Science News: No Link Between Serotonin and Depression - What Does That Mean for Antidepressants?

In this 30-minute podcast, Peter Simons reports on the latest scientific articles in psychiatry. The goal is to provide more detail than is usually found in conventional research news and to help listeners understand how to interpret the findings.

This month, Peter Simons covers in detail a new systematic review that debunks the widely popularized myth of low serotonin in depression, the “chemical imbalance theory.” He then follows up with a study that found less than 25% of people respond to depression treatment in real life, and a study that found that screening for depression in adolescents is ineffective.

• No Evidence Low Serotonin Causes Depression
• Response to Criticism of Our Serotonin Paper
• Less Than a Quarter of Those with Depression Respond to Treatment in Real Life
• Psychiatric Drugs Do Not Improve Disease or Reduce Mortality
• Screening for Depression in Adolescents Does Not Prevent Hospitalizations or Suicide Attempts