Are “chemical imbalances” an excuse for mind control?

I have been viewing this for awhile & want to add some personal info/experience to it. Medication could indeed be a form of mind control. I
take anti depressants & anti anxiety medicine & have for quite some time now. It definitely helped me, as I was in the depths of depression. I was in my 30s at the time & I really thought" life wasn't worth it"-"is this all there is to life"-& the one that really bummed me out was: Is this all that life is about? Just working to pay bills? What happened to the "fun"?? So I decided it was time to see a shrink. I was suprised to find that most of them I'd called weren't taking any new patients. Alot had a waiting list. I finally got an appt with one & went to her office to find it was standing room only-people of all ages-backgrounds.The Upper-class women with her designer outfits next to a guy that looked like he hadn't bathed in days.Kids in high school. all walks of life.
When I got to thinking about it much later, I couldn't beleive how many people see shrinks & that are on meds. There has to be SOMETHING wrong if that many people are depressed! It says ALOT about society if 50% or more are depressed. Taking medication helps ME to live in this society, the USA. I would probably be a bag lady on the street without it because I really don't like to work at a non fulfilling job for people who are in it to get all they can--$$--while we works our butts off for crappy pay 40 hours a week. Whoever thought up a 40 hour work week is an idiot. Yes, work is good--but not most of your life, especially if you are an average person like me, not rich, not poor, but seeing almost ALL your paycheck going to living expenses. I've taken "my retirement as I go", because whos to say I'll be around at 70 at my "retirement age". I don't like all that in-your-face-bs about having to have x amount of $$ in the bank by a certain age or your doomed. I don't beleive God put us on this planet to work our butts off doing things we really don't care about.
People need more free time to spend with their families, pets, doing things they ENJOY. THen people wouldn't be so stressed out, sick with diseases, depressed & angry.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this? the only other people I've told this is my husband, sister & best friend, who agree somewhat, but say "what can you do, thats the way it is".
thanks very much for listening/reading.
akasha

reply to post by akasha22

I agree that there are likely problems in society that cause people to have more trouble with depression nowadays than in the past. I don't think necessarily more people are depressed now than have been in the past, but that it's recognized and treated more often than it used to be.

It's likely that, like a lot of medical conditions, many people were afflicted with such things in the past and it simply went undiagnosed. There was also a lot of self-medicating, I'd imagine, through alcohol, various illicit drugs, etc. But even with all that, I think today's society demands more of people, and you simply can't wander off to sort through depression on your own.

I don't know what depression rates are in other countries, but I know in the United States, there's a tremendous focus on money and productivity. In a constant struggle to stay ahead of poverty, many Americans work and work and work. We don't have time for family, we don't have time for vacation, heck, we often don't have time to eat and sleep. I'd imagine that a lot of this is detrimental to our health. When you're depressed, you can't take time out for yourself, because you have to keep up the pace or you'll get left behind. So perhaps this is why more people seek medication to deal with depression.

I've taken a few different anti-depressants over the years for depression and anxiety, and I have absolutely no problem with their availability, marketing, and prescription. People who claim that anyone who is depressed can just "get over it" hasn't been depressed to the point where medication was necessary. While I won't say that it's impossible to battle depression without medication (it obviously isn't), I see this akin to battling an infection without antibiotics. Your body *might* be able to do it, you *might* be healthier in the end as a result, but why put yourself through the increased risk and suffering when you don't have to? People who beat depression using medication aren't "less cured" than those who seem to beat it without.

Anyway. As I've stated earlier in this thread, I do not believe that anti-depressants are in any way, shape or form mind control. I think they're a medication that fills a need that some people have, and I don't understand all these silly people railing against anti-depressants just because they have some "natural method" that worked for them. There are plenty of nefarious things in the world without people making up stories to find bogeymen in everything.

I took antidepressants for 7 years and it caused several lapses in judgement in my life. Before meds, I was on the fast-track in my career. Once I was on meds, I would suddenly start choosing the wrong jobs or just up and leave really good jobs for no good reason. The one thing I remember feeling during those times was that I had lost my focus and concentration and I thought that this meant that I was on the wrong path and needed to do something different.

Now that I'm off the meds, I am again focused on my career and it's taking off again just like before the meds.

