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When my brother and I were 12 and 13-years-old, the social worker at our middle school summoned us to take psychiatric drugs because we did not “fit in” with their system.

Our lack of concentration was not a result of us craving intellect and nature, they said, but rather a side effect of some “chemical imbalance” we genetically inherited.

Soon after, my brother was prescribed dangerous pills. While they insisted I also take these drugs, I refused and found a different path. For me, exercise and nature, along with eating organic food, saved me from a similar fate as my brother.

Over the years, I watched my brother’s beautiful mind rapidly degenerate. He went from being a straight A student—testing among the highest of his age group—to eventually dropping out of school his freshman year of high school. The hyperactivity he was initially treated for with drugs regressed, and he became a dull, lifeless, and depressed adolescent.

By this time, the amount of psychiatric pills he was prescribed increased, and as his condition continued to get worse, they began experimenting on him with lithium and other harmful procedures. He was institutionalized several times. He was court ordered to take prescription pills. They even performed psycho-shock therapy on him.

My brother, who I always admired for being so sharp and intelligent, was slowly turning into a different person. He had frequent seizures and random outbursts, yet somehow these doctors and psychiatrists refused to acknowledge the drugs as the source for his cognitive decline.

“This was all a part of God’s plan,” they declared. “A genetic misfortune.”

By the age of 22, my brother took his life. For nine long years, he endured the pain and negligence of a system built for failure. In the end, he had no other choice. When we are trapped in an oppressive system that steals away our true nature, our soul withers away.

After my brother’s passing, I devoted my life to finding natural remedies for depression. I avidly researched, knowing there had to be a better way to find relief from sadness. My studies led me to many alternatives—the most intriguing being plant-based nutrition. I found there are several compounds in animal-derived foods known to trigger depression, with one in particular being arachidonic acid. I also learned that several nutrients in raw, edible plants elevate happiness.

In a 2010 Nutrition Journal cross-sectional study, vegetarian test subjects reported significantly less negative emotion than omnivores. Researchers concluded arachidonic acid was to blame for the anxiety, depression, mood disturbance, and stress experienced by those who included meat in their diet. By simply eliminating chicken, fish, and eggs, their symptoms improved within two weeks.

Foods documented as being most abundant in arachidonic acid are: chicken, eggs, beef, processed meats (sausage, hot dogs, bacon, and ribs), fish, burgers, cold cuts, pork, and pizza.

A February 2012 Nutrition Journal study, also found by eliminating animal products from the diet of omnivore subjects, their mood improved within two weeks. Researchers discovered arachidonic acid was to blame for their initial depression before the elimination of these foods. They acknowledged arachidonic acid as a compound that can adversely impact mental health via a cascade of brain inflammation. High intakes of this acid promote changes in the brain that result in disturbed mood, which was evident in the group of subjects who continued to eat fish for the duration of the study. Fish-eaters reported significantly worse moods than vegans. The study concludes by saying that by restricting meat, fish, and poultry from the diet, modern omnivores can improve short-term mood states.

My findings inspired me to write my first book, The Raw Cure: Healing Beyond Medicine, in which I was able to present the science and explain the link between nutrition, disease, and well-being. Shortly after, I released a set of guidelines to alleviate depression, entitled “Society’s Anonymous.”

These 12 steps are a spin-off of Alcoholic’s Anonymous, however is more aligned with the Law of Attraction and aimed to help eradicate depression. This book helps us recognize the power we do have, and encourages readers to make lifestyle changes that may generate greater happiness.

Today, over eight million kids ages 0-17 are on at least one psychiatric drug. This includes over one million children aged 0-5. According to a March 2013 Journal of the American Medical Association Psychiatry study after researching over 10 thousand adolescents aged 13-17, up to 77 percent of teens who attempted suicide had already been labeled with a diagnosis and were under treatment with psychiatric pills.

These pills are destroying innocent minds and polluting our culture. I never want to see another family go through the pain and grief we experienced in this process. By sharing honest information and raising awareness, I believe we can work together to stop allowing our children to be statistics and encourage each other to seek out nature for relief.

I wrote this poem for my brother shortly after his pasiing

Soul Never Dies (Poem For My Brother)

I hear your isolated tears falling gently to the dirt.
You are a part of the soil now, you climbed your way back into Earth.
Some say you arrived too soon
But I know you had to find a way to heal your wounds.
You left with no fear.
Created the only lasting cure.
Now you are pure.
No more court mandates or medications.
You chose your last sedation.
You established eternal unification.
The train tracks carried you to liberation.
I know your mind was controlled by psychotropic pills.
Against your will, forced to consume the poison eating away your soul.
Part of a medical experiment you never wanted to join.
Your strength to endure nine long years of prescription torture and pain
Empowered me more than you will ever know.
Maybe you did not mean to leave as soon as you did.
Although we wish you had stayed, we all accept your decision as is.
The courage you garnered to take on that train
Was your only escape from the fate of a psychiatrist’s negligence.
You are everywhere now.
That shooting star, the electric energy could be you.
Everywhere I look, in all I see move, I notice traces of your silhouette.
Maybe you are walking on the moon.
The butterfly emerging from her cocoon.
A mysterious flower waiting for the sun to rise so he can bloom.
I feel your rhythm in the blues.
I wonder if you visited the Redwoods first
Or made your way to the forests in Peru.
As sad as I am, I know freedom was waiting for you.
Please don’t cry no more, you shall be happy.
This Western society had you so confused.
There is more to life than fitting into a system constructed from abuse.
Now you can dance and the skies will rain.
No more pain.
You can fly with unbroken wings.
No more trouble in your brain.
You have found what makes you sane.
The solution, always, was to get away.
You are everything now.
That bolt of lightning, those drops of rain.
The luster on a lion’s mane.
I feel your energy all around.
The sun is now your soul.
The roots are your bones.
Earth has become your throne.
The universe is your home.
I see you walking in the distance.
Hear you talking.
Feel your presence.
You discovered the miracle drug.
Learned how to rise above.
Your spirit helps me understand what is love.
You are everyone now.
I see pieces of you in each who passes by.
A part of you glimmers in Nevaeh’s light.
There is some of your strength in Arlo’s might.
Your smile never dies.
In your eyes, there is that look of, oh how I wonder why.
I hear you laughing.
Could never forget your voice.
Still feel you tremble.
I know you had no choice.
An angel started a new life.
You walk by my side.
Teaching me not to be blind.
Opening my perspective to see beyond the propaganda and mainstream lies.
Leading me out of darkness and into the light.
Maybe you are a Messiah in disguise.
The magical child within who only wants to be recognized.

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Author: Jesse Jacoby
Image: Jonathan Silverberg/Flickr
Editor: Danielle Beutell
Copy Editor: Callie Rushton
Social Editor: Khara-Jade Warren