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Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: There is a toxic mindset when it comes to depression/anxiety being solely attributed to brain chemistry

I want to preface by saying I do not have extensive knowledge or qualifications when it comes to mental health or biology. In recent years there has been a spotlight on mental health and people reaching out to get help etc. I think this is great and people should get the help they need and look to live their life to the fullest. My views in this post are based mostly on my interactions with people online and browsing the internet, so it is my subjective opinion, but there seems to be a decent portion of people who talk about depression/anxiety who view it solely as a problem with the brain. Often a deficiency of a neurotransmitter, and that taking an antidepressant is akin to a diabetic taking insulin. They make it out that their brain is essentially broken/damaged and that is the reason for the way that they feel. 

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Now the point of my post is not to determine the root of depression/anxiety, I'm sure there are many factors at play. My view is that this mindset of anxiety/depression being solely caused by your brain chemistry is a toxic mindset. It's like completely giving in and deciding you no longer have control over your life or decisions - your brain is broken and that's just how it is. When it comes to improving your mental health and getting rid of negative thoughts, I've got to say having the mindset that there's nothing you can do about it is about the absolute worst thing that can happen.

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I'm sure there are people who genuinely have an issue like this, I believe thyroid problems can cause depression. In the case that you get tests done and can determine the cause, that is great. In a majority of cases though, the diagnosis of depression/anxiety is given after a talk with a doctor (either a GP or therapist) and these people don't actually know that it is caused by some chemical imbalance - just that they have the diagnosis. The last thing people with poor mental health need is to think you have no power over your actions and feelings.

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So reddit, change my view. This view I see rather commonly online about depression/anxiety being caused by chemical imbalanced or what have you is a toxic mindset and leaves people feeling that they aren't in control of their lives.

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gpt
This armchair neurology rhetoric - "depression is a chemical imbalance in the brain" - is most often uttered to combat the more sinister misconception that depression is simply a result of bad motivation and lack of effort. 

The depressed are often given instructions or advice on how to "cheer themselves up." Get out and exercise! Don't stay in the apartment! Join a club! Do a thing! Be the happy! 

Other times, people tell depressed folks that they're upset because of their life situation. It's the job, or the girlfriend, or the friend, or the city, or the political climate, or the economy, or the alignment of Mars and Jupiter. 

These well-meaning platitudes have a negative impact on those who suffer from depression. Depression causes a severe lack of motivation, making these otherwise normal activities insurmountable challenges. Being upset because things are difficult in life is a normal and healthy response to external stimuli; being *disproportionately or obsessively* upset, or being upset despite things not being so bad, is depression. 

When a depressed person hears this kind of advice and rhetoric, it minimizes and denies the experience they're having, makes them think the problem is their own fault, and starts a spiral of self-blame that exacerbates the depression and prevents them from seeking help. 

It can be helpful to frame depression as a purely medical concern to get around this mental hurdle. If your body is sick, you go to the doctor and you take medicine. Anyone can accept that, so it's an easier jump in logic to frame depression as a sickness for which there is medicine. 

Of course, there are non-medical remedies for depression. Therapy, diet, and exercise *do* help. Medicine is not the only remedy, and describing depression as a "chemical imbalance" is a simplification to the point of incorrectness. However, viewing these activities as doctors' orders rather than a self-imposed guilt trip can be the difference for a depressed person to get started, though, and can connect them to other treatments that they may not have otherwise pursued. 

In sum; 

>It's like completely giving in and deciding you no longer have control over your life or decisions - your brain is broken and that's just how it is.

It does quite the opposite - it tells you that the problem is not that *you* are lazy, gloomy and unmotivated, but rather that a fixable issue with your brain is preventing you from being your best self. It empowers people to fix the problem rather than resign to it.