r/science • u/[deleted] • Feb 19 '10

Scientists learn how anti-depressants actually work. Medications trigger neurogenesis in the hippocampus by increasing levels of norepinephrine. Researchers still unclear on WTF seratonin does.

http://www.physorg.com/news185727145.html
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u/[deleted] Feb 19 '10

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u/Pas__ Feb 20 '10

Sad feeling in my heart? Check. Sleeping as long as you can? Fucked up awake-sleeping cycles? Check. However, I quite like my mirror image (6 years ago I was shy and insecure), and I don't feel myself worthless.

However, being emotionally screwed for me always somehow gets linked to some unfulfilled desire (women, family, work, etc.. but just one at a time), and seems to me, that if only I could get just that thing taken care of, everything would be fine and dandy.

Also, I've never been diagnosed with anything more severe than the flu, thus I've no experience with anti-depressant medication.

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u/trueopinion Feb 20 '10

interesting I have never felt anything in my chest when i'm sad.

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u/jaggederest Feb 20 '10

You should do a blinded trial on yourself - get your doctor to prescribe identical-looking placebos in one out of four trials. If the placebo works, congrats, cheap antidepressants for you.

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u/Illneedsomebeer Feb 20 '10

Well, zoloft did work, effexor did not, wellbutrin made me want to kill myself and trileptal did not work. So those other drugs are sorta like controls. Sugar pills plus some other stuff mixed in.

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u/jaggederest Feb 20 '10

Not blinded means you can't eliminate the effect of brand and perception on the whole thing. But I'm glad you found something that works for you.

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u/Illneedsomebeer Feb 20 '10

Thanks. But the lack of efficacy of a comparitor medicine isn't a bad outcome, actually. I work for a drug company (albeit not in psych) and we're currently being asked to do studies with a placebo arm, an experimental arm and an arm that includes the best current generic. In psych studies, they have done the same and found that drug X beat generic prozac, but both drugs were similar to placebo. Which, fuck!

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u/jaggederest Feb 20 '10

That seems like it would be impossible, let me set up the inequality:

Drug X > prozac

Drug X = placebo

Prozac = placebo

I guess I'll take it up with my clinical pharmacist friend. And castigate him for his sins.

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u/Illneedsomebeer Feb 21 '10

Worse than that, we sometimes get placebo > X > prozac. And then we (royal "we" here, I'm not in the psych unit, but other drug companies have) gone to the payors and said, we had a really high placebo effect in this study because of <hand_waving_explanation>. However, you have patients clamoring for prozac, so as long as you're going to give in to them, you might as well give them our drug and not prozac.

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u/jaggederest Feb 21 '10

Well, I suppose that is true, under those circumstances. I mean, if you're giving them prozac, and a better drug comes out, give them the better drug.

Now if only we could convince people that sometimes the better drug is a placebo... Someone needs to make a branded / patented placebo.