[depressedalaskan]

If serotonin is connected to depression why can't we have someone clone our serotonin and give us a buster shot? Maybe we would feel better. I know that the medications that I have been on have not helped much. Just a dumb thought.

[Naturefreak]

Recent studies have shown that imbalances in serotonin levels can trigger depression. Doctors treat some patients with serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) because these medications can help to regulate serotonin levels.

"The unanswered question is: why do some people become depressed when serotonin is low while others with low serotonin levels remain depression-free?" Dr. Delgado says

[justfloating]

I have no idea how it all works, but I think that for many depression sufferers, it's probably a combination of things that makes us depressed. For me, I know that my meds help boost seratonin. I live 8 months of the year in Scotland, and I have to use a special light because lack of sunlight triggers my depression as well. On top of that, I have low self-esteem, social anxiety issues, familial stresses, I'm a university student with an ocean between me and home, AND I have absolutely no idea what I want to do with my life ... and therapy generally helps with those things. In my case, I think that the biological treatments like lights and medication boost my ability to deal with the emotional/psychological issues I have. I'm not sure I could say it's about any one thing.

But believe me, if there was a booster shot that could rid me of my depression completely, I'd be first in line!

[marvin_pa]

Serotonin seems to be only one of a bunch of various factors that are thought to have relationships to mood/susceptibility to depression. As I understand their function, the SSRIs don't add extra serotonin as such, but leave more of it around for the receptors to pick up. Correspondingly, I'd guess some of what happens would also rely on the efficiency/tuning of those receptors. Dopamine levels also appear to play a part & who knows what other interactions are going on. [This is where somebody who's studied brain chemistry needs to magically appear & explain all]

Disclaimer: All the above comes merely from my own diggings for information & may be utterly wrong/misinterpreted. I guess my main point can really be boiled down to this: The brain & it's workings appear to be really complicated & it I think that we're still working out what really causes what.

[Paulapocket]

I have ocd is there anyone out there to talk to who will be willing to listen.......

[lotusflames]

i had this discussion with my psych not so long ago. there is a lot of evidence that shows that low seratonin levels can contribute to depression but don't actually cause it. we just find that people respond quite well to increased levels of seratonin.

a lot of people suffer depression and it doesn't react to meds because it is not a chemical issue but a situational depression which can only be solved with time and changes in circumstances.

which is why meds alone are not the answer

[depressedalaskan]

Originally Posted by Babysteps09

Recent studies have shown that imbalances in serotonin levels can trigger depression. Doctors treat some patients with serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) because these medications can help to regulate serotonin levels.

"The unanswered question is: why do some people become depressed when serotonin is low while others with low serotonin levels remain depression-free?" Dr. Delgado says

Good question ((((Babysteps09)))). Anyone with an answer? Thanks! Hugs for your day.

[depressedalaskan]

Originally Posted by justfloating

I have no idea how it all works, but I think that for many depression sufferers, it's probably a combination of things that makes us depressed. For me, I know that my meds help boost seratonin. I live 8 months of the year in Scotland, and I have to use a special light because lack of sunlight triggers my depression as well. On top of that, I have low self-esteem, social anxiety issues, familial stresses, I'm a university student with an ocean between me and home, AND I have absolutely no idea what I want to do with my life ... and therapy generally helps with those things. In my case, I think that the biological treatments like lights and medication boost my ability to deal with the emotional/psychological issues I have. I'm not sure I could say it's about any one thing.

But believe me, if there was a booster shot that could rid me of my depression completely, I'd be first in line!

I think the line would be very long. Hugs for your day.

[marvin_pa]

Originally Posted by depressedalaskan

Good question ((((Babysteps09)))). Anyone with an answer? Thanks! Hugs for your day.

I don't think that serotonin level alone is necessarily going to be the only factor in whether or not (or to what degree) you'd feel the effects of depression - I'm not even sure that there's a direct, non-invasive way to measure it beyond the brain blood barrier. A person's biological makeup is going to have an impact on susceptibility to depression - the physical process of serotonin transmission may be more effective in some people than others & other differences in brain chemistry would also probably produce a different result in one person than another. Your learned thought processes could additionally make one person react differently than other for the same given set of stimuli & serotonin levels. Add in the human bodies capability to self-tune hormone levels & blood chemistry and you have another variable in the mix that could cause variation between different individuals.

[Oh wow - babysteps, was that Dr Delgado reference to this guy? -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%...riguez_Delgado ]

[Naturefreak]

Originally Posted by marvin_pa

[Oh wow - babysteps, was that Dr Delgado reference to this guy? -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%...riguez_Delgado ]

No , He is Dr. Pedro L. Delgado .
Chairman of the department of psychiatry at UHC of
Cleveland and Case Western Reserve University.