For decades, people have been prescribed antidepressants based on the belief that the psychiatric drugs could do something to resolve a so-called ‘chemical imbalance in the brain’.
Psychiatrists, pharmaceutical companies and their spin doctors used the idea to convince people there might be something useful in taking them, while at the same time, benefiting from increased antidepressant sales.
However, a new review of existing studies has found that depression is not likely to be caused by a chemical imbalance and has indicated people should be made aware of other options for treating it.
Consider this: if antidepressants were supposed to correct an imbalance of the brain, it would follow there would be a way of measuring when such an imbalance was corrected. For the record, there’s no way of measuring a balance or an imbalance of the brain.
Over the years, numerous requests have been made asking for data to support the claims of a chemical imbalance. The requests were never fulfilled yet psychiatrists, in an unholy alliance with pharmaceutical companies, continued to use unscientific rhetoric that resulted in a continual rise in prescriptions for the drugs. At the beginning of July, it was reported that nearly half a million more adults in England were taking antidepressants compared with the previous year.
At the end of the day, it has been indicative of an impressive marketing strategy, generating huge profits for drug companies while creating untold destruction. Since 2000, over 5 billion pounds has been spent on antidepressants in England alone. There’s no doubt this represents commercial success which has kept shareholders happy, but it has been at human expense.
There have been 151 warnings from 11 countries and the European Union warning that antidepressants cause harmful side effects. These include 37 warnings on antidepressants causing suicide risk or suicidal behaviour.
There have also been 279 studies from 35 countries showing that antidepressant drugs cause harmful side effects. These include 49 studies on antidepressants causing new-born complications and 27 studies on antidepressants causing suicide risk or suicide attempts.
The overriding factor in all of this is informed consent. By making it possible to be fully informed about the dangers of antidepressants, people can make up their own minds rather than accepting pseudoscientific claims.
Attempts will be made to protect the lucrative enterprise, but the antidepressant gravy train is like a house of cards about to fall. The time is up for the psychiatric charade.
Further reading: Antidepressants: the facts about the effects
Further reading: Psychiatric Drugs Create Violence & Suicide
