The New Science Of Depression & How To Actually Heal (+ SSRIs, Postpartum, Grief, and More)

The Liz Moody Podcast

Liz Moody

Health & Fitness, Self-improvement, Education, Mental Health

4.8 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 30 April 2025

⏱️ 111 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Mental health isn’t one-size-fits-all. Most of us have learned that depression is a chemical imbalance that works like a disease - you either have it or you don’t, and if you do you can seek treatment through psychiatric medication. While this model of depression has helped destigmatize mental illness, it also has its limits. Today, I’m speaking to Ellen Vora, MD, about new approaches to treating depression and mental health tips. If you want to cut past the noise and finally get to the root cause of your depression, this episode is for you. Ellen and I discuss SSRIs, birth control, inflammation, and more – and as always, we’re giving you tips you can implement now to help with your depression. 3:03 Is It Normal To Feel Sad All the Time? 9:05 Genetic Components in Depression 20:31 How SSRIs Work 25:39 False Moods 27:12 SSRI Withdrawal 36:47 Dealing with Grief 39:41 Spirituality & Mental Health 44:27 Postpartum Depression 51:02 Physical Root Causes of Depression 56:58 Finding Your Root Cause 1:00:33 Should You Test for Thyroid Problems? 1:06:34 Hormonal Birth Control, AKA The Pill 1:08:33 Finding Community 1:13:41 PMDD 1:23:38 Your Gut and Your Brain For more from Ellen Vora, find her on Instagram @ellenvoramd, online at https://ellenvora.com/, and get Ellen’s book The Anatomy of Anxiety here. Ready to uplevel every part of your life? Order Liz’s book 100 Ways to Change Your Life: The Science of Leveling Up Health, Happiness, Relationships & Success now! To join The Liz Moody Podcast Club Facebook group, go to www.facebook.com/groups/thelizmoodypodcast. Connect with Liz on Instagram @lizmoody or online at www.lizmoody.com. Subscribe to the substack by visiting https://lizmoody.substack.com/welcome. Join Liz Moody in New York City for the Your Best Life Intensive Event on May 11th. Check out the previous episode of The Liz Moody Podcast discussed today: Ask The Doctor: Anxiety Edition—Everything You Need To Know About Treating Anxiety Naturally with Ellen Vora, MD This episode is sponsored by: Maui Nui: head to mauinuivenison.com/LIZ to secure your access to a limited collection of Liz’s favorite nutrient-dense wildly delicious meat cuts and products. The Liz Moody Podcast cover art by Zack. The Liz Moody Podcast music by Alex Ruimy. Formerly the Healthier Together Podcast. This podcast and website represents the opinions of Liz Moody and her guests to the show. The content here should not be taken as medical advice. The content here is for information purposes only, and because each person is so unique, please consult your healthcare professional for any medical questions. The Liz Moody Podcast Episode 325. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Is it normal to feel a little bit sad all the time, or is that depression?
0:05.4	A lot of us, I'm convinced, are in a state of chronic low-grade depression because we're in a state of chronic low-grade inflammation.
0:12.2	Anything unwell or imbalanced in the brain colors the very lens through which we see our lives.
0:18.1	We have millions of people taking medications that are based on a
0:22.6	narrative that these are correcting that serotonin imbalance. And if the serotonin imbalance doesn't exist,
0:28.2	are these medications ineffective? Your depression is not the verdict. This is a symptom. Let's roll up
0:35.7	our sleeves and figure out what's out of balance.
0:37.6	We will have had this journey of self-efficacy of recognizing our agency and all of this is
0:42.1	really helpful preparation for making big sweeping changes in our lives.
0:46.6	Hello, friends, and welcome back to the Liz Moody podcast. Today we're diving into a topic
0:51.6	that so many of us struggle with, but we do not talk about nearly enough, depression.
0:57.7	This episode is going to cover both what we think of as clinical depression, but also that more general feeling of melancholy, of wondering if life should be more than this.
1:07.0	We're getting into all of the hard topics, including SSRIs, PMDD, postpartum, why it feels like so many of us are depressed these days, the surprising actual cause of depression that no one is talking about, and so much more.
1:22.4	And of course, as always, we're getting into tons of action steps.
1:25.9	This episode is packed with unlocks and
1:28.3	a haze that will change your life starting today. My guest is Dr. Ellen Vora, a board-certified
1:34.6	Columbia and Yale-trained psychiatrist and the best-selling author of The Anatomy of Anxiety.
1:40.3	Ellen is known for taking a truly root cause, holistic approach to mental health that blends functional medicine with the latest science.
1:47.2	And you're going to get a lot of mechanism of action science in this, a lot of great explainers, but also a lot of heart and just a really different perspective.
1:56.1	Ellen is a dear friend of mine and a gem of a human being.
1:59.7	And I am so excited for you guys to get to
2:01.7	experience a taste of the magic that is her. There's a lot of powerful information in this
	...

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