In July 2022 an article entitled "The serotonin theory of depression: a systematic umbrella review of the evidence” was published and found "no consistent evidence of there being an association between serotonin and depression, and no support for the hypothesis that depression is caused by lowered serotonin activity or concentrations". The results of this study hit the media and social media rather quickly and many inaccurate conclusions were drawn, people questioned everything they believed about why they were depressed, and the utility and effectiveness of serotonin was questioned. In today's episode of Psych Talk, I summarize the findings of the article, discussed the chemical imbalance theory, and more specifically the serotonin theory of depression, and discuss why these results are not actually shocking to those of us in the mental health field. I also highlight the inaccurate conclusions being drawn from the studies and future directions for where we need to go from here.
The serotonin theory of depression: a systematic umbrella review of the evidence
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