What is "serotonin"?

What is "serotonin"?

Christopher Reist (Academic Psychiatrist, Co-Author of “Psychiatry”) gives expert video advice on: What are the most common causes of mental disorders? and more...

Serotonin is a monoamine neurotransmitter, it's derived in the brain stem of the brain, it's the lower part of the brain and it's very important for a number of functions. It's important in sleep regulation. But, in psychiatry we look at it as having an important role in behavior restraint. So, serotonin can be thought of as a important in giving us pause when making a decision. Serotonin is one of the neurotransmitters that we know is important in depression. A lot of the medications that we use affect the serotonin system. However, we also know it has an important role in anxiety disorders as well as schizophrenia.