Althouse: "Another way in which antidepressants may work involves the enhancement of neuroplasticity..."

October 27, 2026

"Another way in which antidepressants may work involves the enhancement of neuroplasticity..."

".... or the brain’s ability to reorganize its structure and connections. Continued treatment with antidepressants may bolster brain chemicals and processes that promote neuroplasticity. (Psychedelics are thought to work as a treatment for depression and anxiety, in part, for a similar reason.) The hypothesis is that the drugs open a 'window' of plasticity through which the brain has a renewed ability to change the way it is wired. Patients treated with antidepressants often feel more mentally malleable and better able to move away from unhelpful thinking patterns. Some researchers have proposed that we should think about antidepressants as relieving a kind of cognitive constipation."

From "Millions Use Antidepressants. We Still Don’t Understand How They Work. Here’s how psychiatrists like me think about the most promising hypotheses" (NYT).

45 comments:

Peachy+2 said...: Antidepressants can cause neurological side effects, including tremors and shakes (drug-induced tremor), as well as other movement disorders.

There's a drug for that.

Ask Bernie Sanders how much he gets from Big Pharma?

oh and once again - the loyal writers for the NYT(D) - must make RFK jr. wrong.; 10/27/26, 10:04 AM
Original Mike said...: "Patients treated with antidepressants often feel more mentally malleable and better able to move away from unhelpful thinking patterns."

I was on an antidepressant for a little while after my cancer diagnosis (16 years ago now). I did not like it at all. It was like I was standing back and observing my own thought processes and they were not appropriate to the situation. The outside observer me knew the "other me" should be concerned that I had just been diagnosed with cancer, but somehow "it" wasn't and I found that disquieting. It felt like something was preventing me from being me. Hard to explain, but I did not find it helpful at all.; 10/27/26, 10:14 AM
Peachy+2 said...: While some extreme mental disorders might demand certain drugs - depression should be delt with differently, IMO.
No one ever talks about dealing with depression using methods other than big pharma drugs. why?; 10/27/26, 10:23 AM
RideSpaceMountain said...: 🎵Money, money...MONEY🎵; 10/27/26, 11:03 AM
Peachy+2 said...: yep.; 10/27/26, 11:07 AM
Quaestor said...: Please, no more "promising hypotheses" until there's a solution to antidepressant-related suicides.

There's a world of difference between feeling better and being better.; 10/27/26, 11:14 AM
GRW3 said...: In a sort of related comment... You probably know that Coca Cola originally contained cocaine in its mix. I just heard that the original version of 7Up contained lithium.; 10/27/26, 11:15 AM
Peachy+2 said...: The left want everyone drugged or dead - unless you are a loyalist. Even then, you are expendable. ask grandma.; 10/27/26, 11:34 AM
Freder Frederson said...: "While some extreme mental disorders might demand certain drugs - depression should be delt with differently, IMO."

And where exactly did you get your M.D. in psychiatry?

"No one ever talks about dealing with depression using methods other than big pharma drugs. why?"

Besides being a bullshit statement, a lot has to do with insurance companies being unwilling to pay for the kind of therapy that would be required to treat depression without drugs. And of course, there is a severe shortage of mental health professionals in this country (even in places like NYC).; 10/27/26, 11:36 AM
Amexpat said...: "Some researchers have proposed that we should think about antidepressants as relieving a kind of cognitive constipation."

I'm prone to depression and "cognitive constipation" is a good description for what I go through. But I do think the best remedy are lifestyle choices rather than drugs. Two things that work for me are travel and exercise.; 10/27/26, 11:46 AM
Peachy+2 said...: Freder - It's a proven fact that anti-depressant use can cause neurological side effects including tremors and shakes (drug-induced tremor), as well as other movement disorders.

Look it up. AI it - it's a FACT.

Drug companies make ads for the latest over-lay drug that can help with the "shakes"

You're a proven leftist sheep.; 10/27/26, 11:51 AM
Peachy+2 said...: Freder would like you to take all those drugs - what ever drug or jab the left demand. You better buy it and take it.; 10/27/26, 11:51 AM
Josephbleau said...: Neuroplasticity works both ways, it can expand your brain to a more desirable state, or it can prune your brain to a less refined more basic state. This is the learning vs use it or lose it principle. Drugs influence this but what you usually see is that drugs make your brain plastic in a bad way, unless you are a jazz musician.

Drugs are what you get when nothing else works, unfortunately.; 10/27/26, 11:53 AM
Peachy+2 said...: Insurance companies are forced to pay for all sorts of stuff.
Tax payers/Insurance are forced to pay for Blue state hell abortion.; 10/27/26, 12:00 PM
mikee said...: I spokenot two hours ago with my own personal psychiatric doctor, long a fan of neurobiological pharmacology and very up to date on recent news about the brain's chemical doings, and he showed me MRI scans of brains of manic depressives at "both the top and the bottom of the roller coaster" they experience. Fascinating stuff, and the word "salience" was of great importance regarding how the mind works and malfunctions. Apparently, what one pays attention to affects what one experiences, in part, and being able to choose where to direct attention both internally and externally, too. Being locked in an internal doomscroll or being unable to focus on what's going on around you are both malfunctions of the apparatus, and the pathways leading into the woods are becoming more and better known each passing year. Neat stuff.; 10/27/26, 12:30 PM
ChrisC said...: There is an old joke about a guy with a migraine goes to the doctor and says, "doc, you got to help me this migraine is terrible". Doc says, "Ok, lay your hand on my desk". He pulls out a hammer and pounds the guys hand. The patient shrieks in pain. "WTF doc, why the hell did you do that!". Doc says, "how's your migraine?" Guy says, "My hand hurts so bad I don't notice the migraine now". Doc says, "You're welcome". That's how anti-depressants work.; 10/27/26, 12:32 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: Should we bring back Freud? Your depression is caused by your Mommy issues. Or maybe your sexual repression.; 10/27/26, 12:36 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: I'm a little more interested in why many of mass-killers always are on Anti-Depressents. What's up with that.; 10/27/26, 12:37 PM
Freder Frederson said...: Look it up. AI it - it's a FACT.

