USING LITHIUM BASED MEDICATIONS TO INCREASE GRAY MATTER VOLUME IN DEPRESSED ADOLESCENTS

In this paper, the correlation between gray matter and depression will be presented and speculations on the effectiveness of anti-depression treatments will be made. Over time, the gray matter volume in a depressed individual will continue to decrease unless the mental illness is treated. The effectiveness of treatments varies but in terms of halting the decrease of gray matter volume or increasing gray matter volume, medications containing lithium have proven to be the most effective. While an increase in gray matter volume has the potential to increase one's mood some tradeoffs come with taking antidepressants of any sort. Lithium appears to be the most effective component of medications that increase gray matter volume, but it is crucial to examine potential side effects as well as entirely different medications that target different areas of the brain.