Credits: Social Media
Neuroscientist says a single dose of antidepressant alters your perception of the world
Neuroscientist Camilla Nord shocked the audience at her lecture as she revealed how antidepressants alter your perspective on situations and the wider world.
Mental illnesses are as old as humanity, and yet, we are only starting to understand the complexities of mental health disorders like depression, anxiety, and PTSD. When it comes to depression, which is said to affect 280 million people worldwide, experts are constantly offering alternative treatment methods like specific exercises to combat depressive symptoms.
Antidepressants alter your perspective in one key way
Camilla Nord is a neuroscientist and researcher who heads up the mental health program at the University of Cambridge.
While giving a talk on the science of mental health at the Royal Institution, Camilla delved into topics like antidepressants, treatment options, and the inner workings of the brain. Snippets of her 45-minute talk were posted across the Royal Institution’s social media accounts.
Though antidepressants are somewhat controversial, with people often looking for non-medical aids like diet, they are unrivaled in their capabilities.
Most would perhaps presume that antidepressants work by simply making you happier, but that’s not the case. Instead, antidepressants work by increasing the neurotransmitters in your brain.
“A single dose of antidepressants doesn’t change your mood, but it does change your cognition and the perception of the world around you,” Camilla told the audience. “A single dose, or a couple of doses, of antidepressants will change your perception of faces. It will change your perception of ambiguous sentences.”
In the real world, people on antidepressants might also find that they view situations and “ambiguous stimuli” differently. For instance, if a colleague ignores your greeting at work, one person could view that as proof they hate you. Another person might understand that their colleague is busy.
“That’s the kind of information that antidepressants work on. A shift from a negative interpretational bias towards a neutral or sometimes positive interpretational bias,” the expert added.
People reported life-changing experiences with anti-depressants
If you take a look at social media you will be confronted by countless posts about the horrible symptoms associated with antidepressants. Though no one doubts such experiences, the comment section of Camilla’s video proved why antidepressants are a sensible course of action for those suffering from depression.
“Im going to be a positive commenter – Sertraline completely fixed me. I wouldnt have gotten through an extremely dark time without it,” one person said.
Another recalled: “This is an amazing explanation. From day one on Sertraline, I was just able to not overthink and have any background noise buzzing around in my mind. I could walk down the street without being paranoid.”
Someone else said: “Sertraline changed my life. I used to take everything personally and interpret it negatively. My perception changed so much that I actually started hearing the birds again!”
