Donald F. Klein’s “Sixth” question/comment on Martin M. Katz’s monograph “Depression and Drugs”

Katz has stated that basic research links neurotransmitter systems with the regulation of different behaviors and moods, serotonin with “impulsive aggression” and anxiety and norepinephrine with “arousal” and “motor activity”. See Katz's reply to Comment Three.

Also, it seems that Katz views neurotransmitter effects as rheostat modeled that more transmitter yields more activity and less transmitter yields less.

Yes, there is extensive evidence that antidepressants have little effect on normal subjects, except for side effects. Antidepressants do not make ordinary people happy, aroused or aggressive. There is no demand for them on the street as there is for cocaine. Their benefits may come from a normalizing interaction with a pathological state, rather than by modifying a normal reactivity. This cybernetic hypothesis is detailed with regard to feedback derangement in my response to Katz's reply to my fourth comment (1/1/15) It deserves discussion.

Donald F. Klein

April 2, 2015