Is It All in the Mind?

THE medical doctor listened intently as the depressed woman described her symptoms​—constant headaches, irritability, constipation, loss of appetite, insomnia and incessant tiredness. She would burst into tears and, at times, wanted to die. “It’s all in your head,” said the doctor. “Until you find yourself, there is nothing I can do. I strongly urge you to see a psychiatrist.”

Though well meaning, this doctor reflected a common view. Yet, like this woman suffering major depression, many are crushed when someone tells them that their agony is a result solely of their own thinking. True, our thoughts can affect our body​—for good or for bad. Yet there is also increasing evidence that a sick body can affect our thinking processes.

But before considering this evidence we need to realize that the term “depression”a covers a wide range of emotions (see box).

How Can You Tell?

“In the kind of depression that results from, let’s say, the death of someone in the family, there is some relief from it,” reported Dr. Nathan S. Kline, director, Rockland Research Institute Department of Mental Hygiene of New York State, in a recent interview with an Awake! staff writer. “If there’s a good meal, beautiful moon or something else, there’s some relief. In major depression, there is no relief. You could win money or be elected president; it doesn’t bring any particular pleasure. The future looks hopeless.”

What are the symptoms of manic depression? Dr. Ronald Fieve, professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, told Awake!: “There must be a history of the high that comes out of the blue. The person has an abnormal state of optimism where he is overactive, overtalkative, sleeping less and has an enormous amount of energy that he’s never had before. This sudden change may last from two weeks to usually one or two months. Then the person switches to a severe depression.”

Many scientists now feel that specific chemical changes in the brain accompany some forms of severe depression and may bring it about. (The accompanying diagrams explain.) The process is complex and regarding it scientists disagree. But what can cause such a chemical mix-up? Many different factors.

The Disease/​Depression Connection

“Depression can stem from clear-cut​—or, more accurately, clearly defined—​organic problems,” states medical writer Lawrence Galton. “It includes infections such as hepatitis, mononucleosis, and influenza; hormonal (glandular) disorders such as those of the thyroid, parathyroid, and adrenal glands; malignancies, deficiency states, anemias, and other blood problems.”​—You May Not Need a Psychiatrist (1979).

For instance, one woman had been treated for 15 years for severe, sometimes suicidal, depression. She received antidepressant drugs and even electroshock therapy, but nothing gave her lasting relief. Finally, it was discovered that a diseased parathyroid gland was the problem. When this was successfully treated, she improved. Her basic problem had been physical.

Stress

Nervous exhaustion caused by stress can likewise produce depression. Among such stressful situations the following are listed by specialists: ‘a bad marriage, unrelieved slum living, an unkind boss, chronic warfare,’ and trying to follow a daily routine “that is clearly beyond one’s mental, emotional, and physical resources.” An environment void of love, wherein one feels lonely, dejected and hopeless, can also bring depression. Many persons find themselves in such situations.

A specific stressful event such as a death or a divorce can cause major depression. Yet one recent study found that, out of 185 clinically depressed individuals, only one fourth had a discernible stressful event preceding their depression. Psychiatrist Dr. Fieve feels that the stressful life event “is simply the tip of the iceberg.”

Comparing a depressed person to a car that breaks down while climbing a steep hill, Dr. Kline says this of his belief: “Now, in one sense it was the fact that you went up the hill. On the other hand, if the engine was in good condition, you would not have had the trouble. So the environmental stress may precipitate the breakdown, but there has to be the biological deficiency, or engine weakness, to begin with.”

However, is it possible that the mind itself can create this chemical imbalance without there having been some prior physical defect?

The Role of the Mind

There is sound evidence that many persons are relieved even of major depression by having their thinking adjusted by trained counselors. This would indicate that in some types of major depression the thinking of the person or what he puts into his mind, not some physical defect, plays the vital role.

Recent research has shown that the way we think can affect our brain chemistry. For instance, in a 1979 study some patients who had just had their wisdom teeth extracted were given injections of a salt solution, a placebo, and were told that this would ease the pain. Despite the fact that this injection had no pain-killing ability, reportedly one third “soon found that their pain was dramatically subsiding.” It was felt that naturally occurring brain “pain-killer” chemicals (endorphins) were put to work by the person’s thoughts. This was verified when another drug was given that blocks the effects of the brain’s natural “pain killers.” The pain returned.

