Issue 10, September 2003
5HTT: So is happiness all a question of length?
© Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma
What if Romeo, on learning of Juliet’s death, was driven to take his life not for romantic reasons but
for lack of a certain chemical substance? Enough to make Shakespeare turn in his grave! Yet a team of
scientific researchers believe that melodrama may be nothing more than a question of chemistry…
Indeed, a protein called 5HTT could influence our ability to deal with misfortune and certain setbacks:
it would seem that people whose bodies do not produce it in a sufficient amount are more prone to
depression than others.
Modern, sexist and without boundaries
Depression is a curse of our times. It is
currently one of the most common psychological
disorders. According to the World Health
Organization, l2l million people suffer from it
worldwide! And this sad record appears to be
spreading with the ever-increasing stress caused
by urban life. Depression occurs and sometimes
recurs at all levels of society and is also sexist:
least for the time being, because by the year
2020 it will probably have reached 2nd place…
Given its frequent recurrence and although it is
the psyche that is concerned, scientists have long
suspected the origins of depression to be
biological. Little more was needed to suggest that
the culprits were genes especially when certain
families are known to be more affected than
