New Clinical Trial Depression ?
Q.If docs diagnose depression as a chemical imbalance, why can't / don't they check an individuals chemical levels before prescribing medication to remedy it?
A.It may be impossible. The chemicals in question are at the microscopic level in the brain, in the synapses in between neurons. So far, "chemical imbalance" is just a hypothesis. Some evidence points to it being true and some seems to contradict it. I'm sure everyone would agree that no one knows for sure what is going on in the brain affected by depression. From what you've said, the docs really don't have any substantive scientific evidence of depression prior to prescribing...does it not concern you even a little that medication is deemed a necessary and appropriate response on those grounds? I'm not anti-medication, contrary to what you may think. I'm not particularly impressed with some drug companies' non-disclosure of potential side effects and withdrawal symptoms associated with certain AD's but that's pretty much my only bug bear in relation to meds. I do think though that medication is over prescribed without a firm basis, hence my question. Thank you for your responses. docs don't really have any substantive scientific evidence of headaches either. they do have a heck of a lot of clinical evidence, however, that certain treatments tend to work for certain symptoms. it's up to you whether or not you choose to trust that evidence. personally, i'm aware of the risks of each medication i take. and i'm willing to take those risks in order to be able to get out of bed and go to work each day. The fact is, "the chemical imbalance" is just a marketing tool used by pharmaceutical companies to make people believe that depression is not different than diabetes, you only have low serotonin in your brain, and their magic SSRI's will cure that. The less complicated you make the issue, the more people will understand it and believe it. This is simply a misinformation. There is no way to measure anything directly from the brain of a living person. Besides, the best documented "imbalance" in depression is, that depressed people have less dopamine metabolites in their cerebrospinal fluid. Psychiatric diagnosis are based on symptoms, not the "levels" of chemicals in your brain. Despite the "chemical imbalance" theory the pharmaceutical companies want us to swallow, every monograph of every antidepressant starts with: "Like all the other antidepressants, the mechanism of action of XXX is not fully understood." When a certain chemical is discovered to have antidepressant potential, they conduct some clinical trials to asses its efficacy, side effects etc. No psychiatric drug will be approved on the basis that it increases levels of certain chemicals in vivo or in vitro. There is no chemical imbalance. That's just a doc's way of saying that depression in not all in your head, and has an organic basis.
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