Antidepressant medications do not address the underlying cause of the problem, which is improper neurotransmitter function; they are simply masking the problem short term and therefore provide only short term relief for a small number of people. Research shows that antidepressant medications are more effective than placebo (i.e., taking a sugar pill) in only 6-13% of people that take them. Said differently, this means that between 87-94% of people taking these drugs have no greater relief of depression symptoms than those people that take a placebo.
However, 100% of the people taking these drugs are exposed to drug side effects. Once more, over time taking these drugs can actually make the underlying problem worse by causing further neurotransmitter depletion, which means more depression and other related symptoms.
The problem with these medications from a neurotransmitter point of view is that they are not doing anything to make more neurotransmitters; they are simply shuffling them around or tricking the body into thinking there is more neurotransmitter than there actually is. This can have at least two undesirable affects.
First, the body, being duped into thinking there is more neurotransmitter than there actually is, will increase the degradation (destruction) of more neurotransmitters, which will cause further depletion over time. This is often what happens when medications ‘stop working’; at this point, there is not enough neurotransmitter left for the drug to shuffle around and the person is left more depleted than when they started. (Unfortunately, at this point, a person is usually prescribed more of a given mediation or another medication to try and help them feel better, which continues to make the underlying problem worse.)
The second detrimental effect has to do with actual damage to the post-synaptic neuron and/or it’s receptors due to the drug; this damage may be permanent (called neurotoxicity). However, there is a solution. Even though the underlying neuronal damage is not known to be reversible, long-term correction is possible with continued, life-long use of amino acid therapy to make up for the underlying damage.
In order to effectively manage depression, we have to address the underlying cause. That underlying cause in most cases is improper neurotransmitter function. This means that if we can optimize your neurotransmitter function, we should be able to eliminate the cause and provide a lasting solution. That is in fact, exactly what we have found – when we achieve optimal neurotransmitter function through targeted amino acid therapy, we can significantly reduce and often eliminate depression.
The key is to determine each person’s exact needs in regards to amino acids and other nutrients to optimize their neurotransmitter status. Once we satisfy those needs, over 98% of our clients have a complete resolution of their depression.
