What is the chemical imbalance that causes bipolar, and also is this disorder genetic as well??
The question of “chemical imbalance” is a complicated and controversial one for both bipolar and unipolar depression. This issue has been greatly oversimplified by pharmaceutical companies in their direct-to-consumer markteting campaigns. The widely advertised “serotonin deficiency” in depression does not hold water and it is currently unknown why SSRIs are beneficial for the majority of patients (the mechanism is unknown). There are a number of problems with the serotonin deficiency theory: 1) SSRIs increase extracellular level of serotonin in the brain within 30 minutes, but they improve mood only after 2 or 3 weeks of daily administration. 2) one third of patients do not experience any improvement with SSRIs and must try other types of drugs or non-pharmacological treatments. 3) a drug that has the opposite effect, tianeptine (brand name Stablon), which enhances not inhibits serotonin reuptake by neurons, has been shown to be equally effective in the treatment of depression compared
