Misconceptions about Antidepressants and Other Psychiatric Medications. Sometimes, they actually work.

Picture me.  And a soapbox.  Now I'm on it.

I would like to address the subject of antidepressant use.  It seems that every week I read an article or a book where antidepressant use is discouraged, because "they don't really work", they have horrible side effects, and they are bad for you.  Just yesterday I was reading "Food Over Medicine" by Pam Popper, which has a lot of great information about nutrition, but when she got to the subject of mental health, she said that some people experience depression as a result of a great loss and they just need time to "process their emotions".  Really?  That might work for some people, depending on the person, the loss, and their predisposition to depression.  But, for a lot of people, they can't function.  They can't see their need for help unless they have family or friends to point it out to them, and this might not be a time where "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps" is going to work.  Instead, they might need short or long term help with medications just to make them functional. Then, they might be able to see their situation more clearly and make plans to "process their feelings" with someone.  

She also said that if you do go to your doctor for depression, you should tell him that you are not interesetd in a pharmaceutical solution to the problem.  She claims that psychotropic drugs are addictive and "should be avoided at all costs".  A psychotropic drug is any drug used to treat psychiatric disorders.  I've been on several of these, and am currently taking two of them.  In Pam's words:

"Right now we know that taking antidepressant and antianxiety drugs not only increases your risk of suicide but they ultimately make people more depressed"

For this statement, she references one book.  One.  No scientific studies, just Petter Breggin's "Your Drug May be Your Problem".  If you read reviews of this book, several people say that their son/daughter stopped taking their bipolar medications after reading this book for a college course, and they ended up in a mental institution and took months to fully recover.  How can she make such a broad statement, that no one should take psychiatric medications and that they only have harmful effects?  I am lucky that my medications do not increase thoughts of suicide, in fact they do the opposite.  None of the other side effects are major enough for me to even consider stopping them.  What do they do? They allow me to be "me".  They enable me to get out of bed and function. They take away dark thoughts of worthlessness and hopelessness and allow me to stop thinking about death all of the time.  I don't cry for no reason, and I have energy to do things with my family instead of sleeping all of the time.  Now, if I had listened to someone like Pam Popper, I would have decided that these drugs would only make things worse and that I needed to solve my depression myself.  Can we say dangerous advice?

Another article I read recently was about a celebrity who claimed to have gone through depression. When asked if she needed medication to get out of it, she responded that "she was a really strong person so she was able to do without medication.  She worked through her feelings herself".  Why would it have been so terrible for her to say that she did need medication? Why is there still a stigma?  I'm sure a lot of depressed people read the article, hoping for some good advice, and felt even worse about themselves afterwards. What was wrong with them? Why couldn't they deal with their feelings themselves? They already feel worthless and useless, how is this attitude helping anyone?

Our bodies are fallen.  God created them perfect, but after the Fall in the Garden, sin and corruption began.  Our bodies are broken, people get heart disease, cancer, diabetes, digestive disorders and mental illnesses.  Would you ever say to a person with lung cancer, "Why don't you just try to fix it yourself?  Think positively, try exercising, and oh!  I just read about this new supplement that is supposed to do wonders!"  Now, there is nothing wrong with exercise (it has been proven to elevate the mood), or certain supplements, but my point is, if you had cancer, your friends and family would be researching the best doctors and hospitals trying to get you treatment as soon as possible.  Why?  Because if they don't, you might die.  Interesting.

To be fair, I will say that some doctors do overprescribe psychiatric medications.  They might automatically start with this solution after barely listening to the patient and they might not combine it with cognitive behavioral therapy when it is needed.  (And don't even get me started on the complete lack of good psychiatrists who can prescribe medications, it's often impossible to get an appointment, and you might end up with a general physician who is too scared to discuss mental health.  If this happens, drive.  Find a psychiatrist who will see you and someone who will drive you there).   There are lots of people who shouldn't be on psychiatric drugs, and there are a lot of people whose illnesses get worse on these medications.  BUT they do work for a lot of people.  And if they do, they are a literal lifesaver.  To tell people that they shouldn't even consider this option is dangerous.  You wouldn't tell someone with heart disease to go to talk therapy and take vitamins.  Watch out for your friends and family.  If they need help, drag them there.  They probably won't want to go and they will claim that they are fine.  A lot of people are still ashamed as if mental illness is their fault, so they hide their symptoms and suffer alone.   Hopefully it won't always be this way.

* My all-time favorite book on the subject of mental illness is "Beyond Blue" by Therese Borchard.  She is hilarious.  And straightforward.  There's a ton of helpful information.  She also has a blog by the same name.

Does a vegan diet help with depression?

My answer is yes.  The type of depression that I suffer from is linked to hormonal changes in my body (the actual diagnosis is Major Depressive Disorder, severe).  I am fortunate that I don't suffer from depression all of the time, only about 1 week every 4-5 weeks.  I currently take 3 different medications to manage my depression and they are working very well for me (yes, for some people antidepressants are a lifesaver!).

But taking the medications is not enough for me, I also have to be careful with my diet.  I started being vegan about 2 years ago as a desperate measure to help with my illness.  If you have suffered from mental illness, you know that you will try anything to make it better!  I noticed differences right away.  I also noticed that consuming refined carbohydrates and sugar make my depression/anxiety a lot worse.  That was sad news for me because I loved desserts and baking!

At first I didn't understand why my diet helped.  Then I read a book by John McDougall which explained a lot of the scientific reasons why a vegan diet helps with hormone-dependent depression (or even just regular PMS).  Here is a somewhat simple explanation taken from www.drmcdougall.com/med_hormone.html.  

First, the blood levels of our reproductive hormones (estrogen, progesterone, prolactin) are determined by what we eat.  A high fat diet will increase the levels of these hormones.  A vegan diet is very low-fat.  

Second, our body has a hard time getting rid of excess hormones when we eat too much fat, especially meat fats.  The liver produces a non-absorbable substance to attach to the estrogen so it isn't reabsorbed in the intestines.  But, a high fat diet causes enzymes to grow in the intestines that uncouple the estrogen from the non-absorbable substance, which causes the "free" estrogen to recirculate back through the blood.  Higher levels of free estrogen have been linked to breast cancer.  Fiber from vegetable foods helps to block the absorption of any free estrogen.

This explains why my depression is better when I eat a low-fat diet that is plants-based.  My hormone levels are lower, which causes my depression to be less severe.  Lower estrogen levels and the amount of time we are exposed to these levels impact our risk of breast cancer.  This is the reason why some people in Asian countries who eat a plants-based diet have a very low incidence of breast cancer.  Their diets aren't dependent on animal protein which is high in fat (even poultry and low-fat dairy products still raise the risk of cancer.  But more on that later).

Will a vegan diet help with depression that is not linked to hormone levels?  Again, I am not a doctor, but I think it would.  It's definitely worth trying, I started out thinking I would eat this way for 30 days and now it has been over 700.  For more information read "The China Study" by TC Campbell.