Posted by blueberry on February 12, 2006, at 6:38:30
In reply to Antidepressant time of onset, posted by ed_uk on February 11, 2006, at 11:57:45
I think in clinical studies there are indeed patients who respond in 1 to 3 days, some within 2 weeks, some not until 6 weeks. But the studies don't break down the results that way, so it is not apparent that these things happened.
Just a theory, but maybe depression can be caused by a variety of factors. In one person it might be hypo-serotonin. In another, hypo-norepinephrine, or another hypo-dopamine. Roughly speaking. Much more complicated I'm sure. The hypo-serotonin patient will probably feel relief very fast on an ssri since it is targeting the problem directly, whereas the hypo-norepinephrine patient may not respond for weeks as the ssri takes time to cause all kinds of cascade effects that in some ways help the problem eventually but never really get to it exactly.
Not sure we'll ever know why it happens, but I know some people do experience rapid relief while others don't.
poster:blueberry
thread:608626
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060212/msgs/608877.html