Posted by Bill LL on February 11, 2004, at 9:30:25
In reply to Who has been on meds for 10+ years???, posted by jay on February 10, 2004, at 16:43:02
I have. For me, AD's have been very helpful. Especially for my anxiety. Before drugs I was suicidal. Now I am reasonably happy and can enjoy life.
According to a recent Newsweek magazine article, scientists now beleive that AD's probably do not work by increasing serotonin (and other transmiters). The new thinking is that AD's work by increasing the size of a portion of the brain called the hippocampus. Depressed people tend to have a smaller than average hippocampus (I think CAT scans were used).
In other words, the AD's do in fact affect receptors for serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, but that's not how they reduce depression.
The article said that scientists will try to develope new drugs with this new depression model in mind.
poster:Bill LL
thread:311793
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040210/msgs/311996.html