4 ms·

Antidepressants Don’t Work the Way Many People Think

3 points by sherilm 4y ago

PaulHoule 4y ago
Stress causes brain damage, antidepressants counteract this brain damage.
- giantg2 4y ago
  Saw you're getting downvoted. Here is a quote from the article that should explain what you're saying in detail. "The current prevailing theory, Dr. Hellerstein said, is that chronic stress can cause the loss of connections — called synapses — between cells in the hippocampus and other parts of the brain, potentially leading to depression. Antidepressants are now thought to work at least in part by helping the brain form new connections between cells. Researchers aren’t exactly sure how increasing serotonin with an S.S.R.I. causes these synapses to regrow. One possibility is that the medications also increase levels of other brain chemicals, called growth factors, that help those connections form and spread."
  - PaulHoule 4y ago
    1/3 of the time I get downvoted I'm just wrong, 1/3 of the time I am shitposting and still proud, 1/3 of the times it seems the more I know what I am talking about the more I get downvoted. I wish people would quit using neurotransmitters as an excuse for behavior, particularly the use of "dopamine" is obnoxious. (Unless you're going to say it's why you have symptoms of schizophrenia...) There are at least 14 serotonin receptors in the brain and even more on your platelets, in your gut, on your heart valves, and many other parts of the body. The "chemical imbalance" theory never made a lot of sense, it was based on studies where they spinal tapped people and measured how much was in their cerebrospinal fluid which has very little to do with how much serotonin is in the synapse junctions where SSRIs and other drugs do their work. The "brain damage" theory has been credible for a long time and it was why my primary care doc put me on SSRIs before the bottom fell out in my life.
    - giantg2 4y ago
      I wonder if there are better NGF inducing drugs to explore.

3 points by sherilm 4y ago

PaulHoule 4y ago

Stress causes brain damage, antidepressants counteract this brain damage.

giantg2 4y ago
Saw you're getting downvoted. Here is a quote from the article that should explain what you're saying in detail. "The current prevailing theory, Dr. Hellerstein said, is that chronic stress can cause the loss of connections — called synapses — between cells in the hippocampus and other parts of the brain, potentially leading to depression. Antidepressants are now thought to work at least in part by helping the brain form new connections between cells. Researchers aren’t exactly sure how increasing serotonin with an S.S.R.I. causes these synapses to regrow. One possibility is that the medications also increase levels of other brain chemicals, called growth factors, that help those connections form and spread."
- PaulHoule 4y ago
  1/3 of the time I get downvoted I'm just wrong, 1/3 of the time I am shitposting and still proud, 1/3 of the times it seems the more I know what I am talking about the more I get downvoted. I wish people would quit using neurotransmitters as an excuse for behavior, particularly the use of "dopamine" is obnoxious. (Unless you're going to say it's why you have symptoms of schizophrenia...) There are at least 14 serotonin receptors in the brain and even more on your platelets, in your gut, on your heart valves, and many other parts of the body. The "chemical imbalance" theory never made a lot of sense, it was based on studies where they spinal tapped people and measured how much was in their cerebrospinal fluid which has very little to do with how much serotonin is in the synapse junctions where SSRIs and other drugs do their work. The "brain damage" theory has been credible for a long time and it was why my primary care doc put me on SSRIs before the bottom fell out in my life.
  - giantg2 4y ago
    I wonder if there are better NGF inducing drugs to explore.