Posted by ace on January 16, 2005, at 22:15:53
In reply to Which neurostransmitters affect social phobia?, posted by Iansf on January 16, 2005, at 13:31:04
> Which neurotransmitters are the ones most critically involved with social phobia - and in what way do they affect it? thanks.
>
> John McGood question...Social phobia exists, like all psychiatric diagnoses, along a continuum....it is not really something you have or don't have.
Everyone to a degree has social phobia -- if we didn't people would defecate and urinate in public and not be embarresed at all.
On the other hand, some folk (like myself until nardil saved me) can't eat in public, feel self-conscious to an extreme degree, can't make love with the lights on etc etc
So, to answer your qstn, many neurotransmitters are involved in social phobia. Everyone goes on about serotonin -- DON'T believe them!!!
We have little evidence that serotnin has effect on affective states except for postmortem studies of cerebrospinal fluid....other than that, the effect that some SSRI's have on some folk...but a LOT fail on SSRI's, which, obviously tells me that serotonin isn't the be all and end all neurontransmitter in psychiatric illneses, as some naive psychiatrists would like to think...
All psychopathologies, to my way of thinking, represent unspecified changes in brain chemistry due to many factors. Also, they are not all-encompassing. By that, I mean that two people who have "OCD" might have very different aetiologies (causes) -- one might have an excess of dopamine, the other an excess of serotonin and too little norepinephrine...same goes for "social phobia"....focus on SYMPTOMS not DIAGNOSES -- diagnostic systems (DSM) are greatly flawed.
anyway, hope that helps!
ace
poster:ace
thread:442780
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050113/msgs/442975.html