Are you feeling weighed down and overwhelmed?
Posted on 22nd August 2022 at 19:31
A recent article published by The Conversation (“Depression is probably not caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain”) caught my eye, not least because it was based on a study reported in the well-respected journal, Molecular Psychiatry.
The idea that low levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that affects mood, sleep and digestion, are a direct cause of depression has been the received wisdom for decades and helped market the antidepressant drugs that act by blocking the re-uptake of serotonin in the brain and thereby increasing the amount available.
This has also helped to create an over-medicalised view of depression, one that can engender a very damaging sense of powerlessness in people who have been told they are ill with depression.