it doesnt matter what anyone says or thinks, its very clear to me that opioids ARE IN FACT a ligit treatment for refractory depression in many people. my belief is that this is due to their ability to increase dopamine in the nucleus accumbens WITHOUT other axiety producing side effects. of course amphetamines and other stimulants increase limbic dopamine as well, but they are so broad and stimulate overall and cause anxiety whereas opioids seem to be part stimulant part depressant and be just the right dopaminergic without causing other stimulating effects. tramadol has also been studied for refractory depression. the only problem with opioids are dependance and tolerance. i wonder if buprenorphine has less tolerance?

I also like to add that both limbic dopamine and opioid receptors has been virtually ignored and depression and i believe its the key factor with many many depressives. this is why SSRI and other drugs totally do not work at all. targeting the wrong mechanism to feel better and more normal. They want to create drugs with no "abuse potential" and drugs that have a dose response ceiling. in otherwords, the drug must be one in which if someone were to double or triple their normal depression fighting dose, it wouldnt get them high. the result has been bad drugs that dont work and make some people kill themselves.