 Hey guys, so today I'm going to talk about SSRIs. Somebody asked me online recently about their experiences of they've been on SSRIs for a while and They're trying to come off it So they're having some difficulties. They've been off it for a while and they're seeing that They had a sort of a very very difficult withdrawal period and now they have this sense that maybe they're not going to be the same as they were before and they feel like you know, there's a constant lack of motivation sense of apathy a feeling like Even if the house was on fire, they would struggle to move to or they certainly wouldn't have that sense of urgency So they're kind of afraid that there may have been damage done. Okay, so I'm going to talk a little bit about SSRIs I'm going to talk about, you know, their prevalence of how they're used to treat depression And other things as well So there's a good bit in this one now Let me start off by saying that my field is not psychiatry. My field is psychology And I work more on talk therapies psychotherapy counselling things like that and Do I feel bad that I can't prescribe any of these medications these antipsychotic medications To be honest, no, I do not because Even if I could And again, do not take any of this as medical advice. It certainly isn't But even if I could I would not prescribe Anyone to take SSRIs and I'll talk about why I think they're very very Dangerous, okay, there's a lot of risks involved with them. Okay An awful lot of people are on these antidepressant medications now Some of the statistics I have here are from an American American research because most of the best research has been done in America Now they might be a little bit ahead of us in terms of the prevalence But what I'm seeing even now with people I'm talking with and working with is that more and more people are been prescribed these medications for things like anxiety even for you know Behavioral issues that you might even think were anything Necessarily bad. Okay, but one in four. Sorry one in ten Americans are now on SSRIs And that's one in four women between in their 40s and 50s. That's one in four So that's a huge huge amount of people now Over the last two decades. There's been a four hundred percent increase in the use of SSRIs 400% so what I'm saying here today in this video is a little bit a sort of a word of caution And a word of a Sort of a sense of what have we done here? Okay Was it appropriate to do this did we have enough knowledge about what these medications were doing to the brain and I Would argue that we didn't Because we all know about the the side effects and everything of these SSRIs But it's even more than that and like Internet now in a second So this whole thing I'll just talk about serotonin This is just one of the newer transmitters in order of the SSRIs serotonin re-uptake inhibitors Are used with the focus of serotonin is the important newer transmitter, right? And so why do we think serotonin? If you're taking on this medical model approach that serotonin is the newer transmitter and there is evidence to show that that serotonin Is very very important in in your brain in a healthy brain, okay? Serotonin sero means blood and Tonin literally means tightening so blood tightening. So what do we think about when we think of that? We think of hypertension. We think of blood clotting, okay? These are two fundamental signs of the body's response to stress, okay? So immediately we know that serotonin it's got something to do with stress And maybe how your body and your brain help you regulate stress help you regulate, you know the the fight or flight response your general mood anxiety levels and also things like When is it appropriate for a person to go numb? Sometimes that can be like a coping mechanism, okay? now serotonin There's another hormone in the brain. It's very similar to this melatonin and Melatonin you might know is used when you want to go to sleep Okay, so when it gets dark at night the blue light that's going through a red light into your brain The light goes down and your brain gets the message time to go to sleep Releases melatonin and it essentially knocks you out. That's how you go to sleep Now melatonin is actually derived from serotonin, okay? So if you've got problems with your serotonin levels, you might also have problems with your melatonin Okay, and we know that because people who are depressed have all these sleep problems sleep disorders, okay? So it's kind of like the opposite of melatonin in a way now Serotonin we tend to think of it in your brain right in your in between the synapses in your brain And it's in your transmitter, but it's also important for your digestive system. Okay? It helps you handle shock and stress Now also like think about that again if serotonin is important for your fight or flight response If you've got to give a public speaker speech or something like that, right? You will know you get butterflies in your stomach. Okay, so serotonin is important for that. It's important in the digestive system It's not just in the brain Okay, now There are things We know that affects sort of natural things that affect the serotonin levels in your brain. One of them is of course Sun okay, the sun has a big impact on this so Sort of the sun the more daylight you get and you're getting your Your vitamin D and all that stuff that can be used in the production of serotonin The Sun actually turns on serotonin production. So how do we why does that make us think serotonin important in terms of mood? Well, think of the most depressing time of the year the most depressing time of the year is January the third week in January blue Monday Okay, it's when we're not getting any light or sunshine. Okay, and we get that seasonal effective sort So serotonin that's one of the sort of natural remedies to all of this is get more sunshine Right another one is too much sugar. We've got too much carbohydrate in our body in our system You know that impacts our insulin levels become become insulin resistant if we eat too much sugar over a plump period of time But there's also a lot of evidence to show that too much Sugar Hurts the serotonin production in our body. Okay So again, what would it be? It would be just nutty as much sugar. Okay cut down in the sugar maybe increase