A major review of prior research by scientists at the University College London shows that there is no evidence of a link between depression and levels of the brain chemical seroquel.
The new umbrella review, an overview of existing meta-analyses and systematic reviews, suggests that depression is not caused by a chemical imbalance. Serotonin reuptake inhibitors were originally said to work by fixing low levels of the brain chemical. The symptoms of depression are affected by antidepressants.
It is difficult to prove a negative, but I think we can say that after a lot of research.
There has been a huge increase in the use of antidepressants. One in six adults in England and 2% of teenagers have been prescribed an anti-depressant in the last year.
Many people take antidepressants because they are told their depression is caused by a biochemical cause, but new research suggests that is not the case.
In order to capture all relevant studies that have been published in the most important fields of research, the umbrella review was put together. Tens of thousands of people were involved in the studies.
The research did not find a difference between people with and without depression.
There was weak and inconsistent evidence suggesting that people with depression have higher levels of the Serotonin transporter. The researchers think the findings are related to the use of antidepressants among people with depression.
The authors looked at studies where hundreds of people were artificially lowered in their levels of Serotonin by cutting their diet. Serotonin deficiency is linked to depression, according to these studies. A meta-analysis conducted in 2007, as well as a sample of recent studies, found that lowering serotonin in this way did not cause depression in hundreds of volunteers. There was very weak evidence in a small subgroup of people with a family history of depression, but there was more recent evidence that was not conclusive.
A large amount of patients were looked at to see the variation in the genes. There were no differences in the genes between people with and without depression. The studies found that people with more stress in their lives were more likely to become depressed. A study found a correlation between stress and a person's risk of depression. This was not a true finding according to larger studies.
The authors concluded that there is no support for the hypothesis that depression is caused by lowered serotonin activity.
Studies show that as many as 85% of the public believe that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance. There is a growing number of scientists and professional bodies who see the chemical imbalance framing as an over-simplification. People who believe that low mood is caused by a chemical imbalance are more likely to have a pessimistic outlook on the likelihood of recovery. Most people will meet criteria for depression at some point in their lives.
People who use antidepressants have lower levels of a brain chemical in their blood. According to the researchers, the increase in serotonin that some antidepressants produce in the short term could lead to the opposite effect in the long term.
While the study did not review the efficacy of antidepressants, the authors encourage further research and advice into treatments that might focus instead on managing stress or traumatic events in people's lives, such as with psychotherapy, alongside other practices such as exercise orMindfulness.
Professor Moncrieff believes that patients shouldn't be told that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance or that antidepressants work by targeting certain anomalies. We don't know what antidepressants are doing to the brain, and giving people this sort of misinformation prevents them from making an informed decision.
The co-author, a training psychiatrist and Clinical Research Fellow in Psychiatry at NELFT, said that he had been taught that depression was caused by low serotonin in his training. Everything I thought I knew has been changed by being involved in this research.
One interesting aspect of the studies we examined was how strong an effect adverse life events played in depression, suggesting low mood can't be boiled down to a simple chemical equation.
There are thousands of people who suffer from side effects of antidepressants, including the severe withdrawal effects that can occur when people try to stop them. There is a belief that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance. This belief is not based in science.
If you are considering withdrawing from antidepressants, you should seek the advice of a health professional. Professor Moncrieff and Dr. Horowitz are researching the best way to stop taking antidepressants.
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