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Between two neurons lies a small gap called the synapse. Neurotransmitters cross the synapse, being “fired” from one neuron and attaching to the next. Sometimes the receiving neuron will send out a message instructing the sending neuron to slow its rate of firing neurotransmitters. The sending neuron then has to pull the neurotransmitters back into itself, a process known as “reuptake”. Nemeroff points out that, due to overactive reuptake, reduced levels of norepinephrine have been noted in the brain of many depressed patients (“Neurobiology”). Similarly, the study points out that in many patients who have committed suicide increased norepinephrine receptors were located in the brain’s cortex. Often receptors in the brain expand in number in order to compensate for low levels of transmitter molecules (“Neurobiology”).
Due to these findings, reports Nemeroff, some drugs are now available that block norepinephrine reuptake and increase norepinephrine in the synapse, allowing it to act as an antidepressant (“Neurobiology”). Serotonin is also a natural antidepressant and relates to drugs such as Prozac, which blocks serotonin reuptake. Nemeroff details how cells which produce serotonin often extend into many areas of the brain thought to contribute to depression, such as the hypothalamus (“Neurobiology”). The drugs which prohibit serotonin reuptake are some of the most effective antidepressants ever made. Effexor is an especially effective drug because it blocks reuptake of serotonin and norepinephrine. Neurotransmitters are not the only biological elements which contribute to depression. Much research has been done that seems to show correlation between hormones and depression.
The hypothalamus regulates the hormonal system in the human body. As Nemeroff observed, the system that manages the body’s stress response is often singled out for causing severe depression (“Neurobiology”). When there exists a physical or psychological threat to the body, the HPA-axis (hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal) increases production of cortisol and, in effect, initiates the “fight or flight” function of the body. Nemeroff reports numerous studies show over-activation of the HPA-system may lead to depression (“Neurobiology”). Because this system reacts to stress, however, it is unlikely that it will initiate itself without some type of anxiety-causing event. External sociological forces, coupled with increasingly negative psychological conflict, can cause the stress necessary to activate the HPA-system.
Biochemical functions, though extremely powerful and relevant to human behavior, rarely act alone. Simply because one may have a hyperactive HPA-axis or low levels of serotonin or norepinephrine monoamines, it is not definite a person will suffer from extreme depression or attempt suicide. Obviously emotions, though they may exist in chemical form, result from the ways people internalize and perceive external events as well as the ways in which people view themselves. The fact of the matter is people are strongly influenced by society, on conscious and subconscious levels. Society exists inside and outside of people, intermixing with the mind and with the psyche. The entire idea of consciousness is so complex and enigmatic, it is severely limiting to relate any aspect of it to only one particular school of science.
Something as severe, basic, and fundamentally human as suicide probably results from a number of things. Because psychological, sociological, and biochemical factors make up people and their subjective, individual realities, all these factors should be considered when theorizing on the causes of suicide. Humans exist as themselves, inside themselves, as conscious “minds” and are inherently individualistic. Humans also exist in groups, ever learning and changing due to exterior events and other people. They also are made up, biologically, of neurotransmitters and complex hormonal systems which affect moods and responses. All these factors entwine inside people to create the intricacy of human life. While it is possible one of these things is more powerful than another in each individual, it is highly unlikely that solely one is responsible for a decision as deterministic as suicide. The causes of suicide are as complex and varied as humanity itself. As long as suicide is considered a taboo subject, the deeply integrated causes may never be fully realized.
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