A few decades ago, responding to the growing market for improved anti-depressant drugs, several drug companies developed \u201cselective-serotonin re-uptake inhibitors\u201d (Prozac, Zoloft, etc.).\u00a0 While under its exclusive patent (20 years), a new drug is expensively-priced, thus generating huge profits for its maker.\u00a0 (This accounts for the constant introduction of new drugs which, despite claims to the contrary, may not be any more effective than their now-generic precursors.)\u00a0 Nonetheless, the SSRIs, with fewer side-effects, seemed a distinct advance.\u00a0 The drugs focused on the neurotransmitter serotonin: by inhibiting its re-absorption, the drugs artificially prolonged its active circulation in the brain, thus modulating mood in a favorable direction.<\/p>\n
If depression, periodically a response to loss and bereavement, was actually experienced in their daily lives by tens-of-millions of people, then the notion of a \u201cserotonin deficiency\u201d seemed plausible.\u00a0 Ironically, serotonin production is stimulated by sunlight exposure and vigorous exercise\u2013of which the typical employed person, confined in an office, is deprived.<\/p>\n
But this \u201cdeficiency\u201d hypothesis\u2013which still has its skeptics\u2013never answered the simple question: why?<\/em>\u00a0 Why, by the end of the highly industrialized 20th century, did a deficiency of serotonin apparently exist for countless millions?\u00a0 Surprisingly, few researchers seemed interested in answering this question.\u00a0 Depression had become so endemic, almost the norm of everyday living, that the traditional ideal of living a happy life was rapidly becoming a quaint anachronism.<\/p>\n Sociologists focused on the very real transformations in the quality of daily living\u2013notably the ever-changing, increasingly demanding conditions imposed by the now-reigning mega-corporations of a plutocratic order\u2013as the primary cause of chronic stress<\/em>.\u00a0 The physiological reactions to stress were first studied by biologist Hans Selye (cf.The Stress of Life<\/em>, 1956).\u00a0 Adrenalin (epinephrine) surges in response to sudden fight-or-flight dangers.\u00a0 But the most activating stress hormone is cortisol<\/em> (a natural steroid not to be confused with synthetic cortisone).\u00a0 In conditions of prolonged stress, overproduction of cortisol may continue indefinitely.<\/p>\n Perusing the abstracts of innumerable research reports (cf. PubMed.gov), I noticed several studies suggesting \u201can inversely proportional\u201d relationship between cortisol and serotonin levels.\u00a0 That is, elevated cortisol, when sustained over time, produces a compensatory reduction in serotonin.\u00a0 One team of medical researchers summed up their findings: \u201celevated cortisol induced by stress increases serotonin uptake\u2026which is overtly expressed in symptoms of depression.”1<\/a><\/sup> \u00a0 (Remember that SSRIs work by inhibiting such (re)uptake, thereby keeping optimal serotonin levels circulating in the brain for an extended period.)<\/p>\n By now, of course, the stress-inducing<\/em> institutional structures which dictate our daily lives are simply taken for granted as the <\/em>\u201cenvironment\u201d in which we live, and to which we must somehow adapt. The subjective feelings of freedom, dignity and \u201cpeace-of-mind\u201d–another archaic phrase?–have been crushed by oligopoly capitalism, with its endless mergers, outsourcing, automation, collusive price-fixing (inflation), and even invasion of the once-hallowed private <\/em>domain of life.<\/p>\n Family farms were replaced by giant agro-corporations.\u00a0 Working in small neighborhood businesses, where camaraderie, informality, and a relaxed pace of work existed, was replaced by anonymous, sped-up work in Big Box stores and warehouses.\u00a0 On the white-color level, to become employed by such giant, impersonal corporations required humble compliance to all their arbitrary demands: suitable college majors and grades, up-to-date technical expertise, indignities such as drug tests and mandatory indoctrination sessions\u2013as well as the lengthy, high-speed commute in congested traffic to the worksite.\u00a0 And with the new technologies, such companies could relentlessly monitor, speed-up, and constantly evaluate each employee\u2019s \u201cperformance.\u201d\u00a0 (\u201cThis call may be monitored and recorded for quality assurance.\u201d)<\/p>\n To survive, <\/em>a person must endure daily stressful pressures which insidiously undermine his dignity and sense of autonomous control over his own life (e.g., arbitrary work overloads, sped-up jobs requiring unfailing accuracy, chronic uncertainty about job security due to mergers, automation, and outsourcing, etc.).\u00a0 With the government allowing big banks (i.e., real estate) to limit supply and thereby intensify demand, millions of couples are forced to take out mortgages on wildly overpriced houses, \u201cextravagantly large for their inhabitants\u2026[who] seem to be only vermin which infest them\u201d.