Does Happiness Come in a Pill?

WHAT WE THINK WE KNOW ABOUT DEPRESSION “CURES”

“Every day I was pissed I woke up. It felt like heaviness… I was on the verge of tears constantly.”¹

“It’s no motivation to do anything, followed by the fear of failure because you aren’t doing anything. It’s both not caring at all and caring all too much. It’s a vicious cycle of hell.”²

Anxiety and depression. Mental health. You probably can’t get through a day without hearing about it… or living it. It’s all around us. And for many, much closer than we’d like. Counseling has been around as a form of treatment since Freud took the stage in the late 1800s.³ But it wasn’t until the 1950s that the first antidepressant drug made its debut.⁴ Since that time, the market has been flooded with pills and their promises for a healthier life. Almost anyone can show up at a doctor’s office, say they are feeling blue, and walk away with a prescription. And we really, really want to say that it’s working.

But are we a society of people who have been greatly helped because of mind-altering medication? Are we seeing hopeful statistics, tear-jerking success stories of those who have had victory over depression and anxiety, and an overall culture of joy and happiness?

WHAT WE (THINK) WE KNOW

Psychoactive medications are supposed to alleviate symptoms of mental dysfunction, such as hopelessness, anxiety, and fear. They’re designed to enter the brain tissue from the bloodstream and cause changes in mood, thoughts, emotions, and behavior. But what do we actually know about the cause of depression and anxiety?

For a long time, everyone thought Serotonin was the perpetrator. That’s a sneaky little chemical in your brain that would get out of whack and need to be regulated so those happy feelings could return. There’s only one problem with this theory: it’s wrong. A study was just released in July 2022 stating that chemical imbalances are not directly linked to depression at all.⁵ Another study that dug into the long-term effects of antidepressants unearthed some surprising results: people who used antidepressants long-term did not have better physical or mental quality of life than those with depression who did not use medication to manage their symptoms.⁶

At this point, what’s wrong in the brain is only inferred rather than proved.⁷ Despite decades of research, experts still can’t pinpoint the direct cause of depression or other psychiatric conditions. Just do a quick Google search and see for yourself. You’ll find a lot of theories: the pandemic, lack of exercise, social media… watching a sad movie. But they’re just that: theories.

Let us, as thinking individuals, fearlessly look at the facts: if scientists and researchers publicly acknowledge that they only have theories, and if recent studies are now proving some of those wrong, shouldn’t we stop and consider what may be going on before taking pills just “because the doctor said?

“But let’s be real: these meds aren’t the magical cure we want them to be.”

MEDICATION VS. COUNSELING

Meds aren’t the only treatment being used for mental illness. Often counseling is used with or instead of medication. So, are medications more effective than counseling?

It’s interesting that we even attempt to treat depression with counseling and not only medication. By using counseling as a treatment, we are acknowledging that depression is housed in the mind, while simultaneously saying that we, as the patient, have some power and control over our thoughts as well as the ability to change them. Counseling is based upon the idea that the individual can make decisions that affect thought and behavior change.

Studies have shown that counseling can be just as effective as medication in cases of mental problems.⁷ There is also evidence that cognitive therapy is actually better than medication in preventing relapse in the long run.⁷ Often, a treatment program will use both medication and counseling together to work towards symptom improvement.

So, there’s reason to believe that both medication and counseling have been effective to some degree in reducing symptoms of people with depression. But symptoms, by definition, are only surface-level manifestations of a deeper problem.

CLEARING THE AIR

With inconclusive research and the foggy uncertainty surrounding this issue, we need to try and clear the air as Christians living in a world where mental struggles can be a daily reality. The Bible says that we are sinful, wicked people who act and are affected accordingly. Every single person already has a sick mind because of sin (Genesis 6:5, Ephesians 2:1-3, Colossians 1:21) and there are mental problems that we all experience in some form throughout our lives. This is because God created us as both body and spirit creatures (Genesis 2:7) that always affect each other, for better or worse. If you get a good night’s sleep (body) you are more likely to not be a jerk the next day (spirit). But throw in a few sleepless nights and it won’t be long before you rip the head off the next person to ask you how you are this morning. The physical treatment of sleep can impact your spiritual fruit (kindness, joy) or lack thereof (head-ripping). So, physical remedies can affect our spiritual state, at least to some degree.

Of course, medication has its place for treating illnesses, and it would be unwise to throw it out completely as an option for treatment under qualified direction and care, but remember this too: every single Christian will need to continually work through difficulty as part of this new life. When we put our faith in Jesus, God forgives us for all our sins, but He doesn’t take away every temptation and struggle immediately. He expects us to work through these, and even better, He gives us the ability to do that (Romans 8:12-13, 1 Corinthians 10:13). Do we follow a God who has given us power to overcome everything we come up against… except our mental problems?

WHERE WE GO FROM HERE

Medication can give you a boost, that energy you need to get through a depressive period in your life. A relationship with Jesus Christ, however, will provide lasting freedom from sin, joy, and hope for eternity.

Before accepting that the answer for you comes in the form of a pill, look into why you are using or considering mind-altering medication. Ask some heart-searching questions, examine the research, and seek the counsel of those who know more than you, both medically and spiritually. Determine what is guiding your decision-making before grasping at the first promise of rapid relief.

Our fast-paced society claws after an insta-cure for every ailment. Slow down for a moment and…think. Maybe happiness doesn’t come in a pill.

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We don’t have all the answers

Here are a few sources for further reading

1. Little evidence that chemical imbalance causes depression, UCL scientists find,
2. Depression: Antidepressants and the spiritual dimension
3. Antidepressants are not associated with improved quality of life in the long run
4. The evidence in favour of antidepressants is terribly flawed

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