Depression is likely not caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, study says

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puerile_polyp
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Depression is likely not caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, study says

Post by puerile_polyp » Sat Jul 23, 2022 8:15 am

“Many people take antidepressants because they have been led to believe their depression has a biochemical cause, but this new research suggests this belief is not grounded in evidence.”

https://thehill.com/changing-america/we ... tudy-says/

Any of you guys on SSRIs? I've had experiences with them but haven't done that for years now. They never seemed to do anything to me other than increase my appetite and lower my libido.

Anyway, psychiatry is bullshit and what we're really getting sick from is their mind control.

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starjots
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Re: Depression is likely not caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, study says

Post by starjots » Sat Jul 23, 2022 8:24 pm

I took Zoloft for less than a year. It might have helped, but I got off it as quickly as possible. The brain zaps from not taking it were unpleasant.

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Light Leak
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Re: Depression is likely not caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, study says

Post by Light Leak » Sun Jul 24, 2022 9:31 pm

I've tried SSRIs and SNRIs. They didn't seem to help and just gave me side effects. The "chemical imbalance" thing never really sounded right to me. It always seemed like it has to be more complicated than that. Not that I have any clue what the actual cause is. I figure it's probably different for different people. I'm more comfortable with treating it with therapy than drugs. Even some therapist push antidepressants though. One told me that she couldn't teach me tools to deal with depression and anxiety until I fixed my chemical imbalance in my brain first, or it wouldn't work. That seemed like BS to me.

Also, I'm not really convinced that I even suffer from depression. I was diagnosed with it, but I feel like what doctors and mental health providers call "depression" is really just me being unhappy with my life situation. I think I have valid reasons to be unhappy about it. I don't think it's some chemical imbalance making me feel unhappy about things that shouldn't make me unhappy.

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JohnClay
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Re: Depression is likely not caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, study says

Post by JohnClay » Sun Jul 24, 2022 10:47 pm

https://thelostconnections.com/
Summary:
https://fourminutebooks.com/lost-connections-summary/
Depression is not the result of a chemical imbalance.
There are nine main causes of depression, and they all have to do with difficult life circumstances.
Social prescriptions help people feel valued and connected while medication does not.
Reasons:
Disconnection from meaningful work.
Those with the least control and authority in the workplace are the most likely to have depression. We need to feel like what we do has meaning.

Disconnect from others.
Loneliness and no sense of belonging are big indicators of depression.

Disconnect from meaningful values.
Our consumer-driven society has left us detached from worthwhile values, which in turn contributes to depression.

Childhood trauma.
This 1998 study found the more traumatic a person’s childhood is, the more likely they are to have depression and anxiety.

Disconnect from status.
In areas with larger gaps in wealth, such as the US, there are higher rates in depression.

Disconnect from nature.
People who live in greener neighborhoods feel less stress and despair than those who don’t.

Disconnect from a secure and hopeful future.
Native Americans on government-controlled reservations had staggeringly high suicide rates. In reservations where they had control of their own laws, elections, police, and schools this was not a problem. They had control over their destiny and were less likely to commit suicide.

Genes.
We do know that there is a genetic influence in depression, though it only accounts for 37 percent of cases.

Changes in the brain.
Neuroplasticity is how the brain changes from experience. Because of this, when people spend more time with thoughts of despair rather than joy, it can strengthen the negative feeling areas.
Last edited by JohnClay on Sun Jul 24, 2022 11:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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JohnClay
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Re: Depression is likely not caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, study says

Post by JohnClay » Sun Jul 24, 2022 10:51 pm

puerile_polyp wrote:
Sat Jul 23, 2022 8:15 am
Any of you guys on SSRIs? I've had experiences with them but haven't done that for years now. They never seemed to do anything to me other than increase my appetite and lower my libido.

Anyway, psychiatry is bullshit and what we're really getting sick from is their mind control.
I used to be on SSRIs for depression and being suicidal.... after getting a girlfriend at the age of 29 I no longer needed them. Now I take anti-psychotics and mood-stabilizers for schizo-affective disorder.