protein and Fats healthy fats in your diet that these are all remedies that are natural, right? Go out and get more sunshine stop eating so much sugar in your food Now because these things are natural. These are free Okay, we don't see as much of an emphasis on that what we're looking for in the medical model is just an intervention It's sort of a molecular one. Let's go in and just replace the serotonin levels or actually Inhibit how the brain handles serotonin. That's actually what's happening with SSRIs. It's not actually improving anything It's inhibiting but again come on to that in a bit So maybe we're not told about these three Sort of remedies because you know, you can't write a prescription for sunshine. Okay Um Okay Other things Even the emotion of learned helplessness has been linked to serotonin Okay, so if a person has apathy feels like no matter what they do in life again, this is associated with depression, right? That's got to do with Serotonin learned helplessness, but this whole thing Why would I be skeptical about you know prescribing or telling somebody to take SSRIs to begin with but first of all I've spoken to so many people that said they regret it. They had terrible withdrawals. They had things like intense agitation even hostility Digestive problems hallucinations fast fast heartbeats. Okay suicidal ideation, right? Mood problems that these are all very very real Issues and these are the side effects of the of the treatment itself So, let me just talk a minute here about The problem I have with the whole medical model that was applied to psychiatry, right? This was like back in the 80s before the 80s when the DSM 3 I think it was came out the The manuals for psychiatry were very very different. There was a lot of Terminology unit that will be more reminiscent to Freudian psychoanalysis, okay, there was psychological terms in it, right and The problem that the psychiatric field had at the time was well They were kind of like the laugh in stock of the medical profession. Okay, they were seen as not real doctors So there was a sense that we need to put on the lab coats here We need to get more scientific and also there were other PR problems for the psychiatric profession or area It was this thing of you know people being committed to hospital against their will and there was this whole thing about well you know our psychiatrists sort of impeding on our human rights and Again, that was something that was a PR problem So what happened in around 1980 with the DSM 3 when that came out the whole thing changed to a medical model It's going to be we are now looking at we're going to start classifying depression anxiety all these disorders ADHD as Medical problems pathogenic problems diseases of the brain essentially and what we're going to start doing is looking for little molecules that are important and Replacing the molecules or reducing levels of the other molecule in the brain So a sort of idea of reducing human emotion human motivation Human motivation of human happiness to molecules molecular. Okay now that's an issue Now the problem with that is that it's very very simplistic, right? Believe it or not. It's very very simplistic first of all Multitude of studies have come out since then showing Marginal benefits to any of these SS arise and over a long-term Studies that have been done. There are no benefits They're similar to placebo no better than a placebo effect. Okay What else was I going to say about this The thing is right. It's the idea is that well, okay We can identify if serotonin for instance saying depression is the neurotransmitter. That's lacking So what we're going to do is we're just going to go in and what actually happens is so here's your tune Here's one neuron and here's another one and they're trying to communicate and to do that with neurotransmitters that they drop these little neurotransmitters into the space. Okay serotonin and serotonin goes over here And then that that's communication. Okay, that's sending a message Serotonin, you know, if it's too low offers a problem with serotonin The idea is that you're going to feel bad. You're going to feel depressed Now just simply looking at that what did one of the ways that the serotonin reuptake inhibitors. There's these little sort of gates Okay, little sort of funnels that their job they're on the neurons and their job is to monitor the serotonin level Okay, and when they feel there's enough serotonin what to do is this are taken some of the serotonin away It's the body is sort of in In balance it maintains a balance like this, you know too much serotonin not enough serotonin And what the inhibitors do is they go in and they just really gum up that those funnels. It's sort of like it's actually Disabling part of the neuron Right, it's not healing anything. It's actively Stopping something that was working. Okay From functioning properly Right, so this is one of the things we need to be aware of before we make a decision. Should we take ssri's, right? so The problem with that is it's artificial And we don't know nearly as much as we think we do in terms of our ability to Manipulate the levels of neurotransmitters that are between the synapses of in the neurons, right? We think we do but we don't Right, we know very very little about the impact that's having now. Why did all the research get funded? Why did it don't why why do we you know, so many people think? SSRIs are a great option. They work. They're very effective Well, the real reason for that is We're desperate, right society has become desperate people are desperate They're desperate for anything that will help them alleviate depression because it's a horrible horrible sensation Horrible experience to go through depression for a long period of time okay, so the depression that's there the The desperate need in our culture for this Has led it to get this far without sort of let's hold off for a minute Let's do we really understand what we're doing with this Do we know what the the side effects of it are? Okay Because a person who's depressed and they go to the gp and all they want is just to feel better If if they can give you a prescription, it's quick, you know, it's not cheap necessarily But it's something, you know, it's like thank god. There's hope at least