{"id":50303,"date":"2022-07-22T10:14:23","date_gmt":"2022-07-22T15:14:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=50303"},"modified":"2022-07-22T10:32:47","modified_gmt":"2022-07-22T15:32:47","slug":"the-link-between-depression-and-serotonin-questioned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-link-between-depression-and-serotonin-questioned\/","title":{"rendered":"The Link Between Depression and Serotonin Questioned"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t

Source:<\/strong> Joanna Moncrieff and Mark Horowitz, “Depression is probably not caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain – new study<\/a>,”\u00a0The Conversation<\/em>, 20 July 2022.<\/p>\n

[I’m posting this to demonstrate that even in areas where people have been certain of the answers, they find that things are not always as they seem to be – jwh]<\/p>\n

“… many started taking antidepressants because they believed they had something wrong with their brain that required an antidepressant to put right. In the period of this marketing push, antidepressant use climbed dramatically, and they are now\u00a0prescribed to one in six of the adult population in England<\/a>, for example.”<\/p>\n

“SSRIs temporarily increase the availability of serotonin in the brain, but this does not necessarily imply that depression is caused by the opposite of this effect. … n fact, drug trials show that antidepressants are\u00a0barely distinguishable from a placebo<\/a>\u00a0(dummy pill) when it comes to treating depression. Also, antidepressants appear to have a generalised\u00a0emotion-numbing effect<\/a> which may influence people’s moods, although we do not know how this effect is produced or much about it.”<\/p>\n

“One area of research we included was research comparing levels of serotonin and its breakdown products in the blood or brain fluid. Overall, this research did not show a difference between people with depression and those without depression.”<\/p>\n

“Research on the most commonly investigated serotonin receptor suggested either no difference between people with depression and people without depression, or that serotonin activity was actually increased in people with depression – the opposite of the serotonin theory’s prediction.”<\/p>\n

“Two systematic reviews from\u00a02006<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a02007<\/a> and a sample of the ten most recent studies (at the time the current research was conducted) found that lowering serotonin did not produce depression in hundreds of healthy volunteers.”<\/p>\n

“Stressful life events in themselves, however, exerted a strong effect on people’s subsequent risk of developing depression.”<\/p>\n

“If antidepressants exert their effects as placebos, or by numbing emotions, then it is not clear that they do more good than harm.”<\/p>\n

“It is important that people know that the idea that depression results from a “chemical imbalance” is hypothetical. And we do not understand what temporarily elevating serotonin or other biochemical changes produced by antidepressants do to the brain.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?<\/em>” (I Corinthians 1:19-20).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source: Joanna Moncrieff and Mark Horowitz, “Depression is probably not caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain – new study,”\u00a0The Conversation, 20 July 2022. [I’m posting this to demonstrate that even in areas where people have been certain of the answers, they find that things are not always as they seem to be –…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[397,508],"class_list":["post-50303","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-issues","tag-depression","tag-mental-illness"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":38543,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-taking-an-antidepressant-for-fibromyalgia-just-an-easy-way-out\/","url_meta":{"origin":50303,"position":0},"title":"Is taking an antidepressant for fibromyalgia just an easy way out?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I'm going to have some tests for fibromyalgia, etc., due to body pains. My doctor wants to put me on antidepressants for when I have flare-ups and for stress. I don't want to use medicine as a crutch, and I have asked God for his help on this.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14177,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/which-antidepressant-is-best-for-the-treatment-of-drug-addiction-and-for-dealing-with-anger\/","url_meta":{"origin":50303,"position":1},"title":"Which antidepressant is best for the treatment of drug addiction and for dealing with anger?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 12, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Please advise: Which antidepressant would you say is the best for the treatment of drug addiction and also best for dealing with anger? Answer: I have not analyzed the various antidepressants, nor do I have the expertise to make such a judgment call. That is something that would have\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39645,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/recent-evidence-shows\/","url_meta":{"origin":50303,"position":2},"title":"Recent Evidence Shows?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 19, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Warren E. Berkley Several years ago scientists (especially in the behavior field) formed a research team. The simple question to be studied was: What can be done for people who are depressed? Not severe depression that has some physiological cause. Just people who visit a therapist and they present\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68659,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/notes-on-depression\/","url_meta":{"origin":50303,"position":3},"title":"Notes on Depression","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 2, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Psalms 27:5 Psalms 42:11 Lamentations 3:22-23","rel":"","context":"In "Notes"","block_context":{"text":"Notes","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/notes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":90868,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/depression-is-real\/","url_meta":{"origin":50303,"position":4},"title":"Depression Is Real","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores I understand the hard-fought struggle for those who wrestle with feelings of inadequacy, isolation, and gloom. And I know that when others say that depressed people should just \"snap out of it,\" well, that's just dumb. Unfortunately, too many who grapple with depression hinder their own recovery\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":48391,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-we-have-lied-about-my-daughters-depression\/","url_meta":{"origin":50303,"position":5},"title":"Should we have lied about my daughter’s depression?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 18, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is it ever OK to lie? My daughter was disqualified from entering a military group at her college\u00a0due to behavioral health. She spent days there due to depression.\u00a0 We filled out the medical forms and answered questions honestly for her college. Now my family is\u00a0upset because they\u00a0said she needed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50303","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50303\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}