Serotonin is not a Main Factor or Cause of Depression

clipped from psychcentral.com Is Serotonin the Main Factor or Cause of Depression? by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. October 31, 2007 No, it’s not. Pharmaceutical companies have done a bang-up job over the past two decades in promoting the serotonin theory of depression — namely that people who are depressed suffer from an “imbalance” in their serotonin levels which certain antidepressants can fix. This is such a simple explanation that most people can readily understand it, and therefore it became quite popular. However, within a few years of it being promoted, it was also debunked in the scientific literature. Since most consumers don’t read the scientific literature and it’s not very interesting health news to say that serotonin isn’t the cause of depression, most people don’t realize this theory is no longer considered valid amongst researchers.

Interesting article on serotonin and depression with a critique of the Big Pharma industry