By Joanne Reid Rodrigues
OVER the past four decades, I’ve had the privilege of coaching many thousands of people here in Jersey, and other countries. In this time, I’ve done a tremendous amount of listening. When we listen, we learn a great deal.
My experience in working with so many people, and my own struggles with an eating disorder in youth, have given me a deep empathetic understanding of depression and inner-turmoil.
Mental and physical health are intrinsically linked.
Since I began my work 40 years ago, I’ve seen some changes in causation of mental-health struggles and a huge increase in psychiatric medications being prescribed to help people cope with various life situations.
When fluoxetine, marketed as Prozac, was introduced to the market back in the 1980s, it was promoted on the theory that depression is a chemical imbalance – a serotonin deficiency – that can only be treated by correcting that imbalance. But it turns out there was never any evidence whatsoever to support the chemical imbalance theory. It was promotional spiel; and an example of marketing presented as evidence. According to Professor Joanna Moncrieff, author and Psychiatrist of Critical and Social Psychiatry at University College, London, SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) antidepressants actually introduce a chemical imbalance.
These powerful drugs alter brain chemistry, and not always in beneficial ways.
While some people have told me they found these drugs helpful in the short term, considerably more told me the drugs introduced more problems than they solved.
They’re often prescribed to dull people’s distress and help them cope during a life crisis. However, they work indiscriminately and numb all emotions.
Emotional detachment is a common side-effect. As one woman told me: “I don’t feel depressed on these drugs, Joanne. But then, I don’t feel anything at all.” No joy. No enthusiasm. No positive anticipation. No creative inspiration.
I’ve listened while many people described feeling emotionally disconnected, and feeling a sense of indifference.
To my way of thinking, indifference promotes automatic pilot living, which isn’t living at all. Indifference creates distance in relationships.
And, of course, the often-unspoken side-effect of SSRIs is PSSD (post SSRI sexual dysfunction). I’ve listened as people spoke of a loss of interest in intimacy with their partner, even long after they’ve tapered off the medication.
Depression is complex and has many factors that need to be explored. Fetal brain damage and developmental disruptions can be a cause. And adverse childhood experiences are a most common cause. Biology plays a part too. Medications undoubtedly have their place.
In my experience, however, most cases of depression and anxiety are situational. While a blood test establishes any deficiency in other hormones such as thyroxine, cortisol and sex hormones, blood tests are not carried out to determine serotonin levels. SSRIs are almost always prescribed on subjective diagnosis, using screening tools.
When we’re dealing with an acute life situation, or chronic hardship, it’s normal to feel a range of strong negative emotions. For example, if someone is being bullied at school, or at work, they have every reason to be distressed. A drug won’t change the situation or provide life skills in handling the bully. Training and mentorship likely will.
If a person is distraught when a loved one dies, their grief is not a mental illness. A drug won’t mend their broken heart. They need lasting support, perhaps counselling, and certainly they need to be looked after by family and friends to help them survive their devastating pain.
If people are experiencing burnout due to working too many 12-hour days or being chained to (or are addicted to) a screen, they’re likely running on empty. That’s not a mental illness.
It’s the natural effect of using the body like a machine. They need work/life balance.
If they’re living in poverty, hate their job, or feeling shackled in a marriage they don’t want to be in, it’s a life situation – not a mental illness. A drug won’t change the life situation.
Action will.
Our emotions are not “symptoms” to be ignored or, worse yet, numbed. Our emotions are our spiritual compass. Our inner guidance. Our emotions are our teachers. They’re constantly giving us feedback about our life path, and what’s working or not working. Our emotions are our flight-deck instruments.
Over 40 years, I’ve noticed how often a psychiatric drug was prescribed to help people cope with a life situation. Yet they remain on the drug, years after the life situation has passed.
The demand for counselling, talking therapies and mentorship greatly outweighs resources. But drugs are a Band-Aid, not a real solution. And they can introduce difficulties in the long-term.
What deeply concerns me is the increase in adolescents and even children being prescribed fluoxetine for anxiety or depression. The brain develops into our late 20s, even early 30s.
Powerful psychiatric drugs can have a detrimental effect on the brain’s development.
It’s a problem with no easy resolution. But in an era where so many normal personality traits are labelled as one type of disorder or another, we need to remind ourselves that drugs should only ever be a last resort. Drugs are no substitute for love and understanding, respect, recognition, validation and belonging, mentorship and guidance.
Doctors need support too. Short appointment times with anxious or depressed patients, who clearly need longer is an unreasonable burden on GPs. The complexity of some people’s problems needs longer consultation times for certain patients. And patients often insist on getting medications. This is another part of the problem.
No one on this planet is having a success-only life. No millionaire, billionaire, celebrity, royalty – no one. Hardship and suffering are part of every life. Earth is a tough learning school for the soul. Our troubles have the capacity to teach us, strengthen us, and help us develop resilience.
With community and belonging, and with safe spaces, we can survive our trials. In time, we can develop understanding, empathy and compassion. And these qualities can help us become a positive force in the lives of others.
Joanne Reid Rodrigues is the founder of Slimming Together, which is 40 years established this year. She is an author, trainer and therapist in nutrition-weight-stress-life-management. Joanne is the creator of The Authentic Confidence Training Course and Pure Food Reset. She is available for private coaching at Health Point Clinic, Suite 2.4B, The Lido Medical Centre. Joanne can be contacted via her website at JoanneRR.com.
