empleat Posted April 13, 2021 Posted April 13, 2021 (edited) Object of this post is to ask: what are all existing contemporary theories of underlying causes of depression, not limited to 1 field of science?! I Am looking especially for these, which are currently accepted in scientific circles. So far I found 2 theories. It is important to state that I Am not some anti-medication whacko, I wrote description of theories, so I had to include my claims and sources . I Am currently pressed by time: I can include more sources later, links below contain hundreds of references enjoy! Probably most known - Chemical imbalance theory, which was never accepted in Psychiatric circles in the first place! And is nothing, but a myth! Source for the claim: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/823368_1 Major source: https://bigthink.com/surprising-science/antidepressants-withdrawal?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1 Robert Whitaker investigative journalist (received multiple awards + pulitzer) did extensive research on depression: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8BDC7i8Yyw&t=3s hundreds of sources can be found in his book! Source 2: https://medicatingnormal.com/chemical-imbalance/ Source 3: people with MDD were found with increased serotonin levels: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/482548 While no one knows how antidepressants work! I find this theory laughable, depression is not some chemical imbalance. It is much more complex!!! We are just starting to study a brain! Depression is: feeling that simply arrives, it is not view, nor a philosophy! It has probably biological causes, after all we are biological, but it is not some disease! It is based on information one gathered and it is simply emotion! One's reaction to the world around him, or his situation in the world! It is true, people with MDD "can" suffer from delusions, but don't have to, it has plethora of causes! “A pessimist is an optimist in full possession of the facts.” — Arthur Schopenhauer A lot of brilliant people suffered from depression, boredom, existential dread! https://philosophicalsociety.com/Archives/Philosophy And Depression.htm 2. Newer hypothesis: monoamine hypothesis of depression, which again is based on chemical imbalance in the brain. Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10775018/ Also I checked list of antidepressants: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_antidepressants And they are all (more, or less) based on inhibiting some receptors and boosting levels of serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine etc. Also there are numbers of hypotheses, from evolutionary approach, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_approaches_to_depression Studies were conducted about some of these, like Rank Theory: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165032718310280 Are there any other contemporary theories of depression? PS: Maybe I should post this into psychology, but I am interested about theories from all fields, not sure. Thank you very much! Edited April 13, 2021 by empleat
iNow Posted April 13, 2021 Posted April 13, 2021 1 hour ago, empleat said: Probably most known - Chemical imbalance theory, which was never accepted in Psychiatric circles in the first place! And is nothing, but a myth! <...> While no one knows how antidepressants work! Lol. Oh my. 1 hour ago, empleat said: Depression is: feeling that simply arrives Like magic! 1 hour ago, empleat said: PS: Maybe I should post this into psychology, Pseudoscience or Trash Can are much better fits. 1
empleat Posted April 13, 2021 Author Posted April 13, 2021 LOL I guess you have personal gripe with me, so you are just trying dismiss everything, without providing any counter-arguments, or proof! It if it not true, it shouldn't be hard to disprove right? Did you even bothered to read anything? First chemical imbalance theory was never proven! Give me 1 study which says it was proven!!! "In the mid-20th century, researchers theorized that depression was caused by a chemical imbalance in neurotransmitters in the brain, a theory based on observations made in the 1950s of the effects of reserpine and isoniazid in altering monoamine neurotransmitter levels and affecting depressive symptoms."[281] "The chemical imbalance theory has never been proven."[282] Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_depressive_disorder#cite_note-281 This study has 560 citations: https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.0020392 Again 679 citations: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-0-230-58944-5_14 For instance: so how come people with MDD have higher serotonin levels, if depression is caused by not enough of serotonin? : https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/482548 3 hours ago, iNow said: Like magic! I should have specified that I do not take claim: Quote It is based on information one gathered and it is simply emotion! One's reaction to the world around him, or his situation in the world! as fact. But on personal note I think so. 3 hours ago, iNow said: Pseudoscience or Trash Can are much better fits. A 1960s idea that serotonin concentrations might be lowered in depression1 had been rejected,2 https://www.bmj.com/content/350/bmj.h1771/ I guess BMJ is pseudoscientific trash LOL. In the 2019 Journal Citation Reports, published in 2020, The BMJ's impact factor was 30.223.[21] ranking it fourth among general medical journals. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_BMJ No one knows how antidepressants fully work: https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(21)00077-5?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0092867421000775%3Fshowall%3Dtrue#secsectitle0010 According to ScienceWatch, the journal was ranked first overall in the category of highest-impact journals (all fields) over 1995–2005 with an average of 161.2 citations per paper. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_(journal) Again it is up to you provide counter-arguments, simple dismissal of facts doesn't make them wrong!
