The Dangers of Depression Drugs

Unless your conditions are serious and severe, stop relying on your antidepressant medications to get you out of depression.

Given that the serotonin system is the most widespread neurotransmission system in your brain, it affects many of your body functions, resulting in many adverse side effects when you take antidepressant mediations, such as Zoloft and Paxil, that contain serotonin.

That said, withdrawal from depression medications is not only dangerous but also difficult.

Why is that? Because many psychiatrists have little experience in withdrawing their patients from antidepressant drugs, and most of them are unwilling to do so because of the risks involved.

If you insist on withdrawing from depression medications, you must seek the help and support of a psychotherapist and a general practitioner to supervise your withdrawal.

Tips on withdrawal from depression medications

           Stop one drug at a time.

     Withdraw slowly — it is better to err on the side of withdrawing too slowly than too quickly.

    Be aware of the development of any emotional or physical reaction within a few days after the withdrawal.

     Any symptom opposite to the drug effect may be due to the withdrawal.

So, should you withdraw or not withdraw from depression medications?

Considering the pros and cons of medications may help you rethink depression medications, or at least have new perspectives with reference to taking antidepressant drugs.

It is as dangerous to start taking any depression medications as it is to stop taking them. That is to say, withdrawal from any depression medication can develop serious and even life-threatening emotional and physical reactions. Therefore, any withdrawal needs medical supervision. Do not do it on your own.

Rethink any withdrawal —  or think twice before taking any in the first place.

Mental depression is a biochemical disorder, and psychiatrists justify the prescription of medication based on this reason of being a “physical disease.”

Rethink the justification of a prescription.

Information available to the public, including warnings and side effects, on any depression medication, is probably advocated by pharmaceutical companies, and hence does not reflect the true nature of the drug or its potential danger and toxicity.

Rethink the dark side of any drug. 

A pharmaceutical drug is a toxic chemical; as such, it is potentially dangerous. Taking pharmaceutical drugs on a regular basis requires regular body cleansing.

Take Control of Your Health and Escape the Sickness Industry: Teach yourself self-responsibility — your greatest weapon in improving health and promoting self-healing. This informative and inspirational book by Elaine Hollingsworth, the movie-star-turned-heath-crusade, explains in detail the hazards of medical tests and procedures, and shows you how to escape the sickness industry through natural self-healing.

Is depression a physical disease?

 Is depression a genetic and biochemical “physical disease”?

Many professionals and nearly all pharmaceutical companies would like you to believe it is “physical” as evidenced in weight loss, inability to focus, insomnia, and emotional agitation. You, too, may come to believe it is “physical” too because it is so real and so painful to you.

Is depression a physical or mental disease, or both? Is it even a disease or simply a state of mind? Once you have identified depression as a “disease” you naturally turn to a doctor (which is only human and understandable), and subsequently to depression medications for help and treatment.

Are they really your physical problems or the doctor’s problems? Do not give up easily on life in favor of medications.

Or is it mind over matters? Visit my web page: Mind Healing.

Rethink if depression is really your “physical” problems requiring medications.

The FDA approval

Dr. Peter R. Breggin, M.D., in his book Talking Back To Prozac, states:

"According to the FDA approval process, it doesn’t matter how many times a drug fails to prove useful in its clinical trials. Innumerable scientific studies can show the drug to be ineffective, but as long as two or more show statistical superiority over placebo, the drug can win approval."

The bottom line: Any FDA approval is no guarantee of the efficacy or the safety of a drug.

Rethink any FDA approved drug. 

The drug’s label

According to FDA regulations, any drug's label must contain the following sections:

                description

                clinical pharmacology

                indications and usage

                contra-indications

               warnings and precautions

               adverse reactions               

       drug abuse and dependence

              over dosage                 

       dosage and administration                

              how supplied

The FDA works out the drug’s label with representatives of the drug company — often a give-and-take process. How much should you believe what the drug's label says?

Rethink what the label says or doesn’t say.

Depression medication to jump start your depressed life 

Many people have the wrong concept of using depression medications to jump start for a forward leap. It is tantamount to taking cocaine to stimulate an otherwise insipid life. Any stimulant drug that brings “high” will also inevitably bring “low.” In addition, there may be abusive potential and withdrawal problems.

To many, the positive side of depression medications is to raise your spirit and lift you mood, making you euphoric and feeling “better than ever.” However, it always comes with a price.

Rethink using depression medications to get an abnormal burst of energy.

Rethink the price you pay for being out of touch with reality and living in fantasy.

Medicines have not been perfect. But without medicines, things could be even worse. Medicines are not always bad any more than nutritional supplements are always good.

Take the example of Seroquel, a popular prescription drug for bipolar disorder. According to the pharmaceutical company, the drug has the following adverse side effects:

           

       High blood sugar or diabetes (excessive thirst or hunger, increased urination) 
       Physical weakness
Risk for cataracts
Risk for seizures, especially with a family history
Increasing the effects of alcohol
Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) — high fever, rigid muscles, shaking, confusion, changes in pulse, blood pressure, muscle pain
Tardive dyskinesia (TD) — uncontrollable movements of the face, tongue, or other parts of the body

You may find yourself in a catch-22 situation.

Is there another alternative, such as improving your conditions by other means while keeping a low dosage?

Rethink the trade-off of taking a prescription drug

Biological psychiatry is itself depressing. It is not surprising that many patients go from one drug to another, searching for a cure and ending up in a psychiatric hospital.

Rethink your depression medications

Only YOU have all the answers.

Why don't you try another alternative? Instead of avoiding or distracting yourself from your depression, use TAO wisdom, to face it head on to understand why you have your depression in the first place.  Depression is all in your mind. If you can change your mind, you can change your moods. Changing your moods may allow you to slowly and gradually reduce your anti-depression medications. The bottom line: depression is just an escape from the inescapable; just embrace it and you may become enlightened.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau