Currently viewing the category: "depression"

Easy Ain’t Always What it Seems

By On · Add Comment · In 60 Minutes, antidepressants, depression, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), placebo, prescription drugs, selective publication, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)

60 Minutes did a great piece over the weekend on the business of depression–that’s right, BIG business–and whether the product that’s being sold to America (and the rest of the western world) is actually doing what it’s supposed to. Some experts (myself included) believe that the popular (read: highly prescribed) depression drugs–the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)–don’t do a whole lot for people that are moderately depressed, and the data seems to back up that notion.

However, antidepressants continue to be some of the most prescribed drugs in the U.S., and most of those people fall in the center of a bell-shaped curve. In other words, most people taking antidepressants probably aren’t getting much from them, as Harvard psychologist and researcher, Irving Kirsch articulates in the video. According to his research, many of the studies that show antidepressants not doing much more than placebo have been hidden by the manufacturers who lead the studies.

We call this selective publication, and I’ve been reporting on this phenomenon within the antidepressant manufacturing industry for over four years. In 2008, research showed that only one third of the studies conducted on SSRI antidepressants ever made its way out to the public. Can you guess which third gets published?

In the 60 Minutes piece below, you’ll see Dr. Thomas Laughren, FDA Director of the Division of Psychiatry Products rationalize why it only takes two favorable studies–even if ten come back unfavorable–for a drug to get approval by the FDA. Oddly, he doesn’t mention “cha-ching $$$” anywhere in the piece. Hmmm…

Listen, I’m all for big business–a capitalist to the core–but there’s something wrong with pushing a drug onto millions of people, including children as young as six years old, when it isn’t doing exactly what it’s supposed to. And I wouldn’t care except there is also evidence that some of the side effects aren’t benign, or whether they are permanent. And that’s playing with people’s lives.

Again, I do not pull the public out of the equation because too many people are looking for an easy way out–and antidepressants sure promise that. Watch the piece below to see why easy ain’t always what it seems to be.

Spirituality and Health

By On · Add Comment · In anxiety, belief, depression, drug abuse, faith, health, heart disease, meditation, religion, spirituality, suicide, universe, violence

Today I would like to discuss an oft-overlooked aspect of health: Our connection to something bigger than ourselves.  Yes, I am a spiritualist–I believe in God.  Maybe not in the way of some organized religions, but I am convinced that the universe is a part of a grand order, of which we are bound in our physiology, and thus our health.

I’m not going to necessarily discuss the universal order as it pertains to physiology and health here.  Instead I am going to touch on a few points on spirituality and health, as well as encourage you to watch the beautiful video above to witness the magnificence of the universe from our earthly perspective, and hope you realize it is all much bigger than even this.

Health is directly related to our connections to a greater source.  Whether real or psychological is irrelevant to our discussions here–all I wish to point out is the improvement to physical health when spirituality is believed/practiced/observed.

If we can put aside for one minute our politics, our illusions, our human drives, and our emotional oscillations to just witness the beauty of the all, if only for just this one needle-point view of the grandness offered by the accompanying video, then I am certain we can all catch a glimpse of what we truly are.  THIS is the source of health, and it’s a confirmation that we can all have optimal health if we are in touch with the source.  That’s my belief anyway.

Depressed Canadian Loses Benefits over Facebook

By On · Add Comment · In antidepressants, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Chippendales, depression, disability, Facebook, Manulife insurance, Nathalie Blanchard

A Canadian woman on long-term sick leave for depression says she lost her benefits because of pictures posted on Facebook.

According to a recent report from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Nathalie Blanchard of Quebec has been on leave from her job at IBM for the last year. She had been receiving monthly payments from insurance giant Manulife, but the payments dried up this fall. Apparently, according to Ms. Blanchard anyway, she was told she lost benefits because of pictures posted on Facebook showing her having a good time at various activities, including a night out at a Chippendales bar show club.

Manulife denies that they would drop coverage solely based on information published on Web sites such as Facebook. However, they did say that they have evidence that Blanchard is no longer depressed. Hmmm. Blanchard states that she went partying on her doctor’s advice to go out and have a good time to help her forget her problems. Double hmmm….

I guess when you have such a weak classification of a disorder as depression is, eventually you’ll have a fiasco like this one. Listen, depression as a medical diagnosis is BS. Who doesn’t get depressed? Sure some people go off the deep end, but does it really warrant in excess of $31 billion in lost productivity per year (U.S. figures); does it really warrant mass antidepressant therapy; does it really warrant massive insurance payouts in disability? Does it…really?

Well I guess if it does, then there will always be a fine line that insurance adjusters will monitor. Just like with physical disability, an insured collecting monthly payments will have their life scrutinized. Who hasn’t heard of people on permanent disability filmed lifting heavy objects, doing housework and other activities proving that they can, in fact, work? Duh! Same thing will happen with mental health issues.

Can’t say whether Facebook pictures of somebody enjoying Chippendales dancers constitutes improved mental status (could argue either way), but remember it’s a fine line. It seems to me that if you are too depressed to work, you are probably too depressed to go out socializing. Or put another way, if you can find joy and purpose in male strippers, or anything for that matter, getting your behind to work will probably good for you in the long run.

American Kids More Mentally Disturbed Than Euro Kids?

By On · Add Comment · In depression, drugs, medicated, mental health, pharmaceutical, psychotropic, stress

Are Americans more depressed and mentally disturbed than Europeans? How about our kids? Now c’mon…people are people, right? Americans don’t have more stress than Europeans, Asians, or Latin Americans. Everybody has stress. Especially other industrialized countries–we all have to deal with economic issues, crime…traffic! No, no, no…Americans aren’t more mentally disturbed than Euros.

Then why are more American kids being heavily medicated with psychotropic medications than European kids? According to a recent study, children in the U.S. are significantly more likely to be prescribed drugs for mental conditions than their European counterparts. Psychotropic drugs include stimulants (Ritalin), antidepressants (Prozac, Zoloft), and antipsychotics (Risperdal). The research showed that American kids were more than two times as likely as Dutch children and more than three times as likely as German children to be medicated with a psychotropic drugs. American children were also substantially more likely to be on multiple psychotropic drugs. So I ask the question again, are our kids more mentally disturbed?

You know the real answer: Hell no! Our kids are more medicated for one simple reason–America is a gold mine for pharmaceutical sales. The reason is three-fold:

  1. Americans believe in magic bullets
  2. Americans worship medicine and put their doctors on pedestals
  3. American doctors are given financial incentives (like trips, cruises, and other gifts) to prescribe particular meds

What else would you expect? The current mental health paradigm in this country is that the cause of mental illness (depression?) is biochemical. What a bunch of horseshot. I cover this subject extensively in my book, The Six Keys To Optimal Health; but suffice it to say there isn’t one shred of evidence making this paradigm a fact. It is all theory. And a poor one at that.

All this in light of another recent study that shows psychotherapy to be better than meds in treating complex psychiatric problems. Time to cut the crap and get your kids off the psychotropics.

Happiness

By On · Add Comment · In depression, development, emotional, fulfillment, growth, happiness, health, hedonics, longevity, psychologists
As far as emotions go, happiness is highly overrated. Some pseudo-scientists (read: psychologists), however, feel that the pursuit of happiness is a worthwhile endeavor. Take, for instance, the latest study out of Rotterdam’s Erasmus University in the Netherlands which links happiness to health. According to its lead author, happiness is the key to a long life. Hmmm…I’m skeptical. Here’s why:

The study looked at 30 other studies (a meta-analysis) which were carried out worldwide over periods ranging from one to 60 years. The results were that “feeling good could lengthen life by between 7.5 and 10 years.” In fact, it compared the effects of happiness on longevity to smoking on life expectancy.

Oy vey. Does anybody besides me see the nonsense in this junk science? First off, there is absolutely no such thing as a life of perpetual happiness. Every living being experiences unhappiness, loss, challenge, and so forth, at various times in their life. Life is a constant stream of varying psychological and emotional experiences. Even the human predicament of dissatisfaction is a necessary component to personal growth and development. Actually, it’s the pursuit of perpetual happiness that leads to the inordinate amount of depression in our society. The people who choose this pursuit get let down again and again because they are chasing the unattainable. No wonder antidepressant use is beyond comprehension. The people who chase happiness the most tend to be the most unhappy, and more importantly, the most unsatisfied people in society. Just an observation.

I’m sure you won’t find this surprising but the lead author of this study, Mr. Ruut Veenhoven, is a psychologist. The psychology profession stands to gain the most from putting forth the illusion that we can measure, and ultimately reach, a “state of happiness”.

Listen, happiness exists, no doubt. But it’s certainly as objective as beauty is. A Laker win might make me happy, but that sure as hell doesn’t have any lasting effect on me. So whether or not that’s going to have an effect on my health or longevity is simply ludicrous. In fact, it directly contradicts an earlier study that showed women end up more unhappy than men later in life, despite the fact that they generally live longer.

So striving for perpetual happiness, in my opinion, is futile. Fulfillment, however, is worth striving for; and this, like happiness, is completely subjective–so we aren’t going to be able to measure it any better. Veenhoven’s study discusses hedonics–the branch of psychology that studies pleasant and unpleasant sensations and states of mind, as well as the economic method of estimating demand or value. But this concept, like the entire measuring happiness thing, is flawed. According to critics of this pleasure measuring statistical regression, it’s “impossible to measure the immeasurable”, specifically because what makes an individual or society happy (or fulfilled) changes all the time. Well, no duh..uh..uh..uh..uh!

So I reiterate my earlier thought, the group most benefiting from this nonsense is the psychology profession. Not surprising since they are the professionals that strive the most to help people become happier. But I think the whole concept is bunk. You just can’t put a measure on happiness, and you certainly can’t link something that subjective to health. We need both happiness and sadness, challenge and support, pain and pleasure to grow and develop–it’s part of human evolution. But wouldn’t you expect psychotherapists to push the one-sided ideal of a happy life? Makes good business sense, anyway, don’t you think?

Healthy, Healthy Japan

By On · Add Comment · In balance, depression, diet, emotional, health, healthy, Japanese, longevity, mental, perspective, suicide, The Six Keys to Optimal Health, wellbeing, work-related
They say that the Japanese are the healthiest people alive. They live on average 74.5 years in health, and 86 years thereafter. The Japanese diet–high in fish, rice, and seaweed–is said to be the main reason. Cancer rates are low and heart disease is pretty much held in check. Bravo to the Japanese, especially in honor of their 6th Healthy Food Expo held last week in Tokyo. When it comes to diet and nutrition the Japanese are, without a doubt, ahead of the game.

But if any of you have read my latest book, The Six Keys To Optimal Health, you know that diet is just one factor determining a person’s health and longevity. Multiple factors play a role, each having a profound effect on health and life expectancy. One of these factors is a balanced mental and emotional life–that is, one’s mental health.

When it comes to mental health, then, the Japanese may not be so ahead of the game after all. According to a government report released last week, suicides from work-related stress has doubled in the last five years. And the number of people developing work-related mental conditions such as depression has reached a record high of 268 in 2006 (the last year of complete statistics on the subject). Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the world–32,160 people killed themselves in 2006. People in their 30s and 40s were most prone to stress due to working too many hours or personal relationships at work. Some of the people attempting suicide worked 160 hours of overtime a month. 160 hours overtime! The typical work week in Japan is 40 hours.

Dang! That’s whole lot of workaholism. And you thought Americans were bad. Listen, what difference does it make if you eat well and are nutritionally healthy if you drive yourself into the grave by overworking? Just doesn’t make sense. I get that there are pressures: one-third of these poor people were working between 80-100 hours overtime a month! Put this in perspective: That’s twelve or more hours a day for five straight days every week. That’s damn near chiropractic hours. Sheesh. What family time? What social life? What time for personal hygiene (I know if that was me, I’d probably quit cutting the ol’ toenails to gain a few minutes every week). And throw in a little cultural mind trip–many people don’t discuss their stress in order to not seem weak–and you’ve got a severe mental health issue at hand.

The bottom line is this: If you strive for good health you can’t neglect your mental and emotional wellbeing. Eating well is essential, but so is balancing one’s mental perspective. You ain’t gonna do that by working non-stop for extended periods. You need rest, social time, creative time, family time, and simply time to be alone with your thoughts. Sometimes we forget how important alone time actually is. And even if you do all this stuff regularly, you need a vacation every once in a while, too. Trust me when I say that burning the candle at both ends when it comes to work is the quickest way to burnout, and worse. Just ask the Japanese–it a national tragedy over there.

More Cannabis Controversy

By On · Add Comment · In causation, correlation, depression, marijuana, medical marijuana, suicide, teens
I told you, keep your eyes peeled: Marijuana is once again being fingered as a serious health threat. The Federal Government last week released a report stating that marijuana use among teens can lead to depression and–gulp–suicidal tendencies. According to the report provided by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, “A teen who has been depressed at some point in the past year is more than twice as likely to have used marijuana as teens who have not reported being depressed—25 percent compared with 12 percent.” And “teens who smoke pot at least once a month over a yearlong period are three times more likely to have suicidal thoughts than nonusers.”

I reported on the increased attacks on cannabis consumption last year in a couple of posts (here and here) and I said then that I believe the heightened attention has to do with the explosion of medical marijuana dispensaries across California. Now, legality or no legality, it seems odd to place so many ill effects (unproven if I may add) to this mostly benign substance. But the Puritanical powers that be see pot smoking as public enemy number two, right after tobacco use.

What is important in this story is that we really need to distinguish between the concepts of correlation and causation. Correlation is a mutual relation of two or more things. It means that we tend to see a relationship among certain things. Causation, on the other hand, means one thing causes another. So the fact that smoking pot causes one to get high is a definite causation. But smoking pot causing one to become depressed and even suicidal is really stretching the truth. The adage in science and statistics is “correlation does not imply causation.” Period.

Although our Puritanical roots may lead our government to see nothing but the ills associated with marijuana use, as attested by research conducted by our Centers of Disease Control (CDC)*, British research shows something different. According to Bruce Mirken, communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project, an organization that advocates the decriminalization of marijuana, “This very week the British government’s official scientific advisers on illegal drugs issued a report saying they are ‘unconvinced that there is a causal relationship between the use of cannabis and any affective disorder,’ such as depression.

Like I said before, there is a real battle going on and it ain’t gonna be pretty. But if certain factions persist, you may see some changes in policy in the near future.


*I’d also like to point out that the CDC probably has data only on dysfunctional individuals who present with a variety of problems. I’m certain they have no data on the thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of totally functional citizens who consume cannabis on a regular basis. Why would they? It’s still illegal, isn’t it? Boing!

Losing Weight is a Lifestyle Choice

By On · Add Comment · In anxiety, appetite, chiropractic, depression, energy, fad diet, fat, grehlin, hormones, leptin, lifestyle choices, lose weight, sleep, sleep deprivation, weight
If I had to guess the lazy man’s ultimate fantasy, I would have to say that it’s probably a “lose weight while you sleep” program. How does that sound? Do absolutely nothing and shed pounds while you snooze. Ooh, I like the sound of that: Losing weight while sleeping. Well, now your dreams can become reality. So says a study out of Europe showing that lack of sleep can lead to weight gain. Hey, that’s not the same thing. I know, but I had to get your attention somehow.

According to French scientists, sleep deprivation has an effect on two principle appetite-controlling hormones, grehlin and leptin. Grehlin makes people hungry, slows metabolism and decreases the body’s ability to burn body fat, and leptin, a protein hormone produced by fatty tissue, regulates fat storage. In the study, sleep deprived people (only four hours sleep two nights in a row) showed an 18% loss of the appetite-cutting leptin and a 28% increase of appetite-causing grehlin. The people also showed about 25% increased hunger. according to lead author, Karine Spiegel, this translates into an additional 350 to 500 kilocalories a day, “which for a young sedentary adult of normal weight could lead to a major amount of added weight.”

