Dans Nature / Molecular Psychiatry daté du 20 juillet 2022, deux chercheurs de l’University College de Londres, la Pre Joanna Moncrieff et le Dr Mark Horowitz, publient une étude montrant que la dépression ne résulte pas d’un déficit de sérotonine dans le cerveau.
La « théorie de la sérotonine » a pourtant été diffusée largement, depuis 40 ans, parmi les médecins et le public. Combien de personnes déprimées ont-elles entendu une phrase comme : « Votre cerveau manque de sérotonine comme un diabétique manque d’insuline » ? Cette comparaison n’est donc pas fondée!
Références:
1/ L’article publié dans Nature:
Moncrieff, J., Cooper, R.E., Stockmann, T. et al. The serotonin theory of depression: a systematic umbrella review of the evidence. Mol Psychiatry (2022).
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-022-01661-0
2/ Un article grand-public de Pr Joanna Moncrieff dans Mad in the UK. Elle y répond aux critiques de sa publication.
Mad in the UK: https://www.madintheuk.com/2022/07/serotonin-chemical-imbalance-criticisms/
We recently published a paper finding that the serotonin hypothesis of depression (the idea that depression is caused by low serotonin or reduced serotonin activity) is not supported by scientific studies that have been conducted over the last few decades. The serotonin hypothesis was communicated to the public as the “chemical imbalance” theory of depression. In surveys, 85 to 90% of people in western countries report believing that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance. We suggest that the idea that depression is caused by low serotonin or a chemical imbalance should no longer be communicated to patients as it is not supported by research.
This also brings into question what antidepressants are doing: if they are not correcting an underlying chemical problem, as people are often told (“like insulin for diabetes”), then other ways of understanding what they are doing, such as providing hope (the placebo effect) or numbing emotions (a common report by patients) may be more accurate descriptions.
ACOPAV 