Antidepressants: Control or Cure?

What's curious is that most of them will be on these drugs for life. Equally curious is that over seventy percent of people who stop taking them, for any length of time, will relapse into another painful episode of their illness.

Something's rotten in Denmark. Because if these drugs are as effective as their manufacturers claim, then sufferers should be cured of their illness. Clearly, this isn't happening.

Why? I mean, if these drugs are so good, why don't they cure stress, anxiety and depressive illness?

The commonly held belief, both by the medical profession and people who suffer from illnesses such as stress, anxiety and depression, is that anti-depressant drugs are the most effective treatment.

This is in fact, not quite true.

Antidepressant drugs DO help a sufferer. But they can only help them TEMPORARILY. They cannot offer a permanent cure for these illnesses. This is because anti-depressants treat ONE of the SYMPTOMS of stressful illnesses - reduced levels of "happy chemicals" called neurotransmitters.

Neurotransmitters are the chemicals inside our brains that help to regulate our moods. So all anti-depressants do is to give the sufferer a "boost" by raising levels of neurotransmitters. The real issue here is that once the sufferer ceases the medication, there is a seventy percent chance of relapse.

The reason for relapse is because these drugs simply haven't addressed the root cause of these illnesses. By boosting levels of our "happy chemicals" all the drugs are doing is masking the problem. Now, in the short term, giving our mental well-being a boost by increasing the levels of "happy chemicals" is very helpful in helping us START the process of recovery.

The last sentence is very important. It explains how these drugs should be used. Because when we feel stressed out, burned out, terrified of the future or that life has no point (all common feelings associated with stressful and depressive illnesses), we find it almost impossible to function. Finding our own way "out of the tunnel" is mission impossible.

And that's where antidepressants can help. In giving us a boost, we can feel more able to cope. We can START to take the first steps towards ending our suffering.

But they will not provide a permanent cure. They only way to cure these painful illnesses is to address the root cause as to why these illnesses arise. The root cause is down to harmful mental habits and processes we have learned and put to use for most of our lives - since childhood in the majority of instances.

And there lies the crucial difference. Antidepressants can help us in the short-term by CONTROLLING the illness. Learning the mental habits and processes that crush these illnesses so they cannot even begin to arise help us in the long-term by CURING these illnesses.

Something else I think you'll find illuminating about these drugs:

No single drug has proven to be more effective than any other and the latest research conducted at Yale university in the United States has revealed that drugs are ineffective for seventy percent of sufferers. This is because chemical imbalances in the brain are a symptom and not a cause.

You now know why this is so.

What's also interesting to note is that sales of these drugs in the US alone are worth $12 BILLION annually. Pretty good for something that cannot provide a cure don't you think? Of course, one of the issues here is having a sufferer paying thousands of hard-earned dollars for a drug which cannot cure them month in, month out, year in, year out.

I don't think that's right. Because I firmly believe that people who are suffering from stress, anxiety, panic, depression and similar illnesses, want to get rid of it from their lives forever. Cure means cured, permanently.

I overcame a terrible 5 year period of anxiety-induced depression without taking any antidepressants. By learning to address the harmful mental habits and processes which took me to the lowest point anyone can go, I turned my life around and found happiness again.

What worked for me will work for you and it will provide the one thing you deserve and what antidepressant drugs can never provide: A permanent cure to your suffering.

IMPORTANT: PLEASE CONSULT WITH YOUR HEALTH PROFESSIONAL BEFORE YOU STOP TAKING ANY ANTIDEPRESSANT MEDICATION.

Chris Green is the author of the new book "Conquering Stress", a special program which will show you how to conquer stressful illnesses such as depression, anxiety, panic and worry permanently and without taking powerful drugs. You can learn more about this new book and purchase it at http://www.conqueringstress.com