serotonin

Debunking the “chemical imbalance” theory yet not throwing out the antidepressant baby with the bathwater

by

A recent study found incon­sis­tent evi­dence link­ing the neu­ro­trans­mit­ter sero­tonin to depres­sion. In an arti­cle for The Con­ver­sa­tion, the authors of the study con­clud­ed that it is impos­si­ble to say that tak­ing SSRI anti­de­pres­sants is worth­while. But is it safe to con­clude that sero­tonin is not involved in depres­sion or that mod­ern anti­de­pres­sants aren’t help­ful in treat­ing the con­di­tion? [Read more…] about Debunk­ing the “chem­i­cal imbal­ance” the­o­ry yet not throw­ing out the anti­de­pres­sant baby with the bathwater

SSRI antidepressants linked to increased risk of stroke

by

Anti­de­pres­sants linked to risk of brain bleeds (Chica­go Tribune):

“Peo­ple using a com­mon class of anti­de­pres­sants may have slight­ly increased odds of suf­fer­ing bleed­ing in the brain — though the risk is still very small, researchers report­ed Wednesday…The anti­de­pres­sants are known as selec­tive sero­tonin reup­take inhibitors (SSRIs), and include wide­ly used drugs like flu­ox­e­tine (Prozac), ser­tra­line (Zoloft), citalo­pram (Celexa) and parox­e­tine (Pax­il).” [Read more…] about SSRI anti­de­pres­sants linked to increased risk of stroke