\u00a02<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n Privacy, <\/em>once the cherished birthright of the homeowner, is another value insidiously being undermined, if not destroyed, by constant, stressful intrusions (telemarketing, smartphone surveillance, even gadgets that observe and record one\u2019s daily habits, etc.). Children, an easy target for the data-merchants, are manipulable for marketing purposes by algorithmic-devised\u00a0 \u201centertainment,\u201d Instagram-induced insecurities, ad nauseam<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0 For the adults in the room, daily watching of the \u201cnews\u201d–an exercise in self-torture\u2013is guaranteed to maintain those high cortisol levels.<\/p>\n At the same time, deluded, stressed-out parents incredibly still conform to the \u201csuccess\u201d mystique–an incredibly banal, contemptible goal imposed on their offspring\u2013basically, to maximize their eventual \u201cmarket-value.\u201d\u00a0 Children, deprived of the carefree fun and improvisational creativity which is their birthright, are saddled with excessive schoolwork, homework, and extracurricular activities\u2013all to attain the \u201cprivilege\u201d of being \u201cadmitted\u201d into sacrosanct, ivy-enshrouded halls of \u201clearning\u201d (sic).\u00a0 Meanwhile, if a child seems unwilling or unable to cope with such demands, he may be placed on Ritalin or Zoloft\u2013whatever will induce the predictably machine-like behavior required to \u201cget into a top-ranked college.\u201d\u00a0 (In startling contrast, fifty years ago the humanistic educator John Holt wrote Escape From Childhood: The Needs and Rights of Children, <\/em>among other things a liberated proposal for a non-coercive, student-centered educational experience, ideally at home.)<\/p>\n And what about role-conflict <\/em>as a daily source of stress?\u00a0 <\/em>Stay late at the office\u2013missing time with the family\u2013or risk the boss\u2019s displeasure.\u00a0 Or stay late on purpose\u2013to avoid \u201cthe problems at home.\u201d\u00a0 Like almost all human interactions these days, marriage\u2013however ill-defined and possibly anachronistic\u2013is a contract<\/em>.\u00a0 Mutual obligations are explicit or presumed: \u201csatisfactory\u201d sexual relations\u2013with harsh sanctions against episodes of \u201cinfidelity\u201d (i.e., violating the exclusive right to the partner\u2019s sexual interaction).\u00a0 But foremost, of course, is the obligation to earn a sufficient income, generally requiring both partners to have transport, wardrobe, marketable degrees, references, and consistently outstanding \u201cperformance reviews.\u201d\u00a0 (Ultimately, of course, to afford to live in a \u201cgood neighborhood,\u201d with a few consoling luxuries such as a Jacuzzi and big-screen TV.)<\/p>\n This brief sketch of the stress-ridden, overly-complicated, work-driven cage mistakenly called one\u2019s \u201clife\u201d merely outlines today\u2019s socio-economic structure in which the individual constantly struggles to adapt and \u201csucceed\u201d (with the necessary palliative of mood-regulating drugs).\u00a0 Simply to maintain his status quo, the individual undergoes countless daily ordeals\u2013from the alarm-clock and traffic-choked commute, to the relentless demands and problems\u2013to be wrestled with at work and at home.<\/p>\n A true sense of well-being (eudaimonia)<\/em> requires a solid pride in one\u2019s autonomy and freedom, <\/em>which allows for self-directed, personal growth\u2013most critically, in my opinion, for sympathetic identification <\/em>and the generosity of spirit which strives to help others struggling daily, with unappreciated courage, against seemingly insuperable difficulties.\u00a0 And equally crucial is the right to uninterrupted, quiet solitude<\/em>\u2013now only possible by discarding the gadgets which chain us to the arbitrary demands and impositions of others.\u00a0 Almost 60 years ago, Herbert Marcuse wrote that \u201cthe idea of \u2018inner freedom\u2019…designates the private space in which man may become and remain \u2018himself”’.3<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n This post was originally published on Dissident Voice<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A few decades ago, responding to the growing market for improved anti-depressant drugs, several drug companies developed \u201cselective-serotonin re-uptake inhibitors\u201d (Prozac, Zoloft, etc.).\u00a0 While under its exclusive patent (20 years), a new drug is expensively-priced, thus generating huge profits for its maker.\u00a0 (This accounts for the constant introduction of new drugs which, despite claims to [\u2026]<\/p>\n The post Depression: Chronic Stress as a Way of Life<\/a> first appeared on Dissident Voice<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53590,764],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844766"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/281"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=844766"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":845770,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844766\/revisions\/845770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=844766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=844766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=844766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}