We Should Reconsider Our Strategy For Treating
Depression, Say Experts
July 15, 2005
Current recommendations for prescribing antidepressants should be reconsidered,
argue mental health experts in this week's BMJ.
Most people with depression are initially treated with antidepressants, and
prescribing has risen by 253% in 10 years. Yet recent studies show that SSRIs
have no clinically meaningful advantage over placebo, write Joanna Moncrieff and
Irving Kirsch.
Furthermore, claims that antidepressants are more effective in more severe
conditions is not strong, while data on long term outcome of depression and
suicide do not provide convincing evidence of benefit.
All this implies the need for a thorough re-evaluation of current approaches to
depression and further development of alternatives to drug treatment, say the
authors.
Since antidepressants have become society's main response to distress,
expectations raised by decades of their use will also need to be addressed, they
conclude.
Joanna Moncrieff, Senior Lecturer in Social and Community Psychiatry, Department
of mental health Sciences, University College London, UK
Irving Kirsch, Professor of Psychology, School of Applied Psychosocial Studies,
University of Plymouth, UK
(Efficacy of antidepressants in adults)
bmj.com/cgi/content/full/331/7509/155
http://www.bmj.com
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/
Back to News