http://www.npr.org/2011/12/02/143055122/combating-depression-with-meditation-diet
Some of what I thought were his best points....
"About one in 10 Americans over the age of 12 takes an antidepressant drug, according to a report from the CDC, and the number of Americans taking antidepressants has gone up over 400 percent since 1988. Why the rise? Are we more depressed than we used to be, simply more medicated or both?"
Wow that is insane! Yes I know most people I know have taken an anti-depressant at some point. I am one of the few people I know that never have. I considered it a few times, because wouldn't it be nice if one little pill could solve all of our problems lol, but I always knew deep down it wouldn't. Thinking that is a lie from Satan really. Only God can help us, and even then all our problems won't be solved. Life is hard because we live in a fallen world, and it always will be hard. We just have to accept that and appreciate when things are actually good and when we are happy. :) But no one can ever be always happy. Not until we reach heaven we can't be. :)
This is so true! "Many parents think that it's their job to make kids happy all the time. We're not supposed to be happy all the time. Our moods are supposed to vary. They're not supposed to vary so extremely that they disable us, but I think it is perfectly normal to have lows, as well as highs, and there may be even some value in those experiences."
Yes there is value in the lows. I have learned my most in the lows and grown the most in wisdom when times are the most hard. The lows make you appreciate the highs of life. So in the end, they are good. We wouldn't realize how good things are sometimes if we had nothing to contrast the good times with. Thus, bad times are good as well as good times. :) What a paradox.
"One of the research findings that's - I think, find very interesting is that the more people have, the less content they seem to be."
Very true. Why? Because those who have are always wanting more. Those who have are so used to shopping and getting and getting that they rarely stop to be grateful for what they already have. Life becomes a rat race, a never ending acquiring of more and more things, only to leave them more and more miserable. Very sad. :(
"The pharmaceutical companies have been very effective at convincing people that ordinary states of sadness are now matters of imbalanced brain chemistry which needs to be treated."
Yes this is so true! Doctors, for some reason, often seem to want to convince you that something is wrong with you. Why? So you will need THEM! So they can "fix" you. So you will depend on them. So you will spend all of your money on Them. It is a huge scheme if you really think about it. I know some doctors are good, but some are con artists. Just like some dentists who tell you you need 5 fillings and you go to another dentist and they say no, you have no cavities. It's like that. Watch out for the con artists in the medical field. They are certainly out there, like wolves in sheep skins. :(
Amen...."We can't change what happens to us, but we can change our reaction to it."
We are not forever victims to our circumstances. This is a lie of depression and what can lead to depression. We can change things sometimes. But if we cannot, we can change how we react to it. I love the quote, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." :) Do what you can with what you have. :)
"There is a disturbing and growing body of evidence that the major class of antidepressant drugs, the SSRIs, the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, don't work so great, in fact that they barely can be distinguished from placebo even in severe depression now."
Yes I have always been skeptical of how well they work for sure. The placebo effect means, the person taking the pill expects to feel better simply because they are taking the pill and so they do, even though the pill may not actually be doing anything. Very funny and quite ironic. :)
Wow "There is also, I think, great concern about... a new problem just coming to light. It's called tardive dysphoria. That means lingering depression caused by the drugs."
Yes I have heard that in taking Advil too much it can actually cause rebound headaches. Taking headache medicine can give you more head aches. The same can be true of anti-depressants. They may actually only worsen the problem. :( Very sad.
".... The drugs produce the very problem they're meant to treat."
What? Yes how ironic.
"If you increase serotonin at neural junctions with a drug, the body responds over time by producing less serotonin and dropping serotonin receptors."
Yes this makes sense. If you are synthetically taking something your body thinks it doesn't need to produce it anymore, thus it shuts down production of whatever supplement you are taking. So if you are taking serotonin essentially your body will just stop making serotonin, therefore making you forever dependent on the drug, on this outside source, to give your body what it needs. So crazy. :( And quite scary. Hence, once doctors get someone hooked and started on any medication, they may just have to be on it for life!
A lesson in this: don't mess with nature and the way God created the body to function. It runs just fine most of the time if we would just leave it alone. :( And always remember to eat apples lol :)
"It's just like trying to treat acid reflux with drugs that suppress acid: You take it away, and you have a worse problem than you did to begin with. So the drugs may create their own need."
Wow what a trip! I have noticed that since I stopped taking Advil for headaches, since I need to be careful of that in pregnancy, I have been getting less headaches. How ironic isn't it. :)
"There's a simple exercise from positive psychology called keeping a gratitude journal. You get a little notebook, keep it by your bed; during the day, make mental notes of things you have to be grateful for, jot them down when you go to bed. Doing that for one week can cause improvement of mood for up to six months. And that's pretty dramatic."
I have done that for quite some time and yes it is very effective in keeping you happy and positive! It is very cool and so simple :) but u have to remember to keep what u write positive. lol
I have done that for quite some time and yes it is very effective in keeping you happy and positive! It is very cool and so simple :) but u have to remember to keep what u write positive. lol
A call in...."My niece, who is a freshman in college, was given antidepressants and committed suicide shortly thereafter." So sad :(
Writer's response: "There are some significant adverse effects of antidepressant drugs. They may increase cardiovascular risk. They may increase cancer risk. A latest finding is that pregnant women who take them, there are higher rates of autism in their offspring. These are not benign agents."
No they are not at all my goodness!
Prescription drugs are drugs just like street drugs. They have negative effects on the body. They are addictive. They lead people to more depression and suicide even.
In the case of the girl who committed suicide, my theory is that anytime we take drugs, prescription or not, we are opening a door to Satan in our lives.
He then has greater access into our minds, our dreams, even over our bodies.
My husband had an odd encounter, believe it if you want. He was smoking heavily for a time and some demons literally picked him up off his bed in his sleep and told him, "You have given us authority over your body since you have chosen to smoke so much and damage your body."
I know many people smoke, but everything in moderation. Perhaps one cigarette a day isn't horrible, but if you allow it to master you, to control you, you have opened a door to Satan in your life.
If you allow anything to master and control you, you have opened a door to Satan, it doesn't matter what it is.
May God help us to be self-controlled in all things. Amen :)
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