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Don't you hate it when science comes along and informs us that emotions are regulated by neurotransmitters such as serotonin, nor epinephrine, dopamine and epinephrine, and that an imbalance in these neurotransmitters will, 90% of the time, be the cause of depression, manic depression, addiction, obesity, obsessive compulsive disorder and a whole slew of other ailments which I can't think of at this moment? (How's that for a run on sentence.) In one aspect I guess it's better than 3000 years ago when people thought that you were possessed by Satan and had to be locked up. On the other hand, doesn’t it take away from "spirituality" as a reason for cultivating bliss and perspective? I guess science has always been famous for detracting from spirituality. I like to believe that both biology and spirituality contribute to emotional well-being. However, the purpose of this page is to look at the neurotransmitters which regulate our emotions, not to start a debate on spirituality versus science and which contributes more to emotional stability.
Sorry, I’ll stay focused. Serotonin is one of the emotion-regulating neurotransmitters we have in our body. Scientists have discovered that patients who suffer from manic depression have skyrocketing serotonin levels during the manic (way too happy) phase, and ultra low serotonin levels during the depression phase. In laboratory tests scientists have discovered that over 90% of all suicide victims tested had deficient serotonin levels. The proper levels of serotonin can reduce food cravings, drug cravings, compulsive behavior, irritability, anxiety and depression.
A number of factors can cause serotonin levels to rise and drop: Drug abuse, stress, poor health, too much nicotine or caffeine, the list could go on forever. The resulting physical and emotional state led to the invention of the anti-depressant. The older anti-depressants were called MAO inhibitors. These anti-depressants would work by destroying the enzyme in your brain that was responsible for depleting your serotonin levels. MAO's had terrible side effects. Eating cheese or drinking red wine and a host of other simple pleasures could literally mean death to a person taking MAO inhibitors.
Now we have SSRI's (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors). You've probably heard of these: Prozac, Zoloft and Paxil are pretty popular in this country. These drugs do not have the severe side effects that MAO's have—if you feel that hair loss, sexual dysfunction and weight gain are not severe. Compared to MAO's I guess not.