Hello!
The CDC reports that 35% of adults in the US have symptoms of depression or anxiety.
If you complain of depression symptoms, you'll likely be put on an SSRI* medication. Annually, 36 million people are prescribed SSRIs.
*SSRI: Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor. A type of antidepressant that increases levels of serotonin in the brain."
Your doctor will do NO testing, NO blood work, and will somewhat randomly choose an SSRI drug for you to try. (It's not your doctor's fault; there are no tests for these medications).
So, your doctor adds nothing to the SSRI prescription decision. Your pharmacist would be just as qualified. You could almost make these drugs over the counter, except that they are often deadly (see the "Black Box" label on many of them).
If the first drug doesn't help, you'll be given another SSRI to try out.
Effectiveness of SSRI Medications
Studies published by the NIH show that SSRIs may improve symptoms in 20 out of 100 patients.
Yeah, that's it. 20%.
The Downside of SSRIs
Common SSRI side effects:
- Nausea, vomiting or diarrhea
- Headache
- Drowsiness
- Dry mouth
- Insomnia
- Nervousness, agitation or restlessness
- Dizziness
- Sexual problems
- Appetite changes with weight loss gain
- Suicide
SSRIs are "Not Addictive"(?)
According to the pharmaceutical companies who make these drugs, they are "not addictive." Instead, you may experience "Discontinuation Syndrome" with:
- A general feeling of uneasiness
- Nausea
- Dizziness
- Lethargy
- Flu-like symptoms
In our experience with thousands of patients who were working with their doctors to wean off of SSRIs, these "discontinuation syndrome" symptoms can continue for months to years.
The British Don't Want to Pay for SSRIs
The British Medical Journal: "Rising antidepressant prescribing is not associated with an improvement in mental health outcomes at the population level, which, according to some measures, have worsened as antidepressant prescribing has risen."
What To Do Instead?
So, if you're one of the 120 million people in the US with anxiety or depression, what should you do?
In my experience, almost all patients with anxiety, depression, lack of concentration, and memory problems have physical health issues that are either causing the problems or making them worse. By improving their health, their mental problems improve or resolve.
I've been using this approach successfully for 30 years.
Learn more about this approach and how you could benefit from it here.
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