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Madrigal
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Re: Depression is likely not caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, study says

Post by Madrigal » Mon Jul 25, 2022 2:43 am

Light Leak wrote:
Sun Jul 24, 2022 9:31 pm
I've tried SSRIs and SNRIs. They didn't seem to help and just gave me side effects. The "chemical imbalance" thing never really sounded right to me. It always seemed like it has to be more complicated than that. Not that I have any clue what the actual cause is. I figure it's probably different for different people. I'm more comfortable with treating it with therapy than drugs. Even some therapist push antidepressants though. One told me that she couldn't teach me tools to deal with depression and anxiety until I fixed my chemical imbalance in my brain first, or it wouldn't work. That seemed like BS to me.

Also, I'm not really convinced that I even suffer from depression. I was diagnosed with it, but I feel like what doctors and mental health providers call "depression" is really just me being unhappy with my life situation. I think I have valid reasons to be unhappy about it. I don't think it's some chemical imbalance making me feel unhappy about things that shouldn't make me unhappy.
What are the sources of the unhappiness?

Yeah, I'm interested in hearing from someone who was actually helped by these things. My sister was on them and seemed to be better when she just quit them of her own volition.

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Roger Mexico
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Re: Depression is likely not caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, study says

Post by Roger Mexico » Mon Jul 25, 2022 6:19 am

Madrigal wrote:
Mon Jul 25, 2022 2:43 am


Yeah, I'm interested in hearing from someone who was actually helped by these things. My sister was on them and seemed to be better when she just quit them of her own volition.
Effexor (SNRI) has helped me a lot over the years, though the reality is that "depression" is not a homogeneous, monolithic phenomenon.

There are several different types of depression disorders, in addition to "depression" also just being a regular emotion that is utterly normal (i.e. not an illness) when it's a logical response to actually being in a depressing situation.


Anhedonia and dysphoria (i.e. an inability to actually feel happy even in situations that logically should be making you happy) can definitely happen for internal, physiological reasons, though I'd imagine "chemical imbalance" is possibly an oversimplification of what those causes actually are.

I know there are some attempts underway to get governments to remove regulatory obstacles to research on "psychedelic" types of drugs as possibly better therapeutic tools than serotonergic drugs, as well as increasing interest in the use of electro-convulsive equipment rather than drugs.

I even read something once about "Deep Brain Stimulation", which apparently is an experimental technique conceptually similar to ECT, except with an electrode surgically inserted way down inside the patient's brain. (Sort of like a pacemaker, according to another analogy.)


Neurology is currently a very young science, so there's certainly a lot of crap-shoot aspects to the current practical applications of what little is actually understood about how brains really work.

I also find it entirely plausible that clinical depression disorders are being over-diagnosed.


However, much like the infamous similar case of ADHD being widely misdiagnosed 20-ish years ago, cases of misdiagnosis do not disprove the existence of genuine cases of the disorder.

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Spartan26
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Re: Depression is likely not caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, study says

Post by Spartan26 » Tue Jul 26, 2022 3:29 am

It's funny, I can think of 3 people who were on antidepressants and, though I'm no shrink, it seemed apparent they had chemical imbalance issues but for the life of them, they never wanted to take what was prescribed. Only wanted to self-medicate. I guess I've known other people who've been on them. Not sure if they truly had chemical imbalance or not.

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Light Leak
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Re: Depression is likely not caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, study says

Post by Light Leak » Sun Jul 31, 2022 3:58 am

Madrigal wrote:
Mon Jul 25, 2022 2:43 am
What are the sources of the unhappiness?
Mostly health issues, chronic pain, my job, and not having time or energy to do things that I want to do because of the other issues. So basically it feels like I'm stuck in this crappy situation and can't have my own life because I spend all my time and energy dealing with this stuff.

I guess technically this is my life, but it's not the life I want. It's just the same shit over and over.

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MoneyJungle
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Re: Depression is likely not caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, study says

Post by MoneyJungle » Sun Jul 31, 2022 6:12 pm

All this serotonin vs dopamine stuff comes off to me like the four humors for a digital age. I’m not aware of anyone I know actually having their brainchems measured or how such things are performed/possible. Diagnosing chronic illnesses from whole cloth is big moolah. I was on Zoloft long enough to know it was worse than being a parasuicidal drunk when I was in the Navy. Some people I respect claim they’ve been helped by psychopharmacology so I’m not entirely dismissive. I find running helps more than anything. Also, doing everything I possibly can to get sleep, which takes a lot of effort and willpower. Life in the developed world these days can make you develop all kinds of neuroses. Something about being able to take your survival largely for granted confuses people.

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