A Dry Martini, Dirty, Hold the Serotonin

Last night's episode of Law & Order SVU hit home. Can a girl be held responsible for her reckless behavior when she's been off anti-depressive drugs? Depression is a mental illness, they say. It is?

It hit me. It is.

But surely it is much more innocuous than, say, schizophrenia or social dissociative disorder! Am i right?

("It may be so. But don't call me Shirley!")

The episode also revolved around disclaiming psychiatry as a science and the controversy of weighing psychiatric drugs' unquantifiable benefits against unknown harm. I was suddenly reminded of this professor who casually mentioned SSRI one morning. "Serotonin something inhibitor, something..." he had mumbled. I don't even remember how he stumbled onto the subject.

SSRI stands for "selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor". It is the mechanism behind many anti-depressive drugs including Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil. Apparently, therapists are not certain how it works.

Then comes along Cymbalta which adds norepinephrine to the equation. (I have to hand it to them. They've got a very effective, convincing ad campaign. Caught my attention!)

I would like to blame it all on chemical imbalance, i would. (Shifting blame on bloodline also works.) But then there are days when i'd like to believe I'm in charge... I can make a difference. Though those days are few and far between in recent memory. What can i say, carpe diem anyway!