Antidepressant medications likely provide little or no benefit to people with mild or moderate depression. . . Rather, the mere act of seeing a doctor, discussing symptoms and learning about depression probably triggers the improvements many patients experience while on medication.
Really? There actually needed to be a study demonstrating this? Even the relentless pharmaceutical companies have recognized that anti-depressants are useless. These powerful drug-pushing concerns have been brainwashing the public for decades with their mantra of "depression is a chemical imbalance in
your brain which we will cure by a prescription medication. Or two. Or three, if you are stupid enough to buy into our advertisement of an anti-depressant on top of another anti-depressant taking care of the residual symptoms of yet another anti-depressant."
If you read the entire article I quoted, you will see how apologetic Dr. DeRubeis sounds about his findings. All he is saying is that if you feel depressed, it makes sense to discuss this with somebody instead of guzzling crippling chemicals. To the public zombified by the endless ati-depressant commercials the scientist's message might come as a huge surprise. Still, I'm glad that finally somebody dared to publish findings that are likely to cut into the huge profits by the nasty pharmaceutical companies.
7 comments:
I've been discussing this with so many people recently. There are tons of reasons to stay away from anti-depressants. One of the biggest reasons is that some of 'em cause depression.
Exactly! Even the commercials for anti-depressants often warn that they might give you "thoughts of suicide."
Just found your blog from a comment on feministing. I like what I see so far and have added you to my google blogreader list.
I've been fighting depression for five years, and have tried four anti-depressants. None of them worked for me.
It just makes me so mad I was duped into this! :(
Thank you, Jamie!
I really hope you find a way to beat the depression. Nobody deserves this kind of pain.
I can't say anything about mild depression, but it works super well for the major kind I have. Anti-depressants allow me to be a functional human being, and allow me to be more ME. Saying that they don't work, full stop, is disingenuous. The study says they may not work in mild depression-- but it does not address the role they play in treating severe depression.
Also as a comment to Joy-Mari-- one of the reasons anti-depressants can lead to thoughts of suicide is that, as a individual begins to get more energy and be able to plan better, they may be able to contemplate more options for themselves-- which include suicide.
When I say they don't work, I mean that they don't cure depression. They just treat the symptoms. It's not like you take the anti-depressant and you are done. You need to keep taking them, and then they need to get stronger all the time.
No Clarissa, they do not have to get stronger, not at all. Like Amanda I had a major clinical depression, and after several trials with my doctor we were able to find the right medicine and dose. That was 7 years ago. Not a nanogram of change!!! And yes, I must take the pills all my life, but so are the people with migraine and hypertension. Remembering the time of my misery, and seeing myself now... what a difference! First time in my life(since I remember myself) I felt happy, just simple, everyday happiness wich I knew exist from books and movies but never felt... Not to say the difference in my functionality etc.
What's the problem with calling the things the way they are? Chemical disbalance? Is it not our body a huge cemical lab, o.k. biochemical? Does not painkillers or blood pressure medication work on molecular level ? Just like the antidepressants?
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