9 thoughts on “Why Antidepressants Are No Better Than Placebos – Newsweek.com”

  1. Having read the article… well, I suppose maybe the only good answer for depression is the cross of Christ and the healing which comes from Him in His time… strange, though, the 'placebo' effect.

  2. I have long held this view, to my doctors consternation. During my first bout with depression 20 years ago, I felt like a guinea pig for my doctors. For a year we went through a list of different medications trying to find one that worked for me. Meanwhile the side effects were horrendous and I felt worse than I did before I started the round of doctors. I went from being sad to outright panic attacks. Life was hell for me. I didn't get well until I started seeing a psychotherapist and doing the hard work of actually dealing with my feelings and dealing with my problems. I've recently had a recurrence of depression, too many life stressors to deal with at one time. My current doctor just can't understand why I refuse the "help" that he can give me (in the form of pills).

  3. I'm coming at it from a slightly different view, the bipolar one. First of all, despite starting on medication right away, it took me maybe a month or more to seriously climb out of the mess I was in when I was admitted to the psych ward. Secondly, while I am on one anti-depressant, I'm also on three bipolar meds, which work on different things. I am pretty sure the bipolar drugs work for me. My manic states would come and go so suddenly, with no rhyme or reason. I haven't had one in ages, despite going through a lot of stress right now. Since the bipolar meds are helping me, I don't see why anti-depressants wouldn't. Maybe the bigger problem is that they are overprescribed?

  4. Well, the article certainly made me feel a lot better for having said "no no no no no" over and over because of my concern about the side effects.

  5. "The patients who correctly guess that they're getting the real drug therefore experience a stronger placebo effect than those who get the dummy pill, experience no side effects, and are therefore disappointed. " What would happen to the results of the study if the placebos were "doctored" to cause the same type of side effects as the antidepressants, thereby taking the "guess" out of the equation?

  6. "The patients who correctly guess that they're getting the real drug therefore experience a stronger placebo effect than those who get the dummy pill, experience no side effects, and are therefore disappointed. " What would happen to the results of the study if the placebos were "doctored" to cause the same type of side effects as the antidepressants, thereby taking the "guess" out of the equation?

  7. I think Cymbalta worked a little for me, for a while… but only enough to get me motivated enough to demand real help for the real pain issues I was having that they attributed to my depression (instead of the other way around). I just hate *demanding* things from people I am already *paying* to help me. It feels so wrong.

    Adding in the wrong medications is also fraught with danger, as I discovered with wellbutrin (the long acting, lowest dose). Wellbutrin didn't *seem* to DO anything, until I stopped taking it, at which point I wanted to panic and climb the walls (about a week and a half later).

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