25 ms·

Depression is ‘not caused by chemical imbalance’

8 points by shin_lao 4y ago

tus666 4y ago
> “One interesting aspect in the studies we examined was how strong an effect adverse life events played in depression, suggesting low mood is a response to people’s lives and cannot be boiled down to a simple chemical equation.” If a little alarm bell is ringing inside your head that "something is really really wrong" you are not alone.
phren0logy 4y ago
Disclosure: I'm a psychiatrist, and find this "hot take" to be a drive-by shooting on a strawman, but whatever. A good collection of reactions to this article: https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-a-review-paper-on-the-serotonin-theory-of-depression/?fs=e&s=cl https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-a-revi... >Prof Gitte Moos Knudsen, Professor of Neurobiology and Chair of Department of Neurology and Neurobiology Research Unit, Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark, said: >The authors justify the need for such a review by saying that it is a public misconception that depression is caused by low brain serotonin. The main misconception is, however, that depression is a single disease with a single biochemical deficit. Today, it is largely accepted that depression is a heterogeneous disorder with potentially multiple underlying causes. The review aims to uncover existing evidence for a serotonergic deficit, but the studies included in the review use methodologies that only generate proxies for the real question which is if synaptic 5-HT concentration and release are altered in (subsets) of patients with major depression. >Prof Phil Cowen, Professor of Psychopharmacology, University of Oxford, said: >I studied the role of serotonin in people with depression for three decades and I’m broadly in agreement with the authors’ conclusions about our current efforts, though I lack their adamantine certainty. No mental health professional would currently endorse the view that a complex heterogenous condition like depression stems from a deficiency in a single neurotransmitter
- truemotive 4y ago
  Thanks for this, the critiques are useful enough at layman level and say just about what I expected. I do appreciate the spirit of the article itself opening the solution space to additional therapies than SSRI medication, which may seem obvious but I feel is important to articulate to the general public.
- dam_broke_it 4y ago
  1903 Emil Kraepelin started studying depression--founded the Department of Psychiatry You would figure that in the intervening 119 years more progress would have been made....

8 points by shin_lao 4y ago

> “One interesting aspect in the studies we examined was how strong an effect adverse life events played in depression, suggesting low mood is a response to people’s lives and cannot be boiled down to a simple chemical equation.” If a little alarm bell is ringing inside your head that "something is really really wrong" you are not alone.

phren0logy 4y ago

Disclosure: I'm a psychiatrist, and find this "hot take" to be a drive-by shooting on a strawman, but whatever. A good collection of reactions to this article: https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-a-review-paper-on-the-serotonin-theory-of-depression/?fs=e&s=cl https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-a-revi... >Prof Gitte Moos Knudsen, Professor of Neurobiology and Chair of Department of Neurology and Neurobiology Research Unit, Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark, said: >The authors justify the need for such a review by saying that it is a public misconception that depression is caused by low brain serotonin. The main misconception is, however, that depression is a single disease with a single biochemical deficit. Today, it is largely accepted that depression is a heterogeneous disorder with potentially multiple underlying causes. The review aims to uncover existing evidence for a serotonergic deficit, but the studies included in the review use methodologies that only generate proxies for the real question which is if synaptic 5-HT concentration and release are altered in (subsets) of patients with major depression. >Prof Phil Cowen, Professor of Psychopharmacology, University of Oxford, said: >I studied the role of serotonin in people with depression for three decades and I’m broadly in agreement with the authors’ conclusions about our current efforts, though I lack their adamantine certainty. No mental health professional would currently endorse the view that a complex heterogenous condition like depression stems from a deficiency in a single neurotransmitter

truemotive 4y ago
Thanks for this, the critiques are useful enough at layman level and say just about what I expected. I do appreciate the spirit of the article itself opening the solution space to additional therapies than SSRI medication, which may seem obvious but I feel is important to articulate to the general public.
dam_broke_it 4y ago
1903 Emil Kraepelin started studying depression--founded the Department of Psychiatry You would figure that in the intervening 119 years more progress would have been made....