ANTIDEPRESSANTS - RAPE OF THE SOUL
Matthew was a popular 18 year old. He loved his family, friends and life. He played sports and was looking forward to graduating from secondary school. Before his exams, he had trouble sleeping and was having bad dreams and panic attacks. His doctor prescribed Matthew the antidepressant Citalopram. Within days, Matthew’s personality changed. He was withdrawn, he no longer wanted to attend the school leavers' Graduate Beach Week. Instead, he left home and took his own life by jumping off a bridge.
Candace was a happy child who had been getting anxious about school exams. There were no other anxieties. She was prescribed a psychiatric drug but started feeling ill after taking it. When questioning the side effects, her mother was told by the doctor that she was being “overprotective and paranoid. ” Shortly afterwards, Candace walked up to her bedroom and hanged herself. She was 12 years old.
These children died because of the antidepressant drugs they were prescribed. Figures from the Office of National Statistics in England and Wales record the number of deaths caused by antidepressants since 1993 as 13,254, which is nearly one death a day over that 30 year period.
Black Box Warning
It is not rocket science to see that something is dreadfully wrong and that lessons have not been learned. So, what is producing this appalling statistic? In 2004, the FDA issued its strongest black box warning, finally conceding that antidepressants can cause suicidal relations and violent symptoms. The documented side effects of antidepressants include: suicidal behaviour, heart problems, mania, psychosis, hostility, aggression, withdrawal reactions, birth defects, gut problems, hormonal problems, liver problems, abnormal bleeding, blood disorders, allergic problems, nervous system problems, sleep problems, sexual dysfunction, weight gain and more.
Yet, antidepressant medications are given out liberally by doctors for a wide variety of ills ranging from anxiety to period pain, hormone regulation, OCD, PTSD, bereavement, chronic pain, chronic fatigue, MS, sciatica, fibromyalgia, urinary problems or when the doctor doesn’t know what else to do.
People prescribed antidepressants aren’t being given enough information about the side effects from their doctor. If you are reading this and have been prescribed antidepressants, did your doctor sit down with you and carefully go over the potential side effects and the risk:benefit ratio of taking the drug?
It seems that some doctors aren’t fully aware of the potential severity of side effects or difficult of withdrawal from these addictive drugs. Perhaps some don’t care.
There have been 151 warnings from 11 countries warning that antidepressants cause harmful side effects. Of those, 37 warned about antidepressants causing suicide risk or suicidal behaviour. Many patients I have seen have been left on antidepressants for years. Some couldn’t remember the reason why they were prescribed them in the first place.
Myth of Chemical Imbalance
Patients trust doctors, the ‘experts’ to help them when in need. They certainly don’t sign up to get suicidal thoughts, psychosis, weight gain and the other long list of potential side effects caused by psychiatric medications. They trust that doctors know what they are doing, especially when prescribing drugs. The rationale for prescribing antidepressants lies in the ‘chemical imbalance’ theory first proposed in the 1960s - that a deficiency of serotonin is responsible for depression. This hypothesis reigns supreme today and is behind the steep rise in the prescription of antidepressants which rose to 83 million in 2023. There has also been an 8% increase in antidepressant prescriptions for 10 to 14 year olds in recent years. It is staggering to learn that 703 antidepressant prescriptions were given to one-year-olds in England between 2015 and 2019.
However, a 2022 study published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry led by Professor Joanna Moncrieff, firmly debunks the chemical imbalance theory. This was an umbrella study i.e. an overview of 17 previous studies involving tens of thousands of participants, the most comprehensive review on the chemical imbalance theory ever published.
Professor Moncrieff concluded that after a vast amount of research conducted over several decades, there is no convincing evidence that depression is caused by serotonin abnormalities, particularly by lower levels or reduced activity of serotonin. The UK research concludes that the chemical imbalance theory of depression is a myth and not supported by the physical evidence.
Psychiatry and Fixed Ideas
This wouldn’t be the first time that psychiatry has got it wrong. It is well acknowledged that psychiatrists were profoundly involved in crimes against humanity during the Nazi era as they sought to systemically exterminate their patients. It was psychiatrists who instituted a system of identifying, notifying, transporting and killing hundreds of thousands of mentally ill, and “racially and cognitively compromised” individuals in settings ranging from psychiatric hospitals to prisons and death camps in what became known as the Holocaust.
Why did they do what they did? Undoubtedly, many felt what they were doing was correct from a scientific standpoint. Their actions were based on the colossal misjudgement of neo-Darwinism and its attendant racial hygiene, which was deemed correct by many.
Similarly today, we have an entrenched theory of chemical imbalance which has never been scientifically proven. Neuroscientist Dr Elliot Vallenstein makes the point that a theory that is wrong is considered preferable to admitting ignorance. The idea of depression being caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain is almost sacrosanct. It has become a fixed idea. Never supported by science, yet fuelled by drug manufacturers, the chemical imbalance theory makes millions for Big Pharma as evidenced by NHS spending on antidepressants which rose by £139 million during the pandemic.
This means that millions of people all round the world are prescribed medications they don’t need to be on. This adds up to a lot of suffering caused by drugs based on an unproven theory. As antidepressants are drugs of addiction, people end up physically dependent, often for life.
Blame the patient
Antidepressants are not like ordinary drugs such as blood pressure pills, anti-inflammatories or diabetes medications. They are mind-altering drugs that cause side effects ranging from mild to life threatening which can occur when starting, stopping, changing the dose, causing interactions with other drugs or reaching tolerance (drug no longer effective). By so doing, they create iatrogenic illness/injury - new illnesses you didn’t have before. Many doctors fail to diagnose medication side effects and injury. Instead, they blame the patient - “it’s your mental illness,” (it’s the menopause,” “you’re stressed” rather than acknowledging the suffering that has been directly caused by these medications.
