This is a developing story we HAVE to pay close attn to.
It’s one that was shared by a number of outlets yesterday – mostly international ones…& yet not surprisingly – even a story/set of research this big – not widely shared in the US. Bc of the content, again this one will be suppressed here on SM, bc it goes against the narrative of what their advertisers sell, but it has to get out there. It’s a long share (apologies) but such an important one – pls consider sharing!
Like so many of you, when I was my sickest, I was first told by an “expert” that I had a S*** load of anxiety on top of a S*** load of depression & I needed “heavy artillery to knock it out of me.”
I’ve shared it a # of times on here, but this lead to 2.5 yrs of absolute dysfunction, as I was put by 4 diff top docs, on 52 diff combos of psychotropics. I was told like so many – I had a “chemical imbalance” & needed the right combos of drugs (explained to me – as those neurochemicals) to – balance out my imbalance.
Also shared many times on this page – I’m a stubborn & competitive SOB. Tell me how I need to heal & no matter the pain, I’m gonna endure it for the better outcome. This led to the 52 drugs, TMS therapy & then ultimately being told shock therapy was my “last resort” to fix my chemical imbalance. Sadly, none of it worked for me.
Now, not surprisingly, coming from this research, the following stat was shared yesterday in the outlets that did cover the findings: currently 80-90% of the population thinks depression is solely due to low serotonin or a chemical imbalance. This is a stat we are SOLD by industry – so it’s no wonder the # is that high.
Before I share the rest, I want to be clear for all those for whom meds have worked – I am not bashing meds generally – but they are NOT the “cures” we see in the cartoon commercials we’re fed.
I’m not a doctor….have never claimed to be. But what I am is an informed consumer w experience…who’s fortunate enough to have formed an org where I liaise w very smart docs who understand MH/trauma/addiction quite well. And from THEM I do my best to take their complex info & simplify.
This is a developing story we HAVE to pay close attention to.
It’s one that was shared by a number of outlets yesterday – mostly international ones…& yet not surprisingly – even a story/set of research this big – not widely shared in the US. Bc of the content, again this one will be suppressed here on SM, bc it goes against the narrative of what their advertisers sell, but it has to get out there. It’s a long share (apologies) but such an important one – pls consider sharing!
Like so many of you, when I was my sickest, I was first told by an “expert” that I had a S*** load of anxiety on top of a S*** load of depression & I needed “heavy artillery to knock it out of me.”
I’ve shared it a # of times on here, but this lead to 2.5 yrs of absolute dysfunction, as I was put by 4 diff top docs, on 52 diff combos of psychotropics. I was told like so many – I had a “chemical imbalance” & needed the right combos of drugs (explained to me – as those neurochemicals) to – balance out my imbalance.
Also shared many times on this page – I’m a stubborn & competitive SOB. Tell me how I need to heal & no matter the pain, I’m gonna endure it for the better outcome. This led to the 52 drugs, TMS therapy & then ultimately being told shock therapy was my “last resort” to fix my chemical imbalance. Sadly, none of it worked for me.
Now, not surprisingly, coming from this research, the following stat was shared yesterday in the outlets that did cover the findings: currently 80-90% of the population thinks depression is solely due to low serotonin or a chemical imbalance. This is a stat we are SOLD by industry – so it’s no wonder the # is that high.
Before I share the rest, I want to be clear for all those for whom meds have worked – I am not bashing meds generally – but they are NOT the “cures” we see in the cartoon commercials we’re fed.
I’m not a doctor….have never claimed to be. But what I am is an informed consumer w experience…who’s fortunate enough to have formed an org where I liaise w very smart docs who understand MH/trauma/addiction quite well. And from THEM I do my best to take their complex info & simplify it down in more digestible ways we all can understand & share on these channels. I dont want others to struggle the way I had to. Simple motivation.
Your chemicals in your brain (like serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine, etc.), them being “off” could be PART of the reason why you feel the way you do. Why many millions (if not billions), do. But a few questions: 1) why are they off – what’s the root cause? & 2) How do we even know what the right “amount” of each is & can we even measure?
Here’s the best analogy I can make: if those neurochemicals were like the roof of your house…& there were holes in that roof – yes you’d want to get a roofer to fix the holes (more chemicals). But where are the holes? How many holes? And perhaps most importantly – what if underneath the holes, bc the house is not brand new – you had walls and stairs in the core structure that were infiltrated by squirrels & other animals that burrowed & weakened those structures on the INSIDE – & were the pathways through which those animals even GOT to the roof & started making the holes?
Would you just try to fix the holes in the roof & believe your house was then solid? Or would you get to the source on where the animals were coming from to even get in the house, get them out, seal & fix those sources, AND then fix the roof?
For those for whom the Rx drugs seem to have worked, the roof is being fixed, temporarily, but not the rest of what’s underneath the house – that’s causing the holes in the first place. Not a cure – just potentially a temporary band-aid.
Oversimplification but our MH is a complex set of factors involving our stressful & traumatic lived experiences, overlayed on top of our lifestyle choices & genetics. Boiled together – these may LEAD to chemical imbalances – but how?
_These factors above change the tone of the vagus nerve…the activity of the brain’s amygdala…the release of cortisol & other hormones in the body…create inflammation in our cells…disrupt our sleep/wake cycles…lead to a porous gut…a lack of connection between our brain & our gut.
Why is this so important to know? Bc the gut is where so much of our neurochemicals are made. Have a leaky gut, a lack of connection w the brain, & inflamed cells – makes sense our neurchemicals would be off. But so – to “fix” that we are just going to try to “fix the roof” – the end chemicals, & not all the structural stuff underneath? That’s a recipe for disaster – & in my opinion, why for so many, the drugs don’t work.
Even the drugs themselves are called SSRI’s or SNRI’s – they are re-uptake INHIBITORS. They are NOT synthetic forms of the serotonin or norepinephrine themselves. They just block the re-uptake of the “low amount” we are told we have (without any accurate measure), so that – if we have a low amount, more can remain free floating for our brain cells to use, to function – to conduct a thought or feeling or emotion or action.
These Rx’s are not even giving us a boost of the chemical. They’re stopping the re-uptake (they claim) so we can try to do more with the “less” we have.
The way to heal is to fix the foundation – the holes in the – the stairs, the walls, the beams. That happens thru what we call STARR exercises & some others refer to (too simply in our opinion) as “self care.” STARR stands for stress & trauma active release & rewiring. A gym for the brain. It helps w the structures – the vagus nerve, the amygdala, the meridian blockages. It allows us to get to the source of what ails us from the accumulation of all those lived experiences on top of our lifestyle choices & genetics.
I’ll end on a quote from the article from the lead author of the paper released: Joanna Moncrieff, a professor of psychiatry at UCL:
“I think we can safely say that after a vast amount of research conducted over several decades, there is no convincing evidence that depression is caused by serotonin abnormalities. One interesting aspect in the studies we examined was how strong an effect adverse life events played in depression, suggesting low mood is a response to people’s lives & cannot be boiled down to a simple chemical equation.”
