Serotonin, SSRI's and 'depression with no low mood'

Victoria's question: It would be great to find out your thoughts on how we can use NLP to improve serotonin levels without taking SSRI's.

My GP told me I have low serotonin or "depression without the low mood" - ...which has interesting implications for the biological model of depression. Even tho i am super energetic and happy, i was told i have physical symptoms of depression - IBS and waking up at 4am being key ones. Luckily for me, SSRIs have been an effective treatment. But i am curious about serotonin. Mostly because its such a strange thing to be told you have depression when you're living the life you love!

So if indeed serotonin is the issue in depression, IBS or anything else, it would be interesting to see how far we can effect it without drugs.


Phil Parker It's difficult to agree with your doctors opinion; the nhs website states... Depression: There are no physical tests for depression, so detailed interviews and questionnaires are usually used to make a diagnosis.
One could agree you have a clinical findings of low serotonin, but without symptoms of changed/lowered mood a diagnosis of depression is difficult to support.

V:It's a weird one and I was surprised! You've met me, do I seem depressed?!!!! All I can say is that when I take the SSRI's my tummy stops hurting!

PP: serotonin is a neurotransmitter found in the brain and gut. SSRI's prevent reuptake of serotonin; this means there's more of it hanging around the nerve synapses allowing for easier transmission of nerve signals along the happier pathways of the brain
Can we affect the use of these pathways without ssri...yes and should that in turn affect serotonin production ...yes it should.
Also I'd use a 'parts' approach (see previous blog) on your tummy!

Damien:  I find this very interesting , when I had ME , one Doctor told me I had non melancholic depression ....I have thought about this many times and would love to speak to him again to find out what he was getting at...he may have had a point but lacked the language to express it ....non melancholic depression...what do you make of that?

PP: He probably meant somatised depression..meaning he thought your body was expressing your unhappiness for you...or maybe you were physically ill with M.E

Damien: Well the LP sorted it and has changed my life ......Ill leave it at that !
Victoria: Thank you for the explanation phil. I was curious after reading about it in the 'du' book. When u explained it as a process of 'duing poor neurotransmission' I thought that was a really interesting way to look at something I would previousl...y have thought as quite static and that we have little influence over. So it is interesting to see it in a way we can affect, hence the request for you to blog. So thanks for going beyond that and responding to my individual situation, much appreciated.

PP: no problem, always happy to help. That chapter in the dû is very important, it reminds us that virtually nothing in the body is static, even apparently solid things like bones are in the process of being constantly remodelled, everything ca...n be seen as a process a verb rather than a noun. Neuro transmitters are produced and reabsorbed at the synapses (or denatured by the liver, etc), all in response to how much is needed at any one time. One of the things that accounts for how much is needed is how much, and what kinds of thinking we are dûing!

eliminating hayfever and other sensitivities

You probably know that every year thousands of people get an allergy, like hayfever, that they've never had before whilst others find that, this year, they've finally 'grown out of it'.
This tells us a very interesting thing about the nature of allergies and sensitivities; they are very changeable.

I've created a two part free podcast, with optional donation to brilliant wateraid, on how to eliminate hayfever and other allergies. The feedback from those using it has been great over the last few years- hayfever,dust sensitivity, pet allergies have all been resolved; try it out and send us your stories of success

dancing with life

Today I’m going to look at two of the most powerful questions in the world,
Q2 “What do I want?” and Q3 “How am I going to get it?”,

When the sun’s shining and the birds are singing it can be quite easy to feel good, but when you’ve planned a picnic and you find all the shops are closed and the weather’s just started like it’s time for Noah to build another ark, you might not feel so light hearted. This is one of those golden opportunities to give in and give up, with the predictable, unhappy consequences that it will have on your life.



The ability to use these questions either before these situations occur or in the moment that everything begins to deviate from your plan is essential for being able to dance with life. Life doesn’t seem to have your picnic pencilled in its diary, it hasn’t arranged the weather to fit your picnicking needs, and in fact it doesn’t really care either way. Life will sometimes appear to support your endeavours and other times seem out to crush them; but it’s not actually bothered either way. Life doesn’t have an interest, it just does what it does and if you want your life to be better than a random series of ups and downs then you need Q2 and 3



If the picnic is ruined by the weather, it’s time to use Q2 and Q3, “What do I want and how am I going to get it?”



It sounds simple and it is, but it’s amazing how easy it can be to forget this when the things we’ve planned go up in smoke in front of our eyes. Surf over the dips in life’s ups and downs with this key question and make plans to dance with life.

I’ve just been rereading this book and this little section and I’m amazed at how important these few lines are; I’d say that taking on this perspective is probably one of the most important thing s you can ever do in life. In my interesting life so far part of my research has been to have had the privilege to talk in depth with people about what makes them happy, successful, inspiring or not. Every person who I’ve ever spoken with who’s successful, fulfilled and happy, etc. has this perspective on life. So, if want what some of them have got, maybe you should join those who dance with what life brings!



Exercise: Dancing with life

Take some time to imagine what it would be like to take on this habit of finding a way to dance with everything life throws at you. Who you know or have read about who already does this?

What would it be like to be in their shoes for a day?



Phil Parker’s book the Ten Questions is available on amazon, kindle and from store.philparker.org

Resolving conflict with parts

I'm just rewriting a book I wrote in 1999 and spending some time on a chapter on 'parts'. It's amazing stuff and if you've never come across it here's the very basics.
Conflict can obviously arise anywhere in the world and our lives.

In many cases we don’t necessarily even need someone else around to get into a conflict with, as we’re quite good at doing it with ourselves. By this I mean those times when you find yourself saying, “It seems as part of me wants to do this - but another part of me drives me to do exactly the opposite.” This why this approach is often called a 'parts'
You’ve spotted an internal conflict when:
· You find yourself performing a particular behaviour
· You wish that you weren’t
· But you seem powerless to stop it
Common examples are doing things like:
· Getting unreasonably angry
· Telling yourself that you won’t be able to succeed at something
· Commenting negatively about yourself
· Snacking when you’re supposed to be on a diet
· Feeling guilty
· Smoking
and at the same time wishing that you weren’t.
What would be like if you didn't have this internal struggle any more, and that energy was then available for something more interesting?
Resolving those parts does just that...
If you want to know more please leave a comment