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

I cannot overstate how much harm this myth caused me. I first got sent to a doctor for depression when I was 12. They asked nothing about my life or my home, just gave me a test with a checklist of symptoms and then told me I had this chemical imbalance. If they had asked anything about my home, they would have discovered that my father was abusive. Then they could have told me that my father's behaviour was abuse and my depression was a natural reaction to abuse. By ignoring my life, the doctors implicitly communicated to me that the way my father treated me was normal and to be expected, and in fact his behaviour was so obviously normal that experts don't even bother asking about it.

I spent the next 20 years taking drug after drug after drug trying to find one that really and truly worked, while I was in a string of abusive relationships. Every one of the frequent trips to the doctor further cemented the idea that my relationships were normal and had nothing to do with my depression, and that this was so obvious it wasn't even worth looking into.

I finally figured it out 5 years ago. I turned instead to a domestic abuse counsellor who trained me in how to identify the difference between abusive and healthy relationships. I applied those principles and was finally depression-free.

If I had never been told this myth, then I would have reflected on what in my life might be causing the way I feel and I would have "cured" it decades earlier. The myth actively stopped me from ever doing that.

So, it is back to square one. Why do depression meds work? Hypothesis A failed, move on to B.

But any discussion of depression that fails to deal with it as at least a half-dozen independent illnesses, each with its own biochemical basis, is intrinsically garbage, and any conclusions bankrupt.

This is why we keep seeing spurious reports that "antidepressants don't work". In every case, they take "depression" as a biochemically meaningful diagnosis of one illness, and run a RCT of medication X on a sample with illnesses A, B, C, D, E, and F. If X helps F but makes E worse, and has no effect on A-D, what will the "result" of the trial be? Garbage. "Gold-standard" garbage, if you like. GIGO.

People promoting garbage results should be ashamed. Fired, too. Incompetents in medical research make things worse for us all.

Here's some expert responses to this paper https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-a-revi...

On the other hand, it's pretty clear that chronic depression (and other psychiatric illnesses) are partially heritable. So, maybe not an "imbalance" but chemicals are involved somewhere.

I think social status is really important.

I was never depressed and never really suicidal but I had suicidal thoughts and a lot of frustration.

When my social status rose they went away.

As a software developer I had a very low social status compared to say a lawyer.

I am now a CTO and have a high social status.

But I think software developer is generally a profession that comes with relatively low status for the education level, as compared to say doctor or lawyer.

I think it's also this relatively low status that got me frustrated, finishing my Uni best in class and then being at the mercy of pretty dumb project managers.

This is why I find it important to give my developers a high social status, expensive office, expensive clothes, an assistant, etc.

Though society these days tries to teach you status is not important, I believe you cannot escape the nature of the beast.

We need social status to be happy.

When first prescribed depression meds, I once how the doctor came to the chemical imbalance diagnosis, could we measure these chemicals for a better diagnosis?

He told me it was guess work, we don’t know why the meds work, but often they do.

I was surprised.

It could be caused by genetics https://med.stanford.edu/depressiongenetics/mddandgenes.html

I understand that some people have somehow gotten stuck in a bad situation and can't see any way out of it. Expert help might be available for that.

But then there are aspects of life that we can change. Including how we think of ourselves For that, there's wisdom out there to help. Here's one kind. [https://wisdomquotes.com/zen-quotes/]

My gut says some of my crippling depression is down to multiple rounds of antibiotics throughout my life.

If fecal transplants, or some cheaper-to-prescribe version were made available, feels like that would go a long way to helping a certain portion of people who are depressed, anxious, and have weight or immune disorders etc.

The idea that depression writ large is a monolithic, monocausal phenomenon is ludicrous.

Ya gently related, I was able to get off anti anxiety/depression meds and ADHD medication with Kratom.

Worth researching if one is in a similar situation.

For an entire book with this thesis, see Lost Connections

Ask yourself deep down how often do you feel depressed? I bet 90% of people feel depressed sometimes. Feeling depressed sometimes is just the human condition.

I bet the discussion around depression would look a lot different if it weren't so profitable to make antidepressants.