This thread is old as hell, but if pembroke is honestly going to compare the side effects and potential dangers of psychiatric drugs like SSRIs to to 5-htp he's obviously unknowingly become a pawn of the pharmaceutical companies and his doctor's vernacular. The truth of the matter is just because there are suggested mechanisms to many of the psychiatric drugs out there, doesn't mean we really know much about them. I'd much rather someone potentially add a precursor to serotonin, than block reuptake with a guessed dosage. Apparently this guy has never heard of Vioxx or any of the other hundreds of drugs the FDA approves each year that are removed because of dangerous implications. The fact of the matter is, the FDA doesn't refuse to approve supplements because they don't all have scientific, placebo controlled studies backing them, they don't approve them because there isn't any money to be made off of them. I personally am tired of people trying to prescribe me treatment for depression that could potentially exacerbate my problem (suicide is a potential side effect in pretty much all psychiatric medications). The truth is doctors don't know for sure if low serotonin levels is causing your depression, depression is a symptom, not a disease in itself. Low test causes depression, low serotonin causes depression, low dopamine causes depression, anemia causes depression, hypothyroidism causes depression, inadequate nutrition causes depression, low vitamin d levels causes depression, illness can lead to depression, gastrointestinal disease can lead to depression. The point i'm trying to make is, if you think low serotonin levels could be causing your depression, why not try a supplement that will raise serotonin with much more subtelty than an SSRI to find out if it that is truly the issue. However, you also have to address why you have low serotonin levels in the first place unless you want to take 5htp or any medication forever. I for one, refuse to. Doctors preach all day long that they treat causes not symptoms, but in practice they don't live up to what they say.