Posted by SLS on March 2, 2006, at 7:56:26
In reply to Re: Depression and hippocampal scarring - BDNF » SLS, posted by Phillipa on March 1, 2006, at 20:23:07
> Scott my exact reason for wanting to create a med board for mainstream people who have a positive response to meds. What do you think of this? Thanks Phillipa
That's a tough one.
I think it is important to give people hope. SSRIs and SNRIs do work. So does Wellbutrin and Remeron. Unfortunately, they don't work for everybody. They also don't continue to work for many people in a consistent manner. It would be nice to see more success stories submitted to this forum, but there may be reasons why this is not the case.
What are the statistics? I guess that depends on who you ask.
It seems to me that for any single antidepressant, approximately 30% will achieve remission, and another 35% will experience a significant, although partial improvement. Of the 35% of people who do not respond to the first drug tried, approximately 65% will go on to respond to at least one antidepressant treatment. What remains frustrating is that it takes so much time to investigate different drugs and drug combinations. That leaves about 15% of the original cohort who will remain treatment-resistant using current therapies. Some people are more optimistic than I am. They state that no more than 5% of people are truly refractory to treatment.
I still believe that Psycho-Babble attracts people who have encountered problems with their treatment. Because of this, it appears that treatments are less effective than they really are in the general population.
My concern is that a separation of boards might cause the non-responders to grow to resent the responders. It might also add to the feelings of hopelessness of the non-responders rather than to inject them with more positive energy.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:614572
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060227/msgs/614924.html