New research finds healthcare providers are prime promoters of the unproven theory, which influences the prescribing of antidepressants as treatment for depressed people. Citizens Commission on Human Rights calls for an end to the continuing use of this misinformation.
A new study reveals healthcare providers’ prime role in promoting and perpetuating the scientifically unsupported notion that a chemical imbalance in the brain causes depression. This misinformation can interfere with treatment decisions for depressed people by encouraging a preference for antidepressants to fix the supposed imbalance instead of non-drug treatments that may be just as effective for many people, the researchers say.
Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) calls on healthcare providers to stop promoting the theory which, while lacking scientific validity, continues to fuel the rampant prescribing of antidepressants in the U.S. Some 45 million Americans are currently prescribed antidepressants.
To find out where the chemical imbalance beliefs come from, a team of academic researchers surveyed over 1,200 students at three U.S. universities about where they had heard the chemical imbalance explanation. Most had heard about it from the classroom, Internet/media, other people, and healthcare providers. However, only hearing about it from healthcare providers (primarily doctors and therapists) was associated with the students believing that explanation.
“These results suggest that healthcare providers play an important role in the dissemination of the chemical imbalance message, which is an oversimplified, scientifically controversial, and potentially treatment-interfering narrative,” wrote Hans Schroder, PhD, a clinical assistant professor in the psychiatry department at the University of Michigan Medical School and lead author of the study.
The findings suggest that “providers may have shared/implied that a chemical imbalance is a reasonable, scientifically legitimate way of understanding depression,” Schroder wrote, rather than more accurately conveying that “this is an outdated, unsupported, and far too simplistic explanation of depression, or offering a more nuanced explanation of depression.” The study was published in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Psychology.
A landmark study published in 2022 established that the theory of a low level of a brain chemical (serotonin) causing depression has no scientific basis.
“The serotonin theory of depression has been one of the most influential and extensively researched biological theories of the origins of depression,” the researchers reported. “Our study shows that this view is not supported by scientific evidence. It also calls into question the basis for the use of antidepressants.”
Taking antidepressants exposes the users to the potential risks of side effects that include emotional blunting, sexual dysfunction that may be long-lasting or even permanent, stroke, heart disease, suicidal thoughts and actions, and violence.
When quitting antidepressants, patients may experience withdrawal symptoms that can be debilitating and long-lasting.
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights calls on healthcare providers to stop promoting the misinformation of a chemical imbalance causing depression. CCHR encourages patients to discuss any concerns about antidepressants with their prescribers, as well as to discuss potential evidence-based alternatives.
Anyone wishing to discontinue or change the dose of an antidepressant is cautioned to do so only under the supervision of a physician because of potentially dangerous withdrawal symptoms or other complications.