Actual depression, thought that was clear when I was referencing a professional in the field

I disagree with this being called a myth. Every feeling or 'mood' is a the manifestation of brain chemicals being balanced in different ways. Defining what state is "balanced' and which is 'imbalanced' is a subjective process. If the medical community chooses to define a brain state that results in harmful behavior as 'imbalanced', then no one can say they are wrong. They are free to define balance/imbalance in their own subjective way. Just as astronomers are free to define Pluto as a planet or not based on their subjective definitions.

Well you hinted that you have biological insights here, so I was expecting a biological definition backed up with real evidence and testing which proves such. Of course last time I checked there is no real test for depression, just subjective symptom checking/questionnaires.



The issue lies that the term is an incredible generalisation. We are dealing with highly complex brain and biological states which we can still barely account for and treatment is a complete crap shoot, with drugs which can have incredible down sides and which has also been shown to barely work better than a placebo; and how is the cure rate on these drugs? What is the average length of time I wonder on these drugs for people with serious conditions?



So a guy who is a psychiatrist himself is planting propaganda against his own profession? Sorry that the information is so contrary to the delusion of the establishment so many people have, that it is hard to deal with. From what I actually know of him he has done extensive research in these subjects, just happens to have the guts to stick his neck out; although I believe many in the field themselves, along with other scientists are already fully aware of the incredibly methodological flaws in psychiatry/psychology.

I do not want to muddy the waters for anyone though, some psychiatric drugs obviously work for some people and they can be especially effective at quieting symptoms in more serious cases. I just do not agree at all at the obvious over prescription of such drugs, especially as a first option for those who are just experiencing life and not actually mentally ill. The way drug companies market their wares finding new avenues, conditions and symptoms for prescribing is also disgraceful, totally contrary to any pursuit of scientific development, treatment, understanding and actual cures. It can also be an ugly cycle of replacing some new drug and getting rid of old ones, in some cases where the old ones were perfectly fine.

^^

Obviously you haven't seen what happens to a person, when they are forced to stop taking their Anti-Psychotics when they still need it.....

Why would anyone be forced to stop taking them? I threw mine in the bin once because of how bad the sides were, and it was an incredibly bad mistake; not because it returned any issues but because you have to taper.

I already said they are helpful for some people, does not justify in the least the over prescription of them or their use for children for conditions which have nothing to do with the serious symptoms/delusions of say schizophrenia or psychosis.

This post was edited by Psychonautica on Sep 9 2015 10:52pm

Article on the off label prescribing of antipsychotics for children,

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/should-children-take-antipsychotic-drugs/

If people think this is good medical practise for all these conditions you probably need to check your own head.

This post was edited by Psychonautica on Sep 9 2015 10:57pm

There is another interesting recent article here by a psychiatrist on these issues,

http://www.madinamerica.com/2015/09/house-of-cards-bad-science-creates-false-and-dangerous-beliefs/

Extracts here from an interview with a whistle-blower on fraud in the research industry,

http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/spiegel-interview-with-whistleblower-doctor-peter-wilmshurst-a-1052159.html

Thor if you move into medical research I hope you can manage to keep your eyes open and do not become just another industry bitch.

This post was edited by Psychonautica on Sep 13 2015 06:47am

I don't plan on working for pharmaceutical companies, but fraud is a huge problem in biological sciences right now. I read an analysis about a year ago stating that as much as half of all published results may be false because of the incredibly high rate of irreproducability.

Knocking down the patient in various ways, and then after few months or even few years of treatment and the brain just fail.
Few weeks max treatment, no more imo.