What's curious is that most of them will be on these drugs for life. Equally curious is that over seventy percent of people who stop taking them, for any length of time, will relapse into another painful episode of their illness dermes vs medilase. Something's rotten in Denmark. Because if these drugs are as effective as their manufacturers claim, then sufferers should be cured of their illness. Clearly, this isn't happening. Why? I mean, if these drugs are so good, why don't they cure stress, anxiety and depressive illness? The commonly held belief, both by the medical profession and people who suffer from illnesses such as stress, anxiety and depression, is that anti-depressant drugs are the most effective treatment dermes. This is in fact, not quite true. Antidepressant drugs DO help a sufferer. But they can only help them TEMPORARILY. They cannot offer a permanent cure for these illnesses. This is because anti-depressants treat ONE of the SYMPTOMS of stressful illnesses - reduced levels of "happy chemicals" called neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are the chemicals inside our brains that help to regulate our moods. So all anti-depressants do is to give the sufferer a "boost" by raising levels of neurotransmitters. The real issue here is that once the sufferer ceases the medication, there is a seventy percent chance of relapse. The reason for relapse is because these drugs simply haven't addressed the root cause of these illnesses. By boosting levels of our "happy chemicals" all the drugs are doing is masking the problem. Now, in the short term, giving our mental well-being a boost by increasing the levels of "happy chemicals" is very helpful in helping us START the process of recovery dermes. The last sentence is very important. It explains how these drugs should be used. Because when we feel stressed out, burned out, terrified of the future or that life has no point (all common feelings associated with stressful and depressive illnesses), we find it almost impossible to function. Finding our own way "out of the tunnel" is mission impossible. And that's where antidepressants can help. In giving us a boost, we can feel more able to cope. We can START to take the first steps towards ending our suffering.