Emotional blunting
Apart from suicide and homicide, perhaps the most devastating potential side effect caused by antidepressants is emotional blunting. This means a reduction in the ability to feel all emotions - both positive and negative. Emotional blunting may prompt some patients to say that antidepressants initially helped them by blunting emotional pain and thereby increasing their ability to cope better. However, they blunt all emotions including joy, love, happiness, admiration, contentment, enthusiasm, creativity, initiative and ambition etc.
Sexual dysfunction - Rape of the Soul
Additionally, sexual dysfunction is reportedly experienced by many people on antidepressants. This can strain relationships and lead to a worsening of the depression for which the drugs were prescribed. Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (as that is the name it has been given) can persist indefinitely, even after antidepressants are discontinued, a fact many patients were not made aware of when starting antidepressants.
Life is emotions. If you aren’t feeling the gamut of emotions on a daily basis, you aren’t living. Not only do patients on emotion-numbing antidepressants suffer, but also their partners, children, pets and other loved ones. Life events like bereavement and other losses are being turned into an opportunity for medication. Sometimes, lifelong. There are better ways to address bereavement than trying to drug it out of existence. It is for this reason that I call psychiatric medications ‘Rape of the Soul.’
Antidepressants don’t work
A study published in the prestigious British Medical Journal found antidepressants to be no more effective than a sugar pill. This echoes the findings of Professor Irving Kirsch, outlined in his book The Emperor’s New Drugs: Exploding the Antidepressant Myth published in 2009. They don’t work. At best they mask the underlying issues by putting a piece of band aid over the problem. But the need for greater dosages arises as they are addictive and induce a nightmarish trap for patients. They are based on a discredited theory. They don’t address the root causes of depression.
Real Causes of Depression
If the chemical imbalance myth does not cause depression - what does? Researchers now acknowledge that depression is a more complex condition with multiple causes. The Functional Medicine approach includes a thorough case history to determine what the underlying root causes of the depression might be. This can be followed by specialised lab tests and a personalised therapy programme based on an individual’s biochemistry, not guesswork. The combination of factors will be different for each patient. That is why patients need a personalised, not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach.
Depression is increasingly being seen as an inflammatory condition. But where does the inflammation come from? Studies showing that administering endotoxins (toxins from infectious agents) to healthy people induced classic depression symptoms, give us a clue.
Here are some of the documented root causes of depression that I look for in clinical practice:
Nutrient deficiencies
Gut/intestinal problems
Inflammation (anywhere in the body)
Mitochondrial dysfunction (lack of energy for brain cells)
Food allergy/sensitivity (especially gluten)
Chronic infections/fatigue syndromes
Silent dental infections (from root fillings/unhealed extraction sites, gum disease)
Mercury dental amalgams
Other heavy metal toxicity
Thyroid/adrenal/ hormonal imbalance
Autoimmune conditions
Environmental toxins
Trauma/stressful life events
Toxic relationships
Not having or following a basic purpose in life
In conclusion, the cause of many people’s depression often lies in undiagnosed real physical problems that masquerade as psychiatric symptoms. For others, a traumatic incident or bereavement may have triggered their depression. In the latter case, I have seen real success in trauma, PTSD and bereavement using the counselling techniques outlined in Dianetics, The Modern Science of Mental Health by L.R. Hubbard. This is a precision tool that addresses former incidents in life containing physical pain or painful emotion, even as far back as the pre-natal area.
At this point I want to say that anyone wishing to discontinue or change the dose of an antidepressant or other psychiatric drug is cautioned to do so only under the supervision of a doctor because of potentially dangerous withdrawal symptoms.
I work with prescribing doctors to help and support patients nutritionally in safely weaning off antidepressants under medical supervision. finding and addressing the right underlying causes of the depression is a successful part of this action.
If you would like to discuss any issues mentioned in this blog-post, please contact the Good Health Clinic on goodhealthclinic@outlook.com to request a free 30 minute Enquiry Call or book an appointment.
To your very good health,
Suzanne Jeffery (Nutritional Medicine Consultant)
M.A.(Oxon), BSc.(NMed), PGCE, MNNA, CNHC
The Good Health Clinic at The Business Centre, 2, Cattedown Road, Plymouth PL4 0EG
Tel no: 07836 552936/ Answer phone: 01752 774755
References:
Strous (2007) Psychiatry during the Nazi era: ethical lessons for the modern professional. Annals of General Psychiatry.
Moncrieff et al. (2022) The Myth of the Chemical Cure: A Critique of Psychiatric Drug Treatment. Journal Molecular Psychiatry. Also published in book form.
Kirsch (2009) The Emperor’s New Drugs: Exploding the Antidepressant Myth. Book.
CCHR (Citizens Commission on Human Rights) online Antidepressants - the facts about the effects. Leaflet.
CCHR (Citizens Commission on Human Rights) Psychiatry, Its Fraudulent and Deadly Practices: The Compendium. Book.
Hubbard, L. (1950) Dianetics, The Modern Science of Mental Health. Book.
CCHR (Citizens Commission on Human Rights) online Dead Wrong: How Psychiatric Drugs Can Kill Your Child. Video online.
Disclaimer:
All advice given out by Suzanne Jeffery and the Good Health Clinic is for general guidance and informational purposes only. All advice relating to other health professionals’ advice is for general guidance and information purposes only. Readers are encouraged to confirm the information provided with other sources. Patients and consumers should review the information carefully with their professional health care provider. The information is not intended to replace medical advice offered by other practitioners and physicians. Suzanne Jeffery and the Good Health Clinic will not be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential, special, exemplary or other damages arising therefrom.