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Anti-Depressants Ineffective
Anti-depressants are not working
Prozac and other SSRIs found to be ineffective
Recent research is suggesting that the current crop of antidepressants is often no more effective than placebos or dummy pills. The research, one of the most thorough investigations into the efficacy of new generation antidepressants, known as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), was looking at four commonly-used antidepressants and the clinical trials submitted to gain licensing approval.
The medications reviewed included antidepressants regularly prescribed in the UK, including fluoxetine (Prozac), venlafaxine (Efexor) and paroxetine (Seroxat).
The researchers found that the drugs had little or no more effect than a placebo for mildly depressed patients, and for most people suffering severe depression and that even trials suggesting benefit for severely depressed people did not provide evidence of clear clinical benefit.
The review group, led by Professor Irving Kirsch, from the Department of Psychology at the University of Hull, analysed 47 clinical trials using data released under Freedom of Information rules by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Professor Kirsch said: “The difference in improvement between patients taking placebos and patients taking antidepressants is not very great. This means that depressed people can improve without chemical treatments. Given these results, there seems little reason to prescribe antidepressant medication to any but the most severely depressed patients, unless alternative treatments have failed to provide a benefit.”
Advice from professionals in the Mental Health field on the back of this research is clear, “It is important that people should not stop taking the anti-depressants immediately, as doing so could lead to severe rebound depression.”
The pharmaceutical companies have argued their products are effective, and said that one study should not be used to cause unnecessary concern for patients.