lytic forms of therapy. From the biological perspective, we should theoretically one day be able to solve the problems of disease and mental disorders simply by administering th!
             e right dosage of the right drug and not have to apply any other form of therapy. However, the solution is very rarely as simple as just popping a pill, and we still have a long way to go.
             One field that the development of psychopharmacology has affected greatly is the treatment of severe depression. According to the DSM-IV, or the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th Edition, the main symptoms of depression are depressed mood, anhedonia(inability to gain enjoyment), lack of energy, sleep disorders, appetite and concentration problems, and suicidal behavior. Traditionally, psychodynamic and cognitive therapies have been the most succesful treatments for this condition in the long run, but with their rise, antidepressants have become the most popular form of treatment. In the early 1950's, humans given an Indian-root medication known as reserpine became markedly depressed, and it was later discovered that this drugs depleted the brain of three neurotransmitters: norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin(Bloom, 332), which were subsequently linked as a cause for the depression. The discovery of monoamine oxidase (or MAO), which breaks down !
             the three neurotransmitters depleted by reserpine, and amphetamine, a central nervous system stimulant that activates the release of dopamine and norepinephrine, led American psychiatrists Joseph Schildkraut and Seymour Kety to propose the catecholamine hypothesis of depression(Bloom, 333). In this hypothesis, they attributed depression to an under-function of norepinephrine and serotonin at catecholamine synapses in the brain. This is the basis for how anti-depressant drugs work; they block the reuptake process and prolong the presence of amines on the synapses of cells.
             However, th...