Depression affects all of us at some point in our lives, adults, adolescents and children, so it’s important we learn about it.
Ranging from mild, moderate and severe bouts, depression is different from feeling down or sad. We all feel unhappy from time to time, usually due to a specific cause, but when we’re depressed, we experience intense emotions, thoughts and feelings of depressed mood with little or no motivation, loss of interest in pleasure, feelings of guilt, low self-worth, disturbed sleep, lack of appetite or over-eating, low energy, poor concentration and more. These feelings, thoughts and emotions stay with us. Depression negatively affects how we feel, the way we think and how we act.
The underlying emotions in depression are sadness and agony; these lead to a variety of emotional and physical problems decreasing our ability to function at work and at home.
To get a diagnosis of depression, the symptoms must last for at least two weeks, however, this is not as simple as it sounds because other medical conditions such as thyroid problems, brain tumours or a simple vitamin deficiency can mimic symptoms of depression.
Our health and wellbeing are our responsibility; we are the experts when it comes to our own body and mind. So, before you decide you’re depressed, make sure you investigate every avenue, don’t just go with depression and be very alert to the fact that medical professionals generally don’t read the latest scientific research and may not be up to date on the current scientific evidence on medications they prescribe. So, check for vitamin deficiency, specifically vitamin D, D3 and K2, and remember depression is a chronic stressor; cortisol will play a major role in keeping you depressed.
After 100+ years of big pharma, there is still no cure for depression and medical and scientific communities still have no idea what causes depression. Luckily, we do have some effective treatments that help recovery. The earlier we recognise depression and start treatment, be it talking therapies, exercise, natural remedies or medications, the more successful the treatment will be.
To get an overview of the current scientific research, let’s start at the beginning with a research paper published by Hirschfeld RM for the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 2000, regarding The Monoamine Hypothesis of Depression. I’ll try not to be too nerdy.
This hypothesis is a scientific assumption that must be proven by evidence-based scientific research. It states: “The symptoms of depression can be improved by agents that act by various mechanisms to increase synaptic concentrations of monoamines (neurotransmitters in spaces between neurons and cells). This led to the adoption of the monoamine (neurotransmitter) hypothesis of depression, first put forward over 30 years ago (30 years before 2000 is 1970), which proposes that the underlying biological or neuroanatomical (nervous system) basis for depression is a deficiency of central noradrenergic (noradrenaline) and/or serotonergic (serotonin) systems and that targeting this neuronal lesion (damage) with an antidepressant would tend to restore normal function in depressed patients.
“The hypothesis has enjoyed considerable support, however, in its original form it is clearly inadequate, as it does not provide a complete explanation for the actions of antidepressants, and the pathophysiology of depression itself remains unknown. This hypothesis evolved over the years to include adaptive changes in receptors to explain why there should be only a gradual clinical response to antidepressant treatment when the increase in availability of monoamines is rapid.
“Still, the monoamine hypothesis does not address key issues such as why antidepressants are also effective in other disorders such as panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and bulimia, or why all drugs that enhance serotonergic noradrenergic transmission are not necessarily effective in depression.”
So, 54 years ago, they made a scientific assumption that, up to today, they have never been able to prove; “it does not provide a complete explanation for the actions of antidepressants, and the pathophysiology (the study of structural and functional changes in tissue and organs that lead to disease) of depression itself remains unknown.”
Fifty-four years of not knowing how SSRI’s antidepressants work and not knowing the structural and functional paths of depression. Yet these are still being prescribed worldwide today to billions of sufferers believing SSRIs can help them get better.
Mayo Clinic: “SSRIs treat depression by increasing levels of serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is one of the chemical messengers (neurotransmitters) that carry signals between brain nerve cells (neurons).”
In 2023, Moncrieff J, et.al published The Serotonin Theory of Depression: A Systematic Umbrella Review of The Evidence. Mol Psychiatry. 2023 Aug;28(8), that looked into whether depression is associated with lowered serotonin levels. After searching three databases up to December 2020, 17 studies were included: 12 systematic reviews and meta-analyses, 1 collaborative meta-analysis, 1 meta-analysis of large cohort studies, 1 systematic review and narrative synthesis, 1 genetic association study and 1 umbrella review.
The conclusion was: “The main areas of serotonin research provide no consistent evidence of there being an association between serotonin and depression, and no support for the hypothesis that depression is caused by lowered serotonin activity or concentrations. Some evidence was consistent with the possibility that long-term antidepressant use reduces serotonin concentration.”
SSRIs have been scientifically proven NOT to help depression and low serotonin levels have nothing to do with depression. “Depression is not caused by a chemical imbalance.”
Depression is most likely caused, maintained and sustained by an overwhelming reaction of sadness or agony to specific traumatic life events, including events we ourselves caused and may still regret. Be brave, exploring these events will help ease the sadness and agony and direct you to the stressor causing them.
Psychotherapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Stress and Burnout Counselling are proven to be helpful in depression. Remember, The Brake slows the activation of cortisol and increases levels of GABA turning down our stress response. Depression is when we reach ‘too low levels’, a signal that our brain is slowing us down to focus attention on a specific mental issue we need to resolve.
Joan Maycock MSc Health Psychologist specialised in stress and burnout education, designing, setting up and presenting Stress and Burnout Educational Retreats, Workshops and 1 on 1 sessions for private and corporate groups in Ireland and Portugal.
Telephone 00351-915793592
Email: eirinnretreats@gmail.com
By Joan Maycock
Joan Maycock MSc Health Psychologist specialised in stress and burnout education, designing, setting up and presenting Stress and Burnout Educational Retreats, Workshops and 1 on 1 sessions for private and corporate groups in Ireland and Portugal.
Tel: 00 351 915 793 592 | Email: eirinnretreats@gmail.com
