Study casts doubt on anti-depressants

Almost 50 clinical trials were reviewed by psychologists from the
University of Hull who found that new-generation anti-depressants worked no
better than a placebo – a dummy pill – for mildly depressed patients.
Even
the trials that suggested some clinical benefit for the most severely depressed
patients did not produce convincing evidence. Professor Irving Kirsch from the
university’s pyschology department said: “The difference in improvement between
patients taking placebos and patients taking anti-depressants is not very
great.
“This means that depressed people can improve without chemical
treatments. Given these results, there seems little reason to prescribe
anti-depressant medication to any but the most severely depressed patients.”