Posted by linkadge on May 3, 2007, at 14:12:40
In reply to That may be true, but... » linkadge, posted by Racer on May 3, 2007, at 13:21:36
>A lot of people on this board will tell you that >antidepressants have helped them a great deal. >Others will tell you that psychotropic >medications allow them to function.
And if you ask many of those who were assigned placebos in studies, I'm sure they will also say they were helped a great deal. (to play the devils advocate)
>It's true that many studies show some less than >stellar results. When you take all the research >together, though, it shows that most people who >experience major depressive disorder can be >helped by antidepressant medications.I don't think they shows this at all. I personally think the bottom line is that people can improve ragardless. It is nice to want to attibute that to something solid and concrete such as a medication, that way, ones recovery feels controlled. Nobody likes to enter clinical depression and exit it as the stars see fit. I think that, infact, medications are like crosswalk buttons: something to occupy your time untill things go your way.
>Does that mean that any AD will do? Of course >not -- but the research sure looks to indicate >that trying a variety of drugs is more likely >than not to provide relief from depressive >symptoms.
I don't think the data shows this at all. I believe the data show that the chances of recovery on the second and third antidepressants are dramatically decreased. Look at STARD. By the third antidepressant, only like 18% had usefull effect. I think this indicates perfectly that by the third, fourth etc drug, the placebo responders have been essentially weeded out.
>It may not be the first, second, or even third >drug that's tried -- but in the end, there's a >very strong likelihood that everyone with >depression can benefit from some medication or >combination.
I think thats a very unprovable statement. We've known for a long time that (in the majority of cases) depression gets better on its own without
intervention usually in less than 2 years. So if somebody is trying drugs for 2 years, there is a good likelyhood that their depression will just get better.I believe the most objective views show that antidepressants do little more than nothing.
>I'm very sorry that you haven't found what >you're looking for with medications, Linkadge. I >hope that you find relief somewhere, whether >it's through medication, therapy, meditation, or >some other mechanism. It must be very difficult >for you to feel this way, and for so long.Actually on a daily basis I'm better off meds than I am on meds. I am still looking for help with the insomnia though.
Linkadge
poster:linkadge
thread:755317
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070502/msgs/755531.html