> component to depression - imbalance between neurotransmitters in the
> brain (maybe one of the sufferers on the list who knows more about it
> can provide a more correct answer?). Treating that imbalance is not
> treating symptoms, but is treating a chemical cause.
Most commonly used antidepressants are SSRIs, or Selective Seratonin
Reuptake Inhibitors. My understanding is that either the brain does not
produce enough seratonin or not enough seratonin is transmitted (there
is some debate over this, but I've not kept up with the latest). The
antidepressant blocks receptors on the sending side of the synapse so
that (in the traditional visualization) the seratonin that would be
reabsorbed by the sender is 'bounced' back off. Something like a SMTP
server blacklisting itself. :-)
The other, older class that is rarely used anymore is MAOIs, or Mono
Amine Oxidase Inhibitors. I don't know how they work.
There is also some indication that various dopanine variants are not
produced in the same quantities in the brain of a depressed person,
though it's unclear if that is a cause or an effect or both.
Chicken? Egg? Chef salad?
Anyway, you're right about antidepressants treating causes not symptoms.
Antidepressants aren't uppers -- they won't make a happy person
noticably happier. They simply reduce the effects of a seratonin
imbalance to make a depressed person less depressed.
--benD
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