Biological explanations of depression:Serotonin


	Biological explanations of depression:Serotonin
	Advantages A strength of the biochemical explanation is that the use of SSRIs as a successful treatment supports the explanation because SSRI’s increase the levels of serotonin which limits depression meaning that low levels of serotonin must be the cause in order for the SSRI’s to be successful. A further strength is that the explanation can be proved by the blood pressure drug Reserpine which can cause depression in people. A side effect of reserpine is reduced levels of serotonin which can be an explanation to why many people on the drug experience depression and also highlight the fact low levels of serotonin is the cause of depression.	Disadvantages Ruhe et al found that the link between serotonin and depression is less straightforward. Studies using patients in remission found that when given a trypophan deficient amino acid mixture that temporarily decreases serotonin the patients became more and more depressed, suggesting a link. But it did not happen in those who had never had depression.
	Evaluation

A strength of the biochemical explanation is that the use of SSRIs as a successful treatment supports the explanation because SSRI’s increase the levels of serotonin which limits depression meaning that low levels of serotonin must be the cause in order for the SSRI’s to be successful.
A further strength is that the explanation can be proved by the blood pressure drug Reserpine which can cause depression in people. A side effect of reserpine is reduced levels of serotonin which can be an explanation to why many people on the drug experience depression and also highlight the fact low levels of serotonin is the cause of depression.

Ruhe et al found that the link between serotonin and depression is less straightforward. Studies using patients in remission found that when given a trypophan deficient amino acid mixture that temporarily decreases serotonin the patients became more and more depressed, suggesting a link. But it did not happen in those who had never had depression.

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