In a recent news story on the tabloid website, Sky News researchers have called into question if antidepressants work because depression is NOT caused by a chemical imbalance meaning they are pretty much pointless. From the off, we want to make one thing clear on this site that you should NEVER stop taking your antidepressants because of these toxic “news” stories. Sure, there is a warning on the page that says this, but it is still worth noting. You can read the whole story here – https://news.sky.com/story/antidepressants-called-into-question-as-researchers-find-no-convincing-evidence-depression-is-caused-by-chemical-imbalance-12655342
Having read that report over and over I can safely say there is a point to it. What the researchers are saying is that antidepressants don’t necessarily tackle the causes of depression, but they do alleviate the symptoms of depression. Oddly, looking a little deeper into the report it also found that anxiety is deeply related to a chemical imbalance meaning medication is very much the right way to go. I also found the statistic that 8.3 million in the UK are using antidepressants with a 6% rise on 2021!
While the report is interesting and worth a read, don’t treat the study as an echo chamber of your own thoughts of stopping taking them. Those of us with BPD will often notice a spiral effect if we come off medication too fast, so do always be careful and always do so under medical advice and supervision only.
