Reply #31: Here's a link to an article that summarizes the evidence [View All]

[LeftishBrit]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7508830

And another relevant one:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1764545/

A gene associated with serotonin transport is linked with risk for depression:

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/735478

And it's not only antidepressant drugs that are being investigated from the point of view of their influences on serotonin; the theory that omega 3 fatty acids may have a beneficial effect on depression comes from their influence on serotonin (now being tested).

What IS true is that it's unlikely that serotonin levels are the ONLY factor in depression. There are likely to be quite a few things involved.

It isn't the 'big pharma bit' that worries me; it's the idea that is often promulgated that depression isn't a real illness, and that depressed people just have to pull themselves together and 'think positively'.