so you will take it, right? And people take it and then they get Addicted to it, right? Now the word Psychiatrists use is not addiction because psychiatrists maintain that SSRIs are not addictive but really what that is is It's semantics because People do become addicted to SSRIs. It's very very difficult difficult to come off them The word addiction is where psychiatry sort of makes a distinction what they say is dependent, right? So is that a distinction to me to my mind? That's a distinction without a difference if you're dependent on something you're you're you're you rely on it And if you come off it you're going to feel withdrawal symptoms So they would never use the word addiction, but people are addicted to these things. Okay I've talked to too many people firsthand even that have told me this So anyway, um, I know I'm looking all over the shop with this video There's so much to it and maybe I make other videos on this, but what I'm saying here is the SSRIs are going into your brain and they're actually inhibiting the healthy part of your brain, right? And it's artificially Controlling the serotonin level now. What happens if you come off those SSRIs? Well, first of all your brain will realize Your brain will have gotten lazy in terms of the generation of serotonin when you come off SSRIs your brain is like How do I make serotonin again? because While you were taking SSRIs your other neural transmitters Your brain said well, we don't need to make serotonin now. Let's make other Neural transmitters that could be potentially a problem Do you need all those other transmitters neural transmitters? But it's forgotten. Maybe how to make um serotonin okay, so okay, so What I'm saying here is Really, it's a sad state of affairs that as a culture We're all buying a lot of people are buying into this idea that Just a prescription will be enough. Okay. I'm doing something about my mental health And I can see why people think that and why they do that, but it's very very risky. Okay, and there's a long-term option It's fraught with problems. Okay. First of all people think well, you know, I don't want to pay a therapist or a counselor Whatever it is per session. It's too expensive. Okay That's actually not true in comparison to taking antidepressants right because Think about it this way Most times in in counseling psychotherapy or any of the talk therapies you might do even if it's a CBT course you're doing It might take you 10 sessions It might let's say it even takes you 20 sessions, right 20 sessions You're paying your psych your psychotherapist your counselor every week, right now that adds up But at the end of those 20 sessions, it will be hoped that you're feeling better You've got more resilience. You're more touch with your emotions. You know how to handle your emotions more Maybe you've identified some of the stressors. Maybe you've talked about some of the issues that have been troubling with you Trouble in you, right? And at that time that time then you can break off from the psychotherapy Maybe you can revisit it again whenever you need to or have your counselor there whenever you need them after that But if you're an antidepressants You cannot just stop taking antidepressants like that after say the period of time that you would have been doing 20 sessions of psychotherapy Right, so in the long run Short term, you know the SSRI's antidepressants seem like they're a cheaper option in the long run They are not okay that money adds up because you don't want to get to the point where you have to start Stop and take an SSRI's okay because it's a very very of course You shouldn't take them to begin with is what i'm saying But if you get to the point where you have to stop taking them or you want to stop taking them because of the side effects You're going to find it difficult Okay, so um I don't know. I think i'll stop there for today. I'm going to talk about this more in other videos, right? um But if you're considering taking antidepressants and you're watching this video Bear in mind there are So many other options before you take that option now. Why would you take that option? Well the the only time When it's appropriate to take SSRI's Is when you have zero options when you've you've got to the point in your life where you've had enough You can't take any more and you have zero supports in place now When would that happen that Sadly that does happen and when it does happen and a person is has come to the end or tether Um, I can understand and take in these antidepressants Okay, because what it does what they all do really is numb you out it numbs you out from emotion keeps you safe. Okay, but The problem is Oftentimes when people go and they think they have no options people say take the SSRI's And the issue is you do have options Okay, you have a multitude of options. They can be um, as I've said psychotherapy counseling Um, and you can do intensive psychotherapy and counseling if you're really in a bad way Invest in that that is not a waste of your money by any stretch of imagination. There are natural Courses that you can take natural Minerals vitamins that will help um exercise routines anything, okay life coaching even that will sort of Go in and hands on show you where you're making mistakes even in just your your lifestyle and your um, your diet things like that. Okay so Again, I can understand it But if you're if you're under if you're considering taking SSRI's or anti medica antidepressants really Trust me And give it a lot of thought before you commit to doing it because it's a big commitment and it's It's it's a decision that's fraught with danger Okay So don't want to be too negative in this. I actually want this video to be more about There are other options. Okay, you don't have to do this But anyway, I'll probably make more videos in this soon. And I think my next video is going to be about if you've already taken A course about the depressive medications and you've you've come off it Maybe you're living with some of the symptoms of it. Okay, I'm going to talk about that in my next video So guys, um, maybe this is a controversial topic. I know what it is But if you've got comments or whatever just you can leave them below and I'll get back to you. Okay Thanks for watching and I'll talk to you