In the 1950s, Hans Selye gave us his General Adaption Syndrome (GAS) and told us that repeated exposure to chronic stressful situations led to exhaustion. These days, we call the exhaustion of the 1950s burnout.
The path from stress to burnout is a long and tedious one that includes depression. Yet, our healthcare systems and professionals – physical, psychological and psychiatric – never bothered to educate us on the pitfalls of stressors, and how we, by continually triggering our stress response, cause our own physical and mental illnesses.
Instead, they wait until we get physically or mentally ill and have to seek help from them. Then, they decide what is best for us, while we follow their advice having no clue of their lack of knowledge and interest in our health and wellbeing.
Why do I say this? Because, without a shred of scientific evidence, the 1954 Monoamine Hypothesis of Depression dictated to the world that a serotonin deficiency in the brain was the cause of depression. This was a false statement then and is still false today. Blindly accepted by most so-called health professionals who told their patients but never bothered to check the evidence. Unfortunately, 90% of the public still believes this falsity today.
While researching depression for my book, I came across the following publication from 2000: Hirschfeld RM. History and evolution of the monoamine hypothesis of depression. J Clin Psychiatry. 2000; 61 Suppl 6:4-6. PMID: 10775017. This paper found the hypothesis inadequate, stating it does not explain how antidepressants work and the “pathophysiology” of depression is still unknown. Patho=Pathology=the study of disease. In other words, they don’t have a clue how antidepressants work or what causes depression. Yet, they developed and started selling SSRIs in 1987 and still prescribe them today, even after they’ve been proven not to work for most people and have horrendous side effects.
In 2023, Moncrieff, J., et al. published their study on The serotonin theory of depression: A systematic umbrella review of the evidence. Molecular Psychiatry, 28(8), 3243-3256. They state: “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. This review suggests that the huge research effort based on the serotonin hypothesis has not produced convincing evidence of a biochemical basis to depression. This is consistent with research on many other biological markers. We suggest it is time to acknowledge that the serotonin theory of depression is not empirically substantiated.”
While researching depression in Portugal, I came across the following statistics in The Depression Scorecard Portugal 2023, from The Health Policy Partnership: “12.2% of people aged 15 and over are living with depression, compared with the European Union (EU) average of 7.2%. There are 14.1 psychiatrists per 100,000 inhabitants, which is lower than the EU average of 17. An amount of €6.58 billion annual cost of mental health (direct and indirect), 3.66% of Portugal’s GDP, is attributable to costs of mental health (direct and indirect). Treatment-resistant depression is estimated to affect nearly 80,000 people.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) states that approximately 280 million people worldwide suffer from depression. I think we now know why. It’s time to educate so-called health professionals still living in ignorance refusing to acknowledge this new research and that SSRIs antidepressants are not a cure for depression.
It’s time to take our power back and educate ourselves on how we can be happy and healthy, starting with serotonin.
About 95% of serotonin is produced in the lining of your gut and released into your bloodstream; about 10% is produced in your brain.
Your brain and gut have a “hotline” to your spinal cord, which regulates your thoughts, feelings, emotions, breathing, heart rate, body temperature and the release of some hormones. This is the brain part of your gut-brain axis that stretches from your brain to the end of your spine.
The gut part of this axis is your Enteric Nervous System (ENS), your digestive system or your “little brain”, which resides in the lining of your gut, that stretches from your oesophagus to your anus, and where serotonin is produced.
The building block of serotonin is Tryptophan, an essential amino acid responsible for the production of serotonin. ‘An essential amino acid’ means it’s not produced by your body; it has to be taken from the food you eat. Now, here’s the kicker: your brains (small and large) use a variety of neurotransmitters, including serotonin, to manage your physiological and mental processes, including your moods and depression. Serotonin and your diet play vital roles in keeping you mentally stable.
When it comes to curing depression, the magic word is Magnesium. While researching new cures for depression, I found the following publications on using magnesium to cure depression. Rapid recovery from major depression using magnesium treatment by: Eby, et al., 2006, states: “Depression appears to be a magnesium deficiency disorder especially in major and suicidal depression”. Cernak et al., tell us:“Increased stress builds up further worsening magnesium deficiency, with health issues such as depression and cardiovascular disease resulting. These findings support the need for magnesium supplementation for people living in conditions of chronic stress. We suggest that magnesium treatment will be found effective in future clinical trials, at least to an extent equivalent to antidepressant drugs, and perhaps more effective.”
In their systematic review and meta-analysis of seven randomised trials with a sample size of 325 subjects and eight effect sizes, Moabedi et al., 2023, reported that: “magnesium supplements beneficially affect depression in adults.” They concluded: “The current meta-analysis showed a significant reduction in depression scores following magnesium supplementation. Further clinical trials are required to expand existing knowledge in this area.”
Last but not least, Dr Paul E. Marik’s “Managing Depression: Nutraceutical and Non-Pharmacologic Interventions for the Treatment of Depression”, on the Independent Medical Alliance website, is packed full of successful new treatments for depression, all scientifically tested.
The future is bright with magnesium and serotonin.
