Depressing News about Antidepressants

Recent research has shown that placebos are just as effective as their expensive counterparts when it comes to treating depression.  Depression is a condition, which currently has very little understanding yet many people suffer from its complications.  In a period of 10 years, from 1996 to 2005, the sale of antidepressants more than doubled as they were hailed as a new wonder drug to treat depression.

There was a large debate about whether or not to publish the findings of this study, since as it has been proven that the placebo treatment works, a person truly needs to believe what they are taking will make them better.  Why tell those who are taking antidepressants that a sugar pill will work just as well when they believe that their medicine is working just fine.  Because people deserve to be able to make informed decisions, or that is the belief of Kirsch, the author of the original study on the effectiveness of antidepressants.  The responses he is receiving are rather mixed, but mostly lean towards the negative as most people are frustrated at him debunking what they believed was a good system.

To read further on this issue click on this link, http://www.newsweek.com/id/232781 which will take you to the Newsweek article in its entirety.  It is an interesting read that warrants your further attention.