Reacción a "Reactions: 30 researchers challenge study questioning the hypothesis that low serotonin levels cause depression, published last year"

The article and its summary in the press release of the 36 researchers aim to criticise the original study on the basis of alleged methodological flaws. These have already been answered in detail by the authors of the original study themselves in the same journal on 16 June 2023.   

The uproar caused by the article by Moncrieff et al. and the attempt to devalue it in certain academic circles, such as this press release, is understandable because it questions the current biological foundations in the understanding of depression and its treatment. 

Moncrieff's study shows that the serotonergic hypothesis of depression (although so far also unproven) is false. This would mean that, as far as we currently know, depression is not caused by an imbalance of neurotransmitters. However, it is this unproven serotonergic hypothesis that has justified the massive prescription of antidepressants over the last three decades. 

The text published in Molecular Psychiatry, a journal of the highest methodological standards and unquestionable quality, implies that we need to critically review our clinical practice, how we understand what happens to people with depression and how we can best help them, but this is always uncomfortable, especially if there are intellectual or other conflicts of interest.