Comments on: Should you take antidepressants – and if so, which one?

By: Carolyn Thomas

Carolyn Thomas — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:47:50 +0000

Thanks for your perspective as a heart attack survivor, Dr. Steve. I suspect that the failure of physicians to recommend talk therapy has more to do with insurance coverage than with good doctoring. Your points on heart attack damage are excellent and utterly under-appreciated by the medical profession.

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By: Jungcurrents

Jungcurrents — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:42:39 +0000

Whether or not to take anti-depressants is a complicated issue; they are not as effective as Big Pharma would have us believe (although believing would be helpful.)

Each person reacts differently to anti-depressants, and what may seem effective for one person does not work for another. Some people, for instance, cannot metabolize Prozac.

After being prescribed Zoloft, I dreamt my garage was covered in this thick green radioactive goo, the exact color of Zoloft. This was not a good prognostic sign, to say the least.

The research also overwhelmingly shows that anti-depressants are much more effective when combined with talk therapy, yet most physicians fail to recommend and ensure that their patients are in counseling if they are prescribed anti-depressants.

Also, I would note that most studies of depression after heart attacks fail to take into account the severity of the heart attack — how much heart function one has lost and how much pain one is in contributes greatly to the psychological territory one inhabits.

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By: Carolyn Thomas

Carolyn Thomas — Mon, 21 May 2012 14:06:27 +0000

Hi Dr. Joe – I saw the Kirsch interview on 60 Minutes. Pretty compelling material. He does contend that antidepressants MAY be useful for those experiencing “extreme levels of depression”. Trouble is, when patients are desperate enough, they’ll grab at anything that might make them feel better. And the DSM-5 will make it even easier for docs to prescribe these drugs (e.g. new guidelines that will now categorize normal bereavement grief as clinical depression).

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By: Dr Joe Kosterich

Dr Joe Kosterich — Mon, 21 May 2012 11:52:00 +0000

There is a real problem with antidepressants- they do little more than placebo in mild to moderate depression. Whilst 97% of company funded trials show a benefit, when all trials (including unpublished) are included, this drops to 50%.

Irving Kirsch (author of the Emperors New Drugs) takes this even further and contends that the ONLY effect of antidepressants is a placebo one, ie you feel better because you take a pill not because of the action of the pill.

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