Antidepressants Useless In Many Cases?

Study: They Only Help Extremely Depressed People; Drug Cos. Cry Foul

(CBS)  Antidepressants may not be as effective as advertised.

A new British study suggests the drugs only help those who are severely depressed, and do little to help people suffering from mild depression, reports Early Show national correspondent Tracy Smith.

She points out that more than 100 million prescriptions for antidepressants are written each year in the United States.

The research looked at 47 clinical trials, including data never that had never been made public before. The word on the trials had been submitted to the Food and Drug Administration during the drug approval process, but hadn't been published in medical journals.

The study's lead author, Irving Kirsch, Ph.D. of the University of Hull, got the info from the FDA using the Freedom of Information Act.

"Most patients," Kirsch says, "can benefit as much from other forms of treatment, such as physical exercise and psychotherapy, as they can from antidepressant medication.

" ... Research into the efficacy of medications is funded by the pharmaceutical companies that are going to profit from them and, as a result, some of the data that are less favorable to the medications just aren't published."

Drug industry reaction came from companies that included Glaxo SmithKline, which makes the antidepressant Paxil. It says, "The authors' interpretation is incorrect, and is clearly at odds with the benefits of antidepressants routinely observed in actual clinical practice."

And Columbia University researcher Kelly Posner says the new study doesn't address one of depression's WORST consequences: "Since we've had antidepressants, the suicide rate has dropped, across the world, reversing a trend prior to their introduction."

Posner says antidepressants have improved the lives of millions of people.

But, on The Early Show Wednesday, Charles Barber, author of the book "Comfortably Numb: How Psychiatry Is Medicating a Nation" told co-anchor Harry Smith the new study is "in line with some other work by other people looking at the FDA database that shows more sobering results for the antidepressants. (A researcher in Washington state) looked at 52 studies done by the FDA and found that, in 48 percent, the results were no better than placebos of the antidepressants. And there's a ... study funded by the National Institute of Mental Health ... that showed that antidepressants worked very well for about a-third of people. This is people with serious clinical depression (but not as well for others).

Antidepressants, Barber says, are "absolutely" over-prescribed: "The drugs can be absolutely wonderful for severe depression, for moderate depression. The farther that you get along that continuum, to milder depression or even conditions of life problems," (the less effective they are)."

Barber added that fish oil may actually help relieve mild forms of depression.

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To read an excerpt of "Comfortably Numb," click here.

There is no way you people could be this funny and be depressed, unless you are on your meds.

[madmule3216]

This article was so depressing that I had to take an anxiety pill. Please don''t tell me that they do not work unless you are a stark raving maniac.

[harp1963]

I worked 12 years with a completely level headed normal guy who was having marriage problems, he went to marriage counseling, was put on happy pills for the first time ever, and a month later he blew his head off with a 12 gauge shotgun.

I''m happy for those of you out there who like them, but I still believe the best way to happiness is to eat right, get some exercise, get a good nights sleep, and go to the Church of your denomination regularly on Sundays. Most of these bizarre and strange shooting that we never heard of when we were kids are, I believe, the byproduct of medication MAKING people insane.

Ultimately though, the billions and billions that investors are making off of being legal dope dealers will provide you with plenty of "professional research" to support their point of view that this stuff is great. I''m just glad our politicians don''t let them bribe the doctors with five star vacation for prescribing their drugs anymore.

Just keep in mind that the love of money is what allows Saudi Arabian nationalist to continually attack America without any attacks on Saudi Arabia by the U.S. Military. And all this time you thought Uncle Sam was riding a white horse? No, Uncle Sam rides a green horse brother. Like the O''Jays song, "For the love of money," people will do bad things for it.

[oleander8]

You would have to pry my zoloft from my cold dead hands to get it away from me.

[renwoman1]

Having lived with people who are mentally ill, I can truly say that these medications can be lifesavers. Not only for person who is suffering but also for the people who have to live with the person. I had two of them to live with. Both have a chemical imbalance in the brain and the medicine makes it possible for them to live normal lives rather than a life in a mental institution.

I, for one, thank God daily for this medication. Without it, these two members of my family would not be able to live normal lives. The effect that mental illness had on everyone in my family will always be with us - to a great extent, it shaped our lives. If it is ever taken off the market, I hate to think of my family members having to go to a mental institution but chances are that''s what would happen.

I truly suggest that the people who do these kinds of studies consider people like my family.

[mmdokla]

This study only looked at one class of anti-depressants, which included Effexor, Paxil and Serzone. On your news program, you presented a very one-sided case against antidepressants in general. There are other classes of antidepressants on the market. You are doing a great disservice to many people by doing such a one-sided presentation related to the efficacy of antidepressants in general. I know you''ll say that you included two opposing viewpoints, but a single sentence from these two people doesn''t counter the minutes you spent airing the view that antidepressants in general do not work. If I were the typical consumer, I would have bought the whole story. Haven''t those of us using the tools available (medications, therapy, exercise, etc.) had to suffer enough with the stigma inherent to living with a mental illness without you promoting such extreme views? Give us a break! You need to readdress this issue from a more balanced viewpoint. In the meantime, you can thank yourself for all the people you will have influenced to reject ALL antidepressants based on your airing of this segment. Someone who could have been helped is going to go untreated, thanks to you. Shame on you!!

The really neat thing is that this is old news but the pill popping public will not be aware of this news. Big Pharma rolls on.