Is Depression The Result Of Somethiing Physical...

[Chappers]

I was told recently that depression is actually caused by a physical "hole" in the brain out of which "Seratonin" leaks. I was also told that anti depressant drugs didn't top up these depleting levels of seratonin as seratonin never comes back, once it's gone it's gone. But these anti depressants help a kind of skin to grow over this hole to keep it in. This sounds totally crazy to me, I thought depression was a mental illness and not a hole in the brain out of which something leaks. Is there any truth in this?

[woofgang]

no!

[woofgang]

try here for a more realistic approach

http://www.allaboutdepression.com/cau_01.html

[Hgrove]

There are no holes in the brain out of which serotonin leaks, but I think there is a disagreement between psychiatrists, who believe depression has an organic/physical cause (imbalances of something in the brain) and psychologists/therapists who believe depression comes from your life experiences.  Hence, psychiatrists tend to believe that medication works, whereas psychologists favour therapy.

[JOEYSHABADO]

The statements in your question are not entirely incorrect, and could be the repeated account given of the actual action of a Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor on the relevant synapses.

Serotonin IS probably a moderating factor in many cases of depression. It is a neurotransmitter, ie it pops out of one neuron, across a synaptic cleft, and goes to another neuron, allowing a signal to be passed. This is how your brain works, basically. Once the serotonin has done its job, it gets reuptaken into the neurons from which it came. This turns the signal off in the neuron it was transmitted to. To overcome deficiencies of various kinds, when you take an SSRI it blocks to some degree this reuptake process, and allows the serotonin to sit in the target neuron and keep transmitting.

RE: one of the answers. Although some depressions are more endogenic (from within) and others exogenic (from outside: eg grieving, etc), any form of feeling or emotion whatsoever in humans MUST be mediated by neurotransmitters. So even if your depression comes from outside, you can treat it to some extent with purely chemical means.

[JOEYSHABADO]

Just to make another wee point, the disagreement, if there were any, about endogenic/exogenic would be psychologist>psychologist not psychiatrist>psychologist.

[JOEYSHABADO]

The question was a bit of a **** take but it did contain some good questions within it.

Firstly, people who take SSRIs (extremely common form of antidepressant) are not topping up their serotonin. As I said, they are changing the synaptic action so that instead of being reuptaken (as the name suggests) the serotonin (ie the transmitter) sits in the cleft, to provide a continuing action.

The action of Lithium is not properly understood, but advances are being made of late. It is most likely that it IS involved in the modulation of neurotransmitter and messenger activity, which may involve serotonin, and in neuroplasticity. There is no evidence that its action is to correct a chemical inbalance.

What would one hope to gain by turning to someone with a condition for an insight into its mechanism? I would always turn to an expert who can demonstrate a knowledge of the relevant processes and who can back up suggested mechanisms by recourse to biological processes.

AB Editor, please put one of your pink box 'seek profesional advice' things here, SSRI's are infamous for people hopping on and off treatment on a whim.

In A, I'm sorry about your manic depression. It's not pleasant in the slightest, I know.

[Lindy Loo]

Chappers if the 'theory' of a hole in the brain that leaks was true, my head would be totally empty by now!!!

Don't know where you heard this 'cowpat' from but it is certainly not true!

[ann_h]

Joey, I seem to remember that neurons use sodium and potassium switching in their chemical electricity doodah's (my own brain's a bit worn out now!)

I had assumed lithium works on this, as it's the same element family.

.  

[AB Editor]

Dear Users

Please bear in mind that the advice given on this site is given with the best intentions from other users. It is not intended to be a professional medical opinion.

If you need to get professional advice please see a medical practioner.

Thank You

[Englishbird]

I would be wary of underestimating the benefits of psychological therapy as opposed to drug therapy for certain types of depression.

But again chappers, whoever told you this has definately got their wires crossed. It sounds like someone has tried to simplify joey's explanation of SSRI's and in doing so has actually changed the facts.

[JOEYSHABADO]

I think the most important thing to consider when weighing up the question of drug therapy versus other interventions, such as psychotherapy or counselling, is (and this is quite technical) the phenomenon of a lot of nhs psychologists/psychotherapists being what is, in the science, called 'tosh'. And they're taking on one of the hardest sciences in the world! LOL. Pass the prozac...

[JOEYSHABADO]

Neurons use sodium and potassium in channels for INTRA neuron transmission, not INTER neuron transmission, ann_h.

[ann_h]

Thanks Joey, it was a long time ago now!

The basic point of my post still holds though perhaps.

[JOEYSHABADO]

u never know, ann.:-)