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!