Generation RX: The Dangers of Psychiatric Medications And Altering Brain Chemistry

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A chemical imbalance in the brain is the hypotheses used to explain the cause of various types  of “mental illness.” What is alarming is that there is no scientific proof that a chemical imbalance even exists. Why are we administering brain altering drugs when we  have no proof or any scientific data revealing the direct cause of “mental illness”. We know very little about what we call “mental illness,” in fact we almost know nothing about it. So what is going on here? Do these drugs really help? Why are other options and alternative treatments never mentioned? Why are we changing ones brain chemistry with harmful drugs that have multiple side effects ? Even if chemicals imbalances can be seen in certain ways,we should not label this as the cause of the said mental disorder. Rather, we must look at the cause of the chemical imbalance itself, and look at the factors that influence the chemical activity in our brain, like our environment.

It’s quite ironic actually, because the only imbalances we know of in the brains of people called mental patients are the ones inflicted on them by the psychiatric drugs. How ironic, we make a false claim that they have biochemical imbalances and then we give them biochemical imbalances –  Peter R. Breggin, MD

Does the health of a “mentally ill” person really change when administered these drugs? Prescription drugs kill over 100,000 people each year, are you being medicated incorrectly?



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  1. waltinseattle

    dr breggin is iether ignorant of a huge and established peer reviewed literature or a knowing liar. both chemical imballances and irregularities of areas of the brain in their functioning (particularly functional mri scans studies) have been ESTABLISHED!

    A move is afoot to return psychiatry to a minor psychology realm populated by new age balderdash, pop psychology insisting on willpower to overcome problems like schizophrenia and reliance on religion. yes, there is even a “chaplain” trying to get government health funding DIVERTED to praying one out of dementias and major depression. one is reminded of the shsmless, foolish and anti- individualist right wing “cure” for homosexuality.

    will we see the iron maiden and dunking stool become the frontline therapies? i think some might advocate such regression without a blink.

    of course there is over druging by the industry. this is wider than just mental DISEASE. but would you, Arjun, deny other disease because of bigpharmas self serving cavalier sales campaign?

    much of the confusion comes from within the treatment establishment where social work has marginalized medical modality, aided by patient tights activists who insist the floridly psychotic should enter treatment plan as a complete equall to professionals. you would not expect a car mechanic to second guess a surgeon, a computer repairman or an insurance actualarislist.

    wishes and willpower do not have ewuall footing with scientific findings. and the past of our deplorable programs are not reason to abandon improvements because the “good” doctor is….ignorant or a liar.

    • - Collective Evolution

      Is there peer reviewed literature that outlines the proof of the chemical imbalances? I do not think brain imaging techniques show these imbalances, I think they do reveal abnormal brain circuitry, shape of the brain and different qualities and characteristics of the bran…but chemical structure of the brain? Can you provide any peer reviewed literature that’s out there?

      Even brain circuitry is hardly understood. Even if chemical imbalances are proven, who is to say that is abnormal? Changing brain chemistry occurs within all of us depending on a variety of factors (feelings, emotions, environment). There is a lot to consider here…..and again I must re-iterate that nothing about mental illness has been established with regards to brain chemistry. There is still very little known.

      I think it’s well established that there is a large disconnect between the pharmaceutical sponsored advertising and development of the drugs and the actual research. Again i’d like to reiterate, mental illnesses are thought to be caused by a chemical imbalance.

      • waltinseattle

        i am past feeding citations to those who wont do the legwork, arjun. and your request is ripe with a connotation that the lit is not there to see. if you really just want to “ask a question” then do not write so partisan an essay. write the question the whole question and only the question. as for the whole question…i think some others have graciously…anf ingraciously…gone into it re 2.big pharma, 2.drugs do help some, 3 and more exactitude is needed in prescribing. again this is a current theme in “the lit.” it is. .. under “evidence based” and it is different than the broad easy drug pushing that we all arr well aware of.

        so please admit that the bsby is worth saving before you seem to suggest its time to empty the dirty wash basin of wster…and baby too.

        nothing is sll or nothinh. come back to that zone.

        • - Collective Evolution

          I’ve looked for studies that give full proof to drastic chemical imbalances for certain “mental” disabilities. I can’t seem to find any.

          I like what you said about big pharma, drugs do help some ,and more exactitude being needed.

