Posted by bassman on September 17, 2006, at 9:58:50
In reply to Re: the brain » willyee, posted by linkadge on September 17, 2006, at 9:19:47
For my 2 cents, certainly there is such a thing as depression (if not, please tell me, so I can stop being depressed); and certainly some people respond to medication, for whatever reason. The real question is, "is the neurotransmitter theory correct', that is, are neurotransmitters primarily involved in anxiety and depression? The main problem is that no matter how much we find out about what happens to neurotransmitter levels during mental disturbance, we can't say that they are the cause-they could just co-exist with the "real" cause. Sort of like when people take TCA's; no one assumes that because their pulse rate goes up that having a faster heart rate is what is causing the person to be less depressed.
An interesting idea that I've seen is that in fact depression (at least "severe" depression, by which I mean a disturbance that causes someone to lose some important functionality) is actually an as yet undiscovered organic disease which has as its SYMPTOMS the manifestations we perceive when we are depressed, and refer to as “depression”. Who know if that is right, but it emphasizes the idea that we might be way off base with what causes depression.
BTW, I agree completely with the comment about as many as 50% of people taking AD's; I'm closer to retirement age than college age, but I've found that LOTS of people confide in me that they take AD's (I'm "out of the closet" on depression and anxiety because I facilitate an anxiety/depression support group-and so I’m viewed as safe, I think). Which leaves the question, “are lots of people taking AD’s that probably don’t need them; or, is there really an epidemic of sorts going on?” Fits nicely with the disease model, no?
poster:bassman
thread:686603
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060909/msgs/686764.html