Does antidepressant really cure depression?.

[ardianto]

I am not in depression. I create this thread because I read articles about antidepressants which claimed can cure depression. I wonder, does antidepressant cure depression like cough syrup cures cough, or just giving temporary calming effect like sedative which someone need to use this medicine continuously?.

From what I know depression caused by problem in life. In example, someone is unemployed and it makes him got depression. If he consume antidepressant for one month, then can he live happily although he still unemployed?. Or actually he need to always consume antidepressant to make him feel better?.

I have this question because I remember behavior of people who drink alcohol to make them feel better when they are in problem. Alcohol make them feel better for a moment, but then they realize that they are still in problem. So, they drink again.

Yeah, can someone free from problem without do anything to solve this problem?.

 

[Scimitar]

I used to take these things bro. They don't work - they just block out all feelings/emotions and turn one into a veggie who stares at people who talk to them and then wonder what they said because their mind was blank the whole time...

...you know those Buddhist mystics who claim they can meditate and then empty their minds? trust me I know how that feels and its bloody over rated

Diazepam was fun though, it left me so relaxed and unable to move, that I enjoyed knowing what dead people felt like... imagine that?

The only thing which got me through depression was reliance on Allah. Everything else failed - but I had to put the effort in too - I started to make salaah, make long dua - directly giving my problems to ALlah with all my heart and soul - man I gotta tell ya, there's no feeling like being able to shed your problem to ONE you know who can fix them, in the blink of an eye if HE so willed.

Allahu Akbar!!!

Scimi

EDIT: regarding your question, I don't think it's advisable to give anti depressants to alcoholics... they could end up harming themselves or worse.

 

[ardianto]

I used to take these things bro. They don't work - they just block out all feelings/emotions and turn one into a veggie who stares at people who talk to them and then wonder what they said because their mind was blank the whole time...

...you know those Buddhist mystics who claim they can meditate and then empty their minds? trust me I know how that feels and its bloody over rated

Diazepam was fun though, it left me so relaxed and unable to move, that I enjoyed knowing what dead people felt like... imagine that?

More than can imagine. I really know its effect.

But it makes us weak. When we were in problem, instead of facing and solving the problem, we prefer to run to drug to forget the problem. However, when the drug effect has gone we would realize that we were still in problerm. So, we use drug again and let the problem going bigger and bigger.

The only thing which got me through depression was reliance on Allah. Everything else failed - but I had to put the effort in too - I started to make salaah, make long dua - directly giving my problems to ALlah with all my heart and soul - man I gotta tell ya, there's no feeling like being able to shed your problem to ONE you know who can fix them, in the blink of an eye if HE so willed.

Allahu Akbar!!!

Scimi

There was a time when I failed in business. It made me 'down'. Then I bring myself closer to Allah, and I realize that I am not disabled. It made me grateful. Yes, I remember few disabled people who I knew. They lived in disability, but they worked to fulfill their needs. They didn't want to beg. It made me ashamed and raised my motivation to work.

EDIT: regarding your question, I don't think it's advisable to give anti depressants to alcoholics... they could end up harming themselves or worse.

I agree with you.

 

[ardianto]

The trigger that made me create this thread is few articles which claim that antidepressant can cure depression after few months usage.

I imagine if a wife get depressed because her husband treat her badly. Then after she use antidepressant for few months will she happy if her husband still treat her badly?.

I wonder, how can those people claim that depression can be cured without the patient need to do something to solve the problem that cause this depression?.

This is different than opinion from psychologists which people in depression need to get therapy to make them able to deal with problems that cause depression. The benefit of antidepressant is just to make them calm for a moment.

 

[MuslimInshallah]

Assalaamu alaikum,

Mmm, this is an interesting question. Though small note: Diazepam (also well known as Valium) and the other kinds of benzodiazepines are not antidepressants. They are anxiolytics. That is, they help you feel calmer if you are stressed or anxious. But they may be used in conjunction with antidepressants. It depends on the person's symptoms and responses to various medications.

(smile) As I said, an interesting question. Perhaps we could start by asking: do cough syrups really "cure" coughs?

Cough syrups may have various different ingredients in them. They may suppress the cough. They may help loosen up the phlegm in your chest. They may have ingredients that dry up the secretions in your sinuses that might be dripping down your throat while you sleep and irritating your chest enough to cough. (twinkle) And they may just convince you that they are useful, and so you stop fretting about not being able to sleep because of a cough, and sleep.

