Your Online Counselor Forum

I'm sorry but I just read the home page of this website, and I tried to go thru the "contact us" page but it would not work so I thought I would come here to express my feelings. Okay the statement made on the homepage,

And I have yet to meet a depressed person who does not have a valid reason for their depression.

Well you have now. I live a very happy and stressfree life, no marital, financial, family or work related problems. Not that my life is perfect but I know how to handle situations and set boundaries to lead a stressfree life.

And yes I do have a chemical imbalance, and if it was not for the medication to balance these chemicals and pull me out of the living hell I was in I do not know what I would have done.

Don't get me wrong, there are alot of different types of depression that have to be dealt with according to what is going on, but I am here to tell you I know what mine was, and I am on a mission to educate as many people as possible.

I cannot stress enough that If it was not for the medication I could have not went on living the rest of my life like that, so please do not think for one minute that a person with a chemical imbalance has a problem in their life that needs to be dealt with. That is like telling a diabetic to just start eating right and stay away from sugar.

Hi Lora,
Thank you for writing your story on the depression forum. I would encourage readers to look at an article about depression which talks about the myth of chemical imbalance. You can read it http://youronlinecounselor.com/Articles ... micals.htm

While there is no doubt that depression exists, there is no known way to measure neurotransmittor availability in the brain. Scientists cnnot promote the theory that the drug companies push becaause they have no proof.

The US Head of the WHO who is himself a psychiatrist states that he cannot in all faith tell his patients that their depression is caused by a chemical imbalance. In recognisition of this, several countries are now forced to print on their packaging that there is no proof of a chemical imbalance in the brain as being the cause of depression. This is the beginning of the end of pushing antidepressants as "fixing" depression.

I have had hundreds of clients who suffer from both acute and generalised low grade depression. As I stated one of the articles I wrote on depression which you quoted, I have yet to meet a client who, although they may be unaware of what is driving their long term depression, has not come to recognise during therapy exactly what is causing it.

I cannot say what is causing your depression but I would encourage you to have face-to-face counseling with a therapist who is experienced in the roots of depression, because antidepressants do mask some of the symptoms of depression, but they do not take them away. They are still there below the surface. Antidepressants can be life savers, but they also rob people of the opportunity to get off them if they take them for years. Unlike diabetes, for which the reason is well known, there is no concrete proof that chemical imbalance is the reason for depression and if governments can bring chemical companies to write this on their product then there is clearly no case to answer for, given the power of chemical companies and corporations.

I have had and know of, many clients who claim that they don't understand why they are depressed and anxious as they "have it all". I have, as I said , yet to go away without finding a reason for that person's chronic unhappiness. This is my experience and sometimes the reason is obscure or deeply buried. Many clients also want to get of the drugs becasue they are aware of the damage they are doing to their bodies.

It would be great to hear from other readers about their experiences with antidepressants.

Best wishes,

Beth

Should I mention my depression in a letter when applying for university?
I graduated high school earlier this year and I'm talking a year off because I was confused about what I wanted to study at university and I also battled depression during my senior year. My depression definitely affected my senior grades as I went from a student getting 90s and 80s to a student getting an 80 and 70s. I've spoken to my high school counselor about my depression many times and she wants me to write a letter to the universities I'm applying to regarding how my depression affected my grades. Do you personally think this will decrease my chances of being accepted to university?

Hi Finian,
Unfortunately, there is still so much stigma attached to mental illness of any kind that this is difficult to answer. I would hope that with the right therapy you would be able to improve from your current postion and do well at university. It's up to you to decide -- my thoughts are the opposite to your counselor. i would apply and see how I went. Lots of students go to university "well" and certain life events occur and they suffer depresssion. They have to deal with it, as you do. I guess, without knowing your level of depression, that I would go for it, see how it pans out. If I can be of assistance in determining what is keeping you stuck in this place, then please contact me.

Good luck!

Best wishes,
Beth