It's one thing to be depressed when there is a reason to be depressed. It's a whole different thing to have chronic depression for no reason. The medical industry calls it a "chemical imbalance". It's definitely related to chemicals but not like they want us to think. Once I stopped ingesting chemicals, my depression went away.

reply to post by annestacey

Why were you taking anti-depressants if you weren't depressed?

reply to post by shoran


I was depressed... for many years. But I didn't know that chemicals in the food was causing the depression. So I was on meds for 7 years. Once I figured it out, I changed my diet and got off the meds.

reply to post by annestacey

All sorts of things can affect your mood. I'm glad that you were able to figure out what it was and get yourself better. I do agree that there are a lot of things in our foods nowadays (both natural and synthetic) that can cause a lot of problems for us, and I do wish more doctors paid attention to such things.

I think a good physician and a good therapist are very important when dealing with depression. Both of those can go along way toward avoiding unnecessary medication.

reply to post by akasha22


Thanks for the thoughts. That’s the kind of stuff I’m talking about. 40 hour work weeks make no sense for anyone but the rich. There are so many unemployed peopled and over worked people. Less hours would fix both problems. It’s all about profit. This is what we created.

Taking medication helps ME to live in this society, the USA. I would probably be a bag lady on the street without it because I really don't like to work at a non fulfilling job for people who are in it to get all they can--$$--while we works our butts off for crappy pay 40 hours a week.

Do what you have too but, why the hell should we be adapting to society? Society is our creation. It is not some everlasting, unchangeable entity. It is our systems and ways. Do we run our system or does our system run us?

reply to post by shoran


I don’t mean to be offensive, but perhaps your desire to always be right despite other people’s experiences or opinions creates your depression. If you try and shut down every conversation or idea you disagree with you will undoubtedly become depressed.

I don’t know but for someone who claims to not to promote it, you sure interject for it a lot.

Originally posted by captainplanet
Do what you have too but, why the hell should we be adapting to society? Society is our creation. It is not some everlasting, unchangeable entity. It is our systems and ways. Do we run our system or does our system run us?

Our society was created by our government. They dictate how we live because the more busy we are running our lives, the less attention we pay to what's really going on behind the scenes.

They want us to be sick and depressed. It keeps us wrapped up in our own lives day to day with no time (or motivation) to help create the real society that we deserve.

Originally posted by captainplanet
I don’t mean to be offensive, but perhaps your desire to always be right despite other people’s experiences or opinions creates your depression. If you try and shut down every conversation or idea you disagree with you will undoubtedly become depressed.

I don’t know but for someone who claims to not to promote it, you sure interject for it a lot.

I didn't say I was depressed. I said I've had medication for it in the past. I don't promote depression nor anti-depressants, but I do promote sane, reasonable information about the condition and the treatments available. I don't think anti-depressants are the be all, end all solution to depression, but to discount their effectiveness and usefulness is just not being realistic or honest.

Where I take issue is people who label anti-depressants as bad, ineffective or worthless because either they had a bad experience with them, they feel they're "unnatural" and therefore wrong, or they just want to go on about finding Jesus or whatever else they came up with. Anti-depressants have side-effects, as do most medications, and they shouldn't be taken by people unnecessarily. But, if you have a lousy doctor who prescribes stuff for you at the drop of a hat, that's the doctor's fault, not the medication.

Originally posted by shoran
reply to post by annestacey

 

All sorts of things can affect your mood. I'm glad that you were able to figure out what it was and get yourself better. I do agree that there are a lot of things in our foods nowadays (both natural and synthetic) that can cause a lot of problems for us, and I do wish more doctors paid attention to such things.

I think a good physician and a good therapist are very important when dealing with depression. Both of those can go along way toward avoiding unnecessary medication.

Depression has only increased in our society because of the increase in chemicals that are being pushed on us thru food, products, prescription drugs and environmental toxins.

Chronic depression didn't exist 100 years ago but there is evidence that this (and many other illnesses) have appeared and increased as the chemicals have increased.

Most people probably do not need to be on antidepressants. All they need to do is eliminate the chemicals and eventually their bodies will cleanse out the toxicity and they can return to normal healthy living.

reply to post by shoran


I believe this is a case of you hearing what you want to hear. I have made myself clear, and already tried to end our discussion because I’m sick of repeating myself. Go back and you’ll find the explanations to your accusations.

Originally posted by captainplanet
I believe this is a case of you hearing what you want to hear. I have made myself clear, and already tried to end our discussion because I’m sick of repeating myself. Go back and you’ll find the explanations to your accusations.

I've not said anything else to you about it until you posted the previous reply. I'm explaining where I take issue with some of the statements in this thread. You attempting to clarify your statements doesn't magically erase the points that have already be made, and isn't going to suddenly make me agree with you and concede that everything else on this thread was in error. Despite what you've clarified, others in this thread have taken the positions I mentioned previously. My comments to them still stand.

