Eliminating the Causes of Depression
A few years ago many of us didn’t expect our doctors to nail down the causes of our illnesses; we only asked they make the symptoms go away. Now, it has finally dawned on us, if we don’t discover the cause and eliminate it, we often have to relive the same misery in the future.
Fixing the symptoms of depression only offers a short-term solution. If the cause is not discovered and corrected, depression may return again and again. At HRC we’ve seen a parade of people with different causes of their depression. The following represents the most common reasons for the depressions we test for and treat (Note that none of these have been caused by a shortage of drugs):
- Neuro-transmitter depletion of norepinephrine or serotonin
- Essential fatty acid imbalances in the brain
- Vitamin and mineral deficiencies or dependencies
- Hypothyroidism, (including Hashimotos/thyroiditis) disease
- Excessive sugar and caffeine use (i.e., hypoglycemia-the primary metabolic imbalance that triggers cravings for alcohol and causes relapse)
- Brain allergy reactions to foods, and cerebral sensitivities to airborne chemicals
- Systemic buildup of fungal molds, candida yeast
- Histadelia (abnormally elevated histamine)
- Buildup of heavy metals in the brain (e,g, cadmium, lead, copper)
- Brain damage from alcohol or drugs, prescribed or otherwise
The Questionable Value of Antidepressants
The serotonin hypothesis is that depressed people do not have sufficient 5HIAA levels (serotonin) in their brains, and since antidepressants increase the firing of serotonin, these will be able to lift their depression. But this erroneous theory has been disproved in many studies. In all these studies, depressed subjects were tested for their levels of serotonin. Consistently, all had adequate serotonin levels despite their depression.
- McGill University (1974) found no correlation between serotonin levels and depression
- National Institute of Mental Health researchers (1984) investigating the theory that low serotonin in the brain creates depression concluded, “Elevations or decrements in the functioning of serotonergic systems per se, are not likely to be associated with depression.”
- In 2005 Dr. David Healy MD wrote in “The serotonin theory of depression is comparable to the Masturbatory Theory of Insanity.”
- National Institute of Mental Health funded a six-year study at the U of Iowa looking at 547 people suffering from depression. They found those who were untreated with drugs were nearly seven times less likely to become “incapacitated by the depression.”
Source: Coryell, W. “Characteristics and significance of untreated major depressive disorder.” American Journal of Psychiatry152 (1995): 1124-29
Other results from antidepressants include:
- Down regulation, (i.e., SSRIs shut down serotonin sites.)
- Suicides increase seven times in adults, and nine times in adolescents on SSRIs
- Sexual dysfunction is common
- Loss of REM sleep causes fatigue and memory loss
- Learning difficulties
- Birth defects: the child of a mother taking Paxil suffers twice the birth defects, and six times severe lung problems
- Parkinson’s symptoms from losing 57% of stored dopamine
- Breast cancer and Prostate cancer because Prozac has a 4:1 ratio of toxic fluoride molecules that destroy iodine, which protects breast, ovaries and prostate from cancer
As an Orthomolecular Clinic we promote healing with the real chemicals that make up the “blueprint of life”. We encourage you to look at Anatomy of a Global Epidemic. Here you will find many graphs, and citations from Robert Whitaker’s book, Anatomy of an Epidemic. This information brings attention to the high risks of treating addictions and mental health issues with toximolecular drugs (i.e., the dual-diagnosis approach), instead of sufficient amounts of the real chemicals the human brain needs to regain its stability and establish ongoing wellbeing.
Mental Health Treatment
Most treatment centers prescribe psychiatric drugs and therapy for mental health issues. While these methods treat the symptoms of mental health issues they do not address the underlying cause of the issues. Health Recovery Center has a different approach to treating mental health issues. We take a holistic approach to address problems at the physical and molecular level. We work to repair the root issue versus just treating the symptoms and masking the cause.
The focus of Health Recovery Center program is similar to the bio-medical/nutritional work described in “Seven Weeks to Sobriety” and “Depression Free, Naturally” by Joan Mathews-Larson, Ph.D.