A cough is a normal and useful body reaction to things that irritate your airways. It helps you clear out your lungs and keep them clean. In many cases, it's not useful to suppress a cough. And depending on the underlying cause of the cough, it may even be dangerous. (smile) And yet we so confidently down all sorts of syrups!

So when evaluating whether we really ought to take something for a cough, we ought to be looking at the underlying causes. For instance, are you coughing because you have a nasty cold? Well, coughing is good. You want to keep any guck away from your lungs, right? But say you can't sleep because of the cough. Knowing that sleep is a time for the body to heal and that the immune system is more active when you are sleeping, it may be that the benefit of taking a cough suppressant in this case outweighs the harm of keeping a bit of guck in your airways.

So sometimes, a cough suppressant can be a useful way to help you heal.

But what if you are having an asthma attack, and this is what is making you cough? Your lungs are inflamed and perhaps full of secretions. You are not breathing very effectively. Do you think that taking a cough suppressant is a good idea? Of course not… you need to try to get away from whatever you are allergic to, and, if it's this bad already, you're going to probably need a medication to break the cycle of inflammation in your lungs.

Antidepressants are like cough syrups, really. They are medicines that may be useful in certain cases, but really, you also need to look at the underlying causes of your depression. Depression is not a simple problem. It is caused by various, not-well-understood and defined factors that interact. A person's particular biology is a factor. So is their physical environment. Medications for other problems can contribute to depression. A person's social network has a huge effect (did you know that having few social connections is as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day?!). Spiritual connections help protect against depression. The modern industrial world contributes to depression.

Just giving a person a pill to make them feel better, you are right, is not a great way to deal with depression. But it may be that, once a person is really in a deep depression, they may have trouble getting out. A bit like an asthmatic whose state is now so severe that they need medications, even if they can get away from what is triggering their asthma. So sometimes, antidepressants can be useful, and even life-saving. But just like the asthmatic who doesn't want to let go of the cat she is so allergic to, merely treating the biologic side of things is clearly not enough. If a person is isolated, exposed to a toxic work environment, reeling from trauma, taking a medication that's throwing her mood out of whack, or suffering from an underlying disease that is affecting his mood… obviously, treating underlying causes is the sensible thing to do.

(sigh) But in our crazy world, where we have no time for each other, where we are stressed to incredible levels by inhuman industrialized modes of existing (and our lives are dreary repetitions of the day before), where God is shunted aside as irrelevant or even backwards, where our food is bland and lacking in nutrients… antidepressants are seemingly so easy. Just pop a pill and voilà- instant happiness!

(sad) In this case, all we are doing, is postponing the inevitable. If the antidepressants help us to continue to function in a crazy world… the world will not improve; it will only get crazier, pushing the limits of human endurance.

I do believe that antidepressants can be useful. But I also believe that they are being abused. (gently) I think we need to reach out to one another. Ardianto talks about silaturahim. From what I understand from his postings, what he means is something like a combination of building community and fellowship. I completely agree with this concept. We need more of this. (smile) I notice one of our members has changed her name to BeTheChange. I think this about sums up what we need to do.

(smile) These are my 2 cents.

May Allah, the Perceiver, Help us to see and understand, and Give us the strength to do what we need to do.

 

[ardianto]

Antidepressant can make the patient calm for a moment, and will gives him a chance to thinking better to solve the problem that cause his depression. But it doesn't mean antidepressant will make him cured from depression without doing something to deal with his problem.

What makes me concerned is claim from some people that antidepressant will cure depression after usage for certain time. But they didn't say anything about the cause of depression itself.

I notice, there is habit among some people, especially in the West, when they are in depression, they run to antidepressant without try to do something to deal with the problems that make them depressed.

Frankly, I begin to see correlation between this habit and claims that antidepressant will cure depression. Seem like there is a misconception about depression among people.

 

[Scimitar]

i had to take 3 pills a day when I was on them, all three were different. One in the morning and two at night. One of which was diazepam - a muscle relaxant - not an anti-depressant, although - relaxing makes one less depressed so really - is it not an anti-depressant?

I think not. The doctors can call them what they want, medical journals can claim what they like - but the truth of their effects will be with the patient alone.

my personal opinion - do they work?

NO.

They only delay the moment you can deal with the problem as bro Ardianto mentioned above.

