A new meta-study of antidepressant effectiveness indicates that those medications aren't much better than placebo for most depressed individuals.

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-...al.pmed.0050045&ct=1

While I think depressed people really should consider medical help more often than they do, I also think a holistic approach is more beneficial. Psychotherapy has its place, but I think a combination of approaches using cognitive behavioral therapy, energy work, and deeper emotional work like The Journey is a much better long-term approach.

There are also nutritional aspects that I think are not often enough taken into account. Sometimes someone just might need to adjust their diet to get less simple sugars and more B vitamins.

Or perhaps people just need more sleep. Chronic lack of sleep wreaks havoc on our bodies and our emotions. We gain weight, lose concentration, have problems with memory, become more irritable.

But these sorts of changes take too long and we modern folk would rather just take a pill and make it better temporarily. Well, now we know that those pills aren't really doing that much and, unfortunately, they have lots of potential nasty side effects. The "cure" may, in fact, be worse than the disease.

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unfortunately, they have lots of potential nasty side effects. The "cure" may, in fact, be worse than the disease.

Yep! My ex-GP tried me on anti-depressants to try to 'cure' my CFS/ME (Ha!) - the side effects I experienced were horrendous and I only took 2 tablets. I had 'morning sickness' for 6 months!!!! Having said that, I wasn't depressed to begin with.

I now use energy medicine as often as is possible during each day, and steer well clear of that sort of allopathic 'medicine'!!

I'll try to read your link later, John; just wanted to post this whilst I thought of it.

Just my thoughts on it.

" While I think depressed people really should consider medical help more often than they do,..."

I agree wholeheartedly, but with reservation. Apparently I appeared to have depression problems when I was younger because periodically the docs would want me to try this one or that one. Most antidepressants did not agree with me at all. I mostly refused to take them and didn't think I was depressed - I mean we all have brief periods of depression at one time or another and then we shake it, right? Well - I hit a period where I couldn't shake it, crying 24/7, etc. This was when I was coming out of Chronic Epstein Barr Virus and Chronic Fatigue. I was mostly better physically. I tried supplements and all kinds of holistic things. My primary help was hypnotherapy and energy work. But I finally went to the Dr and said "I give up - I will try something" We finally found an antidepressant that works and now I regret all the years without it. The discovery I made was that most times the dose was too high. I just needed small and had always been prescribed too high a dose. But all things for a reason.

I would say that antidepressants are way overprescribed. As individuals we need to take power and control over our care and recovery. Don't just reach for a magic pill to make it all better. Be informed and responsible about what you take, how much and WHY. As hard as we may try, there are environmental factors that we can not avoid that may impact our physical as well as mental health. Work with your energies and your body. be aware what you are putting in it and make a concious decision about your care, especially when it comes to your mental health! If it doesn't work don't do it. Try other avenues that are more holistic first. BUT -- don't NOT take antidepressants because of a stigma or because they are not "natural". You may just achieve a stability and quality of life that was never fully possible before.

Sometimes it is true that the "cure" may be worse for you than the disease. Sometimes that same therapy can truly be a cure! We have to strike a balance between the allopathic medicine and the holistic approach as they both have their place.
Neiby, the study shows that the medicine has the most benefit gained from those who are most severely depressed, so the drugs themselves should always be an option. These conditions can be extremely debilitating, so even though we know the drugs can have terrible side effects, sometimes it may the best thing for a person. And the reason for that is everybody is unique, everybody responds to something slightly differently. Everyone is in their own world, lugging around their own luggage, hehe.

So anyway, no matter if somebody is taking medicine or not, I agree that everybody should take the holistic approach and see what it is that's really driving the madness.

If my situation is such that I'm forced to take some drugs to feel better because it's my best option, then OK, I'll have to do that, but I wouldn't stop there because once I get the livelihood and balance back in my life, I must keep digging deep into what my true emotional stresses and worries are. Luckily, the medical field is catching up to this idea and the "Doctor of Osteopathy" is being favored more than becoming an MD for this reason. We have a long way to go but great progress is unfolding slowly but surely!

Hi

Found this article on the BBC website.
Lets wait and see what is going to happen in a few years.

Einar
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7263494.stm

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If my situation is such that I'm forced to take some drugs to feel better because it's my best option, then OK, I'll have to do that, but I wouldn't stop there because once I get the livelihood and balance back in my life, I must keep digging deep into what my true emotional stresses and worries are.

That is so true, Anto. Regaining balance was all I wanted at that point. Now I am searching for other answers - that's why and how I found QT. We are all healers - no one heals us. But many times we ask for outside help even with QT becasue we need that extra boost of energy - to help is reagin balance. The story my therapist told me was to imagine facing a huge switchboard with every light lit up - how do you go about answering those lights? what order? It is overload. Bring things down to a managemeble level (by whatever means - allopathic or holistic) and then you begin the healing process.