We have been there before.
We've felt the world fall down from under our feet and everything seems dark and gray.
To some people this happens continuously, with few interruptions, if ever.
These are the people we call clinically depressed.
When a person can't stop the feeling of gloom and depression, they turn to antidepressants.
Many doctors prescribe these drugs to victims of depression.
It is supposed to relieve their dark feelings.
However, do they work? Antidepressant medicine works on the brain.
Clinical depression can be traced to imbalances in the hormones or chemicals found in the organ that governs our thoughts and emotions.
The drug seeks to balance out the chemical mix in our brain.
Theoretically, it should work.
Practically, however, there is a large body of evidence that disproves this assumption.
Yes, antidepressants can lift a person's mood.
Likewise, a placebo given to depressed people had the same effect nearly the same effect.
There is only a slight difference between an antidepressant and a jellybean.
As long as the patient thinks the jellybean should work, then it would work nearly well as expensive medicine.
This study was done in 1998 and the findings can be found in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Antidepressants have helped a lot of people but not in the expected way.
If antidepressants are only a ridiculously expensive placebo, are there other options to chase the blues away? Of course.
You can try to fool yourself with the aforementioned jellybean but some things are more effective and proven.
It doesn't cost anything too.
It's a smile.
Apparently, folk wisdom beats science when it comes to emotions.
And science has proved what your grandmother knew all along.
You won't feel as bad about depressing things if you smile.
While chemical mixtures do affect our mood, before the brain allows the body to be affected by all those emotion warping hormones, it checks with the muscles on the face first in order to confirm if the chemical stew is correct.
If there is a disconnect, your brain will say hold it and assume the chemicals are wrong.
In other words if your face muscles are smiling, it will ignore the sad hormones.
If you're frowning, it will allow the sad hormones to affect the entire body.
Isn't the brain wonderful? We can consciously choose our disposition.
While a severe hormonal imbalance may be hard for the brain to handle, it will handle it somehow.
Antidepressant drugs are not magic bullets that can chase the clouds away.
They're more like magic flashlights.
They should not be used unless a severe chemical imbalance is diagnosed.
There are times when a smile can't do everything.
That's when antidepressants should be used.
But most of the time a smile is enough.
We've felt the world fall down from under our feet and everything seems dark and gray.
To some people this happens continuously, with few interruptions, if ever.
These are the people we call clinically depressed.
When a person can't stop the feeling of gloom and depression, they turn to antidepressants.
Many doctors prescribe these drugs to victims of depression.
It is supposed to relieve their dark feelings.
However, do they work? Antidepressant medicine works on the brain.
Clinical depression can be traced to imbalances in the hormones or chemicals found in the organ that governs our thoughts and emotions.
The drug seeks to balance out the chemical mix in our brain.
Theoretically, it should work.
Practically, however, there is a large body of evidence that disproves this assumption.
Yes, antidepressants can lift a person's mood.
Likewise, a placebo given to depressed people had the same effect nearly the same effect.
There is only a slight difference between an antidepressant and a jellybean.
As long as the patient thinks the jellybean should work, then it would work nearly well as expensive medicine.
This study was done in 1998 and the findings can be found in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Antidepressants have helped a lot of people but not in the expected way.
If antidepressants are only a ridiculously expensive placebo, are there other options to chase the blues away? Of course.
You can try to fool yourself with the aforementioned jellybean but some things are more effective and proven.
It doesn't cost anything too.
It's a smile.
Apparently, folk wisdom beats science when it comes to emotions.
And science has proved what your grandmother knew all along.
You won't feel as bad about depressing things if you smile.
While chemical mixtures do affect our mood, before the brain allows the body to be affected by all those emotion warping hormones, it checks with the muscles on the face first in order to confirm if the chemical stew is correct.
If there is a disconnect, your brain will say hold it and assume the chemicals are wrong.
In other words if your face muscles are smiling, it will ignore the sad hormones.
If you're frowning, it will allow the sad hormones to affect the entire body.
Isn't the brain wonderful? We can consciously choose our disposition.
While a severe hormonal imbalance may be hard for the brain to handle, it will handle it somehow.
Antidepressant drugs are not magic bullets that can chase the clouds away.
They're more like magic flashlights.
They should not be used unless a severe chemical imbalance is diagnosed.
There are times when a smile can't do everything.
That's when antidepressants should be used.
But most of the time a smile is enough.
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