Exciting new depression study

@Pinkstarburst Yeah, a cure is the only thing that will ever truly give sufferers of depression any relief. It's a terrifying, dark lonely place to be.

@Pinkstarburst PLEASE don't let your husband or anyone else find you like that. 🙏 ❤️ 🫂

@PhoenixPhail Never. I made a promise to him and my family.

@Zaphod42 What they're saying is that, with the exception of specific subtypes of depression, it's not a simply neurochemical imbalance.

No supplement will restore neurochemistry or display any noticeable interaction with neurotransmitters; they can affect brain health, but they don't cure mental disorders. I would suggest your case it typical of those studied herein: you achieved no appreciable improvement from supplements. Not because you're special, but because SSRISs have been repeatedly shown not to be nearly effective as so many Americans are desperate for them to be. Depression is almost always situational. Change the troubling part of the person and you see depression disappear.

@Graylight You’re correct in that SSRI’s didn’t do much, however the OTC supplements such as SAM-e, 5HTP, vitamin d and glycine have made a marked improvement over all. And while I do have to take them regularly for continued effect, the effect is pronounced and dramatic.

@Zaphod42 There's little science to back it up, though. This is what we call the placebo effect, by and large. They can all lend to better physical health, but they don't address mental health disorders. However, while the placebo effect is often used as a punchline, it's a very real, very studied and very beneficial phenomenon. If a person feels better, a person is better, generally speaking. That's not to say some supplements don't minimally address some symptoms; they do. But nothing will ever take the place of CBT for mood disorders.

Whatever works for you, keep doing it. As long as you're not creating more damage, it can only be beneficial.

What co occurring conditions? Never heard of it..no cure so far.@Graylight

@Wiseacre Now, watch out. I can talk for hours here. Short and simple: For years, therapists noticed that some disorders like addiction, anxiety, depression, etc. often occurred in tandem with something else. A person had a drinking problem and depression; addiction was often seen with ADHD, OCD often stemmed from trauma also causing PTSD, and so on. And most importantly, what was often reported was that depression lifted after the addiction was managed; exercises for ADHD also addressed the impulsivity and novelty-seeking or drug users, and as control was strengthened within those with OCD, their symptoms of the OCD lessened.

This has led to the mental health specialty of integrated treatment to address all co-occurring conditions (they used to be called co-morbid or dual-diagnosis). The thinking is that by addressing all things at once, the relief felt in one area is shared by other areas, leading to a well-rounded, complete mental health. Except for nicotine. We keep nicotine in the program because it's simply proves too hard an ask to give that up along with everything else.

I believe most causes of depression are trauma related. Happy people don’t get depressed...they have bad days, but not depression.@Graylight

@hartfire They're not saying otherwise. They're simply suggesting it's a placebo effect or result attributed to the wrong source.

If they are correct - and this is a ground-shifting study - that serotonin plays no role in mood regulation, then a med that works on boosting serotonin levels would be effectively useless. There's no workaround for that. It may be serotonin is effective for some other uses that may act in a complimentary manner, but it's apparently not the pills working their magic.

But then, almost everyone else in the world already know that. We take more prescription drugs per capita than any other nation.

@NerdyPotato Yeah that's because they're not. Read the damn review.

@Thevy29 The Gold Standard right now, should anyone wonder, is CBT as a primary focus and medications for symptom management.

And SSRI might or might not make you more focused or happier, but it's not going to take away that source of depression. Only therapy will do that.

Or for the lucky few, God's own therapy in the form of other loving creatures. It's actually a strong and growing segment of therapy work (but not in the form of "emotional support animals" - that's mostly about just taking your pet around for free).

@Roundandroundwego

@Northwest This has long been the literature, but those who work in the field will tell you they suspected differently for a long time. There are obviously conditions wherein the chemical balance has a genetic component, may be involved in other processes, etc., but a person feels on the outside the same way they feel on the inside. Do the work and take the time to feel better and live better and you will eventually be better.

@MasterofNone has anyone with a medical degree ever said that medication alone is a full solution? It's often used to support therapy and rarely prescribed on it's own, as far as I know.

@NerdyPotato I have never heard of a treatment solely consisting of medications. But I did have a friend who thought more medication would have saved another friend's life.

@NerdyPotato @MasterofNone Actually, many primary care physicians will prescribe an SSRI with no mental health therapy or follow-up whatsoever. They are not mental health practitioners. 10's of 1,000's of people in the US are on SSRIs with absolutely CBT to adjunct it. Because here, we need a pill to cure things. And pills to handle the side effects of those pills. And if your pet feels stress due to your troubles, then there's a pill for that, too.

Mental health is hard work. it take reptation, failure, practice and analysis. And pills aren't the boon we think they are. SSRI's are deadly for addicts. Opioids actually end up causing more pain in the long-term. Gabapentin works only marginally for nerve pain but great for addiction. Any chemical introduced into a human is poison; it's all about the amount introduced.