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Depression not caused by lack of serotonin

verityverity Administrator, Citizen
edited August 2022 in Mind and Body Wellbeing
New study has found that the decades old  assumed link between serotonin levels and depression isn't supported by the evidence.


However that is not to say the antidepressant like SSRIs  don't work, but the mechanism of action may be different.

Comments

  • Statest16Statest16 Citizen, Mentor
    I had read a similar article,I think it said something like serotonin not ruled out but not proven either and that depression as the result of environmental factors should be looked at.
  • Statest16Statest16 Citizen, Mentor
    I read the article I think it's the same one I read previously.
  • AmityAmity Administrator, Citizen
    I can relate to the idea that depression and environmental factors have a strong relationship.

    Perhaps depression is a normal reaction to environments which we are ill equipped to deal with.
  • firemonkeyfiremonkey Citizen
    Imagine that you, as a physician, just saw this headline splashed all over the internet: “Depression Probably Not Caused by Excessive Black Bile.” It was followed by a long discourse on how an imbalance in the 4 bodily humors is not responsible for mood disorders. You might scratch your head and wonder why anyone in 2022 would be bothering to refute the Galenic-medieval humoral theory.




  • Statest16Statest16 Citizen, Mentor
    firemonkey said:
    Imagine that you, as a physician, just saw this headline splashed all over the internet: “Depression Probably Not Caused by Excessive Black Bile.” It was followed by a long discourse on how an imbalance in the 4 bodily humors is not responsible for mood disorders. You might scratch your head and wonder why anyone in 2022 would be bothering to refute the Galenic-medieval humoral theory.




    The question being is if this true then why have the SSRI's been working now for over 30 odd years since prozac's introduction in the late 1980's.

    What are the SSRI's doing right then?Bizarre!
  • verityverity Administrator, Citizen
    edited September 2022
    Statest16 said:

    What are the SSRI's doing right then?Bizarre!

    It seem bizzare but not that much to a scientist becuase mechanism of action can be more complicated.

    The test they have done was seeing if suppressing serotonin or less sertonin lead to more depression. However we know already the some folk are just more prone to depression. Doing that may make no difference to most people.

    If you can actual get a substance into the brain in the first place without doing immediate damage that is one thing but getting it to particular place an time that is a whole other thing.

    It could be it provide a particular stimulus in a particular  or suppresses soemthign else. It could more about how than the quantity of one substance.

    A pacemaker isn't always there to provide more electricity to the heart for example, but to keep a viable rhythm and synchronization.

    Sometime you add water to somehtign to dilute the solution not the increase the water, but to change the make-up of the solution.
  • Statest16Statest16 Citizen, Mentor
    verity said:
    Statest16 said:

    What are the SSRI's doing right then?Bizarre!

    It seem bizzare but not that much to a scientist becuase mechanism of action can be more complicated.

    The test they have done was seeing if suppressing serotonin or less sertonin lead to more depression. However we know already the some folk are just more prone to depression. Doing that may make no difference to most people.

    If you can actual get a substance into the brain in the first place without doing immediate damage that is one thing but getting it to particular place an time that is a whole other thing.

    It could be it provide a particular stimulus in a particular  or suppresses soemthign else. It could more about how than the quantity of one substance.

    A pacemaker isn't always there to provide more electricity to the heart for example, but to keep a viable rhythm and synchronization.

    Sometime you add water to somehtign to dilute the solution not the increase the water, but to change the make-up of the solution.
    Was it all in peoples minds,they were told it would cure depression and so it did,like the power of positive suggestion
  • verityverity Administrator, Citizen
    Statest16 said:
    Was it all in peoples minds,they were told it would cure depression and so it did,like the power of positive suggestion
    Double blind studies account for the placebo effect. so not likely.
  • Statest16Statest16 Citizen, Mentor
    verity said:
    Statest16 said:
    Was it all in peoples minds,they were told it would cure depression and so it did,like the power of positive suggestion
    Double blind studies account for the placebo effect. so not likely.
    I know but it's bizarre the drugs worked for 35 years but now the value is being debunked.Or could there be something else in the drug that did work,I know to little of pharmaceuticals to say.
  • verityverity Administrator, Citizen
    I don't think they are saying the drugs didn't work. Obviously not always or they would not be so many of them.
  • Statest16Statest16 Citizen, Mentor
    verity said:
    I don't think they are saying the drugs didn't work. Obviously not always or they would not be so many of them.
    I'm very obtuse with medicine but the nagging question is if the link is not serotonin ,then what is the link,what did work.
  • verityverity Administrator, Citizen
    Statest16 said:
    verity said:
    I don't think they are saying the drugs didn't work. Obviously not always or they would not be so many of them.
    I'm very obtuse with medicine but the nagging question is if the link is not serotonin ,then what is the link,what did work.
    Are assuming that serotonin is not involves at all? That seems unlikely as SSRI and their predecessor were are different compounds. Though could still be possible.

    I suspect that serotonin is invoked but it is not a question an overall quality quality of serotonin lead to depression.

    There could be some other deficit of problem that might either be substituted with by sertaoin or the is a knock on effect triggered such a stimulus in that circumstance.

    I do knwo it doesn't seem that odd to me, I guess I a bit used to system that are a bit like that. I will try to come up with a better example to explain something similar.


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