Mental health. Our worst fears exposed? Depression, fear and anxiety continue to mark a curse on children and adults around the world. Internal "issues" build, then burst into potentially life destroying anxiety panic attack. It's now wonder that more and more people are focused on brain health issues.

So, how do you determine "normal" brain health, and whether your brain's glands are producing either too much serotonin or not enough?

The Serotonin Depression Link. In the mind-body health matrix, mental and physical operations are intimately connected. Our understanding of this mind-body connection has rapidly expanded due to the world of neuro-science research, where brain health experts theorize that important brain "mood" regulators include natural serotonin and norepinephrine. Meanwhile, these same neuro-scientists theorize that your body utilizes these hormonal regulators as a chemical arbiter for "physical pain".

Create a serotonin deficiency and you'll gradually see the tentacles and growth in mental depression along with physical pain and discomfort.

Too Much Serotonin Versus Low Serotonin - What's Important? Brain chemistry is complex stuff. Further complicating "guidelines" advice is the fact that natural serotonin levels can vary significantly between persons. Here's the generalized every-day-understanding to know about.

* Low Serotonin Levels. Can "show" through a menu of distressed behavior patterns including obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, anxiety panic attacks, drowsy and bulimia food aversion.

* Too Much Serotonin. An imbalance or serotonin overdose creates its own brand of crises, including the potential for fever, headaches, migraine, feel less hungry, coma, brain seizures, damages to your heart and cardiovascular system and in the event of true serotonin syndrome (toxicity) even death.

Technical Stuff To Know - Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor "Side Effects". Any of the "psycho" drugs including the class of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor compounds act to increase serotonin across all neural pathways. Results? Side effects can include ongoing anxiety, insomnia, sexual dysfunction, gastrointestinal imbalance, dry mouth, nausea. On one hand, a serotonin norepinephrine increase addresses depression and pain. Taken too far, these therapies trigger nuisance side effects, which left undiagnosed can build into other health risks.

Bottom line? Your body adjusts to medical interventions, creating a "tolerance", so many of the "potential" down-side risks of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor compounds are relegated to "nuisance" factor for most people.

Will A Serotonin Supplement Work? Yes. Consider that your brain has over 10 billion cells and perhaps 4 million miles of nerve fibers, so you're exhibiting one of the most complex organs ever developed. Even while each of these billions of cells may also have a network of over 25,000 "connections" with other cells, a serotonin supplement can, and will, work its way in between these "connections".

Result? Brain cells will now "talk" differently to each other because receptor sites can be adjusted to slow down or speed-up messages, which we experience as "mood", "thought", "physical pain or pleasure" and so on. Imagine that all of this complex stuff, and whirring action is happening at around 120 mph through your brain's neural network!