A recent article in the National Post by journalist Sharon Kirkey questions the theory that low serotonin levels in the brain cause depression and if the medications prescribed to help work.
Dr. Marnie Wedlake, a registered psychotherapist and assistant professor in the School of Health Studies at Western University, told The Rob Snow Show on Sept. 16 that the theory is a myth and a major public narrative.
Wedlake explained that the public has always accepted the narrative because it supplies a quick fix to a complex problem.
"You've got multiple players… the healthcare system, we've got the corporate world, we've got the political world, we've got the general public...where everybody has come together and said, 'Okay, here's a great narrative that explains human distress…and it has become a deeply entrenched, publicly prized narrative that people like and they want to hang on to," she said.
Canadian retail drugstores dispensed more than 47.5 million selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) prescriptions in 2021, but Wedlake cautions those on the medication not to abruptly stop taking them.
"There needs to be properly guided, safe withdrawal," she said.
Wedlake said social problems like poverty, racism, oppression and abuse should be further examined as the source of despair and distress.
Listen to the full interview with Dr. Marnie Wedlake below:
