[gordaco]

Anti-depressants didn't ever do anything for me, either. Although I suspect that the only anxiety attack I've ever had could very well have been caused by them.

In his awesome book Bad Pharma, Ben Goldacre also hints that the link between depression and serotonin levels is not very well established. For those of you that don't know, Ben Goldacre is not some quack that pretends that science is wrong or something like that; in fact, what he asks for is precisely more rigorous science (specifically, more rigorous medical trials, all made public).

On the other hand, apparently there are a lot of people who have had a measurable level of benefit. My non-educated hypothesis is that there are several causes of depression and serotonin levels may be only one of them.

[pyre]

It's probably best to view depression as a symptom. It could have several immediate causes (i.e. the physical processes that make you feel that way) as well as many other root causes (i.e. what leads your body to be in the state that is causing you to feel depressed).

[teammatters]

I agree if it's helping people great, but for me it, you and many others I know it's hocus pocus. The brain is an incredibly complex organ!