Posted by bulldog2 on December 6, 2006, at 13:55:07
In reply to Why your medicine may not help, posted by Vale on December 4, 2006, at 15:54:34
I think we have to redefine depression as a symptom rather than as a disease. Pain is a symptom that has many root causes as is depression. Depression could be caused by hormonal imbalance, genetically inherited, neurotransmitter depletion caused by stress and a real response to one's life situation (ETC).
By treating depression as a disease the medical community continues to look for the magic bullit that will cure this disease. What we need is better diagnostics to determine the course of treatment rather than throwing the one size fits all antidepressant approach. With proper diagnostics we will able to see which neurotransmitter(s) we may be low in or which hormone(s) needs adjusting.
Personally I think this epidemic of depression is largely due to a society that stresses out and alienates individuals. There is a perception that material goods and wealth are the key to happiness. People chase wealth and can't understand why their unhappy when the family and all the major institutions that once sustained us have been severely damaged in recent years. I wonder how much depression there is in primitive societies in which people still live in harmony with nature and have strong family and societal networks. I guess it's easier to try and drug into believing we're happy than fixing the root causes of the problem.
poster:bulldog2
thread:710350
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061206/msgs/710910.html