antidepressants

[Guest guest]

Thanks, Diana, once more into the breach...

 

I hate to wholesale any remarks on therapy; people are very individual, and

while one person may be having a situational or temporary " crisis " type of

depression, others may be having a very deepset or organic type that needs a

" jump start " of some kind to help alleviate it or support its resolution.

 

My beef is putting people on medication that are not getting valid counseling in

addition to the change in their body chemistry. Unless the problem is strictly

organic, most people have a reason to be depressed, and need to process it in

one way or another, either by grieving loss or dealing with fear, anger, etc.

For some, depression is the end result of a long fight with a stressful

situation; Hans Selye talks about this " giving up " as part of the stress

reaction, if resistance has worn down energy stores.

 

Don't throw the baby away with the bath water, Dan... it is not usually the

medications but the way they are utilized that is at fault; and that is a

negligence issue. If you want a broad comparison, here's one for you... in

indiginous societies that use hallucinogenics for journeying, they never use

them in isolation or for recreation. The drugs have a serious spiritual aspect,

and the people use them after training and guidance, and only within context in

the presence of others. Perhaps if our society considered our psychotropic

medications with half as much consideration, they would not have garnered such a

poor reputation.

 

I do think there are good herbals, food supplements, homeopathics and other

complementary therapies for depression; there again, though, to paraphrase a

quote, if you are your own doctor you have a fool for a patient. Use caution and

be well educated if you choose to self medicate, because many of the over the

counter herbals and other substances have no clear cut dosage, vary from brand

to brand in strength, and have not been fully researched for side effects,

cumulative effects, or interaction with other drugs you may be currently taking

or foods you may be eating. You would be better off to find a good homeopath,

naturopath, herbalist, etc. to guide you in these matters than attempting to

take out your own appendix with a butter knife, if you get my drift.

 

Blessings,

Crow

" Look for Rainbows in the Darkness "

 

---

Rev. Caroline Gutierrez Abreu, BS, RN, CHTP/I, CRMT, CH

AIM: CaroCrow

http://www.geocities.com/nrgbalance

 

" We see things not as they are but as we are. " The Talmud