Are Your Meds Making You Depressed?
Consider Approaches from the Naturopathic Medicine Toolbox
I was blown away earlier this month by the report of our 30% increased suicide rate since the turn of the century. Then last week came the JAMA study, indicting 200 commonly prescribed medications which we learned may cause the side effect of depression.
A third of adults take at least one of these medications. These are not rare and unusual meds, rather drugs commonly prescribed such as beta blockers, anti-anxiety medications, proton pump inhibitors, ibuprofen and other pain killers, and common blood pressure medications. The risk of depression increases if you are taking more than one of these pharmaceuticals, and many people are.
As a licensed naturopathic doctor for over three decades, I’ve helped many patients reduce or discontinue prescription drugs. I stay in close communication with the prescribing physician and then it takes a combination of careful understanding of underlying pathology, sustained lifestyle modifications, evidence-based natural medicines, and gradual, guided reduction of dosing. It’s important to underscore that many drugs are essential and brilliant and work perfectly well with…
