The power of narrative

From When It Comes To Depression, Serotonin Isn't The Whole Story by Alix Spiegel.

One critic I talked to said that the serotonin story distracted researchers from looking for other causes of depression. But Delgado agrees with Frazer and says that the story has some benefits. He points out that years of research have demonstrated that uncertainty itself can be harmful to people. Which is why, he says, clear, simple explanations are so very important.

"When you feel that you understand it, a lot of the stress levels dramatically are reduced," he says. "So stress, hormones and a lot of biological factors change."

Unfortunately, the real story is complicated, and in a way, not all that reassuring. Researchers don't really know what causes depression. They're making progress, but they don't know. That's the real story.

It's not exactly a blockbuster.

When you have the four quadrants of epistemological knowledge (heuristics, experiential, analytic and profound), even if you are primarily working in the analytic arena (spotting patterns and determining causation as in medical research), the mode of communication from the other quadrants can be overpowering. In this case, the narrative strength of the experiential quadrant has dominated and driven the direction of the analytical work, sometimes at odds with what the data has actually been saying.