Scimi

 

[ardianto]

i had to take 3 pills a day when I was on them, all three were different. One in the morning and two at night. One of which was diazepam - a muscle relaxant - not an anti-depressant, although - relaxing makes one less depressed so really - is it not an anti-depressant?

I think not. The doctors can call them what they want, medical journals can claim what they like - but the truth of their effects will be with the patient alone.

my personal opinion - do they work?

NO.

Diazepam (Valium) is known as sleeping pill to make the patient can sleep easier. But youth use this pill for another purpose.

They only delay the moment you can deal with the problem as bro Ardianto mentioned above.

Scimi

Unfortunately, instead of use the moment to find solution for their problems, patients usually just relax and let the problem still happen.

 

[Scimitar]

Technically speaking, it is not a sleeping pill bro Ardianto - it is technically a muscle relaxant, and used for more than an aid to treat depression and anxiety disorders alongside other medications - it is also used on physical trauma patients who have suffered an injury and sometimes even prescribed to patients before surgery to help the muscles tissue relax before the procedure.

One pill - many uses...

[h=2]Diazepam dosing information[/h]Usual Adult Dose of Diazepam for Anxiety:
Oral: 2 to 10 mg 2 to 4 times a day.
IM or IV: 2 to 5 mg (moderate anxiety) or 5 to 10 mg (severe anxiety) for one dose. May repeat in 3 to 4 hours, if necessary.
Usual Adult Dose of Diazepam for Alcohol Withdrawal:
Oral: 10 mg 3 to 4 times during the first 24 hours, then 5 mg 3 to 4 times a day as needed.
IM or IV: 5 to 10 mg one time. May repeat in 3 to 4 hours, if necessary.
Usual Adult Dose of Diazepam for ICU Agitation:
Initial dose: 0.02 to 0.08 mg/kg IV over 2 to 5 minutes every 0.5 to 2 hours to control acute agitation.
Maintenance dose: 0.4 to 0.2 mg/kg/hr by continuous IV infusion.
Usual Adult Dose of Diazepam for Muscle Spasm:
Oral: 2 to 10 mg 3 to 4 times a day.
IM or IV: 5 to 10 mg initially, then 5 to 10 mg in 3 to 4 hours, if necessary. For tetanus, larger doses may be required.
Usual Adult Dose of Diazepam for Seizures:
Oral: 2 to 10 mg 2 to 4 times a day.
Rectal gel: 0.2 mg/kg, rounded up to the nearest available unit dose. A supplemental dose of 2.5 mg may be added for more precise titration or if a portion of the first dose is expelled. May repeat in 4 to 12 hours. Maximum of 1 episode every 5 days, or 5 episodes per month.
Usual Adult Dose of Diazepam for Endoscopy or Radiology Premedication:
IV: 10 mg or less is usually adequate; however up to 20 mg may be necessary to produce the desired sedation in some patients.
IM: If IV cannot be used, 5 to 10 mg 30 minutes prior to the procedure.
Dosage of narcotics should be reduced by at least a third and in some cases may be omitted.
Usual Adult Dose of Diazepam for Status Epilepticus:
IV or IM: 5 to 10 mg initially (IV preferred).
May be repeated at 10 to 15 minute intervals up to a maximum dose of 30 mg.
If necessary, may be repeated again in 2 to 4 hours.
Usual Adult Dose of Diazepam for Light Anesthesia:
Premedication for Anesthesia:
10 mg, IM (preferred route), 1 to 2 hours before surgery.
Usual Pediatric Dose for Seizures:
Rectal gel:
Infants less than 6 months old: Not recommended; product contains benzoic acid, benzyl alcohol, ethanol 10%, propylene glycol, and sodium benzoate. Prolonged CNS depression has been reported in neonates receiving diazepam.
Infants and Children 6 months to 2 years: Dose not established
2 to 5 years: 0.5 mg/kg, rounded up to the nearest available unit dose.
6 to 11 years: 0.3 mg/kg, rounded up to the nearest available unit dose.
12 years or greater: 0.2 mg/kg, rounded up to the nearest available unit dose.
A supplemental dose of 2.5 mg may be added in 10 minutes for more precise titration or if a portion of the first dose is expelled. May repeat in 4 to 12 hours. Maximum of 1 episode every 5 days, or 5 episodes per month.
Usual Pediatric Dose for Status Epilepticus:
Neonates: IV: (This is not recommended as a first line agent because the injection contains benzoic acid, benzyl alcohol, and sodium benzoate): 0.1 to 0.3 mg/kg/dose given over 3 to 5 minutes, every 15 to 30 minutes to a maximum total dose of 2 mg.

