This article is the introduction to a research project on CAM therapies that have proved successful in curing any types of depression. This article asks whether conventional treatments make people well, what problems arise with current treatments for depression, and is there a case for increasing availability of alternative treatments for depression? Subsequent research will focus on evidence of the efficacy of CAM therapies in depression.

Some official 'facts' about depression?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), depression is the leading cause of disability. Depression occurs in people of all genders, ages, and backgrounds, and affects about 121 million people worldwide. About 850,000 depressed people commit suicide every year.^[i]

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) claims that the suicide rate for men is four times that of women, although more women attempt it, and women experience depression twice as often as men. During the last twenty years it has been recognised that children also experience depression. Older people are particularly susceptible to depression, but it is often dismissed as ‘normal’ for the age group. ^[ii]

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), more than 13 million Americans will suffer from depression in any given year - more than 30 million Americans over their lifetimes.^[iii] If official figures are correct, then people diagnosed with ‘depressive illness’ in America constitute more than one sixth of people with depression in the world.

Research indicates that ten times as many people are becoming depressed now as compared to fifty years ago. Our genetic make-up does not change this rapidly, so it would seem that depression and its increase are more to do with the way society and lifestyles are changing, rather than biology or genetic factors.^[iv]

Is depression an illness?

NIMH distinguishes three medical types of depression: ‘Major depression’ which can be severe and recurrent; ‘Dysthymia,' a chronic state of unhappiness; and ‘Bipolar Disorder’, also known as 'manic-depressive illness' which is characterized by swings between depressed states and elated manic states.^[v]

Official information describes all types of depression in terms of a combination of symptoms that include: depressed mood, irritability, restlessness, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt, sadness, anxiety, emptiness, hopelessness, pessimism, low self-esteem, disturbed sleep, insomnia, excess sleeping, weight gain, weight loss, over-eating, poor appetite, low energy, fatigue, poor concentration and memory, inability to work, difficulty making decisions, thoughts of death or suicide, suicide attempts, and persistent physical symptoms that do not respond to treatment, such as headaches, digestive disorders and chronic pain.^{[vi] [vii]}

Psychiatrist Paul Chodoff objects to the medicalisation of common feelings, behaviours and personality traits, because it leads to mild depression and nervousness being labelled 'mental disorder' and 'anxiety disorder.' He quotes A. Solomon, 'The Noonday Demon': "If depression is an illness that affects as much as 25 percent of the people in the world, can it, in fact, be an illness?"^[viii]

The term 'mental disorder' is not clearly defined by The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). Chodoff refers to Thomas Szasz who claims that ‘mental illness’ exists only as a social construct and points out that the fact that one fifth of the American population is seen as in need of mental health treatments calls into doubt the validity of the concept of mental illness. He argues that there is no biological marker, such as tissue alterations or a serologic or imaging abnormality that can distinguish a clinical depression from a state of unhappiness.^[ix]

Causes of depression

A list of symptoms does not tell us what depression is or what causes it. Public information confuses causes with symptoms and triggers. For example, 'chemical imbalance' would seem to be a symptom but it is usually referred to as a 'cause' of depression.^[x] Moreover, it has come to light that the existence of a 'chemical imbalance' in depression is an invention on the part of drug companies as part of a marketing strategy.^[xi]

NIMH claims that causes of depression include: low self-esteem, major physical illness, hormonal disorders, loss, financial problems, stress, change in life patterns, a combination of genetic, psychological and environmental factors.^[xii] That is the same as saying that life causes depression. It is clear from the information we are given, that the 'experts' pretend to know but in fact do not know what depression is or what causes it.

Can depression be cured by conventional treatments?

