In his book “The Body Keeps the Score,” Bessel van der Kolk wonders about the benefits of the drug revolution. As he describes it, the drug revolution started with “the theory that mental illness is caused primarily by chemical imbalances in the brain that can be corrected by specific drugs.”

Once that theory had become widely accepted, a common pattern emerged.

The industry decided that it was worth investing in this new type of drug. They provided researchers with funds to understand how drugs address the chemical imbalance. They learned how, for example, antidepressants can make a huge difference in some people’s ability to deal with their day-to-day lives. As drugs showed results, they started to replace therapy. Sometimes, becoming the sole therapy used. The market expanded, and at the time the book was written, one in ten Americans had started to take antidepressants. Instead of transforming depression into a minor issue, it now seems to have become a major issue.

Now, two questions arise. Is the chemical imbalance the problem or the outcome?  Is performance more important than healing?

As the chemical imbalance is being treated, symptoms disappear, but underlying causes remain. At the same time, the ability to treat such chemical imbalance gave way to a “brain disease model.” It’s a model that promotes drugs as its cure.

One can hypothesize that it releases two different responsibilities.

One is linked to the individual who can now assume that he is subject to “brain disease” and has to use drugs to be cured. That is how existing possibilities to learn how to adapt to the situation are being discarded.

The other responsibility is found in the larger system an individual is a member of. Using drug treatment, the individual experiences himself as being able to perform. It becomes easy to establish that this performance is expected. Instead of being forced to question its own performance, the group can refer itself to the “brain disease model.” The solution will be seen in expecting individuals to take the drugs and new research leading to better drugs.