I've been watching a few lectures, and i found this one particularly interesting not only because i had a special lecture at university on depression but also because i feel somewhat intrigued about the complexity of this condition. It has been associated with a chemical imbalance in the brain, mainly of neurotransmitters such as seratonin and dopamine (which are main inducers of feelings of well-being and emotional stability). The lack of these neurotransmitters in particular areas of the brain has decreased the amount of synapses which decreases the activity of the 'happy condition'. So, pharmaceutical companies have come up with the so called anti-depressants (ex: Prozac) to try to preserve as many neurotransmitters as possible, in the synpatic cleft, to increase the firing rate of the synapses. The problemo here is that it hasn't worked for 40% of patients on trials. To me, and as prof Sapolsky suggests, stress may play a key role in this condition, this is worth exploring (depression is a far more complex disorder than a mere chemical imbalance in the brain). Somehow, i find it hard to draw the line, to place depressed people on a scale, how do we justify that a 13 year old teenager who broke up with her boyfriend is as depressed as a young boy that came back from war? how to we rate experiences as justifiable for the depressed state? and at a personal level, i think my depression is a way of being (as in character/personality) and not something treatable. i can't seem to believe that there is such a cure for depression, maybe a relief of the symptoms, but we cant expect to make a person who has been chronically depressed for years, to all of a sudden be jumping of joy and all excited to be alive!, this would implicate a whole life style change, and make me question again about the true nature of our identities and existence.
Anyways, the lecture is a definite watch, i love sapolsky.
Sofia