The standard advice given by Western psychiatry is that in developed countries, the majority of people with depression can be treated effectively with drugs. Just what is meant by 'treated' is not clearly defined. The word 'treated' is used instead of 'cured.'^{[xiii] [xiv] [xv]}

John Greden of the University of Michigan Depression Center claims that it is not possible to cure depressive illness, but patients can be maintained in a state of continuous remission with ongoing, continuous drug treatment.^[xvi] The American Psychiatric Association (APA) claims although there is no cure for bipolar depression drug treatment can significantly improve symptoms and risk of suicide.^[xvii] 

Lithium is the most common treatment to control the mood swings of bipolar disorder. Other medications used to control mood swings and mania are anticonvulsants, carbamazepine (Tegretol) and valproate (Depakote). Most people who have bipolar disorder take medications for agitation, anxiety, depression, or insomnia in addition to lithium and/or an anticonvulsant.^[xviii]

Antidepressant medications include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), tricyclics, and monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs). Anti anxiety drugs, sedatives, or stimulants, such as amphetamines are sometimes prescribed along with antidepressants. SSRI manufacturers admit they do not know how the drugs work, but claim that the drugs may help to correct a 'chemical imbalance' of the brain. The treatment is based on an assumption that all depressed patients have a low level of the neurotransmitter serotonin in their brains. But it is likely that instead of correcting, SSRIs create severe imbalances in the brain. The idea that human psychological suffering is a biochemical imbalance has been revealed as a promotional campaign created by the drug companies.^[xix]

The FDA has permitted false and unscientific information to be disseminated about the action of antidepressants when there is no scientific evidence of the existence of a 'chemical imbalance' or that the drugs 'balance' or normalize this fictional 'chemical imbalance' ^[xx]

Dr Allen Roses, worldwide vice-president of genetics at GlaxoSmithKline, has admitted that most prescription drugs do not work at all on most people who take them. He revealed that the vast majority of drugs - more than 90 per cent - only work in 30 or 50 per cent of the people. For example SSRIs have an efficacy rate of 62% in treating depression.^[xxi] All the evidence indicates that that antidepressant medication does not cure depression - it only controls certain symptoms.^[xxii]

Side effects of antidepressant drugs

Not only is the efficacy of antidepressants questionable, but so is their safety. The following is quoted from the Alliance for Human Research Protection:

"Patients’ lives—including developing babies in the womb—have been put at increased risk of health hazards and death because FDA dragged its feet for years as drug manufacturers falsely advertised these drugs as 'wonder drugs' inventing an imaginary 'chemical imbalance' in the brain of depressed patients...

“Unscrupulous psychiatrists at premier academic institutions have embarked on a disinformation campaign urging pregnant women to continue using antidepressants despite knowledge about the multiple risks of harm that these drugs pose. If these “experts” did not know about the drugs’ lethal risks, what then, is the basis for their expertise and 'authority?'

 "Last week, following an investigative report by David Armstrong, in The Wall Street Journal, which revealed that psychiatrists from Harvard, UCLA and Emory, whose report published in the American Medical Association (JAMA) urged pregnant women to continue taking antidepressants, had financial interests in making those recommendations." ^{[xxiii] [xxiv]}

According to Dr Jay Cohen, author of "Over Dose: The Case Against The Drug Companies," the pharmaceuticals have continued to market SSRI antidepressants aggressively to psychiatrists, family practitioners, pediatricians, gynecologists, despite FDA warnings that SSRIs such as Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft and Sarafem, taken during pregnancy are associated with serious birth defects. ^[xxv]

Studies have shown that infants who are exposed to SSRIs after the 20th week of gestation are more likely to develop defects such as persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn (PPHN) than infants who were not exposed to an SSRI. A study found that babies exposed to Prozac, during the third trimester of pregnancy, had significantly higher rates of premature delivery, respiratory difficulties, admissions to special care nurseries, jitteriness, and poor neonatal adaptation including cyanosis on feeding.^{[xxvi] [xxvii] [xxviii]  [xxix] [xxx]}

Patients who take a combination of SSRIs, or the newer SNRIs such as Effexor and Cymbalta, and drugs for migraine headache are at a high risk of drug poisoning (serotonin syndrome). Symptoms include hallucinations, loss of coordination, rapid heart beat, unstable blood pressure, increased body temperature, overactive reflexes, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.^[xxxi]

