The thesis isn't that they're bad, but an incomplete part of the picture. We in the West like simple solutions to complex problems. Throwing medication at your

The thesis isn't that they're bad, but an incomplete part of the picture. We in the West like simple solutions to complex problems. Throwing medication at your depression and calling it a day is no more effective for mental health than dropping money out of a helicopter is for improving the economy. The key role that medication plays is to shake you out of a vicious cycle; it gives you a window, a break from the deepening groove your mind has gotten itself into so that you have the capacity to do other things that will have a more lasting effect. It doesn't solve the problem all by itself, yet many people expect it to. (Speaking as someone who's dealt with depression and who has many friends with varying combinations of depression and anxiety, who have taken varying strategies for dealing with them.)