article -- serotonin and judgement

N continues to improve on the Zoloft, an SSRI, which boosts the level of serotonin in the brain. Tonight at dinner, he said "Every day is a gift from God." This doesn't sound like the N from the last couple of years. He has been playing, and playing WELL, with his sister almost constantly. Just a few weeks ago, we had to basically keep them apart most of the time because he was so volatile and would strike out at her for almost anything, with absolutely no warning. He said the most horrible things to her and threatened her terribly. He didn't even want to play with her most of the time. He seems much more relaxed and less irritable. It's really quite a striking change.

Now, things aren't perfect by any means. He is still N., and he is still difficult. But I'd say there's probably been at least a fifty percent overall improvement in his mood and behavior. That's remarkable. I know it's the Zoloft. Anyway, here's an article that describes N's problems to an uncanny degree, and links it to low serotonin, which is remedied (usually) by an SSRI.

Dinner tonight was weird--so peaceful. He even LOOKED different. I guess if you're not scowling all the time, and you're not always on the verge of blowing up, maybe your face might look more pleasant, normal, and relaxed. And if you're not so tense and hypervigilant, you can actually look NORMALLY happy and ok and peaceful, so that when you are in a good mood, you're not bouncing off the walls and acting like a caged monkey on speed. I don't know, he just looked . . . normal, when his eyes met mine. He wasn't his usual roller-coaster self, but not zombied out, either.

Anyway, here's the link: It's from the Society for Neuroscience.

http://www.sfn.org/index.cfm?pagename=brainBriefings_serotoninAndJudgment