Other common side effects of SSRI antidepressants include: headache, nervousness, insomnia, agitation, sexual dysfunction and suicide attempts. Other serious adverse effects associated with SSRIs include: bradycardia, bleeding, liver failure, convulsions, anxiety, psychosis, cardiac birth defects, granulocytopenia, seizures, hyponatremia, hepatotoxicity, extrapyramidal effects and mania in unipolar depression.^{[xxxii] [xxxiii]}

SSRIs sold in the US include Paxil by Glaxo, Prozac by Eli Lilly; Zoloft, from Pfizer; Celexa and Lexapro, from Forest Laboratories; and Luvox, from Solvay. Wyeth markets Effexor, a serotonin-norepinephrine inhibitor. GlaxoSmithKline, the maker of the antidepressant Paxil, has amended its labeling for Paxil to include a warning that children, adolescents and adults are at a higher risk of suicide when taking Paxil.^[xxxiv]

The drug Lamictal (lamotrigine), recommended by APA and GlaxoSmithKline, for bipolar depression commonly causes potentially fatal itchy rash and fever,^{[xxxv] [xxxvi]} and other side effects such as blurred vision, clumsiness and unsteadiness.^[xxxvii]

Lithium, commonly prescribed to control the mood swings of bipolar disorder, is highly toxic, particularly for patients with thyroid, kidney, heart disorders or epilepsy.^[xxxviii]

Common side effects of tricyclic antidepressants are: dry mouth, constipation, bladder problems, blurred vision, tremors, sexual dysfunction, drowsiness and dizziness. Other serious adverse effects of tricyclic antidepressants are orthostatic hypotension, neuroleptic malignant syndrome, decreased seizure threshold, suicide attempts and cardiac arrhythmias.

The interaction of MAO inhibitors, when combined with foods that contain high levels of tyramine, such as cheese, wine, and pickle, and medications such as decongestants, can cause a hypertensive crisis, a sharp increase in blood pressure that can lead to a stroke.^{[xxxix] [xl]}

The case in favour of alternative treatments for depression

In order to create more customers for the psychiatric/pharmaceutical industry, the U.S. government is launching a campaign to increase the acceptance of among psychiatrists of chemical imbalance theories, and plans to introduce a national psychiatric screening program that will push more Americans into taking psychiatric drugs. The campaign is backed by drug company funding and aims to make the newest and most expensive drugs the only treatment for mental illness.^[xli]

It is well established that: depression is not a chemical imbalance that can be balanced by chemical drugs; that current drug treatments do not work; and that drug treatments cause poisoning, death, multiple illness and deformities in newborns - these facts constitute a strong case for alternative treatments for depression.

Are there any effective complementary or alternative remedies for depression?

Talking therapies

The thought patterns associated with depression could become habitual, so a cure for depression might involve bringing about a change in these patterns. Taking drugs does not do this.^[xlii] Studies of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy designed to train patients with major depression to change their thought patterns, have shown that cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) reduces rates of relapse.^[xliii] NIMH refers to studies that show that brief psychotherapy is effective in reducing symptoms in short-term depression in older people. Psychotherapy is also considered useful in older patients who cannot or will not take medication. ^[xliv]

However, talking therapies might not work for everyone. Current research indicates that the source of anxiety or depression may be unrecognised trauma in a person's life that results in fragments of thought or sensations, rather than cognitions. For this reason, traditional psychotherapy approaches based on memory and cognitive reasoning may be ineffective in healing depression as a symptom of trauma.^[xlv] Furthermore, used on its own, counseling or psychotherapy may continue indefinitely with little improvement, unless they are used as part of a treatment plan.^[xlvi]

Herbal treatments

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) claims that St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum), has been used for centuries for treating depression and there is evidence that it is effective in treating mild to moderate depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders. NICAM warns that St. John's wort can produce side effects that include: dry mouth, dizziness, gastrointestinal symptoms, increased sensitivity to sunlight, and fatigue.^{[xlvii] [xlviii]} But this is most likely due to the use of concentrated or contaminated extracts rather than genuine herbal tinctures.^[xlix]

In 2000 the FDA issued a Public Health Advisory stating that, “St. John's wort appears to affect an important metabolic pathway that is used by many drugs prescribed to treat conditions such as AIDS, heart disease, depression, seizures, certain cancers, and rejection of transplants." It claims that use of St. John’s wort limits these drugs’ effectiveness.^{[l] [li]} It is interesting that the FDA should be so ready to warn against an herb and tardy in taking action to protect the public against the dangers of antidepressants.

