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Re: Social Phobia GABA

Posted by Michael Bell on February 10, 2003, at 18:27:08

In reply to Re: Social Phobia GABA, posted by jonh kimble on February 10, 2003, at 13:44:54

> Gaba is undoubably a biggie in social phobia, along with most anxiety disorders, I believe. What is interesting though is that dopamine dysfunction is often quite clear in social phobics but not in other anxiety disorders. Dopamine makes you positive, high self esttem, and talkative. Also low DA often leads to going over and over silly little things that you may have done that really arent a big deal(usually not even a deal) Anyway I see dopamine and gaba to be the biggest players in my problem.


John, I was totally in your camp until pretty recently. I too figured that b/c dopamine correlates with extroversion and sociability, there must be too little of it in social phobics. But now I'm thinking there may be too MUCH dopamine in people with SP, believe it or not, or maybe too much in a certain portion of the brain. Why? Some reasons I have are: 1) SP is disproportionately high in people with Schizophrenia 2) SP is disproportionately high in people with Bipolar Disorder 3) paranoia often results from too much dopamine and is common in people with SP 4) I have gotten confidence rushes 5) alcohol is great for SP - yes, it aids dopamine release but biggest effect is on GABA 6) GHB, which actually INHIBITS dopamine release at first, is very helpful for SP for first few hours of ingestion 7) some anti-psychotics, which block dopamine, are helpful for SP

Also, I've tried tyrasine and SELEGILINE, both of which made my symptoms worse, and this seems to be the experience of others on this board.

I've read the stories about lower # of D2 receptors in people with SP. Problem is there are only a few small studies, and the people who did the study stated that the low # of receptors may actually be due the the BRAIN DOWNREGULATING the # of receptors due to high levels of dopamine.

One more thing: in studies of rhesus monkeys, it has been found that dopamine levels ELEVATE after experiencing social defeat.

I'm not trying to convert you, just pointing out why I think the dopamine issue may not be as straightforward as it seems.

But who cares - long as we find something that works, right?!


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poster:Michael Bell thread:140304
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