Sue89,
I agree, if it is chemical. That would be the equilivent of saying diabetics have a pay off. Obviously, not true.
However, this could be a learned behavior for many people. Again, (sounding like a real Dr.Phil fan), he says, "You choose the behavior, you choose the consequence". And I don't choose to have horrible thought come into my head to haunt me. BUT it is the small choices from googling symptoms, not forcing yourself to go outside and do something fun, dwelling on things, etc. that gets us in bad places.
In short, we all have to accept some responsibilty to where we are. I think its only when you do that can you start seeing success. The first step to fixing this problem is accepting your role in it.
Obviously, we've opened a big can of worms with all sorts of loaded statements and I think the conclusion we can draw is the we need a certified psychologist to answer this one!
love&peace ;)