗 impatient with her.
This has turned out to be a lesson for ME.
No… not in pharmacology, SSRI’s, or all the variables involved.
But a greater lesson in love, and acceptance that I need. ❤️❤️
Was hoping you’d address this study! Exactly what my pcp told me- it’s just an imbalance and it can be fixed with this pill. Like Drew, it got me through a crisis (ppd), and gave me space to function when I needed to take care of an infant. however it also caused so many negative side effects and took me years to get off. Stuck on it for 7 years when the plan was 1 year. Thinking that I need this pill because my brain is broken kept me on the med and so fearful of tapering off.
I actually haven’t seen this study, but this info is most definitely not new! My psychiatry textbook (so I’m saying, an official source used in a graduate psychiatry program) refers to the “chemical imbalance model” as “simplistic” and makes it clear that there’s no evidence for the vast majority of “chemical imbalance” claims. The current buzzword is biopsychosocial!— meaning that most conditions are the result of some combination of biology, psychological factors, and social factors.
Hey Drew. I thoroughly recommend you check our Dr John Campbell on YouTube. He very recently did a video talking about this and saying how wrong the medical world has been about this. Great guy to follow. Great post here, thanks x