3 ms·

"chemical imbalances", is that a thing?

amelius 5y ago
Drug induced, perhaps.
mkl95 5y ago
I think so. A quick Google search returns 15.3M results. Googling for an exact match returns 217K results. All results seem to be related to mental health.
- earthboundkid 5y ago
  It’s a common phrase, but people who dislike psychiatry are correct to point out that “normal” behavior is also caused by “chemical imbalances”. That’s just basic metaphysical materialism! I don’t agree with them that “there’s no such thing” as mental illness, but I do agree that we medicalize trivial variations too quickly, and what counts as ordered or disordered depends on social context, and we can’t just assume the social context is ordered.
jstx1 5y ago
Yes, that's why there's medication to treat depression, anxiety etc. Obviously it doesn't work for every condition and every person and there's still a lot of research being done but this is one of the main ways to tackle these problems.
jiggunjer 5y ago
Thyroid issues often correlate with mental health issues.
dwaltrip 5y ago
My understanding is that it has gone out of favor as a theory. It wasn’t ever developed into much of a robust model and is sorely lacking in many ways. But this is a layman understanding so I could be missing something.
- BizarroLand 5y ago
  I've been reading a little about epigenetics, the systems by which your body's genetic code responds to your environment. For instance, people with scalp psoriasis can change the epigenetic structure of the skin on their scalp by using anti-psoriatic shampoos, so that the body itself, being freed of the irritance response of psoriasis stops acting like it is psoriatic. Of course, as soon as the medication stops, the psoriasis returns, so it's not a permanent fix, nothing in epigenetics is. The fact that you can alter your genetic representation in real time is an amazing thing to me nevertheless. I said all of that to say that there's a chance that any "chemical imbalances in the brain" might be the reaction to the underlying mental illness, and not the cause of or solution to the mental illness in the first place, and that treating the mental imbalance may give the person time away from the effects of their illness. That, combined with therapy and validation, can conceivably result in "curing" the illness in people that had a chance to recover in the first place by giving them the boost they needed to get over the hump. Not a one-size-fits-all solution, of course, we don't know enough about the brain to know what would be a permanent solution, but in your case, finding your own path and having uplifting experiences thanks to psychedelics might have been all that you needed to put that chapter of your life behind you. This is all armchair conjecture but it's a thought I've been having so I figured I would share.
ada1981 5y ago
So basically this was a theory that came out around when LSD was discovered to impact the serotonin system. It never really panned out but psychiatrists continue to use it. They will say it’s like a metaphor to get people to accept taking medications. When I was confronted w diagnosis of Biploar / schizoaffective and having suicidal depression and psychotic mania — over a decade ago, I basically landed at… the tribe of psychiatry calls the dance I’m doing a certain thing, but their solutions are really not that sound and we can do better. So, I didn’t continue to ignore what was going on, but I went on a personal research mission and took on my diagnosis as a dharma, not a dogma. Ultimately I was able to address the underlying trauma, relationship patterns and language patterns that lead to all of those things, and now lead a life filled with joy, deep calm, gratitude and possibility, with no medications — despite what the standford psychiatrists said was possible. Psychedelics helped as well, and I went on to run an underground clinic in NYC for a few years before they were mainstream; I developed a Breathwork practice that helped as well (without drugs) BioMythic.com, and founded a non-profit w funding from Doc Bronners to legalize access to psychedelic medicines. Also realized the path I was on was really about developing a capacity for deep presence and leadership as founders from Unicorn startups began showing up at my door so to speak to help them master their inner landscapes so they could articulate their bigger visions. I’ve had the honor to be the personal coach on relationship, spirituality, mental wellness and leadership for some of the biggest names in tech. And for me, it was ultimately a discovery that this “thing” that was causing me pain and I was told I needed to medicate away, was actually my greatest gift. And now it’s allowed me to run a multi six figure coaching business for a few hours of client calls a week, while touring around the country in MajikBus.co Anyhow, long rant, but I found other peoples stories really helpful when I was finding my way outside the main stream!

