YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

I am skeptical about the efficacy of antidepressants probably because of my background in psych/neuro and also because I have had no luck with these medicines. The flip side is that I'm struggling with whether or not I 'need' to be medicated, but I am reluctant to go through the experience of being on meds again especially if they are as effective as placebo at best.

I take three medicines now: Effexor, Neurontin, and I recently added Abilify. They do change me (Abilify has removed the need I had to sleep the day away and I am regaining lost focus, but I am also struggling with temper and irritation from the drug). But cognitive therapy is so important - I have seen my mother over-rely on medications, and then be devastated when the medication becomes less effective and finally ineffective. It is such a bumpy road, and changing is, for me, so slow.

But, yeah, "chemical imbalance" is a poor way to phrase it. To move out of suffering, besides spirituality and exercise/physicality, help can sometimes be found in medicine and cognitive therapy. One can move to a more effective state of living, with less suffering, and more accomplishment, and this new level can be sustained. But none of it is like a chemical running too low or too high - it is much more difficult than that.

my totally unscientific opinion is that there are many causes of depression/bipolar/other "disorders" and sometimes it really is a learned response and sometimes - especially for those with early early (womb to 5 years) emotional trauma, it is a matter of brain - if not chemistry- then wiring.
Studies do show that some people who were abused have different and more intense brain response.

I have seen some people respond great to chemicals (and that includes those who short term self medicate on marijuana) but its a person by person response....and others not at all.

The problem is identifying which is which.
and aside from that - the more I read/live/am around others...the more I see that some traumas are almost physical in the body's memory...I think a new approach that includes some way of releasing body responses - linked to but not strictly brain responses must be utilized. think meditation and release, yoga, running when anxious....we need to work with our bodies and their responses not just sedate them.

and no medicine will make someone feel loved, feel like they have a purpose, feel meaningful...it will only soothe symptoms that prevent them from finding love/purpose/meaning if the depression or whatever was a road block....

it a long road called life but medicine is never just enough on its own.

Unfortunately, science is flawed because humans are flawed. I, for one, prefer the theory that mental illness is caused by brain disorders due to a variety of causes which range the spectrum from experiences, ingrained habits, familial traits, or chemical imbalances. Like addiction, another brain/biological illness, there is no definite or thus far proven reason. The very fact that medications have help thousand of people speaks of a chemical imbalance that for many is corrected when taking certain medications, even if they were originally created to combat seizures, for instance, or other ailments. Therefore, to claim that the theory of chemical imbalance as a cause for mental illness is a myth is ridiculous and is jumping the gun a bit. But that's just my nonscientific opinion. (I sound a bit pompous, don't I? What a hoot!)