Antidepressant drugs don't work – official study

[ahsan28]

Antidepressant drugs don't work – official study


Independent
Tuesday, 26 February 2008


They are among the biggest-selling drugs of all time, the "happiness pills" that supposedly lift the moods of those who suffer depression and are taken by millions of people every year.

But one of the largest studies of modern antidepressant drugs has found that they have no clinically significant effect. In other words, they don't work.

The finding will send shock waves through the medical profession and patients and raises serious questions about the regulation of the multinational pharmaceutical industry, which was accused yesterday of withholding data on the drugs.

In the study, researchers conducted a meta-analysis of all 47 clinical trials, published and unpublished, submitted to the Food and Drug Administration in the US. The results showed the drugs were effective only in a very small group of the most extremely depressed.

Alternative treatments for depression, such as counselling or physical exercise , should be tried first, Professor Kirsch said. The pharmaceutical companies had withheld data that was available to the licensing authorities so that doctors and patients did not understand the true efficacy, or lack of it, of the drugs.

We have put a lot of emphasis on medication in the past and it is about time we redressed the balance and put more emphasis on talking treatments."

Exercise: Helps some people with depression. Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, said running helped him cope with depression.

Antidepressants: Increasingly seen as a second-line treatment, if exercise or talking treatments do not work.



http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...-udontu-work-ndash-official-study-787264.html

 

[snakelegs]

strangely enough, they do seem to work for some kinds of nerve pain that do not respond to pain medications.

 

[Ebtisweetsam]

Hmm this really is a weird one... my mum and older sis both use them, and they swear by 'em. They say they calm them down, make em feel happer AND when they are off them, they crave for them again. Dont know. Very interesting.

 

[☆•♥°ąყ℮Տիმ°♥•☆]

i really disagree that they say anti-depressants dont work, Its different for everyone, different chemicals effect people in different ways.

For me, i was put on to Prozac ( fluoxetine 40mg p/day ) at the age of 15. I only stopped taking the medication in July 2007, so a period of say 10/11 years.
Taking this medications did not make me feel happy, however it dramatically balanced my moods, i didnt start to notice any effects myself until about 4 weeks after starting them. For the first time in many years i felt nuetral, not over happy and not over sad, i actually felt comfortable with the feelings inside.
When i was 19 i felt ready to have cognitive therapy and went to intense coucelling sessions, the best of which were the last 5 years.
The only downside of taking Prozac for me was, if i had forgotten to take them in the morning ( befor 11am ) i would then get serious migranes for the rest of the day. But this will be different for everyone. Not all people will have the same side effects.

The biggest mis-conception people have is that taking medication or the like is a 'quick fix'. Serious depression illnesses cant be 'fixed' just like that. It takes a whole lots of time and for some pople they have to 'experiment' with medication / treatments etc ( of course with medical proffessionals ) until they find which methods help them most.

The biggest damage in my opinion, is for some people who believe in these reports to stop taking the medication and then end up in a cycle of starting-stopping-starting-stopping, because the issue is trust,
"the doctor tells me its will help me, but on the other hand the media claims scientists say it doesnt".
For someone who is having mental health issues, this can be very hard to comprehend.

Personally i say trust your doctor, if he/she thinks it will help you, act on that advice and dont listen to these reports.

I am happy to say that i was lucky in regards to the medication and treatment worked for me, but i stress again this is completely individual. Everyone is different.

I believe reports like this do more damage than good.

 

[rabarbara2008]

I fint it strange too. To say that they don't work for everybody goes a little far. OK I think you should try some kind of therapy first. but then why not try these drugs? I've seen a friend who really improved (happier, not thinking about suicide anymore) after she took them. I think more research has to be done...