Drug induced, perhaps.

I think so. A quick Google search returns 15.3M results. Googling for an exact match returns 217K results. All results seem to be related to mental health.

earthboundkid 5y ago
It’s a common phrase, but people who dislike psychiatry are correct to point out that “normal” behavior is also caused by “chemical imbalances”. That’s just basic metaphysical materialism! I don’t agree with them that “there’s no such thing” as mental illness, but I do agree that we medicalize trivial variations too quickly, and what counts as ordered or disordered depends on social context, and we can’t just assume the social context is ordered.

jstx1 5y ago

Yes, that's why there's medication to treat depression, anxiety etc. Obviously it doesn't work for every condition and every person and there's still a lot of research being done but this is one of the main ways to tackle these problems.

jiggunjer 5y ago

Thyroid issues often correlate with mental health issues.

dwaltrip 5y ago

My understanding is that it has gone out of favor as a theory. It wasn’t ever developed into much of a robust model and is sorely lacking in many ways. But this is a layman understanding so I could be missing something.

BizarroLand 5y ago
I've been reading a little about epigenetics, the systems by which your body's genetic code responds to your environment. For instance, people with scalp psoriasis can change the epigenetic structure of the skin on their scalp by using anti-psoriatic shampoos, so that the body itself, being freed of the irritance response of psoriasis stops acting like it is psoriatic. Of course, as soon as the medication stops, the psoriasis returns, so it's not a permanent fix, nothing in epigenetics is. The fact that you can alter your genetic representation in real time is an amazing thing to me nevertheless. I said all of that to say that there's a chance that any "chemical imbalances in the brain" might be the reaction to the underlying mental illness, and not the cause of or solution to the mental illness in the first place, and that treating the mental imbalance may give the person time away from the effects of their illness. That, combined with therapy and validation, can conceivably result in "curing" the illness in people that had a chance to recover in the first place by giving them the boost they needed to get over the hump. Not a one-size-fits-all solution, of course, we don't know enough about the brain to know what would be a permanent solution, but in your case, finding your own path and having uplifting experiences thanks to psychedelics might have been all that you needed to put that chapter of your life behind you. This is all armchair conjecture but it's a thought I've been having so I figured I would share.

ada1981 5y ago

So basically this was a theory that came out around when LSD was discovered to impact the serotonin system. It never really panned out but psychiatrists continue to use it. They will say it’s like a metaphor to get people to accept taking medications. When I was confronted w diagnosis of Biploar / schizoaffective and having suicidal depression and psychotic mania — over a decade ago, I basically landed at… the tribe of psychiatry calls the dance I’m doing a certain thing, but their solutions are really not that sound and we can do better. So, I didn’t continue to ignore what was going on, but I went on a personal research mission and took on my diagnosis as a dharma, not a dogma. Ultimately I was able to address the underlying trauma, relationship patterns and language patterns that lead to all of those things, and now lead a life filled with joy, deep calm, gratitude and possibility, with no medications — despite what the standford psychiatrists said was possible. Psychedelics helped as well, and I went on to run an underground clinic in NYC for a few years before they were mainstream; I developed a Breathwork practice that helped as well (without drugs) BioMythic.com, and founded a non-profit w funding from Doc Bronners to legalize access to psychedelic medicines. Also realized the path I was on was really about developing a capacity for deep presence and leadership as founders from Unicorn startups began showing up at my door so to speak to help them master their inner landscapes so they could articulate their bigger visions. I’ve had the honor to be the personal coach on relationship, spirituality, mental wellness and leadership for some of the biggest names in tech. And for me, it was ultimately a discovery that this “thing” that was causing me pain and I was told I needed to medicate away, was actually my greatest gift. And now it’s allowed me to run a multi six figure coaching business for a few hours of client calls a week, while touring around the country in MajikBus.co Anyhow, long rant, but I found other peoples stories really helpful when I was finding my way outside the main stream!