Recent case reports suggest that combining St. John’s wort with SSRIs can induce a mild serotonin syndrome (drug poisoning).^{[lii] [liii]} Surely, what causes drug poisoning is drugs, not herbs. Paul Chodoff suspects that the uncertainty about St. John's wort as a treatment for depression is due to significant design flaws in the studies.^[liv] Treating and testing herbs as if they were drugs in this way is aimed at paving the way for new legislation will mean that pharmaceutical and phytopharmaceutical industries will be in control of the training and certification of herbalists.^[lv]

Other herbs used as an alternative to antidepressants include: ginkgo biloba, valerian root, passion flower, evening primrose, blue-green algae, grape seed extract,^[lvi] green tea,^[lvii] and Kava Kava.^[lviii] Kava Kava was banned by the British government, due to reports that some patients suffered liver failure and required transplants. According to NIMH, these cases involved self-prescribed concentrated extracts rather than the safe traditional use of Kava Kava.^[lix] Certainly there is much evidence that herbal extracts are unsafe and do not work in the same way as natural herbs and tinctures.^{[lx] [lxi]}

Other possible alternative cures for depression

Other alternative treatments commonly used for depression include: homeopathy, acupuncture, chiropractic, hypnosis, vitamin supplements, melayonin, massage, shiatsu, yoga, Reiki, relaxation techniques,^[lxii] Yajna, ^[lxiii] traditional Chinese medicine, ayurveda, native American medicine, naturopathic medicine, chelation therapy, aromatherapy, Bach flower remedies, creative arts therapies, therapeutic touch, qi gong, meditation, prayer, spiritual healing, distant healing, biofeedback, osteopathy, cranial-sacral therapy, nutrition,^[lxiv] marine phytoplankton,^[lxv] outdoor activities,^[lxvi] the Buteyko breathing technique,^[lxvii] homeopathic Lithium Orotate,^[lxviii] and synthetic hormones and extracts such as S-adenosylmethionine,^[lxix] and 5-HTP.^{[lxx] [lxxi]}

The application of alternative therapies in depression would seem to require a revision and a widening of the definition and diagnosis of depression. For example it is difficult to determine the efficacy of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) such as acupuncture in terms of the Western medical model. TCM is a holistic approach based on concepts such as qi (energy) and yin-yang balance, which are alien to Western medicine. The Western medical model tries to apply one diagnostic label and one standard treatment to a whole array of symptoms, which would seem to be inappropriate in most cases of depression. These differences make the measurement of outcomes of CAM difficult.^[lxxii]

Nicolas van der Leek gives an alternative definition of depression and a clue to a cure: "Depression is the inability to function (or be aware of) the present moment. Depression arises by being constantly burdened by the burdens of the past, or the perceived pressures of the future. It's in the reality of the Now (and also the only reality) that the key lies to salvation. It's in the Now that we need to be in order to not be depressed. Now is all we have, and all we will ever have. But being in the Now also requires us to face those things we've being trying to escape from..."^[lxxiii]

Case Studies: depression after trauma cured through Spiritual Healing

I would like to present a case study within a case study of the cure of post-trauma depression through spiritual healing.

Early in 2003 I was diagnosed with cancer and had to undergo major surgery. I regularly attended a spiritual healing group that helped me to get through the trauma. Just as I thought I was recovering well, I was suddenly struck by a deep feeling of grief, out of nowhere.