Add to this a second study which discloses that children who lack adequate sleep (and those who watch more television, but that’s another story) have double the chance of being overweight, raises the chances of later anxiety and depression. Looking at 915 children in Massachusetts, researchers at the Harvard Medical School found that those who slept less than 12 hours a day in the first two years of life were twice as likely to be overweight at age 3 than children who slept longer.

These stories bring out two predominant thoughts for me: First, when it comes to weight management, it really is all about lifestyle choices. It’s not solely about genes or foods–it’s about how we choose to live our lives. I push the principle that sleep is absolutely necessary to a well-functioning mind and body. I see the effects of sleep deprivation every day in my patients, and I’ve got plenty of my own experience, and I know, it’ll kill you.

But it will also lead to poor energy utilization and, as a result, more weight gain. Think about it: You don’t sleep, you are tired, your body get discombobulated and starts using your stored energy rapidly to keep you going. You secrete the appetite-stimulating hormone, grehlin–your body’s way of saying, “more food, more fuel”. The hormonal imbalance leads you to crave foods heavy in fats and sugars–foods that are high in energy and efficiently stored as fat. And on your way to the bulge.

The second predominant thought is that losing weight for the long-term isn’t often correlated with following a particular fad diet. It really is about the lifestyle changes one makes, like:

  • eating healthy, wholesome foods
  • exercising regularly
  • getting sufficient sleep
  • getting rid of pain that prevents exercise–try chiropractic, it rocks!
  • balancing one’s perceptions

These are the true tricks to trimming down. It’s not rocket science, but it can be hard work. I tell you though, it is worth the effort. Start today by getting enough sleep, and your lazy fantasies can become reality. Isn’t it great to know that not all healthy habits are a pain in the rear?

Antidepressants Don’t Work

By On · Add Comment · In antidepressants, biochemical theory, depression, freedom of information, Hull University, mental health, mental illness, pharmaceutical, placebos chemical
Yes, it’s true: The mega best-selling pharmaceutical mental health panacea called antidepressants just don’t work. When speaking about antidepressant therapy I usually try to be fair and say, “antidepressants might work for some people,” but frankly, that’s a bunch of horse shot. Study after study after study comes out exposing these most over-prescribed meds for the frauds they actually are; so I just can’t bear to keep perpetuating the lie. Antidepressants don’t work! At least not for what they’re supposed to work for, that’s for sure.

Take this latest study out of Great Britain which looked at previously undisclosed data of 47 clinical trials conducted by the drug companies themselves. The data became available through the U.S. freedom of information laws. I pointed out in an earlier post that many drug companies hide relevant information to make their product appear beneficial. Lots of money is made as a result of this practice, even if the information only stays hidden for a brief time.

But what makes the antidepressant sham so shameful is that, as a treatment option for depression, it has been treated as the holy grail of the biochemical theory of mental illness. I discuss this fallacy in detail in my upcoming book, The Six Keys To Optimal Health. It is one of the most faulty scientific theories to ever be unleashed upon the public. And it has been heavily propagandized for one reason only: Antidepressant therapy brings big bucks.

Oh, don’t get me wrong: people who take antidepressants feel something. Most of these drugs simulate speed, so lots of people get high from them. But since it’s a medically prescribed substance, they wouldn’t call it high. Oh no, instead they might say evened-out; calm; or “balanced”. Yeah right, balanced. You’ve got to check out this article on parents requesting drugs to give their college kids an “edge”. Nice, Dad; hook Junior–he’s worth it.

Here’s the truth as stated by research team leader Professor Irving Kirsch of Hull University, in northern England, who conducted the study, “The difference in improvement between patients taking placebos and patients taking anti-depressants is not very great. This means that depressed people can improve without chemical treatments.”

He goes on to say, “Given these results, there seems little reason to prescribe antidepressant medication to any but the most severely depressed patients unless alternative treatments have failed to provide a benefit.” And I tell you, like me before him, he’s just being nice. It’s only a matter of time before the good professor gets fed up and proclaims the truth to the world as I have: Antidepressants don’t work! Time to give them up.