          Not to sure what you mean by baby worth saving before emptying the dirty wash. I am not the greatest with metaphors :S

          • - Collective Evolution

            There is proof of neurotransmitters (cheimicals) being different….but there is no proof of a chemical imbalance as cause for the labelled mental disorder….I meant to say.

        • YES!

  2. ochichernye

    What is WRONG with you people? Would you tell a cancer patient that what they’re going through isn’t real? I don’t know, maybe some of you actually would since everything is ~~~consciousness~~~ (a buzzword that you probably don’t know the definition of). This community can be so poisonous some times.

    There are people out there who try to give you drugs without knowing anything about you, yes. I visited one once or twice when I was 10. And diagnoses may be given out frequently just to drug children. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t doctors who are actually doing their jobs.

    • nilesmc

      Comparing a so-called ‘chemical imbalance’ diagnosis with cancer is like comparing an apple and an orange.

      The psychiatric world gets together every few years and edits their diagnostic ‘bible’…the DSM. They published the fifth version in May of 2013. One new ‘disease’ is a little thing called ‘oppositional defiant disorder’ which includes angry/irritable mood, argumentative/defiant behavior, and vindictiveness.

      ochichernye, you and I (and just about everyone on planet Earth) would be on a pill if it was up to psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry.

      Do you have any gay or lesbian friends? Guess what? In 1952 the APA listed homosexuality in the DSM as a ‘sociopathic personality disturbance’.

      Is there a pill for that?

      Then there’s ADHD. Attention deficit (boredom) & hyperactivity (excitement) all wrapped up in a little ball. Have you ever watched sports? According to psychiatry very sport fan on the planet could be labeled with this ‘disease’. But then there’s disorder (something’s wrong). I dare you to walk up to a Patriots season ticket holder and tell him he’s got a disorder lol.

      Wouldn’t it be a shame if the cure for a real disease (like cancer) was stolen from humanity because the child who would one day become the scientist who discovered it lost her battle with the SSRI’s and/or anti-psychotics prescribed to her by a school nurse who misdiagnosed her for a fake disease (ADHD)? ‘Shame’ is too kind a description. ‘Criminal’ is more apt.

      Too bad we’ll never, ever know because the cure is buried. It’s either buried in a cemetery or currently buried in the (now permanently chemically imbalanced) mind of a little girl who will never grow to her full potential because it was stolen from her.

      You may ask ‘Who are the thieves?’ Look no further than the education establishment, politics, the medical establishment and the petrochemical/pharmaceutical industry.

      • None Atall

        Oppositional defiant disorder is not new. Why would a child be given antidepressants or an antipsychotic for ADHD? 1952 was an entirely different place and time. Your arguments don’t hold any water. Mental illness exist. Statistically, most are not treated by medication.

      • There are quite severe forms of ADHD that affect peoples lifestyles, health, and well being. I’m not saying we should medicate every hyper kid – but I don’t think you’re giving some of these problems enough credit, some instances are serious enough for medication.

    • - Collective Evolution

      No we wouldn’t, and we are not saying that mental illness isn’t real. We are simply letting everyone know that the chemical imbalance hypothesis is just that, a hypothesis. We are also saying that there is very little known about this phenomenon.

      • this is a misnomer based on scientific jargon. It’s true, too, that gravity is just a theory but no one would argue its very real impact.

  3. Shawn LeMasters

    I’m a paranoid schizophrenic. Schizophrenia doesn’t run in my family. I believe that mine is caused by my fathers exposure to agent orange. And, medication makes a major difference with me. It’s a huge help. But, I’m sure that there are tons of people being medicated that just don’t need to be. Normally, when I visit any kind of doctor, I do the research, and make my own diagnosis known. If I didn’t, I most likely would never receive the care that I need.

    • - Collective Evolution

      Thanks for sharing. We never said anywhere in the article that some medications aren’t effective. We are simply asking questions.

  4. Samuel Gold

    I am Bipolar with Organic Brain disorder. I take many medications. What is the worse for me since I am disabled is Medicare not paying for drugs that make me an exceptionally productive person. When I run out of money and can’t get one of the many meds I am addicted to it’s Bad.. Try Psychiatric medication withdrawal, It make Heroin withdrawal,seem like missing your morning coffee.

  5. JM

    I’ve witnessed my partners continued downward mental and emotional state the last 15 years of continued various and numerous SRI use. The only time she was normal was after she stopped taking them for a year. And then yet another pill fairy Dr. started her on them again. She has never been tested for what they continue to prescribe her pills for. She will never look for a reason nor try anything but take the pills she is prescribed. Many are in the same situation and it is disgusting what is happening.