Did I ever dispute that. All drugs have some side effects (even something as mundane as aspirin). That is why anti-depressants are available by prescription and their use should be monitored by a health professional.

Freder would like you to take all those drugs

I am not qualified, unlike you apparently, to recommend a course of drugs or treatment to anyone.; 10/27/26, 12:41 PM
Freder Frederson said...: ""My hand hurts so bad I don't notice the migraine now". Doc says, "You're welcome". That's how anti-depressants work."

Some people have migraines that are so bad (I have in the past) you wouldn't even care if your hand was crushed.; 10/27/26, 12:43 PM
Howard said...: Speaking of neuroplasticity, Brian "Dracula" Johnson just reported on the benefits of a couple magic mushroom trips he took while being monitored up the wazoo.

He took 5-grams of shrooms each time, which is considered a heroic dose. He said it felt like a reset.; 10/27/26, 12:51 PM
Joe Bar said...: How many of the school shooters were on these drugs? And we don't know how they work?

Shocking.; 10/27/26, 1:36 PM
Joe Bar said...: Like Carolla says, they should just go for a walk and listen to classical music. Works every time!; 10/27/26, 1:37 PM
Peachy+2 said...: Freder - do you know what IMO means?
I have an opinion outside of the lefty hivemind lockstep - must bash RFK jr mob.
so what?; 10/27/26, 2:15 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/27/26, 2:54 PM
Inga said...: Some people’s brains gush endorphins when they are collecting cats.; 10/27/26, 2:54 PM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Perhaps we should take Cher's method of therapy from Moonstruck
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/pUiaLcBez5g; 10/27/26, 2:55 PM
Freder Frederson said...: "I have an opinion outside of the lefty hivemind lockstep - must bash RFK jr mob."

And your opinion is ill-informed.; 10/27/26, 3:45 PM
Freder Frederson said...: "Like Carolla says, they should just go for a walk and listen to classical music. Works every time!"

Yeah, Carolla has a long, illustrious career researching clinical depression. You really shouldn't listen to second-rate comedians pontificating about something they obviously know nothing about.; 10/27/26, 3:48 PM
James K said...: Freder thinks we should just trust the "experts," as we (or many) did with Covid. No independent thinking is allowed.; 10/27/26, 4:12 PM
RideSpaceMountain said...: According to chatgpt, 43.1 million U.S. adults took prescription medication to help with their mental health in 2025, with the last data on male/female ratio from 2023 showing consistently that women use these medications at twice the rate of men.

I.E. 28,730,000 American women are taking psychiatric medication out of 138 million women over the age of 18. That's over 1 in 5. Then I asked chatgpt who they vote for and it said, "I'm sorry RSM. I'm afraid I can't do that..."; 10/27/26, 4:28 PM
Jim at said...: Is there ever a subject in which Freder refrains from showing his ass?

I've yet to find it.; 10/27/26, 4:38 PM
Peachy+2 said...: Inag has cats. Does that make her a hypocrite?
I have cats and dogs.; 10/27/26, 5:17 PM
Jamie said...: Geez, all I want is a Valium during dental work...; 10/27/26, 5:21 PM
Peachy+2 said...: If it's ill informed - Freder (your dumbass opinion btw) then you must agree that taking anti-depressant drugs is the only way to fight depression.

Dangerous. but then - leftists love HARM.; 10/27/26, 5:22 PM
Peachy+2 said...: The best way to stop the over-use of anti-depressants is for Trump to come out and say - "Yes please pound back the anti-depressants"; 10/27/26, 5:23 PM
Peachy+2 said...: Leftist whiny victim culture teaches and encourages people to live in their heads. then - the drug companies pay the politicians.; 10/27/26, 5:24 PM
Peachy+2 said...: Next thing you know, Susie has the shakes and her depression is still there. worsened depression now that she has the shakes.... and her depression is still there with other negative symptoms, Like brain fog.

There's a drug for that.; 10/27/26, 5:26 PM
Mason G said...: "There's a drug for that."

And one of the side effects is "suicidal thoughts".; 10/27/26, 5:38 PM
West TX Intermediate Crude said...: "I.E. 28,730,000 American women are taking psychiatric medication out of 138 million women over the age of 18. That's over 1 in 5..."
---------RideSpaceMountain at 4:28pm

That means that almost 80% of these psychos are walking around unmedicated!!!; 10/27/26, 6:04 PM
PrimoStL said...: Substantial evidence that lots of people, especially women, are profoundly unhappy.; 10/27/26, 6:09 PM
Mason G said...: That's understandable. After all, a lot of the middle-aged ones are wondering about that bicycle they thought they didn't need.; 10/27/26, 6:49 PM
Peachy+2 said...: How dare you be unmedicated.; 10/27/26, 7:55 PM
mishu said...: Antidepressants made me crave sugary foods. I gained way too much weight with those things. Take a walk. Get some exercise. Get some sun. Those are way better remedies.; 10/27/26, 9:32 PM
Inga said...: “Inga has cats. Does that make her a hypocrite?
I have cats and dogs.”

I don’t have any cats or dogs. Last time I had a cat in my house was when my daughter was in Afghanistan in 2012 and I was taking care of her cat for that year she was gone. Nothing wrong with having a pet. Did I hit a nerve, Itchy?; 10/27/26, 9:44 PM