Re: hello, evil, nice to meet you.

"A note on the Depression issue (and I don't know if that is the case w/you) but I absolutely on million percent disagree with searching out chemical imbalances as a cause and solution for depression. If you are currently depressed, there will absolutely be less seratonin present because that correlation is known. This does not prove causation. A person could watch a happy movie and be tested and then a sad movie and be tested and seratonin would be different, i.e. the mood affects the biology as well. Biology has never been proven to CAUSE mental disorders. Scientists have merely noted a simultaneous presence. Adrenaline doesn't cause you to start a bar fight - the bar fight causes adrenanline to pump. So there are known cases of psychology causing biological chemicals to be released. It can work both ways, anyway, *end topic*"

*start topic*
Unfortunately, there is much more to seratonin than you know. Just like some people are born without producing enough insulin, or other maladies and insufficiencies, Science can now measure seratonin and they discovered that SOME PEOPLE HAVE MUCH LESS THAN "NORMAL" OR EVEN ZERO!

It's not a case of normal levels dipping slightly with a sad movie; you're talking about people with normal levels. It's becoming clear that addictions may be the result of people with too low a level frantically trying to get their level up to normal with seratonin-sparking drugs like alcohol and marijuana. THESE are drugs; my suggestions of 5-htp or tryptophan are not crutches, but supplemental seratonin for those who are woefully lacking. They supply the needed chemistry without being "high".

Have you ever had your seratonin level tested? I have; it was 19 out of a normal average of 200. Do you think a "happy" movie or a little exercise will multiply it by 10? It won't. It doesn't.

As I said, I used to believe a lot more in psychology and "happy, positive" thoughts. But let me tell you, all the happy thoughts in the world won't fix a chemical imbalance! It's like telling a diabetic to fix their own chemistry with their mind. Pysch has it's place, but there is more to the human brain than happy thoughts - we have a society full of mental illness that needs REAL addressing.

The poster indicates a life-long dis-engagement with life and an alcoholic father. This is far more than a little glitch of a depression. It's time we start getting serious about this subject, not thinking pretty words and verbal support can fix any human mental condition. We've been at it since Freud, but the problem gets worse.