Conventional Med

PET Scans: Proof That Depression Is a Chemical Imbalance or a Psychiatric Delusion?

November 27, 2011 by admin in Science with 476 Comments

Man as puzzle pieces

 

According to pharmaceutical drug-based psychiatry, depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. In spite of decades of research, this has never been proven. Now though, we’re seeing claims from medical science that PET scans prove there is a physical basis for depression. Are those claims meaningful—or merely flummery designed to give an impression with no bearing on reality?

The Scientists’ Claim

John Mann, MD, head of the neuroscience department of the New York State Psychiatric Institute who did research on PET (positron emission tomography) scans in depression studies stated:

For years people have said that depression or mood disorders are a chemical imbalance in the brain. Now we have a large imaging center here on the medical campus and we’re actually able to image brain neurotransmitter systems in patients. Now we’ve shown unequivocal evidence of neurotransmitter abnormalities in bipolar disorder and in major depression…

Obviously, Mann believes—or wants us to believe—that there has never really been any doubt about depression, along with other so-called brain diseases, being caused by chemical imbalances. He states that PET scans prove, unequivocally, that people with bipolar disorder and major depression have abnormal brains.

Examination of the PET Scan Proof

So what’s his proof? It’s in this PET scan image from the Mayo Clinic:

PET Scan, Depressed vs Nondepressed, by Mayo Clinic

Image Source: Mayo Clinic (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/medical/IM00356)

The apparent differences between the brains of a depressed person, as shown on the left, and a “normal” person, as shown on the right, are impressive. The “normal” person’s brain appears to be far more active.

That seems quite convincing. Since the brain’s activity level is significantly different, it looks like there must be some underlying difference in the brains, something like a chemical imbalance. Let’s examine that idea more closely.

What happens while sleeping? PET scans have been used to study that question, and they demonstrate that different parts of the brain become more and less active during different stages of sleep and in wakefulness.  Regional blood flow, indicative of level of brain activity, varies with the differing states. It’s certainly not true that any stage of sleep or wakefulness is superior to another, nor is it true that these changes are any indication of pathology.

Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has also been studied with PET scans. The following video graphically shows the results of a PET scan during PTSD and after it’s alleviated by neuro-feedback. (The PET scan image is displayed from 1 minute into the video.)

What you’ll note is that people suffering from PTSD experience greater brain activity before receiving nondrug feedback therapy than they do afterwards. The interpretation of the PET scan in terms of brain health for PTSD is exactly the opposite of that for depression.

Why would psychiatry scientists presume that changes in brain activity constitute proof of brain disease?

The Psychiatry Fraud

There simply is no logic behind the claim that PET scans prove that depression is the result of a brain chemical imbalance. All they’ve shown is that depressed people’s brains are less active. In no sense have they shown that depression is caused by lower brain activity. It’s every bit as plausible—and by Occam’s Razor, a better assumption—that lower brain activity is caused by emotion of depression, not the reverse. Neither have they demonstrated that increased or decreased brain activity is inherently beneficial or harmful.

  • In the case of depression, increased brain activity appears to be indicative of a happier state of mind.
  • In the case of PTSD, decreased brain activity is indicative of a happier state of mind.
  • In the case of stages of sleep, increases and decreases in brain activity mean only different states of consciousness—all of which are necessary for good health.

None of this is particularly surprising. Psychiatry has defined itself according to a paradigm saying that mental illness is caused by physical disease. They have almost completely left behind any interest in life stresses that are involved with mental discomfort. By doing so:

  • Psychiatry has taken upon itself the privilege to define mental diagnoses as they see fit, not as the people they label see it, and not as can be determined by objective measures.
  • Psychiatry presumes to be able to diagnose underlying physical disorders without one shred of evidence that there are any.
  • Psychiatry has granted itself the privilege to casually prescribe extremely toxic psychoactive drugs with absolutely not one shred of evidence that there is any physical cause for them to correct.

Is it any wonder that the so-called scientists behind these treatments are so blind that they are unable to see the absurdity of the claim that a change in brain activity proves that there is a chemical imbalance?

The psychiatric profession, as a whole, has gone down a very dark tunnel and has left itself no room to turn around from a dark ending. They have nothing left but their faked evidence based medicine—which has become a rotting cesspool on which they base their sick occupation. The entire structure of the modern psychiatric profession’s focus on Big Pharma’s drugs has no legitimate basis.

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