iNow Posted April 13, 2021 Posted April 13, 2021 31 minutes ago, empleat said: I guess you have personal gripe with me Nope. Barely know or care who you are And science doesn't deal in proof. Lastly, I'll just highlight that you keep conflating depression with major depressive disorders. It's funny how in support of this comment you made: "no one knows how antidepressants work!" ... you've supplied the following link which describes how they work. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(21)00077-5?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0092867421000775%3Fshowall%3Dtrue#secsectitle0010
empleat Posted April 13, 2021 Author Posted April 13, 2021 1 hour ago, iNow said: Nope. Barely know or care who you are And science doesn't deal in proof. Lastly, I'll just highlight that you keep conflating depression with major depressive disorders. It's funny how in support of this comment you made: "no one knows how antidepressants work!" ... you've supplied the following link which describes how they work. https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(21)00077-5?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0092867421000775%3Fshowall%3Dtrue#secsectitle0010 HAHAHAHAHAHA that's what I thought. Who cares who is who? This is exact problem in science, it is more about reputation and being popular in scientific circles, than about quality of studies, or ideas. Same: I don't who you are, you didn't read anything: so you have no right call this pseudoscience! Since you don't even know what I posted... I don't understand why you even post then, if you are not gonna check studies, or anything... Also main reason of post: was to ask about all theories of underlying causes of depression! Yea I know that science doesn't deal in proof. It is dealing with studying phenomena by observing and describing them, then testing them by an experiment, using empirical methods. Logic deals with proof, or math.
iNow Posted April 13, 2021 Posted April 13, 2021 2 minutes ago, empleat said: was to ask about all theories of underlying causes of depression! It involves chemistry. In our brains. Like all other mental phenomena
empleat Posted April 13, 2021 Author Posted April 13, 2021 Sure but you have Chemical imbalance theory based on research from 1960 . Mostly SSRIs are based on this theory... I also found there is a newer hypothesis called: monoamine hypothesis of depression On which are based TRCs and TeCAs antidepressants, if my memory is not failing me. I would think there would be more theories, but didn't bumped into anything else - from extensive reading so far. So I thought it would be easier to ask, so I can check all of them! I would find it myself, but I need it for call with pharmacologist and I don't have time currently and I have chronic pain and feel terrible! It is difficult to read!
empleat Posted May 21, 2021 Author Posted May 21, 2021 (edited) In case anyone with a functioning brain is interested about truth, I compiled 17 page document aiming at briefness with many sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qYicHpeS39lhiMPJmUGHRUfZxw4pPtLjsIwOYCHpE8Q/edit?usp=sharing It was meant for correspondence with a Pharmacologist But it will also serve another purpose also, as I said: I will link more sources later! As people here just flame and don't read anything apparently... Feel free to to discuss and criticize anything! HAHAHA BTW I love how it was put to speculations without anyone reading anything... It is fact that etiology of depression remains poorly understood and unproven! I guess someone elitist here got mad that I spoken too much truth and wasn't preaching him... Edited May 21, 2021 by empleat -1
Phi for All Posted May 22, 2021 Posted May 22, 2021 50 minutes ago, empleat said: HAHAHA BTW I love how it was put to speculations without anyone reading anything... It is fact that etiology of depression remains poorly understood and unproven! I guess someone elitist here got mad that I spoken too much truth and wasn't preaching him... ! Moderator Note OK, here's what's going to happen. If you want to discuss ideas that go against mainstream science, it has to stay in Speculations. If you want to discuss this in Psychiatry, you have to ask about what's known in the mainstream, and stop asserting things that you haven't supported. Get off the soapbox and stick to what you can support. So I'm going to close this stinker of a thread and give you a chance to open a new one, with the right attitude. If you want to talk about this, sit the fuck down at the table and lay out your thoughts like a grown up person who wants to learn. Stop jumping on the table screaming and sneering and start acting like you want some intelligent dialogue. You get one more chance with this. If I catch you copy/pasting any attitude from this thread I'll close the new one as well and you can take a vacation for a while. In case you don't get it, I want you to have the best chance of getting a decent discussion, but it all starts with YOU and your attitude. More rigor and civility, please.
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