Infants greater than 30 days old and Children: IV: 0.1 to 0.3 mg/kg dose given over 3 to 5 minutes, every 5 to 10 minutes (maximum of 10 mg/dose).

Manufacturer recommendation:

Infants greater than 30 days old and Children less than 5 years: IV: 0.2 to 0.5 mg slow IV every 2 to 5 minutes up to a maximum total dose of 5 mg. Repeat in 2 to 4 hours if needed.

Children greater than or equal to 5 years: IV: 1 mg slow IV every 2 to 5 minutes up to a maximum of 10 mg. Repeat in 2 to 4 hours if needed.
Usual Pediatric Dose for Anxiety:
1 to 12 years:
Oral: 0.12 to 0.8 mg/kg/day in divided doses every 6 to 8 hours as needed.

IM: 0.04 to 0.3 mg/kg every 2 to 4 hours as needed, up to a maximum of 0.6 mg/kg in 8 hours.

Febrile seizure prophylaxis in children: Oral: 1 mg/kg/day orally in divided doses every 8 hours. Initiate therapy at first sign of fever and continue for 24 hours after fever resolves.
Usual Pediatric Dose for Muscle Spasm:
1 to 12 years:
Oral: 0.12 to 0.8 mg/kg/day in divided doses every 6 to 8 hours as needed.

IM: 0.04 to 0.3 mg/kg every 2 to 4 hours as needed, up to a maximum of 0.6 mg/kg in 8 hours.

Febrile seizure prophylaxis in children: Oral: 1 mg/kg/day orally in divided doses every 8 hours. Initiate therapy at first sign of fever and continue for 24 hours after fever resolves.
Usual Pediatric Dose of Diazepam for Seizure Prophylaxis:
1 to 12 years:
Oral: 0.12 to 0.8 mg/kg/day in divided doses every 6 to 8 hours as needed.

IM: 0.04 to 0.3 mg/kg every 2 to 4 hours as needed, up to a maximum of 0.6 mg/kg in 8 hours.

Febrile seizure prophylaxis in children: Oral: 1 mg/kg/day orally in divided doses every 8 hours. Initiate therapy at first sign of fever and continue for 24 hours after fever resolves.
Usual Pediatric Dose for Light Sedation:
Conscious sedation for procedures:
Oral:
1 to 12 years: 0.2 to 0.3 mg/kg orally 45 to 60 minutes before procedure, up to a maximum of 10 mg
13 to 18 years: 5 mg orally 45 to 60 minutes before procedure, may repeat with 2.5 mg dose.

Sedation:
1 to 12 years:
Oral: 0.02 to 0.3 mg/kg every 6 to 8 hours as needed.
IM: 0.04 to 0.3 mg/kg IM every 2 to 4 hours as needed, up to a maximum of 0.6 mg/kg in 8 hours.

13 to 18 years:
Oral: 2 to 10 mg 2 to 4 times a day as needed.
IM or IV: 2 to 10 mg 2 to 4 times a day as needed.
Usual Pediatric Dose for Tetanus:
Less than 1 month: 0.83 to 1.67 mg/kg/hour by continuous IV infusion, or 1.67 to 3.33 mg/kg IV, slowly, every 2 hours (20 to 40 mg/kg/day). Diazepam injection is not recommended as the drug of choice for neonates due to its benzyl alcohol and propylene glycol content.

1 month to 5 years: 1 to 2 mg IM or IV, slowly, repeated every 3 to 4 hours as necessary, or 15 mg/kg/day in divided doses every 2 hours.

Greater than 5 years: 5 to 10 mg IM or IV, slowly, repeated every 3 to 4 hours as necessary.

Diazepam may also be used for purposes not listed in this medication guide.

http://www.drugs.com/diazepam.html

Scimi

 

[MuslimInshallah]

Assalaamu alaikum Scimi,

(smile) Ardianto is correct, actually, these drugs are very often prescribed to help with problems sleeping. They basically calm you down. Can they be used as anticonvulsants and muscle relaxants? Yes, but these are not their primary uses.