Questionable Science

By On · Add Comment · In antidepressants, chemical imbalance, depression, drug studies, Pfizer, Prozac, Zoloft and Paxil

Yet another shameful mark against the manufacturers of chemical antidepressants, and another knock against the fallacy that is the chemical imbalance theory of depression. New reports disclose that almost one third of antidepressant drug studies are never published in the medical literature, and that virtually all of those that are hidden happen to show the drug being tested did not work.

The scandal doesn’t stop there. In some of the studies that were published “unfavorable results have been recast to make the medicine appear more effective than it really is”, says the study’s lead researcher Erick Turner of the Oregon Health & Science University (see the full study, here).

Nice job. Way to do what it takes to dupe the world into buying a faulty theory and a whole bunch of worthless drugs. There’s a term for this type of dirty science: It’s called “selective publication”. Selective publication is printing only the result that fit the theory or the desired outcome of the research team. It’s without an inkling of a doubt the most unethical practice that can happen in science; it’s right up there with “cooking the books”–the practice of changing data so that the desired outcome appears to occur. Sham science. Garbage. Despicable. And the makers of our favorite zombie drugs–Prozac, Zoloft and Paxil–are guilty of both. According to Turner, “It tells you where they placed their bets before they saw the data.”

He goes on to say, “Not only were positive results more likely to be published, but studies that were not positive, in our opinion, were often published in a way that conveyed a positive outcome.” As an example, of five studies relating to Pfizer’s Zoloft, three showing the drug to be ineffective were never published. And according to the report, “A fourth study, ruled questionable by the FDA, was written and published to make it appear that the drug worked.” Purely scandalous!

I spend a lot of ink on the fallacy of the biochemical theory of depression in my upcoming book, The Six Keys To Optimal Health. Even without this new information I pretty much dismantle the rationale and the practice of widespread antidepressant use in our society. I truly feel this is the number one public health danger of our generation. A lot of people have a lot of emotion attached to this issue. Sorry folks, the science is just not there, no matter what the popular information machine and the so-called authorities have been telling us–and this new report proves it, plain and simple. Expect much more truth about popular (and dangerous) antidepressant drugs to be uncovered in the near future. Sure looks like this deception is swaying on a house of cards.

Ratso Schizo!

By On · Add Comment · In antidepressants, biochemical cause, brain, delusions, depression, genetic engineering, mood changes, paranoia, schizophrenia

Scientists have been genetically engineering laboratory mice to develop the physical and psychological characteristics of schizophrenia. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, used genetic engineering techniques to create mice that suffer from delusions, mood changes and paranoia – the same symptoms human schizophrenics suffer from. They say the findings will help in the understanding and treatment of this disorder, especially in how external factors, like stress or viruses, might aggravate symptoms. Take a peek here to see what one of theses rodents looks like

My only question is this: How did they observe delusions in rodents? A delusion is a pathologically false belief, and I just can’t imagine what a mouse would have to do to be labeled that! Perhaps it was an incorrigible conviction that a cat was a hunk of cheese, or something like that. Either way, it’s cruel and unusual – placing that cat in front of a cheese-hallucinating mouse. I’m not the only one who thinks so, either. Animal rights groups are up in arms over this study. They do not believe its necessary to “create” animals with this type of disorder, since schizophrenia is a “uniquely human feature.”

I’d have to agree. But there is an insistence within medical science to find the biochemical cause of mental illness – the same nonsense they have been trying to convince us of regarding depression for the last two decades. Find a biochemical cause, develop a biochemical “cure” – a new pharmaceutical, that is. At least that’s the rationale anyway.

Unfortunately, things are not that simple. When it comes to the human brain, there is still so much we do not yet know. At this time, not one shred of evidence points toward depression having a biochemical cause – but antidepressants are now the number one prescribed medication in the U.S.! Woohoo! Party! I talk at length about depression and antidepressant drug therapy in my upcoming book – The Six Keys To Optimal Health. And I guarantee you, it’s an eye-opener.

OK, now my other only question: If antidepressants are so good, why aren’t prescriptions going down? Hmmm…makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

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