Chemical Imbalance Theory: Was It Really Just an 'Urban Legend'?
Was the Chemical Imbalance Theory Really Never Taken Seriously by Psychiatrists?
A comprehensive investigation published in SSM - Mental Health reveals that leading psychiatrists and influential textbooks actively endorsed the serotonin theory of depression between 1990 and 2010, contradicting recent claims by prominent psychiatrists that the chemical imbalance theory was merely an “urban legend” never taken seriously by the profession. The study by Benjamin Ang, Mark Horowitz, and Joanna Moncrieff demonstrates that psychiatry bears significant responsibility for disseminating the theory and its associated antidepressant use.