Many years ago on Twitter, I posted a tweet that said “Christianity cures depression.” I received quite a bit of backlash from people who either were depressed or knew depressed people. Many were atheists who had no desire to be Christians. Many wanted me to acknowledge the medical establishment and its “cures” for depression. According to the Cleveland Clinic, antidepressants are prescription medications that treat depression and mood disorders by altering brain neurotransmitters and enhancing neuroplasticity. Common types include SSRIs (fluoxetine, sertraline) and SNRIs (venlafaxine), which typically take 4 to 8 weeks to work. They can cause side effects and they require consistent usage. Click here for a long list of symptoms and prescription treatments: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/9301-antidepressants-depression-medication
Today, Jordan Peterson’s daughter, Mikhaila Fuller, posted the following on X (formerly Twitter): “We figured out that dad has a psych med induced neurological injury, and has been suffering from akathisia. It’s been 6 years since any psych medications. Last summer his symptoms started, after a flare up likely induced by mold (CIRS) and stress. It was complicated by pneumonia and associated sepsis a month later. It’s been horrible. Neurological injuries from psych meds are far more common than people know. I made this video to explain what they are and what akathisia is because they’re not talked about enough, they’re misdiagnosed, nearly impossible to treat, and hidden by the pharmaceutical industry.”
I have long been very suspicious of incentives in the medical industry. It started after discovering in my early twenties that diet plays a massive role in taming psoriasis, which many doctors failed to tell me. I have had psoriasis since I was in the 6th grade and it’s flared up terribly at times. My skepticism was further fueled when teachers in my sons’ grade school kept pushing attention deficit disorder drugs on students, including one of my two sons. My husband and I refused to engage with that, thinking that our son needed to regulate his own actions without the assistance of Ritalin or Adderall, which are amphetamines that stimulate brains (often while brains are still developing). No one talks about the addictions that come when those drugs are given to developing brains. I have other examples of often-prescribed drugs that are equally egregious and have had a highly detrimental impact on my loved ones. For example, a few years ago, my husband was prescribed a blood pressure drug that put him in the emergency room with a tube that he needed to breathe.
The United States is a “medication nation.” 70 percent of our people are overweight, including many within that percentage who are obese. Much of the food that many of us consume is processed or highly processed. Doctors are incentivized to treat us – not to cure us. That is the ethical conundrum we are in. If doctors cure us, we’ll no longer be dropping by their offices to pay them.
I’m not saying we should shun medications. Some are very effective and not addictive. When I had a bout of shingles some years ago, a doctor prescribed me Gabapentin, which was a life saver. It reduced my pain immediately. But I only took Gabapentin for a week or so. Apparently, long term use can be extremely detrimental. We need to be very skeptical and very careful of any prescriptions that doctors recommend.
Mikhaila Fuller has promoted dietary changes, such as a ketogenic diet – or even an only beef diet. Her diet has positively impacted her life and the lives of many others. We need to get back to the simple diets of our ancestors – unprocessed, natural foods. We need to reclaim our lives and our health. Why anyone (without a financial incentive) would fight against Robert Kennedy’s war to “Make America Healthy Again” baffles me.
We also need to return to God, if we have not already done so. God is in control. He loves us and sometimes challenges us with poor health. We need to understand that all suffering refines our souls, just as diamonds are refined.
In “Mere Christianity,” C.S. Lewis referenced George MacDonald when he gave us this metaphor: “Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”
Trust the Lord. No matter the storms you are facing, trust the Lord to pull you through.
At the time of this writing, SJ Thomason is an associate dean in an AACSB-accredited U.S. business school. She is also a wife, mom of two amazing sons, and (most importantly) a Christian. She believes that Jesus is the truth. Truth matters. And the truth will set you free.
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