If you re suffering from severe stress, or depression or anxiety, you may have consulted with a health professional to find relief. Unfortunately, most sufferers will be told a blatant lie about the cause of their suffering, that it is down to “chemical imbalances” within the brain, especially depleted levels of serotonin. There are serious flaws with this so let s look a little bit deeper to show why this is complete nonsense.

Perhaps the biggest flaw with attributing the cause of depressive illnesses to chemical imbalances is one of order. The question is: What comes first, imbalances or emotional turmoil? If we look at somebody who has just been told of the unexpected death of a loved one and who enters into depression, we can see that it isn t chemical imbalances that came first, it is the sad news that triggered the depression. If there are chemical imbalances, then you can clearly see they come AFTER the news and are therefore a SINGLE symptom.

What is meant, exactly, by a chemical imbalance in the brain? I mean how are they caused? Let s say you eat a sumptuous 5 course dinner consisting of the finest foods, will you undergo an imbalance? And say you receive some good news - a raise, a promotion, a proposal, an invite to a party - if you feel elated about these things, is this also a chemical imbalance?

Imbalances are given as the cause of depressive illnesses but what about the times when you were totally happy with your life? Was this because you had too much serotonin in your brain and if so, does this mean that you were ill during those times? Clearly not. So how can it be that when you re very happy it isn t an illness but when you re depressed it is? And at what levels are chemicals balanced - when we feel neither happy or sad? That just doesn t make sense.

A question about what happens after a course of antidepressants is also raised. Antidepressants are used to correct the chemical imbalance by raising levels of serotonin. So, when the balance is restored and the sufferer stops taking the drugs, will the imbalance happen again? So does this mean a sufferer has to remain on drug therapy for life or does it indicate that something else is at the root of stress, depression or anxiety. In the case of a sufferer overcome with grief, will a drug end the torment? How if it isn t imbalances that have caused the grief?

The chemical imbalance theory is too simple, too general, and has no evidence whatsoever to support it as being the cause of stress, depression or anxiety. The cause lies well away from this theory and is to be found in flawed, harmful modes of thinking that can be addressed very effectively and naturally without interfering with the delicate chemical levels within the brain.

You can find more articles, tips and information about natural anxiety, depression and stress management over on our Conquering Stress website.

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