(gently) If you want to discuss medication, you can PM me. This is my area of specialization, actually. (smile) I've chosen not to practice, and to focus on my family and community, but I'm up-to-date and if you want any info, I'd be happy to help you out.

May Allah, the Compassionate, Help us to be good to one another.

 

[Scimitar]

I'm no longer suffering any depressions, haven't done for years and have found what makes me happy and content - Islam

thanks for the offer...

...my advice for anyone suffering anxiety or depression - go to your masjid, make salaah in congregation, keep going - your depression is a sign of your soul wanting to reconnect with Allah, your anxiety is the desperation with which it wants to reconnect with Allah.

Scimi

 

[ardianto]

(smile) Ardianto is correct, actually, these drugs are very often prescribed to help with problems sleeping. They basically calm you down. Can they be used as anticonvulsants and muscle relaxants? Yes, but these are not their primary uses.

Assalamualaikum, sister.

Actually what I mean with youth use this pill for another purpose is drug abuse. They use Valium for 'fly'. This drug and other similar drugs are distributed illegally too on the streets and usually used by 'the beginners' before they go to heroin.

The effect of drug abuse like this is make the users become mentally weak. When they are in problem, instead of try to deal with problem, they choose to use drug to make them forget their problem. But when the effect of drug has gone they realize that they still in problem. So they use drug again.

 

[MuslimInshallah]

Assalaamu alaikum,

(smile) I know that people abuse these drugs, both on the street and through prescriptions. (sigh) They are very addictive, actually. (pensively) And it is a human weakness to look for easy fixes to life's challenges. Not just in the "West" (which does not really exist, in my opinion. This is a stereotype that just serves to divide us, I believe), but around the world, and throughout time.

Still, while I agree wholeheartedly with Scimi's assertion that our connection with God has a profound impact on our ability to cope with life's challenges, I feel that to throw everyone into the same basket and suggest that anyone who is undergoing a major depression just needs to deepen his or her faith is a little unfair. There are various different influences that can trigger a depression, and some people really do have a need to seek the help of others and of medication. (gently) Imagine if someone reads this thread, who is feeling very terrible. Perhaps they have been praying and begging their Lord for some help. Perhaps they feel the shame that so many do about perceived mental disease. Perhaps they are desperately looking for some way to deal with situations or biological imbalances that are out of their control. I would not like such a person to feel that it is all just his/her fault, and that he/she just needs to get a grip and go to the masjid. I'd want to tell that person to feel that he/she is a valuable and beautiful person who is undergoing a really hard test. That it is a really important thing to ask Allah for help. But that it is also sometimes necessary to get help from other people and from medication.

(meditatively) I have a neighbour who was struggling with depression a few years ago. So she went to the doctor. And she found that she had a brain tumour (actually a metastasis from a previous breast cancer). And do you know what she told me? That she was relieved when she discovered it was a tumour! She said she felt so horrible with the depression, that knowing it was "only" a tumour gave her hope…

So some people can suffer very greatly from depression, I believe.

Of course, we cannot just rely on medication to solve all our troubles. (smile) Allah Created us on this Earth to struggle to worship Him. Only taking medicines, with no other efforts, is a laziness and will unlikely solve our problems.

However, Allah also offers us ways to deal with life's challenges. And the recourse to medicines- where appropriate- is a Gift he has Given us, I believe. (smile) I believe this falls under tying your camels or going out to look for your rizq, before you leave everything in Allah's Hands. We need to take all steps that we can to deal with our particular situations. (mildly) And as we may not really understand the depth of another person's suffering, I think we need to be open-hearted about the choices they may feel they need to make.

May Allah, the Kind, Help us to remember that with hardship comes ease.

 

[ardianto]

Assalaamu alaikum,

Wa’alaikumsalam, sister.

Early of 2009 when I was a new member, a sister made a thread and asked, could she consume black seeds to cure her depression?. I made a post with advice that she should do few things like smile to other people, go to park, give a little help to other people, ..... to make her feel better. But she replied my post with anger, she used anger emoticon and asked me "Do you know what is depression??!!".

I was so shocked. I didn't intend to offend her. I gave that advice because I thought consume something is not a good way to deal with depression. Consume black seeds maybe safe and just give her suggestive effect which she feel better. But then she emotionally depend on black seeds which she would not feel confident without consuming black seeds. Yeah, my advice actually was focus on building self confidence.

