More than 25 years ago, researchers disproved the serotonin-imbalance theory of depression. In Blaming the Brain (1998), Elliot Valenstein, professor emeritus of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Michigan, detailed earlier research showing that it is just as likely for people with normal serotonin levels to feel depressed as it is for people with abnormal serotonin levels, and that it is just as likely for people with abnormally high serotonin levels to feel depressed as it is for people with abnormally low serotonin levels (View Highlight)
Less publicized in 2022 was another powerful discrediting of psychiatry’s neurobiological disease model. Published in Neuron, Raymond Dolan—one of the most influential neuroscientists in the world— and his co-authors, reflecting on the more than 16,000 neuroimaging studies published during the last 30 years, concluded, “Despite three decades of intense neuroimaging research, we still lack a neurobiological account for any psychiatric condition.” (View Highlight)
Genes and depression? An investigation, published in 2021 in the Journal of Affective Disorders, of 5,872 cases and 43,862 controls that examined 22,028 genes, reported that the study “fails to identify genes influencing the probability of developing a mood disorder” and “no gene or gene set produced a statistically significant result.” (View Highlight)
In 2002, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published a study comparing depression remission outcomes of a placebo to the herb St. John’s wort and to Zoloft. The placebo worked better than both St. John’s wort and Zoloft, as a positive “full response” occurred in 32% of the placebo-treated patients, 25% of the Zoloft-treated patients, and 24% of the St. John’s wort-treated patients. (View Highlight)
¿Se ha replicado este resultado?
evidencia antidepresivos depresión
To repeat, no associations have been found between depression and serotonin (nor with any other neurotransmitter), nor with any neurobiological mechanism, nor with any gene or gene set. What then is associated with depression and suicidality? The answer is overwhelming life pains (View Highlight)
psiquiatría etiología depresión crítica
In The Great Psychotherapy Debate (2001), Bruce Wampold notes that while therapists tend to believe their therapy techniques—such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)—are significant, patients believe having someone who understands them and is interested in them is most important. Wampold documents research confirming that “belief in approach,” “relationship alliance,” and “therapist personal characteristics” are more important factors than any therapy techniques. (View Highlight)
¿Habrá una explicación alternativa para estos resultados, basada por ejemplo en una crítica a la forma en que se realiza la investigación en psicoterapia?
psicoterapia investigación efectividad
In 2024, a Journal of Clinical Psychology study, “The Equivalence of Psychodynamic Therapy (PDT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for Depressive Disorders in Adults: A Meta-Analytic Review,” reported equivalent effectiveness of PDT and CBT. (View Highlight)
efectividad psicoanálisis psicoterapia cbt investigación
My experience is that talented therapists who facilitate healing are authentic and able to be fully present. They have a gentle presence, and they are superior listeners. They are not reactive to negativity; and the overwhelming pain of another does not make them anxious, so they are less likely to try to control “symptoms,” but instead focus on the whole person. Their lack of fear of emotional pain allows them to have a special kind of humor that is extraordinarily sensitive to pain, and adept at knowing how to lighten its burden. The personal characteristics of talented therapists create conditions for healing, which enable depressed people to experience being cared about; and this results in becoming more open to caring about others and becoming less self-absorbed—opening them up to the entirety of nature beyond themselves, which results in healing. (View Highlight)
In 2000, Psychosomatic Medicine reported a study that compared outcomes for patients with depression in three treatment groups: (1) Zoloft, (2) Zoloft + exercise, and (3) exercise only. At the end of four months, there were no significant differences in the remission rates of these groups; however at 10 months, exercise only had the lowest relapse rates: depression symptoms returned for 38% of the Zoloft group and for 31% of the Zoloft + exercise group, but depression symptoms returned for only 8% of the exercise only group. While there is no better antidote to depression than physical exercise, depressed people routinely need to be energized and motivated to take constructive actions. (View Highlight)