Posted by DSCH on October 3, 2003, at 20:01:09
In reply to My grand theory about SSRI vs Tricyclics, posted by Robert Fairburn on October 3, 2003, at 17:41:52
The monoamine hypothesis... as I understand it...
Serotonin: level/regulation determines emotional sense of well-being, the degree to which the person is prey to compulsive behaviors, and sleep patterns.
Norepinepherine: level/regulation determines motivation, ability to focus, mental energy and overall willpower.
Dopamine: level/regulation determines physical coordination, energy and sense of well-being; interest in physical or thrilling activites; impulsiveness; pleasure/reward-seeking, and the degree one is prey to delusional thinking.
One notes that in Dr. Kramer's "Listening to Prozac", the "better than well" responders to Prozac were all relatively high achieving types suffering from emotional discontent. Most of them were rather sucessful at what they did (perhaps even a bit workaholic).
Amotivation and anhedonia are probably not going to be addressed well by a SSRI.
poster:DSCH
thread:265309
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030928/msgs/265355.html