If antidepressants don’t work well, why are they so popular?
Originally shared by Ward Plunet
If antidepressants don’t work well, why are they so popular?
Another day, another study casting doubt on antidepressants. The latest says that for children and teenagers, nearly all these drugs don’t work. So why do prescriptions for antidepressants in the UK continue to climb? Previous research suggests that for adults too, the Prozac class of antidepressants – selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) – is no better than a placebo, at least in people with mild or moderate depression. Confusingly, other research finds that these drugs do work, for example, a recent study that found that SSRIs work better than placebo for major depression in adults. But there’s reason to think that we may not be able to trust most studies unless the researchers have no links to pharmaceutical firms, and have access to all trial data. Last year when GlaxoSmithKline had to reveal full data about one of its own studies in teenagers, the rate of side effects such as suicidal thoughts was much higher than it initially appeared. Despite much criticism, though, the number of prescriptions written for these medicines rises every year. In the poorest areas of the UK a staggering one in six people is taking them. While these medicines can be life-savers for those with severe depression, they are being dished out too easily for people with everyday sadness, say critics. If they do so little good, why are they so popular?
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2093239-if-antidepressants-dont-work-well-why-are-they-so-popular/
If antidepressants don’t work well, why are they so popular?
Another day, another study casting doubt on antidepressants. The latest says that for children and teenagers, nearly all these drugs don’t work. So why do prescriptions for antidepressants in the UK continue to climb? Previous research suggests that for adults too, the Prozac class of antidepressants – selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) – is no better than a placebo, at least in people with mild or moderate depression. Confusingly, other research finds that these drugs do work, for example, a recent study that found that SSRIs work better than placebo for major depression in adults. But there’s reason to think that we may not be able to trust most studies unless the researchers have no links to pharmaceutical firms, and have access to all trial data. Last year when GlaxoSmithKline had to reveal full data about one of its own studies in teenagers, the rate of side effects such as suicidal thoughts was much higher than it initially appeared. Despite much criticism, though, the number of prescriptions written for these medicines rises every year. In the poorest areas of the UK a staggering one in six people is taking them. While these medicines can be life-savers for those with severe depression, they are being dished out too easily for people with everyday sadness, say critics. If they do so little good, why are they so popular?
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2093239-if-antidepressants-dont-work-well-why-are-they-so-popular/
Great question? My answer is that it has become somewhat of a "designer" drug - most people who need aren't on one and those that are...asking for it from their DR...... having seen it via a commercial. They are not screened for the necessity of it, simply given a script that will " make everything better"! Do we want to discuss the war on drugs- the first place to start is with pharmaceutical companies and the medical community that pushes medications prior to the root cause, putting their patients at risk for needing yet another script because of the side effects they now have... see the cycle of an ever growing demand! They may not be the seedy looking guy on the corner but they may as well be! In fact worse, they have taken the Hippocratic oath and the dealer on the street has not.
ReplyDeleteYou can look back 20yrs or so and see where financial planners were telling people to invest in big pharmaceutical... wonder what they knew then, that we still don't?!?