The opinion of psychiatrists on how to properly treat depressive states has changed more than once or twice: “it is incurable”, “only pills will help you”, “even pills won’t help you” … But what will help?
After the end of the Vietnam War, about a million former soldiers ended up in American military hospitals in a very serious condition: they did not have injuries in the usual sense, but they were tormented by memories of the horrors of the war. Most of these people, in an attempt to relieve their suffering, have become alcoholics or drug addicts.
Over the years, those who have tried to help victims of extreme stress have tried a wide variety of treatments. Until one day, a group of researchers proved that in some war veterans, the hippocampus – the most important brain structure responsible for memories – was so damaged by chronic stress that it atrophied.
What effect could be expected from psychotherapy sessions if the nightmares and anxiety were caused by a problem with the brain?
The discovered organic pathology became the curse of veterans. No one believed in the possibility of their cure anymore. Unable to forget the hell of war, they were left to fend for themselves.
And 20 years later, a group of Dutch scientists proved that in fact, such a brain anomaly caused by stress does not exclude the possibility of treatment. All it takes is the right kind of psychotherapy.
Today it pains me to think how many patients we could help by showing ways of healing on our own.
For many years, psychotropic drug manufacturers, relying on psychiatry, have been promoting another dangerous idea that depression is “primarily” a violation of the biochemical balance in the brain, which can be compensated by antidepressants from the Prozac group.
Indeed, according to some reports, people who are prone to depression have less serotonin than others. And Prozac and similar drugs raise the level of serotonin. But these arguments are not enough. Including because Prozac immediately affects the level of serotonin, and the weakening of the manifestations of depression occurs only a few weeks after the start of the drug.
Recently, a group of scientists from the Johns Hopkins Hospital (USA) showed that the mechanism of action of antidepressants has nothing to do with what marketers have been telling us for so long: their function is to allow neurons to develop new pathways and, therefore, create new connections. .
It turned out that such neuronal regeneration can be achieved not only with the help of antidepressants.
For example, in laboratory mice that live in groups and have the opportunity to communicate, neurons regenerate much better and faster than those mice that are housed alone.
Human studies have shown that managers who meditate regularly for two months have a change in the ratio between the right and left hemispheres. And it changed forever.
We need to be vigilant so as not to become hostages of our own mistakes.
Drugs do not have a monopoly on stimulating brain regeneration. Rather, they serve as a workaround to achieve the goal. And the main means should be everything that is beneficial for the body.
We, psychiatrists, unanimously believed the myth of “biochemical imbalance” in depression and stress. This made it easier for us to explain why patients should take antidepressants. I, like others, believed in what I said, and even taught a similar approach.
It pains me now to think of how many patients, through our fault, have missed the opportunity to help themselves.
It pains me to think how much we prevented them from stimulating the creation of new neural pathways by other methods that are now proven to work: exercise, dietary changes, cognitive therapy.
Science can create powerful myths. More often they are useful and bring liberation, but sometimes they become a trap. And we need to be vigilant so as not to become hostages of our own mistakes.