I did not think at the time that I was depressed. I felt tired, emotionally exhausted, and isolated from the rest of the world. I had flashbacks, a sleep disorder, and troublesome dreams. I became withdrawn and unable to have meaningful conversation with others. Worst of all, I was filled with an intensely painful sense of grief that felt as if my heart had been torn to pieces. At first I reasoned that I would get over it in time. But after about eight weeks of agony and despair I decided to try and get some help.

My physician at that time was a homeopath and a wise medicine man. I pleaded with him to ease my suffering, saying: "Why can't I feel normal, when will this pain go away!"  He replied: "You are normal. This is a normal reaction to what you have been through. You are doing all the right things. Just carry on doing what you are doing. This is your medicine!"

I went away and meditated. I had a sense of something being unfinished, as if I was in the middle of something. I came across the book: 'In the House of the Moon' by Jason Elias and Katherine Ketcham, in a second hand bookstore. Chapter one begins with the moving case history of a 24 year-old man who became severely depressed after having a leg amputated from the hip, due to bone cancer.

The young man's physician was a wise woman healer who used the healing power of metaphor, imagery and soul-talk. In art therapy he represented the way he felt as a cracked and useless vase. But in time, through his brokenness he began to develop compassion for the suffering of others - he became other centred instead of self-centred. Others who were also wounded and needed his help helped his journey to wholeness. Now a brilliant light radiated through the crack - the light of compassion that restored his sense of wholeness once again.^[lxxiv]

I knew then that I needed to return to the healing group. Within weeks I also encountered that brilliant light, and learned to become other centred. I also learned to live a lot more in the present instead of lamenting the losses of the past. Since then I have helped to run a healing group and found my cure for depression through helping other people in pain. The depression has not returned.

I will always be grateful that I was not labelled 'disordered' or offered antidepressants - such was my pain at the time I would have been tempted to take them. Then I would have missed the whole purpose of a life changing experience that has left me feeling more whole than I ever did before. Perhaps my pain would have been dampened, but smouldering, and erupting from time to time, as seems to be the experience of many who take medications to mask their symptoms.

Depression due to trauma can result from any trauma such as child abuse, bereavement, accidents, and domestic violence. It is possible that the same causes underlie other forms of depression. In my experience healing is about restoring wholeness to that which has been broken. Therefore it would seem that antidepressants could prevent the recovery of people who take them.

Conclusion

In conclusion, evidence shows that conventional treatments do not cure depression, and that antidepressants have many dangerous and fatal side effects. Medicalisation and biological concepts of depression do not provide a cure. The FDA and the pharmaceuticals have lied to the public about the existence of a 'chemical imbalance of the brain' that antidepressants are meant to 'balance', as part of an aggressive promotion campaign.

Counseling and psychotherapy can help depressed people, but it is limited by the medical model. Herbal treatments that have proved successful in the treatment of depression are banned or discredited by Western governments and drug companies on grounds of safety. The double standards shown by these agencies with respect to dangerous and fatal effects of prescribed drugs suggests that the efficacy of herbs threatens the multi-billion dollar consumer industry that cares about profits at the expense of the lives of the people they are meant to serve.

The efficacy of CAM therapies is difficult to demonstrate in terms of the Western medical model, which squeezes a spectrum of symptoms into a 'syndrome' or 'disorder' for the convenience of prescribing chemical medications. Therapies that are likely to be successful in curing depression are holistic therapies that address the whole person.

There is a case for changing the way we think about depression, as the Western medical model seems too limited to understand or cure it. Ancient forms of medicine saw life as a cycle - the Native Americans call it the sacred hoop; the Chinese call it tao. This is healing of the whole person that too few people receive.

More needs to be done to inform people and make available CAM therapies that can cure depression. If you are a CAM therapist with experience of curing any kind of depression and would like to be included in this research, please send in your case histories for publication in subsequent issues. We are particularly interested in patients who have been unsuccessfully treated by primary care but successfully by a CAM therapy. Please mail to: research@infoholix.net

© By Martha Magenta 2006.

© By Martha Magenta 2006.

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