TED Talks Daily A new class of drug that could prevent depression and PTSD | Rebecca Brachman
Mar 26, 2019
Neuroscientist and TED Fellow Rebecca Brachman discusses her groundbreaking discovery of a new class of drugs that could potentially prevent depression and PTSD rather than just treating symptoms. She explains how these resilience-enhancing medications boost a person's ability to cope with stress and recover from trauma. The podcast highlights the innovative approach of focusing on prevention, offering hope for a future where mental health treatment could be radically transformed.
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Preventing vs. Treating Mental Illness
- Current treatments for depression and PTSD only address symptoms, not the root causes.
- Rebecca Brachman's team accidentally discovered drugs that may prevent these disorders.
The History of Disease Prevention
- In 1798, Edward Jenner's smallpox vaccine introduced the idea of disease prevention.
- For over 200 years, this concept wasn't applied to psychiatric illnesses.
Resilience Enhancers: A New Approach
- New drugs called "resilience enhancers" aim to boost stress resilience, not just treat symptoms.
- Stress resilience is the biological process that allows us to recover from stressful events.