why cant you over come depression with just willpower?

In the 80s & early 90s the public was educated that taking medication for depression was okay because of a chemical imbalance.

TODAY, you actually don't see any anti-depressant commercial mention chemical imbalance. A psychiatrist shouldn't be pushing the chemical imbalance concept on you to take a drug.

The reason for this is because. The CHEMICAL IMBALANCE idea is a THEORY. There has been highly SUGGESTED studies adding to the theory. To be fair we've NEVER had concrete evidence or proof that chemical imbalance is responsible for mental illness.

To prescribe someone an ssri because someone has a serotonin deficiency is an OUT-DATED concept. There's been several studies, books articles disproving the chemical imbalance theory.

You can have physical problems that cause feelings of depression such as thyroid diseases, gastrointestinal problems, neurological diseases like tumors, over-growth of candida parasites, etc. But if you were to take a blood test to see that you have an abnormal serotonin level, that does not mean you are depressed, it means there's something happening with your organs to secrete those levels. Your organs and physical problems would need to be examined at that point. For unexplainable depression, you not being yourself, you not being able to control yourself, see your primary care physician to see if you have any physical problems causing your issues.

Any professional should be able to tell you, with depression the drugs ALONE, WILL NOT SOLVE THE ISSUE. The sufferer NEEDS mental rehabilitation, it doesn't matter how much drugs the person takes if the person doesn't take care of their body (Regular daily habits of: exercise, sleep, nutrition), make lifestyle changes and sticking by them, then the mental rehabilitation of reprogramming the mind and resolving issues or past trauma then this person will never get better. THE DRUG IS JUST A COPING TOOL. Its an aid people can use it but its not magic.

If you had ADHD and I gave you some cocaine and you were finally able to concentrate, get things done, be productive and feel really good. That's not you balancing out a chemical imbalance or you being what you're suppose to be. That you getting high and benefiting from the high. If you were to take coke everyday and stopped one day to realize you feel sick, don't work well without it or have mood swings that's not your illness returning that's your body suffering from withdraws.

Cocaine is in Adderall, the drug used to treat ADD or ADHD. If the person can't do it by themselves. They can't take a break from a depressed state of mind, or anxious state of mind, sometimes they have to cope by taking a drug to change them. like how old war veterans used to be given morphine to cope with the pain. When the drugs give off a desired effect people often mistaken feeling good or being able to be more productive as their true self. But really they are getting a little high. Lots of times, like any drug the high fades away so they need higher dosages or stronger and harder drugs. Sometimes when these people can't get the desired high they had once and try drug after drug to get the same effect they are really just chasing a high.

The world of Psychiatry isn't really that magical or mysterious. If you say that you have emotional pain you can't do or are doing certain things, that is a behavior to them. They are NOT medicating your body or some chemical imbalance. They are changing your behavior with chemicals. That is their primary tool. They honestly don't know how you are going to react to these drugs. Some people get good highs and some people get bad highs. They are just hoping for an effect that helps you.

Some people need it. They can't just think happy thoughts to make things better. You can't just create willpower if there is something blocking them from having it. If someone doesn't have the willpower to live you can't make them want to live. Its when these people are completely out of control, can't control themselves or they're at the last resort then the drugs are one way to go. But one flaw this industry is having is that they are prescribing these drugs but they aren't offering mental rehabilitation. Without recondition the mind, especially when a person's emotional triggers come up due to associative memory they are never going to solve the issue. They're just going to be on drugs for decades never getting better. Therapy isn't rehabilitation, it can be part of it but its really re-hashing. These people would need a psychologist or a behaviorist to help them reprogram the mind. They would need psychotherapy.

Depending on the severity and type some people may be too far gone to communicate with they may hear you but they won't understand or believe you. If they're being completely irrational where they want to hurt themselves then unnaturally and chemically neutralizing them so they react in a more manageable way can be helpful. But just drugging them isn't enough. Its not a miracle pill or a one hit solution. They need rehabilitation.

People also need to know that not all depression is a bad thing like not all anxiety is a bad thing. Some anxiety is a good thing like when the boy who likes you finally starts staring at you and you get butterflies.

I will guarantee you anyone who have lived through 1-25yrs of age has felt some form of depression. That doesn't mean depression is the common cold for mental illness. It means its human. Its one of our drawbacks as a human being from having long term memory. Dogs don't get depressed for 3 yrs, they might be sad for a few weeks but they don't really have long term memory so their behavior is mostly due to associative memory or short term memory.

Depression is more like really heavy problem-solving. But its actually DEEP reflection. Some people get lost in it. But those who are able to build a healthy relationship with depression grow to appreciate depression and get to be thankful. Because at the end of healthy depression is where people gain epiphanies and closure. They learn life lesson that are more valuable than happiness and they become enlightened. Our best moments in life are when we go to hell and come back. Climbing up from rock bottom are our best achievements.

Its the stereotypical idea of depression that gives people a unhealthy dysfunctional relationship with depression. To fear or dread depression; to think you never should feel depression; to never let yourself go through it; to think there is something wrong with you for feeling it, is dysfunctional. That's a bad relationship with your feelings. People who don't know how to experience depression in a healthy way or never let themselves feel it probably never had closure and haven't ever resolved their issues.

If you could experience depression 2-3 times and gain an epiphany or resolution, it becomes a piece of cake. You stop fearing it or hating it. It feels amazing and exhilarating to defeat depression with your own mental abilities.

You can take drugs to be someone else. But Us changing is our achievements from growing and developing as people. We love sad traumatic movies because it emotionally stimulates us. If we could learn to love life like we love movies there isn't anything we can't do. Because to embrace all our bad and good feelings. To embrace all our good and bad moments in life and to be proud of our mistakes because from every mistake we make, we learn how to do it better. That is what we're suppose to be doing in life. For those people who don't use the drugs as an aid and they use it to just depend on without letting themselves go through the emotional development, they are going to be stuck on the psychiatric path forever.

You can try, but when someone suffers from depression, their brain is not releasing any or enough of the right hormones.

I have PCOS and Hypothryoidism. I don't believe I am depressed, but if I get off my medicines, I am literally SO tired I cannot stay awake throughout the day or get outta bed and it makes me in a cranky mood and feel bad about myself.

My boyfriend is on anti-depressants and I thought he was just using excuses too, until I experienced it for myself.

It's a lot easier said than done. Some people can't find happiness that easily and they feel that they have nothing to look forward to in the future and that nobody cares about them. When your depressed you can literally turn every good situation into a bad one.

Generally, it consists of irrational thoughts that pop up from the subconscience, where they had entered because of traumatic experiences. It is a trap as we know the thoughts are irrational, but still feel powerless and give into them. It's like a vicious, self-alimenting, circle.

Same reason why a person can't will away diabetes or asthma.It's not just in your head and you can't just say ,"go away" and it goes.It is a chemical imbalance and it is to be treated as a real problem because it is a real problem and anyone who tells somebody that they are just weak or need to get over it,suffer from ignorance.Good luck :-)