<i>A lot of people talk about having a brain chemical imbalance as it seems to be a more socially-acceptable way of describing depression etc.:</i>
They do, yes. ("If it's 'physical' there's no need to be ashamed"... .)
I knew tricyclics were as effective and didn't work in the same way as SSRIs but hadn't thought all that seriously about "lack of serotonin as cause" till I started reading patients' accounts of medication and its effects (and David Burns' doubts about the conventional accounts of how SSRIs work). I suppose what worries me is this. Despite overprescribing of SSRIs there may still be people who need help but can't get it because of the shortage of therapists etc.. Some of those people may simply be unhappy, some, depressed. (See my reply to "black dog".) And some of those people might be helped by antidepressants.
jayann (not verified)
May 13, 2006 - 20:19<i>A lot of people talk about having a brain chemical imbalance as it seems to be a more socially-acceptable way of describing depression etc.:</i>
They do, yes. ("If it's 'physical' there's no need to be ashamed"... .)
I knew tricyclics were as effective and didn't work in the same way as SSRIs but hadn't thought all that seriously about "lack of serotonin as cause" till I started reading patients' accounts of medication and its effects (and David Burns' doubts about the conventional accounts of how SSRIs work). I suppose what worries me is this. Despite overprescribing of SSRIs there may still be people who need help but can't get it because of the shortage of therapists etc.. Some of those people may simply be unhappy, some, depressed. (See my reply to "black dog".) And some of those people might be helped by antidepressants.
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