When I Hear 'Chemical Imbalance'

When I hear the 'cause by chemical imbalance' thing, I think this:

To say that 'mania' or 'hearing voices' is 'caused by a chemical imbalance', is kind of like saying:

• The cause of a disturbing TV programme is adverse electrical fluctuations in the aerial.
• The cause of a software error is adverse flow of electric charges around the CPU.

Sure, at some point in the causal chain, electrical fluctuations or flow of charges around a CPU have a role to play. But in the latter two examples, we can clearly see that the electrical fluctuations are caused by something else, and the flow of charges around a CPU is likewise caused by something external to the CPU. When it comes to 'mania' and 'voices', is it not something similar: if a chemical imbalance is involved, then there must be some reason the chemical imbalance came about.

If you feel pain, can one say that pain is caused by pain receptors sending signals to the pain? or does one say that pain happened because I hit my head on the doorframe? Saying 'X is caused by a chemical imbalance' is like saying that pain is caused by pain receptors sending messages to the brain. And taking painkillers won't stop me hitting my head on the doorframe again.