/sci/ - Science & Math

Clinical depression is caused by low serotonin levels in the brain, serotonin is a neural conductor and is essential for the brain to work in a neutral/happy state, If you suffer from clinical depression you can't simply "will" yourself out of it by thinking happy thoughts, you might have the best fucking day of your life any day, but you will still suffer from depression.

That's why you need to take Serotonin enhancing medication that stimulates the brains production of serotonin, it wont make you super awesome funtime happy, but it will help you on the way, treatment will usually go on for several months to years since the brain needs to be "reconfigured" to produce it on it's own

The down side

After usually 2-3 weeks of medication start or dosage increase, most people find themselves in a shorter but much more intense depression, this is caused by chemical instabilities in your brain and the serotonin being a conductor for your depression, it gets better after that though

Side effects during the 2-3 week lowpoint incude

Depression
Heightened risk of suicide
Heightened risk of aggression
heightened risk of self mutilation

and so on