Serotonin is the new Insulin

[g_sev]

Hi there, I've been a bouncy person all my life, and for years suspected I was BP, on a four year cycle. They have over the course of a lifetime become more rapid, to which end I am now being told I am more likely to be cyclothymic.

Over the past few years I began to notice that my perception of reality changed depending on what I took in, mainly due to alcohol and drugs, but I also noticed that I had fantastic bursts of energy and manic behaviour when others would be drunk or stoned, so I looked into it a bit more and noticed that serotonin seemed to be the key, I have been told that serotonin not only is present in the brain but can be produced in the gut - which explained my chronic bouts of IBS, when I was particularly stressed - this may or may not be true, but I firmly believe there is a link, and I refuse to see myself as mentally ill.

I believe that this thing we all share is nothing more than a chemical imbalance, and our chemical is serotonin.

Not unlike a diabetic person who becomes violent and abusive, listless and depressed when they go without insulin, we need to manage the chemical intake and effect of the things we do have on our serotonin levels. I don't believe that the medical world  fully understands the chemical reactions in the brain, and so due to lack of understanding and past thought processestackling the problem attach the stigma of mental illness to us - but we are not mentally ill - we are frontier medicine in action - we are lucky ! Its not easy, but it will get easier as people accept the facts !

Whilst there are varying medications available for our condition, the very fact that symptoms can be treated with chemicals tells me that this IS a CHEMICAL problem, not a disease of the soul.

I probably come across as naive but does anyone share this point of view - I like it as it means I am not going to be stigmatised and beaten by this condition.

Peace
G7

[Xila31]

I think with depression the thing isn't that there isn't enough serotonin, such as with type one diabetes in which there is not any insulin. This is caused by an auto-immune deficiency in which the immune system begins to destory the pancreas. The problem in depression is that the receptors in the nervous system are not functioning properly. That would be much more similar to one cause of type 2 diabetes in which there is enough insulin, but the cells are not receptive to it. These patients do not go on insulin right way. Instead they take oral medications to help reverse the insulin resistance. Also, a healthier diet and exercise and weight loss help with insulin resistance. And, diet and exercise also help with depression and insomnia.

Anyway, if we're going to be comparing apples and oranges, that's my 2 cents.

[g_sev]

Hey, thanks for that information, it looks much more complex now than I previously thought, I think my simplistic view still holds tho, it is definitely a chemical imbalance and not a mental illness ;-)

[ILADVOCATE]

Serotonin is what is key as regards depression. With bipolar its more complex as its a disruption in the limbic system (emotional part of the brain). With psychotic thoughts up until now the theory was that there was an imbalance in dopamine but a new generation of antipsychotics are in clinical study that show an imbalance in glutamate transmission. All this has much scientific proof behind it. This explains how neurotransmitters work in general:
http://www.benbest.com/science/anatmind/anatmd10.html
and for an understanding of the antipsychotics that in clinical study and how they function google "Dr. Javitt, glycine". There has been a strong increase in scientific understanding in this area.