Low Serotonin Fraud

I would like the Doc to prove that depression is caused by low serotonin.
The Doc is buying the Pharmaceuticals line of serotonin to be the cause of depression. The DSM says, the cause of depression is unknown. There is no biological test that proves low serotonin is the cause of depression. The Doc has either not kept up on the latest or she is lying or a fraud. Is a headache caused by low aspirin?

Read the news article that this opinion was posted about:
What Are Antidepressants? The Top 10 Things You Should Know

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Honesty

posted by vince on 18 July 2007 at 7:13 am

The truth is that in studies SSRIs manage symptoms only slightly more effectively than placebo. Safer modality's are available they should be used ; exercise; cognitive therapy and omega 3 all have been shown to be helpful. To market drugs based on no science is reprehensible. No science supports the "lack or imbalance of chemicals ad seen in the US so often.

Thanks Vince

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Come On, Give Me A Break!

posted by kurt on 19 July 2007 at 8:58 pm

There are other options for treatment of depression yes, but clinical depression isn't going away with simple cognitive therapy and diet and exercise. The only people who believe anti-depressants are not necessary have never experienced clinical depression. It won't go away man. I work out 3 to 7 times a week for the last 14 years, I eat dam near perfect, I have gone to councellors and studied psychology for years on my own and in college. If your brain isn't making enough feel good chemicals nothing short of medication along with councelling and proper diet and exercise will help.

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Antidepressants are very habit forming.

posted by Amanda on 28 Jan 2011 at 12:03 am

Yeah so what explains the horrible withdrawal with coming off the antidepressant Effexor XR? How about those fun brain zaps, vomiting, headaches, feeling like it'll never end. Yes, hate to break the bad news... they are all habit forming along with antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, and sleep pills.

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Honesty?

posted by Colin on 05 Apr 2011 at 4:24 pm

The line about antidepressants being only slightly better than a placebo is true across a large population, but interestingly, their efficacy increases directly with the degree of severity of depression. In other words, the more severely ill one is, the more likely antidepressants are to work. Antidepressants are enormously over-subscribed and as such many people with mild to moderate depression take antidepressants which have a negligible effect when really they would have been better off addressing diet, sleep, exercise lifestyle etc. Individuals who are extremely clinically unwell typically respond better to pharmacological treatment, and it may well be that the proximate causes of differing degrees of depression are not identical which would explain why SSRIs don't seem to work for some, but work very well for others....

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habit forming =/= ineffective

posted by stevie on 17 Apr 2011 at 10:09 pm

To the contrary, it's probably the opposite. Morphine is extremely habit-forming for exactly the same chemical reasons it's such a effective pain-killer. Like morphine, antidepressants do things to your brain chemicals, if less fun things, and brain chemicals are a) pretty touchy and b) still not an exact science.

The other thing with antidepressants is that while any given one isn't MUCH more effective than placebo, when you try another as happens in normal practice, usually one does eventually work, giving an over-all effectiveness much higher.

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One thing to remember about depression

posted by Matt on 29 Apr 2011 at 4:19 pm

There is one little thing that NO doctor will tell you about depression: in a good number of cases, it will go away entirely on its own after a time. Granted, it probably won't go away in a month or two. But chances are, depression is NOT going to be lifelong. For most people who suffer from depression/anxiety, the best thing to do is keep yourself occupied, spend time with friends and family, try to reduce stress in your life, and do things that you enjoy (even if depression prevents you from enjoying them at the time) while allowing your mind to heal and giving it the time to do so.

As far as antidepressants, also keep in mind that they will NEVER cure you. All they do is mask some of the symptoms some of the time for some people. Furthermore, I truly believe that, if you are one of the many people out there who would naturally heal with time, taking an antidepressant may prevent this from happening.

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what to do from here?

posted by sara on 08 Aug 2011 at 4:18 am

Hello,
I am experiencing depression, and have been told by doctor and a psychologist, that I have stage two depression.
That was over one month ago, and I have only had that one session.

I have done everything that I was told to do, exercise 5-6 days a week, take my omega 3, fish oil (x4 1000 mg) capsules with every meal. Im eating plenty of green vegetables, awsell as ensuring that I only consume free range meat. I do my very best to remove sugar from my diet.
But lollies are what I turn to, and uncontrollably eat.
I do have have this overwhelming feeling, that disabled me, and stopped my from performing in my normal daily activity today.

I have made positive changes, and resolved the major root of all my worries. To what I believe that to be 80% of what caused my depression.

I am wanting a opinion on what to do from here, Maybe I do need the assistance from anti depressions, to be able to get myslef on track?

