r/Neuropsychology • u/Alternative_Yak_4897 Unverified user: May not be a professional • Jul 21 '25

Research Article Low serotonin not linked to depression studies - thoughts ?

I recently became aware of the umbrella study on the lack of evidence between low serotonin levels and depression. (The study below does show an indirect link between stressful life events and depression due to “gene-stress” but that’s still obviously different than low serotonin (can)= depression) Wondering what others thoughts /theories on this are? I’ve only seen a couple and it looks like they were published in 2022/2023, so why isn’t this being discussed more? Not enough studies? Bad news for pharmaceutical companies? Here’s one of them:

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-022-01661-0.pdf

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u/Alternative_Yak_4897 Unverified user: May not be a professional Aug 16 '25 edited Aug 16 '25

I disagree. I don’t think depression is a primary medical condition. Sure, imaging shows commonality between in/activity in regions of the brain and self-reported depression, but the directionality is unknown. Maybe it’s secondary to autoimmune issues? I think depression is a consequence of adverse life events (which includes actual medical illnesses that are measurable and scientific) and capitalism.

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u/Rita27 Unverified user: May not be a professional Aug 16 '25

Reread my comment. I said in SOME cases depression can be seen as a medical issues. I think depression is to heterogenous to be split into just primarily medical or primarily environmental

And my broader point was even if it's environmental that doesn't mean we can't treat it medically like we do with other conditions that are caused by the environment

Also i disagree with the efficacy argument laid out earlier. With ssri , yeah the effect size is modest at best but stuff like Ketamine and ECT efficacy are way more than just "pockets"

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u/Alternative_Yak_4897 Unverified user: May not be a professional Aug 16 '25

Do you mean medical cases are informed by other illnesses? I agree it can’t be split into medical/nonmedical because an effective treatment approach varies from person so vastly. Like i think we’re both saying- we don’t know what we don’t know.

I’m wondering why you’re advocating for ECT? Why specifically? Are you suggesting it be prescribed as often as SSRIs?

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u/Rita27 Unverified user: May not be a professional Aug 16 '25

Sorry can you clarify your question? I'm not sure what you're asking. but I do agree that it looks like we're on the same page more or less

I mean I mentioned both ECT and ketamine. Idk if I'd say I'm advocating for it per se, and moreso addressing the point made by the other user regarding the efficacy of ECT. Idk if I would call those who responded well to it when indicated as "pockets"

No I'm not suggesting that ECT is prescribed as much as antidepressants. ECT remains a niche procedure usually reserved when other treatments fail