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https://theconversation.com/depression-is-probably-not-caused-by-a-chemical-imbalance-in-the-brain-new-study-186672>
"For three decades, people have been deluged with information suggesting that
depression is caused by a “chemical imbalance” in the brain – namely an
imbalance of a brain chemical called serotonin. However, our latest research
review shows that the evidence does not support it.
Although first proposed in the 1960s, the serotonin theory of depression
started to be widely promoted by the pharmaceutical industry in the 1990s in
association with its efforts to market a new range of antidepressants, known as
selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs. The idea was also endorsed by
official institutions such as the American Psychiatric Association, which still
tells the public that “differences in certain chemicals in the brain may
contribute to symptoms of depression”.
Countless doctors have repeated the message all over the world, in their
private surgeries and in the media. People accepted what they were told. And
many started taking antidepressants because they believed they had something
wrong with their brain that required an antidepressant to put right. In the
period of this marketing push, antidepressant use climbed dramatically, and
they are now prescribed to one in six of the adult population in England, for
example.
For a long time, certain academics, including some leading psychiatrists, have
suggested that there is no satisfactory evidence to support the idea that
depression is a result of abnormally low or inactive serotonin. Others continue
to endorse the theory. Until now, however, there has been no comprehensive
review of the research on serotonin and depression that could enable firm
conclusions either way.
At first sight, the fact that SSRI-type antidepressants act on the serotonin
system appears to support the serotonin theory of depression. SSRIs temporarily
increase the availability of serotonin in the brain, but this does not
necessarily imply that depression is caused by the opposite of this effect.
There are other explanations for antidepressants’ effects. In fact, drug trials
show that antidepressants are barely distinguishable from a placebo (dummy
pill) when it comes to treating depression. Also, antidepressants appear to
have a generalised emotion-numbing effect which may influence people’s moods,
although we do not know how this effect is produced or much about it."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
