Posted by linkadge on November 30, 2002, at 12:45:54
In reply to Re: SSRI's and dopamine depletion, posted by Joel Maxuel on November 30, 2002, at 12:20:14
Psychosis is generally caused by too much
dopamine acting a the D2 dopamine receptors.
SSRI's in general do not perpetuate psychosis.
They are even prescribed to schitophrics at times
to help improve their symptoms.What we have to understand here is it is not
Dopamine depletion in the sence. It is called
dopamine down regulation and it is not necessary to freak out. People don't just slowly loose all of their dopamine with SSRI's, their brain just starts producing a lesser (but consistant)amount, the brain changes it's receptor densities to adjust.This is not a direct effect of SSRI's, as they have little/no affinty for dopamine receptors, but this is the brain's responce to more serotonin.
You see Serotonin is an inhibitory neurotransmitter, and dopamine is an excitory neurotransmitter. In general as you raise serotonin you lower dopamine and vice versa.
You must understand that this is part of the reason that SSRI's work. Dopamine overproduction and serotonin underproduction leads to bad moods. It leads to irritablity, and the inablity to let things go. Something else to note is that the antidepressant response fits in nicely with the timeframe of the downregulation of dopamine.
These drugs have been used in millions of people and are very safe. If you find yourself overly concerned about what they're doing to your brain is probably because they're not working properly.
As far as brain dammage goes. That's probably the no 1 fear people have about taking these drugs. It has been shown that depressed brains that respond well to an AD drug have a significant increase in their hippocamus volume.
Concern yourself with getting better.Linkadge
poster:linkadge
thread:130020
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021127/msgs/130030.html