Dr. Josef Witt-Doerring

Well, thank you so much for having me. You didn't miss – I think you got the biggest parts. Yep. So I'm a board-certified psychiatrist, and I've been doing this for over 10 years now. And a big thing that makes me a little bit different from other people is I'm an expert in drug side effects. And that's what I was doing in the pharmaceutical industry and at the FDA.

Well, thank you so much for having me. You didn't miss – I think you got the biggest parts. Yep. So I'm a board-certified psychiatrist, and I've been doing this for over 10 years now. And a big thing that makes me a little bit different from other people is I'm an expert in drug side effects. And that's what I was doing in the pharmaceutical industry and at the FDA.

And in my day-to-day job now is I run a private practice with my wife. We're in 10 different states across the U.S. And we help people safely come off medications when they've started to have side effects. And so... That's likely where Ivan has kind of found me. I talk a lot on Twitter and on YouTube about the problems that I'm seeing in my patients.

And in my day-to-day job now is I run a private practice with my wife. We're in 10 different states across the U.S. And we help people safely come off medications when they've started to have side effects. And so... That's likely where Ivan has kind of found me. I talk a lot on Twitter and on YouTube about the problems that I'm seeing in my patients.

And I also use my research background from being at the FDA and in the pharmaceutical industry to try and break down complicated things like drug studies and research and make them accessible for people. Yeah.

And I also use my research background from being at the FDA and in the pharmaceutical industry to try and break down complicated things like drug studies and research and make them accessible for people. Yeah.

For a long time, the use of antidepressants was justified. I mean, I'll say it like this, was almost sold to the public in a way where the medications were thought to be fixing an underlying chemical imbalance. And the reason it was able to be sold in this way was because throughout the 60s and 70s, we started to learn more about what these drugs were doing.

For a long time, the use of antidepressants was justified. I mean, I'll say it like this, was almost sold to the public in a way where the medications were thought to be fixing an underlying chemical imbalance. And the reason it was able to be sold in this way was because throughout the 60s and 70s, we started to learn more about what these drugs were doing.

And at the beginning, we would just give them to people and we would notice, you know, there'd be some mood elevating effect. We didn't know what caused it, but eventually, as science improved, we found out that these drugs were actually boosting chemicals like serotonin, norepinephrine, adrenaline, you know, these very core neurotransmitters that help regulate our mood and cognition.

And at the beginning, we would just give them to people and we would notice, you know, there'd be some mood elevating effect. We didn't know what caused it, but eventually, as science improved, we found out that these drugs were actually boosting chemicals like serotonin, norepinephrine, adrenaline, you know, these very core neurotransmitters that help regulate our mood and cognition.

And so this idea took place that maybe these drugs are actually working in depressed people because we're boosting these neurotransmitters. These people, they have a deficiency in the neurotransmitters and we're boosting them. Well, it's a reasonable hypothesis. But the issue with that is that

And so this idea took place that maybe these drugs are actually working in depressed people because we're boosting these neurotransmitters. These people, they have a deficiency in the neurotransmitters and we're boosting them. Well, it's a reasonable hypothesis. But the issue with that is that

There's also a competing hypothesis, and that is that there's no actual problems in the brains of the people, but the drug effect is simply masking the symptoms that the person is having. Now, that's a much less sexy idea, and it's actually a lot harder to sell because intuitively, people...

There's also a competing hypothesis, and that is that there's no actual problems in the brains of the people, but the drug effect is simply masking the symptoms that the person is having. Now, that's a much less sexy idea, and it's actually a lot harder to sell because intuitively, people...

People don't like the idea of taking a drug to paper over a problem, to mask a problem because it feels wrong. It feels like we're not really getting to the root cause. It's also sort of linked in with ideas about maybe taking non-prescription drugs, things like alcohol. You worry about, well, I don't want to do this to escape problems.

People don't like the idea of taking a drug to paper over a problem, to mask a problem because it feels wrong. It feels like we're not really getting to the root cause. It's also sort of linked in with ideas about maybe taking non-prescription drugs, things like alcohol. You worry about, well, I don't want to do this to escape problems.

I also know that if people use this a lot, they can develop a dependence and they need to use more and more. So when you think about the drugs out of this drug-centered model, people are a lot more concerned about taking them.

I also know that if people use this a lot, they can develop a dependence and they need to use more and more. So when you think about the drugs out of this drug-centered model, people are a lot more concerned about taking them.

But if you tell someone, well, there's probably a genetic problem wrong with you and this drug is going to go into your mind like a magic bullet and fix the issue, it can seem a lot more justifiable. It's like, well, I'm not papering over my symptoms. I'm not hiding them or masking them. I'm fixing a medical problem. Now, Ivan, you mentioned Joanna's paper just a moment ago.

But if you tell someone, well, there's probably a genetic problem wrong with you and this drug is going to go into your mind like a magic bullet and fix the issue, it can seem a lot more justifiable. It's like, well, I'm not papering over my symptoms. I'm not hiding them or masking them. I'm fixing a medical problem. Now, Ivan, you mentioned Joanna's paper just a moment ago.