Posted by Chairman_MAO on March 2, 2006, at 21:40:47
In reply to Re: The Truth Do SSRI's and SSNRI's Work For Anyon, posted by tizza on March 2, 2006, at 20:58:09
The answer to this is in this history of the diagnosis. ADHD used to be only for children, who never WANTED to take the speed. It was dispensed to them largely for the purposes of eliminating normal behaviors in healthy children (usually male) that parents and teachers found undesirable. Amphetamine, at the right dose, has a calming effect in MOST PEOPLE! It's just that some people have a very hard time functioning unless they are in that state, as their default state doesn't mesh with life tasks well; those are the people we say have ADHD. Only much later did psychiatrists extend this category to adults, and many psychiatrists debate that it does not exist in adults. It is no cooincidence that most psychiatrist will try to treat adults with ADHD with TCAs, wellbutrin, and strattera first--because dispensing any drug you WANT to take is against the doctrine of pharmacological calvinism.
In the case you describe, you are admitting that a tranquilizer makes you feel more tranquil. There is nothing illogical about the situation; the confusion only comes from a conflation of terms. Yes, diazepam is a DEPRESSANT, meaning it enhances the function of GABA--an inhibitory neurotransmitter--at GABA(A) receptors. This DEPRESSES--or slows down--certain neural activity in limbic system projections, decreases acetylcholine release (muscle relaxation, relief from "thought-frenzied" states, etc. DEPRESSION is a term that refers to a complex state in which one is persistently hopeless, suicidal, loses interest in things that once were enjoyable, cannot experience pleasure, etc. People that are depressed do not have DEPRESSED nervous systems. That is, it is quite possible for a depressed person to be agitated and sleepless.
The SSRI made you crave alcohol because it induced anxiety and inhibited DA release, which is calming. The neurological substrate in the not-really-paradoxical stimulant response involves an increase in the amount of DA at the synapse when the neurons are at rest. This results in increased activation of postsynaptic autoreceptors, which inhibits DA release. Thus, the receptors are more stimulating while resting, yet the amplitude of their reponse to activation is lessened. Thus, you have less impulsive, reactive activity--more focus. Dig it?
At high doses, the amount of excess DA present at the synapse overcomes the feedback mechanism's ability to compensate, and you have the effects classically associated with stimulants.
poster:Chairman_MAO
thread:613775
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060227/msgs/615196.html