I really appreciate this post, both in terms of your analysis and synthesis and the sources and links. Following up on your last paragraph, any thoughts on what to do with the term "anti-depressants"? Is there a term that does justice to the possible treatment mechanisms or symptoms/traits treated? (a term for communicating with patients…
I really appreciate this post, both in terms of your analysis and synthesis and the sources and links. Following up on your last paragraph, any thoughts on what to do with the term "anti-depressants"? Is there a term that does justice to the possible treatment mechanisms or symptoms/traits treated? (a term for communicating with patients and the lay public). Or given the complexity, is it better to avoid such a term? Also, is there a one-sentence explanation of how serotonergic drugs work that you provide to your patients? Or do you describe several possible accounts?
Thanks Thomas! Since antidepressant is the more familiar term to many in the public, I often use it. I try to convey two things: one, they don’t fix any “chemical imbalance,” and are just helping manage symptoms better; two, they are thought to create positive shifts in how brain processes emotions but the actual mechanisms are more complicated and still being worked out. For folks interested in more, I go into further details.
I really appreciate this post, both in terms of your analysis and synthesis and the sources and links. Following up on your last paragraph, any thoughts on what to do with the term "anti-depressants"? Is there a term that does justice to the possible treatment mechanisms or symptoms/traits treated? (a term for communicating with patients and the lay public). Or given the complexity, is it better to avoid such a term? Also, is there a one-sentence explanation of how serotonergic drugs work that you provide to your patients? Or do you describe several possible accounts?
Thanks Thomas! Since antidepressant is the more familiar term to many in the public, I often use it. I try to convey two things: one, they don’t fix any “chemical imbalance,” and are just helping manage symptoms better; two, they are thought to create positive shifts in how brain processes emotions but the actual mechanisms are more complicated and still being worked out. For folks interested in more, I go into further details.