  6. Bartelo

    But still it is a theory. But the difference is is than no one get’s a prescription for if when in disbalance wit gravity, because there is none.
    I have had a chronic depression almost 20 years and have never had medicines that are consistent for longer than a few year, not even speaking about the side effects.
    And what about Ketamine? It works on a totally different area in the brains. That means the whole theory about the disbalance of serotonine and noradrenaline etc., at the least, isn’t just the answer.
    What about all those people who are meds resistant. The placebo effects are almost as high with the trialpersons using de medicine. There is still a lot to research and discover. I askes my psychiatrist about the progress, none has been made since the last 5 years. It seems to be a dead end. Or in his words: The brain is so complex, we might never truly know houw it works.

  7. S

    This is an irresponsible article. A lot of people are helped by these drugs. Scaring them into stopping what makes their life normal is cruel. I was put on SSRI for anxiety at age 18. As I got older I read a lot of articles on the subject and some, like this one, encourage the discontinuation and imply that the drug itself is the source of the problem. I decided to quit and slowly tappered down until I was meds free. About a month after stopping completly, my anxiety resurfaced worst than ever. Thinking it was the withdrawl effect, I resisted going back on my SSRI for months until I started having suicidal toughts. I lost about 20 pounds, had extreme insomnia and heart palpitations. I started taking the drug again and I’m still struggling. If it was only placebo, why would there be withdrawl? If I was having only withdrawl, then why taking the drug again didn’t make the symptoms go away? It’s because it did work and I do have a condition that requires chemichal treatment. It’s both a phisycal and mental illness that cannot be only wished away. I am a lot better now but there is still a lot to conquer to return to my old self.
    I agree that many people are prescribed drugs without really needing them, but I can tell you that they are not the harmfull demons that some think they are. If it were a different time, people like me who need these drugs would be on opiates, be alcoholics or would have simply killed themselves. All the natural remedies, nutrition and meditation in the world cannot cure mental illeness. I can tell you from experience that it takes enormous strenght to continue treatment when articles like this pop up everywhere telling you that you are being naive and used by big pharma. My reality is that I live a normal life, I have a job, a husband, friends, and I intend to keep it that way. I tried to stop the drugs because I got scared from the ”expert opinions” and ”whistle blowers” who said the drugs were doing more harm than good. In reality, they were helping me be normal. Without them I would not be here today.
    My experience is not everyone’s, I am sure. But consider that medication CAN HELP YOU IF YOU NEED IT. It won’t if you don’t. Please don’t believe evertthing you read. Don’t believe me either; maybe I’m just a nut, after all. Make your own opinion. Not everything you read is true.

    • RaviK

      The article is not irresponsible, it is not complete. Modern medicine does not understand the whole picture either. Drugs are not the solution to everything and if you look at these drugs some of the side effects are the same or worse than what they are trying to control. A good place to start is research on the GAPS (Gut and Psychology Syndrome). The 100 trillion bacteria that live in our gut has a much more profound effect on our physical and mental health than what we are made to believe (and modern medicine is just now starting to discover gut flora related issues). These issues can be resolved easily and safely with diet and probiotic help and not with dangerous drugs. Peace.

  8. Gai Waterlow

    I think this is more urgent: Nearly 1,000,000 people have already died since Chernobyl. One of the most monstrous cover-ups in the history of medicine.
    Japan is by orders of magnitude many times worse than Chernobyl.
    Plutonium is spreading out across the northern hemishpere. When it rains down comes the fallout poisoning everything they try to grow for six hundred years. I think Japan just stole the thunder from wikileaks.
    I guess you all will need to move to Australia before you get sick. All I ask is you leave behind all politicians and scientists to rot in their own man made hell.

  9. chris

    Its hard to take articles like this seriously when there are such obvious grammatical errors like “Even if chemicals imbalances can be seen”. I mean if the individual writing the article wants to be taken serious on such an important issue you would think they would review the article before publishing it. just sayn

    • I was just about to write the same thing! This is not the first article I’ve read on CE with errors.

      Are we so dependent on autocorrect that we no longer proof read our own writings? Ones that will be published and widely distributed none the less.

      Take a little pride, Arjun.

      • - Collective Evolution

        :) I’m not as concerned with spelling as others suggest I should be, but we do our best! :) Thanks for reading.

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