In May, The Guardian investigation reported that more than half of the top 100 mental health-related TikTok videos contained misinformation. Using the same method, Science Feedback discovered several TikToks that showed wellness influencer #garybrecka making inaccurate and misleading claims about depression and SSRI drugs: https://science.feedback.org/review/tiktok-outdated-inaccurate-claims-depression-gary-brecka/ We break down some of these claims below: 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮 1: 𝘋𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯 ❌ ✅ While depression is popularly understood as a “chemical imbalance” in the brain due to low serotonin, research has shown that multiple factors, including non-serotonin neurotransmitters and certain personality traits, can contribute to depression. Serotonin alone doesn’t explain depression. Philip Cowen, a professor of psychopharmacology at Oxford University, told Science Feedback: > “The idea that a complex heterogeneous condition like depression can be caused by a deficit in a single neurotransmitter is not accepted by mental health professionals.” 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮 2: 𝘐𝘯𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 ❌ ✅ While about 90% of #serotonin in the body is made in the gut, serotonin made outside the brain cannot cross the blood-brain barrier. This means that gut levels of serotonin don’t meaningfully change brain levels. 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘮 3: 𝘚𝘚𝘙𝘐 𝘥𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 ❌ ✅SSRI drugs don’t work for every person with depression. But there are plenty of drugs—not just SSRIs—that are effective in some people and not in others. Evidence from randomized clinical trials shows that SSRI drugs are effective in many.