Benefits of Deprescribing

Even though the marketing slogan that ‘depression is caused by a chemical imbalance’ has zero research to support it many people have heard their doctor say this to them or they have heard it somewhere. While I wish our human bodies were this simple and that we could cure people’s depression by adding a ‘chemical’ to balance the imbalance this is not the case. We are the most complex creatures on the planet and the mood, energy, thoughts, and physical symptoms of depression have so many possibilities for the root cause.

Root causes of depression can be, and usually are, multi-faceted. In my work with clients I will often want to rule out the easy stuff like hypothyroidism as an under-active thyroid has symptoms that look EXACTLY like depression. Other rule-outs can also include: looking at the connection between food and mood; context of your current situation such as a death in the family, divorce, move, employment or financial stressors; exposure to toxins; and trauma.

These days when you have an appointment with your primary care doctor you are given a PHQ-9 questionnaire - 9 questions - that you fill out before you even see the doctor. Then when the doc comes in and sees your score, they might ask you a few questions and then will quickly mention wanting to prescribe an antidepressant. There is no mention of research showing efficacy is on par with placebo (meaning if they prescribed a sugar pill and you thought it was an antidepressant, you would feel the same as someone who took an actual antidepressant), nor encouragement or a referral for therapy (which is proven to be an effective treatment for depression, better than placebo), nor informed consent of the many negative side effects, withdrawal symptoms when wanting to stop, or the FDA black box warning about the possibility of increased suicidal or homicidal thoughts.

For many the first few weeks of starting an antidepressant can give them relief from symptoms and some even come off of them within the first few months without too much trouble. In my opinion, this is the best use of antidepressants. If they can help you get through a difficult period of your life, enough so that you can build up coping skills and a support network through your own work or working with a therapist, then you can get off of the medication and feel like you have overcome depression.

However, this type of process, timeline and experience is not the norm and there is confusing information as to why the medication(s) aren’t working or why you need to be on them forever or what else could be contributing to your constant experience of feeling depressed, hopeless, tired, and not motivated.

And if you have experienced a recent trauma or are not aware that developmental trauma (or adverse childhood events) may be causing symptoms that look like depression such as withdrawal, isolation, feeling disconnected from others and your body then a medication will not be beneficial. In fact it can do the opposite - the medication might make accessing the trauma(s) so they can be released and resolved that much harder.

When you work with mental health professionals like Cyndi and Mona at Flourish you can be confident that their evidence-based and trauma-0informed practice will go beyond 9 questions to assess and diagnose your mental health symptoms. We are holistic in our perspective, have great respect for the wonderfully complex human body, and spend hours with you spread over many months to collaborate with you on a treatment plan that has wellness as the goal.

We are evidence-based mental health professionals and can share the research on SSRI efficacy, help you through ‘Discontinuation Syndrome’, and encourage implementing lifestyle changes and nutraceuticals that will nourish and nurture your body with the nutrients and elements it is desperately needing. As trauma-informed professionals we can ensure you receive compassion, empathy, and tenderness throughout our work together as well as being treated with modalities that will help you to release and resolve trauma.

Click the button below to let us know you want to schedule a free 15-minute phone call with Cyndi to see if our deprescribing process is the right fit for you.