Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Human Potential - Recovering from Depression

HUMAN POTENTIAL
The growth of western psychiatry has resulted in an over-reliance on psychiatric labels and expensive drugs. Vast sums of money are spent on treatment that doesn’t address the underlying cause, only masks symptoms and causes additional problems.
The pharmaceutical industry is targeting everyone, especially our youth with two specific marketing strategies. First is mental health screening programs in schools and physician offices, which are often unscientific, vague, and disempowering. Second is the false advertising about a “chemical imbalance” in the brain. This unproven medical model is globalizing as never before, rapidly spreading from richer developed nations to poorer developing nations.
I know what it is like to be in extreme emotional distress and to undergo the invalidating “treatment” of the mental health system. For over half of my life (23 years) I was prescribed one drug after another to “fix” my depression. With three different mental illness labels (depression, ADD, and Bipolar Disorder) my chances of ever living a happy life were very, very bleak. I had been told over and over that I had a hereditary chemical imbalance and that I would have to be on five different medications for the rest of my life. But somehow my genuine human spirit found a way out from behind the drugs and propelled me from one end of the spectrum to another. I found a way to recover from depression and get off the antidepressants.
What I discovered is that depression is not a disease but a symptom of a bigger issue. Its cause can be a mental, physical, emotional or spiritual issue in a person’s life. Depression is there to tell us that something is out of balance that something is not right in our lives. I also discovered that the public is not being told the truth about antidepressants. The drugs that were suppose to “cure” me we actually the cause of my ADD and Bipolar symptoms.
Today I am free of depression and antidepressants because of persistence, personal responsibility, and by the grace of God. The only special thing I had going for me was my determination to live in a better world. You too can realize your strength and make life better for yourself and others.
Full recovery is possible but it’s not happening in traditional mental health programs where the primary and often only treatment is medication. To achieve full freedom and success, each person must become actively involved in their own education, growth and recovery. If you can get out of bed in the morning, get dressed, brush your teeth, and wipe your behind then there is hope for you.
Jeffrey Wilson is a survivor of 23 years of psychiatric drug treatment, a former executive in the pharmaceutical industry and the author of Irrational Medicine: The Antidepressant Crisis and How To Avoid Unnecessary Behavioral Drugs. He is a recognized expert in overcoming depression and is passionate about each person's ability to recover and create a life full of joy and meaning.

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