Fair enough, my bad. Here’s just something to back up what I mean though.

... the brain is fundamentally a chemical system - even the electricity it generates comes from chemicals.
... beyond the fluxes of ions into and out of the neurons, a wealth of chemical reactions are occurring incessantly in a bustling but closed world inside the cell.
-Susan Greenfield, 1998

She founded 3 neurology research centers. If the brain is a chemical system, than a constant depressed state of mind will have a constant chemical reflection, an imbalance. I feel some people would be better served to make changes in their life than to take pills. Our doctors are so busy with depressed people it’s become somewhat impersonal. Maybe psychology should be mandatory if your on antidepressants or something. It’s a problem that, in general, defiantly needs a better approach.

Originally posted by captainplanet
Fair enough, my bad. Here’s just something to back up what I mean though.
She founded 3 neurology research centers. If the brain is a chemical system, than a constant depressed state of mind will have a constant chemical reflection, an imbalance. I feel some people would be better served to make changes in their life than to take pills. Our doctors are so busy with depressed people it’s become somewhat impersonal. Maybe psychology should be mandatory if your on antidepressants or something. It’s a problem that, in general, defiantly needs a better approach.

There are definitely doctors who prescribe anti-depressants on a whim, without any form of counseling or therapy for patients. Some people get lucky and it works, but I really think the best treatment is a combination of therapy with anti-depressants. Heck, even if they go without anti-depressants, therapy is necessary. I do think it'd be better if fewer doctors prescribed anti-depressants "just because", but like I said earlier, I feel that's a problem with the doctors and not with the medication itself. I know you're not saying the medication is a problem, but, just restating my position.

I know many people on SSRI antidepressants. not a single one was informed by their doctor of the severe withdrawal involved getting off the drug. The drug companies are well aware of this problem. Google "Paxil withdrawal" and see what you come up with.

Originally posted by WEOPPOSEDECEPTION
I know many people on SSRI antidepressants. not a single one was informed by their doctor of the severe withdrawal involved getting off the drug. The drug companies are well aware of this problem. Google "Paxil withdrawal" and see what you come up with.

You're supposed to slowly stop taking them, usually over the course of a week or two. If you have a crappy doctor who doesn't tell you such things, you need a new doctor. If you don't research the medications you're on, well, sucks to be you.

A week or so? You're about as highly educated as the doctors. Where did you do your research?

Originally posted by WEOPPOSEDECEPTION
A week or so? You're about as highly educated as the doctors. Where did you do your research?

I said a week or two (not week or so) for clarification. My research in this regard comes from my own experience with Paxil.

reply to post by WEOPPOSEDECEPTION

Oh, and what you're talking about is called SSRI Discontinuation Syndrome. It doesn't present itself in everyone, though. If the symptoms do appear, then you simply go back on the medication and reduce it over the course of two to four weeks (which isn't tremendously longer than what I stated initially). That's usually only required for moderate to severe cases.

I've taken both Zoloft and Paxil, and did not experience such symptoms when I stopped taking either. I didn't stop suddenly, but backed off over the course of two weeks in each case (as directed by my doctor at the time).

So, just for some more information.

When you decide to go off medication the best thing to do is consult your Dr. & then slowly taper off, some people can do it in 2 weeks, others it takes longer.Also, I beleive its best to get anti-depressants, anti-anxiety meds from a psychiatrist instead of a regular family Dr.--a friend of mine got on anti-depressants from her family Dr, who also had her on a bunch of other things for other problems & the mixture of it all made her sick & even more depressed. I think shes over-medicated--her Dr gives her a prescription for everything! I take 2 meds--thats it--other than a multi vitamin & aspirin when necessary. I enjoy talking with my shrink, we have a good rapport, but I hate going to the family/regular Dr---10 years ago I had surgery & they screwed it up, had to have 2 more surgeries after that & since then I get anxiety attacks just going into the hospital to visit someone (ptsd) & any sort of "examinations" really creep me out.
As far as the "mind control" aspect of psych meds, it could be a way to keep people like myself in the work-force-rat-race. Maybe keeps us in check, so we don't see or care whats going on behind the scenes, as was mentioned in an earlier post. Meds have sure helped to keep me in the rat race, even tho the rats are winning. But, they haven't made me quit questioning "authority" or want to find out whats really going on because even before meds I felt that somethings not right with the way things are.I get a bit obsessed at times, but in a good way. I think its when you just stop caring or being curious, then its probably time to get off the medication. Meds should improve your quality of life, not erase your emotions completely.