How is Depression a Chemical imbalance?

Answer 1

Hi,

It does get very technical, with neurotransmitters in the brain. But basically it it when a level of a chemical called serotonin is reduced in the brain, instead of the brain in a way maintaining an acceptable level it drops, as this level drops you then begin to see the symptoms of depression. Which is why one of the commonly kinds of anti-depressants prescribed in the U.K. are S.S.R.I. 's which increase the absorbtion of the chemical serotonin in the brain.

Hope this helps. x

Answer 2

I agree to some extent that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance.
Sometimes you can get depression without any reasons for getting it, it literally is just to do with how you're brain is processing things during that time.
But on the other side of the fence, it can be caused by traumatic events which then trigger the instability. Usually how psychiatrists/doctors diagnose depression is through behaviour assessment, and being aware of physical changes, aka sleeping patterns, amount of food eaten, aches and pains, headaches.
For some instances though, people have been known to hide their depression, and become introverted, and having it for years without anyone else even knowing. So it is also how you view depression.
Most things in our body and brain are controlled by a hormonal and chemical working system anyhow. It's just things like paranoid schizophrenia, ADHD, depression Bi-polar and so on are the after-effect of the brain having either an excessive amount of chemicals, not enough, or erratically.
I have had depression before and been to a mental hospital, so I haven't read this from a book!! lol cya x

Answer 3

Remember the little Zoloft bubble dude in the commercial? The neurotransmitters and reputake inhibitors and all that jazz...

Basically, you have nerve centers in your brain that are likened to a highway. Some of the on ramps and exit ramps get congested and traffic stops in some places and goes really slowly in others. Causing all of the little things inside the cells to become fruestrated and overwhelmed... depressed for being stuck in traffic so to speak and everyone is confused, depressed and yelling at one another because they are all late for work.

Antidepressants are like a cop who comes along with a sign and acts in place of a broken traffic light and redirects the flow and gets things moving again.

The trouble with them is... The cops can't stay there forever... He has a life too and has to go home to his kids. When he leaves (or stops working) the mess comes back because the little cells have not yet learned how to redirect themselves, by themselves. You can change cops but one doesn;t usually know where the other one left off and it sometimes takes them a while to get used to what the other was doing before he got tired and left... But eventually, they all get tired and leave...

That is what therapy is for. The therapist is like the repair man who comes along and climbs up the pole and fixes the traffic light so that everything works correctly all on it's own.

Sometimes a combination of both work for some doctors but the latter description is always the best. "Do not feed a man fish but teach him to fish for himself."

Because everyone knows a cop is never around when you need them!

LOL...

This is how I used to explain it to kids... It does work for everyone though as some people just need a visual for all of the big annoying words doctors use to make sense of it.

Hope that helped?

Answer 4

There are two chemicals that affect how we feel:Serotonin and Norepinephrine. Too little of one or the other cause depression. It's not quite that simple however, because there are other factors that enter into the picture. Most antidepressants now contain chemicals that affect both Serotonin and Norpinephrine and bring them back into balance.

Answer 5

Because of an imbalance of Serotonin levels.

Answer 6

Depression is NOT achemical imbalance.
It is one of the results of chemical imbalance.

Answer 7

A brain that is functioning normally, produces certain levels of substances like dopamine and serotonin, whereas that of a person who is clinically depressed does not produce anywhere near normal levels of those kinds of substances.

Answer 8

If I remember from psychology class correctly, the seretonin and norepinephrine isn't staying at the synaptic gap for a normal amount of time.