Both depression and schizophrenia are associated with neurotransmissions at the synapse of the neurons. Neurotransmitters are the messengers of the brain involved in the carriage of information across the brain cells. Depression has been associated with a number of imbalances in the brain especially concerning the levels of serotonin, norepinephrine as well as dopamine. Schizophrenia has also been associated with the imbalances of dopamine across the synapses of the neurons. As a result, a number of their pharmaceutical therapies are designed to exert their effects at the synapses of the neurons.
Neurotransmitter pharmaceuticals act within hours in the brain synapses, but the patients’ behavior, which is the main symptom for the disease, does not change immediately but only take effect after several days or months. In depression, the serotonin levels in the brain is increased just a moment after the person takes the antidepressants drugs, but still takes several weeks to change his general mood. Most schizophrenia and depression medication focuses mostly on the effect, but not the cause of the disease and that why they take a long time to act. This is explaining the facts that depression and schizophrenia are not entirely as a result of chemical neurotransmitters a lone, but are associated with a number of factors.
A number of factors has been associated with development of schizophrenia, some of these factors are; Genes, complications experienced at birth, maternal nutrition and a number of diseases which might be experienced during the infancy. Depression mostly comes about due to severe stress. Most people who have depression had been faced with some episodes of severe stress at one point. From these findings, it is clear that neurotransmitters are key causes of depression and Schizophrenia, but a number of factors are involved.