Depression is not caused by a 'chemical imbalance' in the brain, say scientists

[Ellethwyn]

This article popped up on my laptop a couple weeks ago (I don't know how to disable msm news from my laptop)... anyway, I was glad to see this. I've thought this for years.


A long-held belief is that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance.

The new review, which analysed existing studies, suggests the condition is not likely caused by a chemical imbalance, and calls into question what antidepressants do.

Researchers say their findings are important as studies show that as many as 85-90% of the public believes that depression is caused by low serotonin or a chemical imbalance.

Most antidepressants are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), and were originally said to work by correcting abnormally low serotonin levels.

There is no other accepted way by which antidepressants affect the symptoms of depression.

Lead author Joanna Moncrieff, a professor of psychiatry at UCL is a consultant psychiatrist at North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT).

She said: ‘It is always difficult to prove a negative, but I think we can safely say that after a vast amount of research conducted over several decades, there is no convincing evidence that depression is caused by serotonin abnormalities, particularly by lower levels or reduced activity of serotonin.

‘The popularity of the “chemical imbalance” theory of depression has coincided with a huge increase in the use of antidepressants.

‘Prescriptions for antidepressants have risen dramatically since the 1990s, with one in six adults in England and 2% of teenagers now being prescribed an antidepressant in a given year.’

‘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.’

Professor Moncrieff added: ‘Thousands of people suffer from side effects of antidepressants, including the severe withdrawal effects that can occur when people try to stop them, yet prescription rates continue to rise.

‘We believe this situation has been driven partly by the false belief that depression is due to a chemical imbalance.

‘It is high time to inform the public that this belief is not grounded in science.’

The umbrella review looked at all relevant studies that have been published in the most important fields of research on serotonin and depression.

In total, these involved tens of thousands of participants.

One of the findings was that research that compared levels of serotonin and its breakdown products in the blood or brain fluids did not find a difference between people diagnosed with depression and healthy people.

The authors also looked at studies where serotonin levels were artificially lowered in hundreds of people.

These studies have been cited as demonstrating that a serotonin deficiency is linked to depression.

But a review of the research available in 2007 and a sample of recent studies found that lowering serotonin in this way did not produce depression in hundreds of healthy volunteers.

Other studies looked at the effects of stressful life events and found that the more stressful life events a person had experienced, the more likely they were to be depressed.

One early study found a relationship between stressful events, the type of serotonin transporter gene a person had and the chance of depression.

However, larger, more comprehensive studies suggest this was a false finding.

These findings led the authors to conclude that there is ‘no support for the hypothesis that depression is caused by lowered serotonin activity or concentrations’.

Full article here https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/med...6fe2cad9c290cd

[hurtuv]

I've heard it said from a wise man that depression is anger turned inwards.

[Gallop]

I think it can arise from mismanaged events guided by social and or family patterns that are established from one generation to the next

[Atlantic Reptilian]

The term depression is used very broadly, so obviously you will find people with "depression" that have issues not mediated by SSRI.
The thing about extreme stress, and you can see this very clearly in PTSD, is that it creates havoc in your head. On top of that it's not uncommon to suffer from insomnia when you have these illnesses.
All of this drains the brain and in the long run you're getting weaker both mentally and physically. At this point your chemicals are altered.
In such a situation it's very difficult to recover, in addition you have a hell in your own head. SSRIs can be a total switch, which is very helpful both short-term and long-term.
But SSRIs in high doses can also lead to hypo mania and serotonin syndrome.

[gixajo]

By David IrlbeckJul 21

The title of this article is VERY misleading. There is a HUGE difference between saying that research suggests that an imbalance in serotonin levels is not linked with depression vs. saying that "depression is not caused by a 'chemical imbalance.'"


Serotonin is just one of many chemicals that are involved in brain function. Dr. Joanna Moncrieff (lead study author) should be more careful with her comments (assuming she was quoted correctly) and should say exactly what the meta-analysis found, not some overreaching conclusion that the study most certainly did not find.


Nina Massey (author of this news article) should also be more careful before using a sound bite from one of the study authors in her news article title, especially when the content of her news article suggests that she read and understood the study outcomes. (Otherwise, this is a well-written article and I particularly appreciate her including a link to the research publication).

It's also important to note one of the important pieces of information that was not included in this news article and, that is, that certain types of depression were excluded from the study including: "...depression in physical conditions (e.g. post stroke or Parkinson’s disease)... postpartum depression, depression in children, or depression in bipolar disorder."


As a research scientist, it makes sense to me that a single brain chemical (serotonin) isn't solely responsible for depression. The brain is incredibly complex and there are likely many chemical interactions involved in mood disorders.


And, as this article mentions, it's possible that some people experience depression in response to stress, without having an underlying imbalance in brain chemistry.


Regardless of the cause of depression, it is important to remember that it is a real and potentially debilitating condition and the people who suffer from it should be treated with kindness and compassion.

[Pro.crasti.nation]

I was prescribed SSRIs, took a couple, then dumped the whole lot. Managed to get by without, for 5 years now.
The funniest shit is the list of side effects, which include - I kid you not! - "suicidal ideation"!!

Excellent! Go in for something to improve the interior decor, come out with a shot gun and infinite bullets!

I've heard it said from a wise man that depression is anger turned inwards.

That definitely does play a part!

[Atlantic Reptilian]

The funniest shit is the list of side effects, which include - I kid you not! - "suicidal ideation"!!

Well, that could be a hypo manic response to having increased levels of dopamine, serotonin in parts of the brain, in some people.
I have experienced it myself. It's like getting high of the idea of hanging yourself. You don't wanna die, I just thought it would feel pleasurable to have a leash around my throat and hang for a little.

