If you go to a psychiatrist claiming some mental distress, they might tell you that you have a chemical imbalance. They might say “A diabetic needs insulin to bring their body into balance, and likewise these drugs will bring your brain into balance.” Or they might be more honest and say something like “Nobody knows exactly how these drugs work. Psychotropic drugs are the sledgehammer of psychiatry.”
In the book “Cracked: Why Psychiatry is Doing More Harm Than Good”, it presents various statistics showing that, generally, the people who search for other paths to mental hygiene are the ones who find it. The people who take antidepressants or antipsychotics are much more likely to have recurring episodes.
We might find ourselves in a moment of our lives where the external factors appear satisfactory. We might have a good job, earning good money, have a great partner… And yet we still feel dissatisfied. Perhaps those are the moments when we’re most likely to turn to psychotropic drugs. Those are the precious moments when we might find the most insight into what it really means to be happy.
In those situations, somehow life has tricked us or trapped us. We might lose the ability to feel pleasure or joy, and all we have left is our pain, our suffering. Within that suffering lies wisdom, insight, perhaps even the possibility of freedom. Don’t let them take that possibility from you.
For the transcript It Is Your Suffering A Beautiful Thought
