kleist. in july 2022, british psychiatrist joanna moncrieff, also psychiatrist mark horowtiz and others proposed in a study on academic journal molecular psychiatry that depression is not caused by a serotonin imbalance in the human body, unlike what most of the psychiatry community points to, and that therefore anti-depressants don't work against the illness. however, such study was met with criticism from some psychiatrists, who argued the study's methodology used an indirect trace of serotonin, instead of taking direct measurements of the molecule. moncrieff said that, despite her study's conclusions, no one should interrupt their treatment if they are taking any anti-depressant.