The power of the mind to respond to love has been seen in numerous cases. Conversely, anger, hatred, jealousy and other negative emotions also have been found to produce biochemical changes in the body.

The Bible recognizes the important role of our inner feelings and attitudes. It states: “The spirit [the inner feelings and thoughts] of a man can put up with his malady [disease]; but as for a stricken spirit, who can bear it?” (Prov. 18:14) If the “spirit of a man” is “stricken” by faulty thinking (discussed on pages 8-10); if it is crushed by jealousy, resentment or a bad conscience, then the bad situation becomes unbearable. Major depression may follow.

Also, if a person feeds his mind on depressing thoughts​—perhaps through television, motion pictures or pornographic literature—​this will color his moods and breed depression. Especially if a person regularly spends much time in front of a TV set, this can adversely affect his outlook. But for other persons something else might be at the root of the problem.

Other Possible Causes

“The brain is much more sensitive than other organs to changes in [blood] plasma concentrations of certain nutrients,” stated two Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers. In Nutrition and the Brain (Vol. 3, 1979), these doctors, Wortman and Wortman, published material that shows the effect of what we eat on our mood and how certain nutritional deficiencies can alter the chemical balance in the brain and produce depression.

Even when regularly eating balanced meals​—keeping “junk food” to a minimum—​one may still have nutritional deficiencies leading to depression. Some medications, oral contraceptives, such strains on the body as pregnancy, pollution and exceptional stress​—all can create nutritional deficiencies.

Allergy to certain foods or to chemical fumes and the hormonal changes in women have brought on depression. Also, one study of 1,100 patients treated for hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) found that 77 percent of these complained of depression.

So there are many causes of depression besides just having a wrong attitude. A seriously depressed person may suffer from any one of a combination of factors. An individual’s heredity and childhood experiences also play a role. All these influences can affect how one responds to a stressful event or environment.

While trying to understand the possible causes of depression is helpful, an even more persistent question of sufferers is: What can I do to overcome it?

[Footnotes]

[Box/​Pictures on page 4]

THE VARIED FACES OF DEPRESSION

Demoralization and Grief

A low feeling because of some upsetting event such as a death, divorce, loss of job, medical problems or other stressful situation.

Low-Grade Chronic Depression (Depressive Neurosis)

The “blues” continue. There is a general negative feeling and dissatisfaction. One feels fatigued and loses interest in family and friends. Often there are feelings of worthlessness, anxiety and anger.

Major Depression

“You feel like you are in the pits of the earth,” said one sufferer. There is no relief. Sleeping habits change; there is loss of appetite. The person feels full of guilt and may wish he were dead. Overwhelming feelings of dread, anxiety and lack of ability to concentrate. This may in some cases alternate with periods of normal behavior.

Manic Depression

Periods of high elation​—wild spending sprees, working around the clock, constant action—​followed by deep depression.

[Box/​Diagram on page 5]

Our thoughts flow from one nerve cell to the next in the form of electrochemical impulses. A proper mood depends on their undistorted flow. The ends of the nerves do not touch. The nerve impulse stimulates the production of chemical neurotransmitters that bridge the gap and our thought continues undistorted. The chemical balance in this area called the synapse is vital.

[Diagram]

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nerve impulse

nerve cell

nerve cell

synapse

nerve impulse

chemical neurotransmitters

synapse

receptors

nerve impulses continue undistorted

[Box/​Diagrams on page 5]

WHAT MAY GO WRONG

An abundance of certain neurotransmitters distorts nerve impulse, causing overstimulation, perhaps producing mania.

[Diagram]

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nerve impulse

chemical neurotransmitters

nerve impulse distorted

Low levels of certain neurotransmitters distort nerve impulse, perhaps resulting in depression.

[Diagram]

(For fully formatted text, see publication)

nerve impulse

chemical neurotransmitters

nerve impulse distorted