Why can’t you just inject serotonin to feel happy?
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Assuming it would work just like that, it would still be a bad idea because your brain will desensitize itself to serotonin and you’ll be back to square one, or worse.
– Serotonin isn’t a fix-all happy chemical
– Serotonin has lots of other functions beyond the brain and interfering with those would be harmful
– The brain is behind a strict filter that would prevent that serotonin from reaching it at all
Assuming it would work just like that, it would still be a bad idea because your brain will desensitize itself to serotonin and you’ll be back to square one, or worse.
– Serotonin isn’t a fix-all happy chemical
– Serotonin has lots of other functions beyond the brain and interfering with those would be harmful
– The brain is behind a strict filter that would prevent that serotonin from reaching it at all
– Serotonin isn’t a fix-all happy chemical
– Serotonin has lots of other functions beyond the brain and interfering with those would be harmful
– The brain is behind a strict filter that would prevent that serotonin from reaching it at all
Serotonin doesn’t just make you happy. I think dopamine is more correlated with feelings of happiness. But anyway the brain is complicated and it’s not simply one chemical makes you happy.
SSRI’s which do increase serotonin, will come with “suicide” at the top line side effect.
Then, maybe we kind of can. People take MDMA which acts on the serotonin receptors to make themselves happy. It has lots of potential benefits and is being studies and used in therapy.
Serotonin doesn’t just make you happy. I think dopamine is more correlated with feelings of happiness. But anyway the brain is complicated and it’s not simply one chemical makes you happy.
SSRI’s which do increase serotonin, will come with “suicide” at the top line side effect.
Then, maybe we kind of can. People take MDMA which acts on the serotonin receptors to make themselves happy. It has lots of potential benefits and is being studies and used in therapy.
Serotonin doesn’t just make you happy. I think dopamine is more correlated with feelings of happiness. But anyway the brain is complicated and it’s not simply one chemical makes you happy.
SSRI’s which do increase serotonin, will come with “suicide” at the top line side effect.
Then, maybe we kind of can. People take MDMA which acts on the serotonin receptors to make themselves happy. It has lots of potential benefits and is being studies and used in therapy.
Depression is much more complicated than raising levels of serotonin levels in the brain. The idea that depression is just a “chemical imbalance” that can be fixed by altering levels of serotonin or dopamine is a huge oversimplified and largely incorrect. It’s true, a lot of antidepressants modulate serotonin. SSRIs do increase levels of serotonin in the synaptic cleft, but just because they do that doesn’t mean that’s what is treating the depression. When you take an SSRI it raises levels of serotonin in your brain within a few minutes, but it can take several weeks to see improvements in mood. The truth is we don’t know for sure why these medications help with depression, we just know that they do. We think it likely has something to do with being able to modulate transcription of various genes that leads to production of proteins like BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor). BDNF helps with neuronal plasticity – it essentially helps neurons grow and survive.
Depression is much more complicated than raising levels of serotonin levels in the brain. The idea that depression is just a “chemical imbalance” that can be fixed by altering levels of serotonin or dopamine is a huge oversimplified and largely incorrect. It’s true, a lot of antidepressants modulate serotonin. SSRIs do increase levels of serotonin in the synaptic cleft, but just because they do that doesn’t mean that’s what is treating the depression. When you take an SSRI it raises levels of serotonin in your brain within a few minutes, but it can take several weeks to see improvements in mood. The truth is we don’t know for sure why these medications help with depression, we just know that they do. We think it likely has something to do with being able to modulate transcription of various genes that leads to production of proteins like BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor). BDNF helps with neuronal plasticity – it essentially helps neurons grow and survive.
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