All mental processes, even the most abstract forms of thinking are a result of our brain’s activity. You may ask, what exactly is the function of our brain? Its chief role is information processing; information that we receive from the outside but also from the inside. A horde of information is constantly generated through the intentions of our conscious minds.

This processing of information is what makes up our consciousness (in this dimension at least), which in turn lets you experience the world and give you a feel of what is out there. But in fact nothing is really out there; it is merely information that is computed for you to be consciously aware of your surroundings.

The way we process all this information in real time is perhaps one of life’s grandest achievements. Our brains contains around eighty-five billion neurons whose purpose is to receive and transmit information of any form, be it visual, auditory, mechanical, etc… and transcribes it to an electrical signal; the veritable language of the brain. Essentially, information is broken down to the most basic of forms and the brain reassembles it according to the rules it has built through evolution in order for our conscious self to be able to see the big picture. Meanwhile we stay blissfully unaware of the process through which it is obtained.

We all know our consciousness isn’t something that is fixed; there are many different factors which can alter it. Be it the environment, substances and chiefly, our intentions.

In our lives, we experience many states of consciousness and seem to bounce from one to another often without our consent. Consciousness represents our awareness of various cognitive processes; it is sustained yet continuously changing and unique from one individual to the next. We can all agree that we tend to disagree, however we are all originally exposed to the same neutral information. The disagreement stems from the fact that we each have a different way of interpreting, or process an information; this is our unique perception of things.

This discrepancy in information processing is due to what we call neuromodulators (a network of neurotransmitters regulating a population of neurons). They are involved in modulating global neural states, as well as altering the tendency in which neurons function. They can influence a neuron to develop an affinity or an aversion to a certain stimuli; this in turn defines how we personally process information. These neuromodulators consist of molecules like dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, epinephrine and many more. The neurotransmitters act by being transferred between two or more neurons; this junction is called a synapse. A pre-synaptic neuron will secrete the given set of neurotransmitters which will bind to receptors on the surface of the adjacent neurons. Think of it like a key and its lock, leading to biochemical changes in the neuron on which they interlock.

Since these neuromodulators are responsible for defining our states of consciousness you can surely imagine that an imbalance in one of them can have dire consequences. Tweaking the delicate concentrations in equilibrium of any of these neuromodulators can easily lead to states of depression, anxiety and psychosis. For instance schizophrenia is associated with a hyperdopaminergic activity in the limbic region of the brain and a hypodopaminergic activity in the prefrontal cortex. Depression is due to an overall decrease in serotonergic activity. Anxiety is related to the hypoactivty of GABAergic neurons, which are the neurons that secrete GABA, the main inhibitory neurotransmitter of the brain, leading to a globally overexcited state of neurons throughout the brain.

Nowadays the main way of treating these complex disorders is by administrating therapeutic drugs like Xanax, Valium, Prozac and hundreds more. The mechanism of these drugs is very mechanical in nature; they solely target the neurochemical nature of the disorder. For instance the main role of anti-depressants is to increase the concentration of serotonin levels in synapses. They do so by inhibiting molecules involved in their recycling and degradation (reuptake inhibitor drugs) or by blocking the activity of some neurons which have been associated with depression. In addition Xanax and other anti-anxiety medications act by increasing the activity of inhibitory neurons, which leads to a reduction in over-excitability of the nervous system.

No one can deny that these drugs are effective in reducing the symptoms associated with these disorders, however no one can claim that there are no side effects associated. By definition all drugs have side effects to some extent; by modifying one aspect of an intricately linked network, you are sure to affect the rest. Furthermore the long term administration of any drug will lead to plastic, long term changes in the brain. Where the therapeutic effect of the drug might lead to some good changes these drugs also cause serious to mild side-effects whose induced changes are rarely welcomed.

The neurochemistry explains why people affected by these disorders feel and behave the way that they do, yet it doesn’t explain what triggered it. Genetics and environmental factors are often cited as the cause but everyone in the field knows that these relations are very complex. And perhaps even more intriguing or alarming is that there is not a single gene responsible for a given mental disorder.

So what leads these chemical imbalances to occur within our brains?

We said earlier that all mental processes are the result of brain functioning but does that mean that we’re enslaved to our brains? In truth it just means that everything that is going through our minds (be it thoughts, feelings or emotions) can be translated to some sort of brain function. Meaning that WE, as conscious beings, perhaps spiritual beings are responsible for everything and anything that our brain does. Of course this is not an all to none relationship there are interactions in both directions; it is essentially a feedback loop. What happens in your brain influences your consciousness and in turn your consciousness influences what happens in your brain but as you can imagine it is our consciousness that is the source. Indeed in a deep meditative state, people can reach feelings of unconditional love, inner peace, and an interconnectedness to something much larger than themselves. All this through their intentions. As you can guess by now, this is all enabled by our brains through neurochemistry and other processes.

What good is it then to administer drugs to someone when you are not inherently fixing the problem? If the problem stems from a “disabled” consciousness, alleviating the symptoms is a superficial solution. All that is achieved in this case is providing a form of “relief” to the patients while making them dependent on a substance that will induce more bad then good in the long run. Simultaneously, they are not given the means nor the ability to gain inner knowledge of themselves. If they understood how their behaviors and their thought patterns were shaped throughout their lives by their experiences and reactions to these events they would realize just how powerful their consciousness can be. You are responsible for how you feel, think and act don’t ever let anyone take that privilege away from you.