And please stop with this paranoia.
Even if someone could read your thoughts what would the problem be?

[JamesBond007]

Psychiatrist Ronald Pies, Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of the Psychiatric Times. Pies stated: “In truth, the ‘chemical imbalance’ notion was always a kind of urban legend—never a theory seriously propounded by well-informed psychiatrists."

"[h]ere’s the problem … There is no definition of a mental disorder … it’s bullshit … I mean you can’t define it."---Allen Francis Architect of the psychiatric Bible the DSM

In order to eviscerate psychiatry one must focus on schizophrenia not depression :


"The good news for psychiatry is that it has little to fear that its general brain disease theory will be disproven. As previously noted, if any specific brain defect theory is disproven—as is now the case with the rejection of the serotonin imbalance theory of depression and the dopamine imbalance theory of schizophrenia—psychiatry can turn to another brain defect theory. Given the large number of areas of the brain and the variety of chemical/electrical transmissions and circuitry, and given the larger number of combinations of these variables, it would be difficult to exhaust specific brain defect theories. So each time such a theory is scientifically disproven, psychiatry can simply move on to another biological theory. Ironically, to the extent that critics debunk any specific brain defect theory, they are doing the institution of psychiatry a favor by ensuring neurology doesn’t take psychiatry’s patients. In scientifically examining the consensus reality that schizophrenia is a brain disease, the first problem is one of validity, and the second problem is reliability. Specifically, if a construct is not clearly a valid one, there is no scientific value in correlating it with other variables such as an area of the brain. And even if the construct is a valid one, if it cannot be reliably assessed, then again there is no scientific value in attempting to correlate it with other variables. With respect to mental illness, validity means calling something a disease or illness that actually is a disease or illness. In every era, we see human conditions that are so disturbing, frightening, and enraging that they are labeled as either immoral, criminal, or a mental illness—and it is taboo to challenge these labels. The DSM criteria for schizophrenia consists of the following: the presence of two or more of the following behaviors with at least one of them being from the first three listed: (1) delusions; (2) hallucinations; (3) disorganized speech; (4) grossly disorganized behavior; and (5) negative symptoms (which include apathy, lack of emotion, poor social functioning, and difficulty following instructions). By 1968, it was obvious to psychologist Don Bannister that DSM criteria makes schizophrenia “a concept so diffuse as to be unusable in a scientific context.” Specifically, it is possible for one individual to be diagnosed with schizophrenia based on two symptoms that are completely different than the two symptoms of another individual similarly diagnosed. Bannister put it this way: “The two people are now firmly grouped in the same category while not specifically possessing any common characteristics.” When critics of the construct of schizophrenia say that “schizophrenia doesn’t exist,” they don’t mean that people with the above behaviors don’t exist. Rather, they mean that the term “schizophrenia” is used as simply a wastebasket for disturbing behaviors, and it is not a scientifically valid construct. Thus it is no surprise for genuine scientists that schizophrenia cannot be reliably diagnosed, that brain structure correlates are not used for its diagnosis, and that standard treatment of it has been so ineffective. Delusions, especially bizarre delusions, are a hallmark symptom of schizophrenia. However, as previously noted, culture and politics dictate a great deal of what is considered to be a bizarre delusion; and studies show that senior psychiatrists cannot reliably distinguish between bizarre and non-bizarre delusions. With respect to hallucinations, the other hallmark symptom of schizophrenia, as previously noted, many individuals hear voices that they are not troubled by, don’t enter medical treatment, and find their voices to be meaningful parts of their lives. Even if one ignores the problem of validity of the construct of schizophrenia, there is the undeniable scientific problem of the diagnosis of schizophrenia being an unreliable one. Recall that in the DSM-5 field trials, the agreement between raters was established as poor to weak (with the kappa being .46). Scientifically speaking, it’s the end of the discussion. Without a scientifically valid construct that can be reliably measured, there is no scientific value in looking for brain defect correlates.", Bruce E. Levine, A Profession Without Reason

[oszkar07]

These findings led the authors to conclude that there is ‘no support for the hypothesis that depression is caused by lowered serotonin activity or concentrations’.

"led the authors to believe" ...

Thing is there are countless studies and so called academic articles posted on many things. This does not necessarily equate to broad scientific/academic agreement.
The question is to what extent have these studies been peer reviewed.
How extensive has the research been etc.

There are many people that experience depression , as Winston Churchill described it the "Black dog".
In general depression is considered reactive in the sense of reaction to a traumatic situation or loss etc. Or it can be considered organic which seems to imply deep depression for no apparent reason. You have many succesfull people for example
Tyson Fury who was rich and succesfull but experienced deep depression and suicidality for no apparent reason.

[Atlantic Reptilian]

There is also the issue of not being able to determine the concentrations of Serotonin, Dopamine etc. in the brain. You can do it in the gut and so on, but your brain is not in your gut.

Tyson Fury who was rich and succesfull but experienced deep depression and suicidality for no apparent reason.

I personally believe some people can feel suicidal for the same reason a parent would feel depressed if their own child died. You sacrifice yourself (for your child, or anything important), and it's very dangerous yes, but if you don't what's the point of life?
I myself feel other people's emotions strongly, and it's can be very dangerous considering everything that happens in the world, but I would much rather do this than not feel anything. So it comes with mood swings, mental fatigue etc.

From my own experience, increased extracellular activity makes me less interested in my own thoughts and needs, and more interested in other people's thoughts and needs.
It also makes me very calm and not bothered by much. But it also leads to dopamine insensitivity.