How is it determined that depression is due to a chemical imbalance when it’s, for the most part, clearly external circumstances that lead to it?

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Say, a loved one has passed away, which results in depression…does the chemical imbalance come after the fact, what triggers the imbalance, and why is it blamed for the depression, and not the passing away of the loved one?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

It’s more like a cube than a square.

Chemical imbalance can cause depression symptoms on their own with no outside influence and this is treated with balancing of the neurotransmitters.

Or someone who has enough/correct balance of neurotransmitters(NT) gets hit by life maybe grief, or work problems or health issues and there are 2 (for simplicities sake) options. 1. They respond to the stressor and it does not impact their daily life or 2. The stressor causes sleep issues, eating issues, weight issues, motivation changes, libido changes etc

This is then [stressor] related depression. And is treated either by addressing symptoms maybe sleeplessness or by NT balance

When we treat the brain we are going in with a sledge hammer not a precision hammer so we try and see to figure out what helps. This is also why talking therapy is first line treatment in the NHS because it addresses the root cause and not just the symptoms

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