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Couple of things

posted by Guch on 09 Aug 2011 at 1:49 pm

Sara, just go about your life, depression is a tricky thing, it's an emotional response. If you keep feeling something chances are there is a cause, even though you have changed a lot of what may have caused it, it could still linger. Think of a relationship, you dont immediately stop loving someone because you split, it lingers, eventually it goes away (or fades).

As for Serotonin causing depression, that is retarded. First, SSRIs and SSREs both treat depression, SSREs work faster (almost immediate) and do the opposite of a SSRI, so that theory goes out the windows. Also, Why would anyone mess with your brain? Someone offered you a magic pill to make the pain go away, oh by the way it's going to alter the chemistry in your brain... why would you take something like that?

I love science, I believe science will always come up with an answer. However brain science is in it's infancy and these pills are like taking leeches to cure a cold, any cure is merely coincidence.

Here is a good rule of thumb when it comes to medication. If they have to market it to you, you don't really need it, if you do need something, it doesn't have to be marketed.

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hopefully this helps

posted by Bill on 25 Nov 2011 at 4:37 am

Sara, I can offer advice directly from my own experience with depression/ADs unlike many others on the net who chime in without any first hand knowledge, which includes some medical professionals.

First off, I believe the length of severity should be a key factor in your decision on whether or not to start taking an antidepressant. I would only recommend trying one if your episode has lasted more than 10 months, a considerable amount of time in my book for the mind to be in a depressed state.

Secondly, before trying any antidepressant, I would suggest investigating a more natural herbal route, like St. John's Wort or HTP, which has proved beneficial and much less expensive to many.

Thirdy, try yoga or meditation for at least 1-2 months and re-evaluate. These "centering" practices bring about a calm and serenity that you're not likely to encounter elsewhere. Yoga seems to have double the benefits since its good exercise too.

Please understand that antidepressants are addictive to a certain degree. I don't know how any chemical that is used regularly and alters your brain chemistry could be considered otherwise. I have read that SSRI's and other antidepressants are known to raise your neurotransmitter level only to let it drop below baseline levels once the antidepressant meds are ceased. Based on my personal experience, I believe something to this effect happens when one tries to quit antidepressants since my relapse was much worse than my state before antidepressants. Bottomline, think long and hard before popping.

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Changing My Mind

posted by Joey on 01 Feb 2012 at 10:33 pm

I've been changing my mind, literally, on the controversy of anti-depressants. Previously, I vowed never to take medication after my mother was so quickly and easily diagnosed bipolar and handed hard medications. I've watched her life sink into a lethargy that is not happy, nor is it who she is meant to be.

However, this year Ive got through a debilitating adrenal insufficiency / hypoglycemia that has thrown my nervous system into random convulsive attacks if I don't eat. This low sugar-related anxiety hads been a battle, and like many, I got full diagnostics and sought supplements, vitamins, and continue a no-sugar, no-carb diet to help restore my adrenals. Nevertheless, despite healthy exercise and dropping out of college to "ease stress" I still have experienced asocial behavior, chronic fatigue, anxiety, and reckless panic attacks. The worst part is knowing it's all physical and then attempting to distinguish between what's a rational anxiety and what's an irrational fear.

I'm still continuing all supplements/diet but have taken on anti depressants to help the recovery process (6-12 months). It's either this, or lose my life to adrenal fatigue and the "side effects" ie. range of symptoms that comes with it.

Clinical depression? Probably not. Feel good pills? Yes, I do feel much better. Bad medicine? At this point, more good considering the bad without it.

Given, I do worry about how my neurotransmitters feel not ring able to "reuptake" up there... Seems a bit cruel to force them to recycle like that. In this way, I am concerned about long term cognitive changes because I very much like who I am.

But at 69 cents per refill, that's cheaper than any wholesale fish oil.

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anti-depressants only help if benefits outweight the negative side effects.

posted by Joel on 04 Feb 2012 at 7:35 am

"Antidepressants help correct chemical imbalances in your brain by affecting certain brain chemicals called neurotransmitters, which are responsible for sending messages between nerve cells."
A huge un-scientific assumption........
Should read.
" Antidepressants alters the chemical balances in your brain by affecting neurotransmitters, which are responsible for sending messages between nerve cells."
IMO General practitioners should not be allowed to prescribe anti-depressants.

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SSRE ?

posted by tim on 04 Apr 2012 at 9:20 am

What is an SSRE ?

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Depression - Curious

posted by Jimbob on 17 May 2012 at 9:37 am

I've been depressed for who knows how long now, barely caring how long I sleep, how much or little I eat, or what happens in my life other than to my partner. I have pleasent goosebumps and chills sometimes when I think about my life ending, and it worries me greatly that I enjoy this thought so much.

I'm looking at talking to my doctor about it and my partner, however I am worried about being prescribed SSRI's given the information declared here. There seems to be a severe split in opinion regarding their effectiveness.

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