Posted by Christ_empowered on October 14, 2015, at 14:14:02
In reply to seratonin disorder medsare not ment for psychosis,, posted by Jeroen on October 13, 2015, at 15:20:43
SSRI drugs are...emotional novocaine. To a certain extent, I think most antidepressants are, but its particularly pronounced with SSRI and many SNRI drugs.
One thing to consider...psych drugs change a lot of things in the brain, not just select targets. SSRIs block the reuptake of serotonin. This can reduce dopamine levels (I think...). This is one reason why amotivational syndrome can happen with SSRIs, that and sometimes hypofrontality (high doses, usually).
Also...its interesting that drugs w/ different mechanisms can be roughly as effective. Wellbutrin works as well as SSRIs for many people, Cymbalta isn't much better than SSRIs, low(ish) doses of Seroquel can work well in some depressives.
Back in the day, shrinks would focus more on getting the desired effect than on neurotransmitters. So, reducing anxiety and agitation w/ a little bit of apathy would mean a (hopefully small) dose of neuroleptic, sometimes w/ a barbiturate or an amphetamine, depending on the situation. Reducing anxiety and relieving mild depression w/o causing too much in the way of over-stimulation would mean something like Dexamyl, an amphetamine+barbiturate combination.
Now, the history of psychiatry is interesting, because history repeats itself. Psychiatry isn't all that scientific, after all. Relieving anxiety and improving mood, reducing ruminations...=SSRI. Countering some of the SSRI side effects=Ritalin, an amphetamine, provigil, wellbutrin. Alot of people who back in the day would be on a low dose of Thorazine are on SSRIs, maybe a low dose atypical, often with something in there to balance it out.
Anyway, the whole serotonin=Most important neurotransmitter seems to have been largely caused by the drugs that were available then. The SSRIs are less toxic than MAOIs, TCAs, more tolerable than low dose antipsychotics (especially the older ones...), not addictive like benzodiazepines...plus, there was heavy marketing. These drugs have gone generic and there are new, different drugs available, so the focus has shifted.
poster:Christ_empowered
thread:1083416
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