Understanding Depression, and Looking at the Reality of SSRI as Treatment

5 comments

ireti720.30last year3 min read

Depression is a complex medical condition that elicits various thoughts and emotions in different individuals. From feeling down and listless to struggling with appetite and... c'mon tell me other things you believe make a person depressed. Surprisingly, depression affects approximately 3.8% of the global population, with adults making up around 5% of this staggering statistic. Over the years, our comprehension of depression has evolved, with new approaches and treatments emerging with each passing decade.

In the past, depression was often viewed solely as a mental illness, leading patients to be admitted to asylums. Aggressive methods like lobotomies were even employed to tackle severe cases, while the 1930s witnessed the advent of Electroconvulsive therapy as a treatment. As time progressed, cognitive therapy took the stage in the 1960s, offering new hope for managing depression. The introduction of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) brought a ray of optimism, often termed the "wonder pill" for correcting perceived chemical imbalances in the brains of those affected. However, recent scientific inquiry has called the chemical imbalance theory into question, deeming it more of a myth than a fact.

https://i0.hippopx.com/photos/825/230/461/depression-mental-health-sadness-mental-preview.jpg
hippopxhippopx

Still, SSRIs continue to be prescribed in medical settings. So what is the significance of these drugs when the theory behind their use is being scrutinized? Let's delve into the world of SSRIs and their role in treating depression.

Lots of processes in the body are regulated by serotonin. These processes include memory, attention, sleep, temperature, and mood so SSRI inhibits the reuptake of serotonin in the body. When the body releases serotonin to perform its activity, it retakes back to where it came from but with SSRIs, the receptors that take back serotonin id blocked, thereby causing serotonin to be in excess production. Why is Serotonin a major concern?

https://media.snl.no/media/167847/standard_FARM3120_Figur_1_om_SSRI_for_SNL.png
Store norske leksikon

The belief in serotonin's role as a key factor in depression originated from studies involving tuberculosis patients treated with iproniazid. It was observed that depressed patients exhibited improved moods due to heightened levels of monoamine neurotransmitters, leading to the conclusion that low serotonin levels caused depression. Consequently, increasing serotonin became the logical approach to treatment.

However, recent studies have cast doubt on the serotonin-depression connection. If these findings hold true, it raises the question of whether we have been administering drugs that don't truly address the condition but instead induce a placebo effect. While the correlation between serotonin and depression is increasingly scrutinized, SSRIs do offer some benefits. They can alleviate anxiety, a common companion of depression, often experienced by those with conditions like OCD, social anxiety, PTSD, and panic disorder. In essence, SSRIs may mitigate some depressive feelings by blunting emotional responses.

A paper was published in 2008 by a Harvard psychology professor on the result of antidepressants on depressed patients, and it proved that SSRIs were only beneficial to people with severe depression and not to those with mild depression. Research showed that treating mild or moderately depressed patients with SSRIs can lead to Post SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD) which is associated with decreased libido, impedance, and numbness of the genitalia.

While the FDA has issued a black box warning on several SSRIs, citing potential suicidal ideation as a side effect, the drugs remain in use, indicating the complexities of depression and its treatment.