Posted by med_empowered on July 19, 2005, at 13:53:07
hey. I was just checking out yahoo news, and it turns out theres a growing feeling that ADs aren't that great. A British study was cited which found: 1) anti-depressants, by and large, dont' do so well in placebo-controlled trials. There are positive studies, but factoring in all good, available data points to a very weak anti-depressant effect at best....2) the entire concept of an anti-depressant is flawed. The researchers theorize that anti-depressants "work" by controlling some symptoms of depression--by stimulating or sedating, controlling anxiety, inducing sleep, that kind of thing--rather than through some magical "depression busting" mechanism. Their conclusion? Maybe more people should do drug-free depression treatment involving social support and community integration rather than drugs. The American Psychiatric Association calls it a "radical sociological theory of depression". As a budding sociologist, I can tell you that "mental illness" is itself largely a concept, one dependant upon the social context in question; given this, it makes sense to approach the disorder at an individual and social level rather than a medical one. Its also worth noting that the APA receives millions of dollars in funding each year from Big Pharma and individual psychiatrists are often very well compensated by drug companies.
poster:med_empowered
thread:530123
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050718/msgs/530123.html