Reply #149: Finding the appropriate medication transformed and brought normalcy to my life.

[Political Heretic]

Whenever I see stuff like this I get worried. The problem with anti-depressants is that:

a) depression is too often a catch-all diagnosis for other mental health issues or
b) clinical depression is formally diagnosed too casually, when there is a significant difference between non-reoccurring bouts of situational depression (which happens to everyone) and chronic depression, which is a clinical mental health condition or
c) scientists do not clearly understand all the specifics of how anti-depressants work, and many work in different ways. The result being that even someone who truly has a chemical imbalance and needs medication may have to go through an agonizing process of trial and error to find the right anti-depressant that works for them.

However, clinical depression is a real an serious condition cause by chemical imbalances and is not the same as just "feeling down." These people need to not be more stigmatized than they already are, and certainly do not need to be even more discouraged from seeking appropriate medical / therapeutic attention.

So yes, we can agree about the tendency to over-pathologize in our culture. And we can even agree that anti-depressants are probably over-prescribed. HOWEVER, please remember that true clinical depression is not only a real diagnosis, it is a physical condition - a chemical imbalance in the brain. Telling someone with a chemical imbalance to just stop being depressed by willpower is like telling a diabetic to just make more insulin.

Political Heretic, MSW