Dopamine and Depression

When working to understand depression, a lot of focus has been placed on the role of serotonin. After all, the leading type of anti-depressants are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs. These medications work by increasing the amount of serotonin available in the brain. However, some researchers believe that depression is the result of more than just serotonin imbalance. Specifically, some researchers focus on the role of two other neurotransmitters, dopamine and norepinephrine.

While there are still a lot of unanswered questions about the complex mechanisms that cause depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses, this theory is one explanation for why some antidepressants don’t work and others do. Certain medications also act alongside a particular antidepressant to influence all three major neurotransmitters, serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine.

The important takeaway from this is to understand that depression is potentially more than one factor and that if you haven’t had success with traditional therapy or a specific antidepressant, other things might be available. The important thing is to be informed about the possible factors including the role of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. Being honest with your psychiatrist or psychopharmacologist is important as well. Honest, informed conversations with your doctor are important to finding a treatment that works.

While none of this should be taken as medical advice since The LegalMind Society has no doctors on staff, we hope to inform our followers as best as possible. And if therapy and medication aren’t enough, know that peer support programs, like the ones we offer, might be able to work alongside those treatments.

Again the important thing is that help is out there and hope is possible, especially when you’re informed.