by Syd Baumel
Book Description This booklet in the Keats Good Health Guide series describes how numerous psychiatric, behavioral, and neurological conditions are linked to abnormalities - typically deficiencies - of the neurotransmitter serotonin. While Prozac and other artificial serotonin-boosters are often prescribed or investigated for such disorders, Baumel here discusses over a dozen proven or suspected natural serotonin boosters which may work just as well - or better. From the Author
About the Author
Excerpted from Serotonin: How to Naturally Harness the Power Behind Prozac and Phen/Fen (Keats Good Health Guide Series) by Syd Baumel. Copyright © 1998. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved Impulsive Aggression and Violence One of the most consistent findings in all of psychobiology is the link between low serotonin in the brain and impulsive, explosive acts of violence (Linnoila and Virkkunen, 1992). It occurs uniformly in mice and men, in feisty chickens and scrappy alcoholics, in children who torture their pets and parents who massacre their children (Lion, 1995). In telling contrast, controlled aggression and assertiveness are associated with high serotonergic activity. These findings are of more than academic interest. Serotonergic agents such as the SSRIs [selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, like Prozac], lithium, progesterone, tryptophan, and 5-HTP have mellowed or pacified many a beast and many a beastly human (Lion, 1995). In the lab, acute tryptophan depletion - and therefore serotonin depletion - tends to ruffle people's feathers, especially if they have a short fuse to begin with (Cleare and Bond, 1995). And in clinical trials, both tryptophan (alone or combined with the serotonergic drug Desyrel [trazadone]) and 5-HTP have helped juvenile delinquents, homicidal schizophrenics (Morand et al., 1983) and explosive, run-amok inpatients (Greenwald et al., 1986) learn the meaning of the word "chill." References Cleare, A. J., and A. J. Bond, "The effect of tryptophan depletion and enhancement on subjective and behavioural aggression in normal male subjects," Psychopharmacology (Berlin), 118 (Mar 1995): 72-81. Greenwald, B.S., et al., "Serotonergic Treatment of Screaming and Banging in Dementia," Lancet, ii (1986): 1464-5. Linnoila, V. M., and M. Virkkunen, "Aggression, Suicidality, and Serotonin," Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 53 (Suppl, Oct 1992): 46- 51. Lion, J. R., "Aggression," in Kaplan, Harold I., and Sadock, Benjamin J., Eds., Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry/VI (Baltimore, Maryland: Williams & Wilkins, 1995)., pp. 310-317. Morand, C., et al., "Clinical Response of Aggressive Schizophrenics to Oral Tryptophan," Biological Psychiatry, 18 (5, 1983): 575-77. Customer Comments Erik Hanson (eahanson@ix.netcom.com)
from Minneapolis, Minnesota, April 15, 1998
* * * People DO have various problems with life. Instead of naming and redefining these problems as various "mental diseases", and labeling people with them, as is currently done within the psychiatric community, these problems with life and living are best understood and addressed outside of the traditional psychiatric paradigm. Why? Because psychiatric "treatments" such as ECT, lobotomy, and powerful psychotropic drugs are barbaric, based upon severe faulty scientific methodology, and quite simply, harm people.
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