Posted by Jack Boyd (167.206.58.39) on December 15, 1999 at 17:41:54:
In Reply to: CHers posted by hub on December 15, 1999 at 08:25:10:
Serotonin has all sorts of implications. As Dr. Bob P. has so often and so eloquently stated, it is a key component in this cluster game.
Serotonin is implicated in mood disorders, depression, obsessive compulsive disorders, impulse control, aggressive behavior, violence, substance abuse, sleep, you name it.
Me - from the age of 16 through 24 I would sometimes drink to excess and I do mean excess - case of beer in an afternoon once and awhile. I would go weeks and months without drinking at all but then do the excess thing. I stopped when I was 24 - woke up one morning, went out to my car and noticed that I had a flashing highway sign in the back seat and did not recall how it got there. I have never, ever, taken any drugs, other than smoking pot 3 or 4 times. I am rapidly approaching 50 and I have done absolutely no drinking since the age of 24.
I think my serotonin imbalance manifests in different ways. Although I have been married to the same woman for 22 years and I have been with my current employer for 17 years, I believe that as a younger man, I had problems with impulse control. Whether it was punching someone in the mouth or changing friends/careers, I have done some stupid things I am not particularly proud of.
Unlike Hub, who is out of the Oprah school of psychobabble and therefore blames his parents, I have always found it more convenient to blame my serotonin imbalance.
I too, self-medicate through exercise. I have been running and lifting most of my adult life and I am addicted to endorphins.
Self-diagnosis is very dangerous and personal insight is always painful, but I do believe that there is a relation between my serotonin induced clusters and some of my personality traits.
I also believe that alcoholics and substance abusers are self-medicating their respective chemical imbalances.