[mnm1]

> Some brains are neurologically misconfigured and prone to chemical depletion or lack receptors for it (ex: serotonin or dopamine). All the pushing through and search for answers, triggers, or source of problems won't solve this.

Do you have proof of any of this or are you just regurgitating the bullshit you've been fed? I've been searching for years and all I can find is that this hypothesis is bullshit without any evidence behind it whatsoever. Even psychiatrists and neurologists know it's bullshit. It doesn't help anyone to pretend like this is true and it can be harmful. Encouraging people to take drugs based on what is essentially a fantasy is likely a huge part of the problem. If I'm wrong, I'd like to see the proof I've been trying to find now for over a decade.

[scns]

You can show via SPECT brainscans that the over- or underactivity in certain parts of the brain correlates strongly with psychological symptoms. For example you can show that people suffering from ADD have a lowered activity in their prefrontal cortex. Or that people with an overactive deep limbic system suffer from depression. Check out Dr Daniel Amen's work. He did over 83000 brainscans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esPRsT-lmw8

edit: added count and link to video

[mnm1]

That's a far cry from demonstrating that specific neurotransmitter imbalances are the cause of depression.

[scns]

True. It seems depression is created and sustained through distorted thoughts. Check out David Burns' "Feeling Good".

[diehunde]

What proof specifically would you like to see?

[mnm1]

Proof that "Some brains are neurologically misconfigured and prone to chemical depletion or lack receptors for it (ex: serotonin or dopamine)" and that this is the cause of depression.

[diehunde]

No I read that, I meant, what type of experiment that proves that statement would you like to see. Because I feel like if I point out some research you would find something weird about them just to dismiss them, so I'm asking beforehand what kind of setup or study would like to see.

[mnm1]

One that demonstrates that serotonin/dopamine is actually the cause of depression and that taking drugs affects those neurotransmitters and relieves depression. If we're going to say to someone that you are depressed because of a chemical imbalance, you must first prove that is actually the cause. Then you must prove that the medicine affects that neurotransmitter and relieves the disease. This hand wavy "chemical imbalance" idea is barely a hypothesis. Prove it. Measure serotonin in a live brain and demonstrate the causation with depression. Demonstrate that the level is truly imbalanced compared to a non depressed person. Show that changing the level relieves depression.

Instead, we don't even know how depression drugs work and last I checked, measuring neurotransmitter levels in a live brain was impossible. That would be ok as science doesn't know everything, but then we need to stop with the idiotic "chemical imbalance" lie.

[diehunde]

So according to that logic, we should also stop with the lies for the current medications we use for schizophrenia or epilepsy or Alzheimer's disease because we don't know for sure the cause and we can't prove it? Even when we see many people getting effective treatments from these drugs?

[sas3bot]

there exists conditions like adhd where some brains are wired differently from birth

[mnm1]

So you say but provide no proof. Also, that's very different than saying it's caused by a lack of/too much serotonin, dopamine, or some other neurotransmitter or receptors without a shred of proof, as the parent claims. The reality is, there is no proof of anything like that causing depression, anxiety, or other mental health issues. How would we know if such things cause disease when we can't even measure them in a live person? The whole chemical imbalance idea is bullshit to sell drugs to patients. I'd love to be proven wrong but no one has any evidence to do so. Even professional psychiatrists know that the idea is bullshit. But it does sell a lot of drugs whose efficacy is questionable at best. So the facade lives on and people continue to parrot this harmful bullshit.