- Prolonged sadness, unexplained crying spells, feeling hopeless
- Irritability, anger, worry, agitation, anxiety, restlessness
- Pessimism, indifference, feelings of guilt or worthlessness
- Significant changes in sleep or eating habits
- Persistent lethargy, loss of energy, inability to concentrate, indecisiveness
- Social withdrawal, loss of interest or pleasure in former fun activities
- Unexplained aches and pains
- Recurring thoughts of death and/or suicide
The Pharmaceutical Response
Several decades ago when researchers discovered that a person’s mood was largely affected by the concentrations of certain neurotransmitters in the brain—especially serotonin and dopamine. Pharmaceutical companies wasted no time developing drugs to fool with brain chemistry and eventually came up with drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). These drugs alter brain chemistry and change the balance of these two chemicals in the brain and improve mood. SSRI’s include are Prozac, Celexa, Zoloft, Luvox, and Paxil.
The pharmaceutical companies have aggressively marketed SSRIs. Their marketing efforts have focused both on expanding the definition of depression and spreading the belief that depression is a biochemical-based problem that can be solved chemically. It looks like their efforts have been successful because doctors wrote more than 150 million prescriptions for antidepressants.
Consequently millions of people are taking powerful prescription drugs on a long-term basis. I would highly recommend reading a 2005 report of researcher Janet Currie. Her report is one of the very best reports I’ve seen detailing how the pharmaceutical industry literally created a market for SSRI drugs, while at the same time covering up the fact that they are generally ineffective, costly, and loaded with dangerous side effects as well as addictive properties. You might come to the conclusion that pharmaceutical companies are more motivated by profit than by improving your wellbeing.
To see the complete document, The Marketization of Depression: The Prescribing of SSRI Antidepressants to Women, visit www.whp-apsf.ca/pdf/SSRIs.pdf.
An All-Natural Alternative
A natural and safe alternative to SSRI drugs is the compound inositol. While inositol is considered to be a part of the vitamin B complex, but not truly a vitamin. Inositol’s primary use in the body is in the formation of cell membranes. However, it is also involved in the systems that deliver messages from hormones and neurotransmitters to individual cells, and this is how deficiencies of inositol can be related to neurological problems like depression.
Numerous studies have shown that inositol can be equally as effective as the SSRI drugs in the treatment of conditions like depression, bulimia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, and without any of the dangerous side effects.
Most of the studies have utilized 12 grams a day for depression and 18 grams a day for problems like panic and obsessive-compulsive disorders. Some doctors report excellent results in these same type cases using doses in the range of 3 to 6 grams daily.
Inositol is considered very safe. In a few cases, individuals experience temporary diarrhea and large doses may cause uterine contractions. Thus I do not recommend that you consider taking inositol if you are pregnant.
If you decide to try inositol, I suggest starting with 3 grams mixed with either juice or water and taken each morning. You can also just put the powder in your mouth. It doesn’t matter if you take inositol with or without food. From there, you can gradually increase the dose by an additional 3 grams every 4 or 5 days until either you reach 12 to 18 grams daily or you begin to experience beneficial effects.
In most studies individuals began to see positive results within 4 to 6 weeks. Some people actually see a difference in a matter of days, but it’s worth continuing for at least a couple of months if you don’t get a response that quickly.
Inositol can be purchased in capsules or in a more economical bulk powder. For example, 8 ounces of inositol sells for about $11 at www.allstarhealth.com (I'm not affiliated with All Star Health and don't receive commissions or any other form of compensation from them). At a dose of ¼ teaspoon (600 mg) that’s 378 servings, making inositol inexpensive in addition to being safe and effective. One ounce is about 28.4 grams so an 8 ounce package of inositol contains about 227 grams or about 75 three gram servings.
