Dear Health-Conscious Friend,

Depression is not something we should take lightly. It affects people on levels that escape the imagination – mood swings, suicidal thoughts, inability to perform the simplest of daily tasks. And that’s just the disorder itself. The medication brings with it a whole new list of side-effects and problems. Not to mention the fact that those little pills could affect your unborn child too!

Christine O’Brien reveals the scary facts...

In the name of good health,

Taryn Strugnell
Managing Editor of Nutrition & Healing

P.S. We pump so many unnatural drugs into our bodies daily; anti-depressants could be one of them. But what alternatives are there? Dr Wright reveals the all-natural substitution for potentially harmful drugs...

Don't harm your unborn child with mood enhancers!
Christine O'Brien
Contributor to Nutrition & Healing

Let's say you're pregnant (men, if your imagination isn't so vivid, let's say your wife is pregnant). You learn of a substance that could raise the risk of heart malformations in your child by over 44%.

Would you want to stay as far away from that substance as possible? Or would you, informed of this risk, make the decision to ingest this substance into your body on a daily basis?

I'm sure many of you are thinking, "Are you crazy? Is that even a question? Of course I wouldn't touch that stuff with a ten-foot barge pole!"

But after reviewing the results of a major study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), one doctor wrote a letter to the journal, saying women should give informed consent before taking SSRIs (serotonin-specific reuptake inhibitor - typically used as an anti-depressant).

In the BMJ study, the risk was greatest with sertraline (a hydrochloride anti-depressant), but there was a risk for heart and overall malformations associated with a variety of SSRIs.

So the call for caution is a good thing, certainly. But is a call for informed consent even enough? With a soaring risk of birth defects, maybe pregnant women should just plain not take SSRIs.

And what about everyone else - men and women who aren't pregnant? Do they get a fair chance at "informed consent"? Because the risks are just as serious - suicidal thoughts, uneven heartbeat, tremors, memory problems, seizure, impulsive behaviour.

Unfortunately, that's just the tip of the iceberg.

But, see, this opens another can of worms. Can telling a patient of all the risks associated with SSRIs even begin to compete with the incredibly powerful message created by the advertising for these drugs?

Often you're presented with cutesy ads about how SSRIs can solve all your problems.

And, of course, when I went searching for side effects of these drugs using a popular drug information web, expecting straight information, I ended up having to watch several ads for OTHER anti-depressants. There's just no escaping the marketing machine.

Plus, they really know how to work the fear - on that same site, pregnant women are warned of life-threatening lung problems. But in the very next sentence, they're warned that they could relapse if they stop taking the anti-depressant during pregnancy.

You can really get caught up in the story of the bouncing ball that goes from sobbing to grinning in a flash. With a message as powerful as "this drug will make all your problems go away", coupled with the lip service being paid to the very dangerous risks, it's not surprising that so many people choose these poisons in an effort to reclaim their lives. Depression is a serious issue and it's easy to feel like there's no other choice. But there ARE other options - much, much safer ones.

Dr. Wright has seen great success with one option in particular. In fact, he says that in 30 years of practice, he's found that depression could almost always be beaten with this method. You can read about it in the Q & A section below...

The anti anti-antidepressant mood lifter

Q: I've struggled with depression most of my adult life and have taken prescription antidepressants off and on for years. I hate the side effects, but I hate the depression even more. I know there are many natural mood-lifters, but I'd prefer not to try dozens of different things if I don't have to. In your opinion, what is the most effective natural remedy for depression?

Dr. Wright: In over 30 years of practice, I've found that an individualised programme including an individualised amino acid protocol almost always clears depression. Although not every clinically depressed individual has low essential amino acids, the majority do, so I always recommend that patients battling depression be tested for these key nutrients.
You can have your fasting essential amino acids checked with a blood test.  If your essential amino acids are low, make sure to use a blend of all eight essential amino acids (including tryptophan) individualised for you. And, just as importantly, make sure to look for the cause of your low levels. It probably won't surprise you to learn that, quite often, that cause turns out to be hypochlorhydria, or low stomach acid.

If that's the case, then add injections of vitamin B12 with folic acid to your programme: These are always a good idea for anyone with low stomach acid. Individualised amino acids along with these injections can frequently help your depression clear up within a few months. (Although, usually, when my patients add the specific combination of amino acids determined by their personal test results to their supplement programmes, they start feeling better in just a few weeks.)

As you can tell, all of this may be a little complicated, so it's best to work with a doctor skilled and knowledgeable in nutritional and natural medicine to help you coordinate it all. For a list of such physicians in your area, contact the South African Society for Integrated Medicine on
(021) 887-5364 or email them on lucia@integrativemedicine.co.za.