Eli5: why is there no test for the “chemical imbalance” that is often mentioned for depression?
In: Chemistry
Anyone else with depression not appreciate the quotation marks around chemical imbalance in OPs question?
It’s because the “chemical imbalance” hypothesis is wrong. There are tests for how much serotonin is being processed through your brain. The results of those tests don’t predict whether someone is depressed or not.
This is a billion dollar idea, anyone interested in making a machine doing this? Considering how prevalent depression is in modern society, the profit will be huge.
As has been answered from legit neuroscientists, because depression isn’t a chemical imbalance.
What is very interesting in all of this is that there are plenty of possible culprits to explain depression but nothing that works all the time or stands up under scrutiny. What is obvious is that there is no replacement for fist hand introspection when it comes to understanding mental illness. This sort of puts us back in the camp we were in before Big Pharma told everyone they could handle it. Talk therapy, that thing that insurance companies are loathe to pay for, seems to be one of the therapies that works and offers an explanation for depression (relates to shame and guilt, relates to a harsh inner critic).
I take meds but I also started on medium-intense therapy. I was lucky to meet a psychiatrist who rejects the pharmacological-only description of depression and knows that therapy works. Along with exercise, diet, good relationships, good habits, etc.
I really wish ADHD meds still worked for me. Im 38 and even medicated my symptoms are really bad. Combination of Adderall XR and quick release Adderall seems to help some days. Really wish there was something that would work like they did 15 years ago.
I think thats imposible as there are neurotransmitters and connections involved there.. im not realy sure if that makes sense.. allit of words i cant translate to english
Chemical imbalance isn’t something we can see on a test. It mostly is observed in behavior and cognition. So a person will meet a psychologist or psychiatrist and go through some diagnosis to determine what is being treated.
What’s being treated will often inform what kind of medication needs to be taken. More extreme illnesses usually have the same cause while something like depression can have many variables. A lot of things can get misdiagnosed as depression simply because there hasn’t been enough behavioral analysis.
Depression could be caused by an imbalance of dopamine or serotonin. This can require some experimentation on behalf of the medical provider and the client. The imbalance might need medications that adjust one or both chemicals up or down, or adjust reuptake.
Reuptake can be a problem for many people because, while their brain might produce enough serotonin it might recycle it faster than it gets used. Imagine only being able to get two bites of your lunch before your parent takes your plate and puts it in the fridge as leftovers.
And once a medication is deemed to work for a client, dosage can be important. Some people spend years dialing in their medication, and sometimes people need to make adjustments because of factors like age, weight, and any other medications they might start or stop.
There’s a theory i believe in that depression is a behavior and not an affliction. Instead of saying ‘i have depression’, you might rather say ‘i am depressing.’
Furthermore, it is not necessarily a bad thing ‘to depress.’
It may be a degraded state of living, however it is part of the body’s way to cope with loss, grief, obstruction of a want or desire. It provides a new perspective that might reveal sources of entitlement or unreasonable expectations.
Because it all happens in your brain, and it’s hard to see what’s going on in there. A lot of medical stuff can be identified by taking out fluids from the body and testing them, but it’s really dangerous to go into the brain. As a result, you have to diagnose by looking at secondary stuff, like behaviour.
Because it is not a medical diagnosis. It is an excuse for the pharmaceutical companies to sell you drugs, based on the idea that our moods and emotions are based on nothing but chemicals. There is an absolutely unbelievable amount of money being made off of this idea.
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