The drug gets onto neurotransmitters that take one chemical that signals for the brain to retake serotonin. But since those transmitters are "clogged" by the drug instead, the indicator chemical can't do it's job, so the serotonin stays in your brain longer.

[–] amio@kbin.social 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No. We don't. While obviously, we know it inhibits serotonin reuptake, we do not know why that SSRI action works. They were developed based on the monoamine hypothesis - basically "too little neurotransmitter activity, better beef it up". And so it does! In a matter of days. Any actual antidepressive effect notoriously can take weeks or months, so that obviously isn't the entire mechanism.

[–] AgentOrangesicle@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

God, that's a book and a half of neuro-interaction, isn't it?