Kicking the Antidepressant Habit and the Placebo Effect.

17th September 2009 By David Gore Graham B.Sc.

Did you know that 203 million prescriptions for antidepressants are filled per year in the US and in Australia 2.3 million antidepressant prescriptions were filled in 2005-06?

Did you know that antidepressants such as Lexapro, Effexor, Cymbalta, Zoloft, Paxil, Prozac, and Wellbutrin have been shown to be no more effective than a placebo?

A team at the University of Hull in Britain conducted a review of clinical trials of new generation antidepressant drugs. What they found may surprise you. They found they were no more effective than a placebo for most people with depression. The study included results that had been withheld from the public by the manufacturers as well as data reported in scientific journals. In the double blind trials they investigated, one half of the people in the trial were given antidepressants, and the other half were given a sugar pill (the placebo). As the antidepressants and the sugar pills were made to look the same, neither group knew which pill they were taking. In fact they all thought they were taking the real thing.

The team used the freedom of information laws to obtain all information on four members of the class of antidepressants known as selective seratonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI). The team leader, Irving Kirsch, said the analysis showed that although patients got better when they took the antidepressants, they also got better when they took the placebo, and the difference in improvement was very slight.
So what does this really mean? The people in the study, believing that they were taking the antidepressant, even if they were not, experienced relief of their depression just as effectively as if they were really taking the anti-depressant. This illustrates just how powerful the placebo effect is and how useless the antidepressants really are..

As I am sure you know, antidepressants are very hard on your body and not good for your health. The body reacts to the drug as it would to a toxin. It is the job of the liver to remove the toxins from you blood supply and break them down so they can be removed from the body. Thus antidepressants are very hard on your liver, which, thanks to our modern diet and lifestyle, is already one of our most overtaxed organs.  Other side effects from anti-depressants include weight gain; sleep disruption, nausea, constipation, dry mouth, and many more.

However, there is another more serious issue that affects those that take antidepressants. I am sure many of you know that I consider the epidemic of metabolic syndrome (insulin resistance) and the subsequent diabetes that follows as the number one serious health issue that will affect the most people. Currently, 37% of the population has insulin resistance or diabetes. Taking antidepressants increases the likelihood that those with insulin resistance will get diabetes by 200-300%. If you are overweight, which often causes you to feel depressed, then do not take antidepressants. The resulting diabetes is far more unpleasant than depression especially as there are a number of ways (see below) to cure depression without resorting to pharmaceuticals.

Diabetes will surely kill you slowly and unpleasantly, but those taking antidepressants are far more likely to die suddenly from committing suicide. The link is so strong that antidepressants have been mandated to carry a suicide warning. If these side effects are not enough reasons for you to look for a safe, healthy and effective alternative solution, I don’t know what is. Nevertheless, I have clients that tell me they could not have got through such and such a situation without them, and I believe that they believe this to be true. However the scientific evidence does not back it up and the natural solutions below have been proven to be as effective in relieving depression.

So what do you do if you feel depressed? I have observed frequently that many people’s depression has a nutritional basis. The depression is simply a symptom and not the cause. The cause is usually due to a number of issues related to diet and lifestyle. Even if the cause of your depressions has no nutritional basis the recommendations below will help. These recommendations are described in my book Wellbeing Matters::

• Increase your intake of Omega-3 oils by eating oily fish, such as Portuguese sardines, twice a week, eat eggs with high Omega-3, or taking a fish oil or krill supplement that is free of heavy metals. I personally prefer the sardine solution as there are a number of other benefits. Decrease your intake of vegetable oils (soy, safflower, sunflower, salad, canola, etc.) using only olive oil, butter, coconut oil, avocado oil and nut oils for salads and cooking.
• Increase your exercise. Get at least 15 minutes robust exercise per day and preferably 30 minutes plus. Mix aerobic exercise with resistance exercise.
• Take 250mg Niacin (Vitamin B3) and 1gm Vitamin C daily.
• Make sure you have enough Magnesium in your diet or take a supplement..
• Increase your Vitamin D intake by getting sun on the majority your body once a week. In winter go to a safe tanning place if necessary but do not let your skin burn. You do not so much as to get brown, just enough to get very slightly pink.
• Avoid non-fibrous carbohydrates (refined bread, pasta, potatoes and all forms of sugar).
• Do some deep emotional feeling-based release work such as breathwork or some type of psychotherapy. Read my book Wellbeing Matters for information on how to recognize a therapy/therapist with whom you will have a positive outcome.

David Gore Graham B.Sc.

Author of Wellbeing Matters – A Personal Guide to Radiant Health and Wellbeing.

Tags: Antidepressants, pharmaceutical drugs, niacin, Vitamin B3, Vitamin D, breathwork, overweight, metabolic syndrome, SSRI, Diabetes, placebo.