Let's Not Get Carried Away: Anti-Depressants Really Do Help People(theatlantic.com)
theatlantic.com
Let's Not Get Carried Away: Anti-Depressants Really Do Help People
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2012/06/hey-lets-not-get-carried-away-anti-depressants-really-do-help-people/257976/
14 comments
Regardless of whether anti-depressants are effectual, overprescribed, or totally useless: I think it's amazing that an article arguing the merits of a pharmaceutical treatment can be published without reference to any research.
>But that, of course, doesn't mean that antidepressants are dummy pills that have no real effect; and it's crucial that depressives--many of whom are suspicious of medication--realize that.
I think the author subscribes to an outmoded view of the placebo effect and doesn't acknowledge the mind's remarkable capacity to trigger real physical changes in the body. Antidepressants can be 'dummy pills' and still have a real effect.
>But that, of course, doesn't mean that antidepressants are dummy pills that have no real effect; and it's crucial that depressives--many of whom are suspicious of medication--realize that.
I think the author subscribes to an outmoded view of the placebo effect and doesn't acknowledge the mind's remarkable capacity to trigger real physical changes in the body. Antidepressants can be 'dummy pills' and still have a real effect.
I don't know for sure one way or the other, but I've seen too many of my friends mix anti-depressants and alcohol to think that these pills are placebos that don't have any real affect besides in your mind.
What? You realize anti-depressants like SSRIs modify your brain's chemistry and can take 6-8 weeks before you'll notice any effects.
I was staying over at a friend's house and had some drinks (2 beers + 2 screwdrivers), and at the time was on SSRIs for about 4 months. My alcohol tolerance is fairly average and expected a light buzz. Instead I ended up wasted for the first time since college days. In my scenario, anti-depressants definitely amplified alcohol's effects.
Regardless of what you think, it's been clinically proven. That's why the drug's label has a warning about alcohol intake.
I was staying over at a friend's house and had some drinks (2 beers + 2 screwdrivers), and at the time was on SSRIs for about 4 months. My alcohol tolerance is fairly average and expected a light buzz. Instead I ended up wasted for the first time since college days. In my scenario, anti-depressants definitely amplified alcohol's effects.
Regardless of what you think, it's been clinically proven. That's why the drug's label has a warning about alcohol intake.
I think you misread my sentence. You are agreeing with me.
They definitely have a physical effect, but does that effect 'treat' depression any better than, say, atropine?
(http://www.medicalobserver.com.au/news/antidepressants-vs-ac...)
The current understanding is that the difference between SSRIs and active placebos is very small. When you take into account how many negative results have gone unpublished, it starts to look plausible that SSRIs have no psychiatric benefit beyond patients knowing 'I took a pill' and 'it has side effects'.
(http://www.medicalobserver.com.au/news/antidepressants-vs-ac...)
The current understanding is that the difference between SSRIs and active placebos is very small. When you take into account how many negative results have gone unpublished, it starts to look plausible that SSRIs have no psychiatric benefit beyond patients knowing 'I took a pill' and 'it has side effects'.
Because the submitted article mentions back-and-forth about placebo effects, quoting some researchers on the issue, perhaps I should share here some links that are helpful for understanding what placebo effects are all about. Some of these online links cite quite a few useful scholarly publications.
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/michael-specte...
"In other words, the best research we have strongly suggests that placebo effects are illusions, not real physiological effects. The possible exception to this are the subjective symptoms of pain and nausea, where the placebo effects are highly variable and may be due to subjective reporting."
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/angells-review...
http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/the-rise-and-fa...
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/placebo-effect...
http://www.skepdic.com/placebo.html
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/revisiting-dan...
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/michael-specte...
"In other words, the best research we have strongly suggests that placebo effects are illusions, not real physiological effects. The possible exception to this are the subjective symptoms of pain and nausea, where the placebo effects are highly variable and may be due to subjective reporting."
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/angells-review...
http://theness.com/neurologicablog/index.php/the-rise-and-fa...
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/placebo-effect...
http://www.skepdic.com/placebo.html
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/revisiting-dan...
"I'd tried everything I could think of to cure myself (cutting out alcohol, cutting out caffeine, practicing better "sleep hygiene," melatonin, etc.); nothing had worked. "
What about exercise? I'm not here to give an opinion one way or the other about the benefits of anti-depressants, or what would work for this particular individual, but I think far far too often people over-look the tremendous health benefits of regular exercise and eating right. Not saying it's a cure all/catch all, one stop fix. I just see it being overlooked far too often. Wanna sleep good, exercise hard for a few days, the endorphins it helps produce works wonders on the brain too.
What about exercise? I'm not here to give an opinion one way or the other about the benefits of anti-depressants, or what would work for this particular individual, but I think far far too often people over-look the tremendous health benefits of regular exercise and eating right. Not saying it's a cure all/catch all, one stop fix. I just see it being overlooked far too often. Wanna sleep good, exercise hard for a few days, the endorphins it helps produce works wonders on the brain too.
She mentions exercise later on in the article, and implies that she exercises regularly.
She does not give much details about that. 3 times a week half an hour "exercise" is one type, preparing and doing a triathlon or a marathon is another. From anecdotal experience when I just exercised I felt better, when I became a serious runner I started to feel amazing.
Of course those drugs have their place. They should be used for quick interventions before people get cured by proper therapies. Unfortunately there is so much money in just keeping people on those drugs that just popping pills is offered as alternative solution as well.
Then after 2-3 years when one kind of drug doesn't work anymore you get the next one. The problem are not the drugs, the problem are the people prescribing them and people looking for a quick fix for their problems by taking pills instead of doing a proper therapy.
Then after 2-3 years when one kind of drug doesn't work anymore you get the next one. The problem are not the drugs, the problem are the people prescribing them and people looking for a quick fix for their problems by taking pills instead of doing a proper therapy.
Please enlighten everyone about what "proper therapy" means.
You do realise that depression is not just psychological and that there are physical problems in some cases that ONLY medication will be able to solve.
You do realise that depression is not just psychological and that there are physical problems in some cases that ONLY medication will be able to solve.
Please enlighten me what persistent physical problems exist for people with depression?
There are temporary physical problems or chemical inbalances for which the drugs work great but once people have done a therapy like cbt, act, mbct or dbt that works for them, those physical problems disappear as well.
There are temporary physical problems or chemical inbalances for which the drugs work great but once people have done a therapy like cbt, act, mbct or dbt that works for them, those physical problems disappear as well.
Studies said the glass was 40% full. Hype led people to think it was close to 100% full. New re-analysis of the data leads to the conclusion that the glass is really 30% full. The hype train responds by deciding that the glass must really be 100% empty.
The moral of the story is that we should listen to Flavor Flav: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK8sxngSWaU