Do I know what is depression?. Maybe not. I know what is stress because sometime I feel it. I've ever felt 'down' when I failed in my business. But I doubt if I've ever really depressed. I didn't feel few things which described as symptoms of depression such as draw myself from social life or lose hope of life.

I always believe that I can't run from problem because if I run from problem, then problem will chase me. So, the only way to deal with problem is face it and solve it. Sometime problem made me stress. So I tried to refresh my mind through go to park or other place and then think about solution. Give a little help to other people make me realize that I still have benefit for the others, then it raise up my confidence. Smile?. If I smile, then other people will smile at me too, and it makes me realize that I still have those who care on me. Of course, I also make dua and bring myself closer to Allah because it's really make me feel better.

I often feel concerned because there are people who choose to use something to make them forget their problem, and I always believe that depression caused by problems in their life. I often wonder, why they choose to run from problem?. Don't they know that if they run from problem, then problem will chase them?.

However, as you have said, we may not really understand the depth of another person's suffering. Everyone has different experience of life, everyone learn about life in different way.

But I still believe that the best way to help someone in problem is make him/her strong to face the problem. And deceive people that their problems can be solved through consume something without do anything to deal with the problem is not the right way.

 

[OmAbdullah]

This is very true that cause of depression /anxiety must be removed. The tranquilizers can cause suicidal attempts in the patients. Again this is very true that Islam and the remembrance of Allah is the real treatment of depression. By obeying and worshipping Allah we get 2 benefits, one is the patience on the problem, 2nd is the effect of duaa, Allah will solve the problem. But there are some disorders of personality. Their treatment seems to be such drugs, though with light dose.

There is another big problem. A patient is suffering from filariasis. It is a type of worm of different sizes which enters a body in a dark, humid place. It may live in the skin or under the skin or inside the body cavities. Once a woman got such a disease. She used to complain that some thing long runs very fast in her back. The doctor gave her many tranquilizers + sleeping pills. She was labeled as a psychiatry patient. She threw all of those medicines and travelled to her country. The filaria's course was completed in 6 months and it left her body by the Grace of Allah.

Now the problem is that in the Eastern countries, the medical practitioners don't revise their books, and thus may give wrong diagnosis like we see in the above case. In the USA a doctor will try to see his physician desk reference book for long time in front of his patient. Yes, this is quite normal there. But not so in the Eastern countries where if a doctor opens his book in front of a patient, then the patient will laugh at him thinking that he doesn't know his subject. So Filariasis is diagnosed as psychiatry illness which is then treated with tranquilizers and sleeping pills.

 

[ardianto]

This is very true that cause of depression /anxiety must be removed. The tranquilizers can cause suicidal attempts in the patients. Again this is very true that Islam and the remembrance of Allah is the real treatment of depression. By obeying and worshipping Allah we get 2 benefits, one is the patience on the problem, 2nd is the effect of duaa, Allah will solve the problem. But there are some disorders of personality. Their treatment seems to be such drugs, though with light dose.

There is another big problem. A patient is suffering from filariasis. It is a type of worm of different sizes which enters a body in a dark, humid place. It may live in the skin or under the skin or inside the body cavities. Once a woman got such a disease. She used to complain that some thing long runs very fast in her back. The doctor gave her many tranquilizers + sleeping pills. She was labeled as a psychiatry patient. She threw all of those medicines and travelled to her country. The filaria's course was completed in 6 months and it left her body by the Grace of Allah.

Now the problem is that in the Eastern countries, the medical practitioners don't revise their books, and thus may give wrong diagnosis like we see in the above case. In the USA a doctor will try to see his physician desk reference book for long time in front of his patient. Yes, this is quite normal there. But not so in the Eastern countries where if a doctor opens his book in front of a patient, then the patient will laugh at him thinking that he doesn't know his subject. So Filariasis is diagnosed as psychiatry illness which is then treated with tranquilizers and sleeping pills.

Assalamualaikum, sister.

Compared with the Westerners, the Easterners indeed are easier to believe what the others say. Sometime it cause misdiagnosis although it only happen in level of health clinic where doctors don't do further medical check.

But in matter of antidepressant usage, the Easterners are better. Percentage of people who use antidepressants in the East not as big as in the West. I think it's because the Easterners are stronger in spiritual matter. It's not only among religious people, but also among non-religious. Non-religious don't pray, of course, but they do exercises such as meditation.