What's the difference between cocaine and antidepressants?

I was under the impression that cocaine overtime depletes your natural serotonin levels to below average with regular use. When you start to take cocaine, it gives you a massive boost of serotonin. When coke wears off it takes a while for the serotonin reserves to reproduce the right natural balance. read more

Cocaine is a stimulant that affects mainly dopamine. Antidepressants generally affect serotonin and/or norepinephrine (neurotransmitters). Cocaine acts quickly and lasts a short time, then there is a crash after the dopamine has been squeezed out of the brain like squeezing water from a sponge. It is also very dangerous to the cardiovascular system. read more

In a first, scientists from Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University Medical Center have described the specifics of how brain cells process antidepressant drugs, cocaine and amphetamines. read more