Comments on: Antidepressants Not Effective for Some Types of Depression

By: Simon Dosovitz

Simon Dosovitz — Mon, 10 May 2010 22:26:37 +0000

Oops, didnt realize the same effect had been found in non-diabetics here http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19339356?dopt=Abstract. Sorry.

By: Simon Dosovitz

Simon Dosovitz — Mon, 10 May 2010 22:20:50 +0000

Good post, but the comment about SSRI and type 2 diabetes was thrown in there haphazardly. The DPP did show a connection, but an odd one in that the lifestyle group taking antidepressants showed a greater risk than than the placebo arm taking antidepressants, which is quite odd. Most importantly, the study was the DPP, which looked only at pre-diabetics or those who already had glucose control problems. No need to scare people with preliminary findings on a group of people they may or may not be included in.

By: wei

wei — Mon, 10 May 2010 17:18:12 +0000

there was a huge (near 3000 patients) pharmacogenetics study called Star*D to find genetic predictors for various antidepressants, where an enrollment criteria of hamd (17 items) >14 was used. I hope they can find some ways to reconcile with this publication.

By: Bill White

Bill White — Mon, 10 May 2010 16:52:13 +0000

Great comment, Dirk. Physicians are emptying their rx pads for folks looking for quick relief – or what worked for the guy or gal at work. I suppose it’s so much easier to buckle under a patients request than to stand for other/better treatment approaches.

By: Bill White

Bill White — Mon, 10 May 2010 16:48:43 +0000

Well, I’m certainly not surprised by the study’s findings. As I was reading the antidepressants used in the work I was wondering about the other SSRIs and SSNRIs. Of course, that was addressed at the end of the piece. Interesting bit about the placebo effect. I’ve often wondered if that isn’t the real key to the efficacy of antidepressant therapy in mild depression and anxiety. But it’s a heck of a potential physical price to pay for the illusion of feeling better. Yet, some definitely “feel better.” And then you have to wonder if pharma knew all along that dynamic would bring waves of long-term sales their way. Hmmm. Always interesting stuff here. I like the new look, by the way.

By: Dirk Hanson

Dirk Hanson — Mon, 10 May 2010 15:32:09 +0000

Finally, an objective and balanced account to counteract the recent flurry of “Anti-Depressants Don’t Work” stories. Thank you. The point of this study and the earlier controversial placebo study is: SSRI anti-depressants don’t work–for people who shouldn’t be taking them in the first place. They are medications for serious clinical depression. Always have been.