They had to do a study for this? Anti-depressants are like pain pills. They don't make the pain/depression go away. They just make it so you don't care. The side effects of both are worse then what they're meant to 'cure'. Insurance companies should require rehab and pay 100% for it when prescriptions for this stuff are issued.

It would be both nice and sensible if those prescribing antidepressants would also REQUIRE counseling at the same time.

A two fold approach is far more effective then saying "Here pop a happy pill and call me in 90 days when your prescription runs out."

I totally agree with the need for therapy/counseling sometimes even in combination with medications. Antidepressants do not address the core issues, aid in developing appropriate coping skills, or directly help the person make the changes in life to reduce or eliminate the depression. Where therapy has proven effective at these things repeatedly and without the side-effects of the medications.

Gaaah. This is not a new idea.

Doctors of all stripes have known that there is not a single effective way to treat depression. Depression can be caused by circumstances, by genetics, by certain medications or sicknesses.

The particular medicine talked about in this article only addresses one side of the chemical reaction that occurs with depression: increasing the number of receptors that react to seratonin. However, this approach won't work for people who are deficient in seratonin itself. There are other types of medications which help with that side of it.

It's also true that sometimes the depression would be best fixed by resolving some situation in the patient's personal life, like a death in the family or an abusive relationship, or simply being too busy and stressed. But sometimes it's just purely chemical. Even then, there's no one way to treat it.

In short, that's medicine.

The VA started me on antidepressants in 1989 (1Rx), by 11/2010 I was on 3 Rx's and currently have diabetes (common side effect of all antidepressants), kidney disease, low red blood cell count and/or low white blood cell count plus additional mental health problems besides PTSD and PTVM's (Post Traumatic Vascular Migraines). Referred to as IDGAS (I don't give a S&$t), Rx induced Zombie and the One in a Chronic Stupor for the last 10 years. It hasn't been fun!

I've been on and off anti-depressants since the mid-80's, ending with Lexapro and a kick of Risperdal (Risperdal dreams :o ) two years ago. I was depressed the whole time, and my insurance company began nagging me to take a cheaper version (Citalopram, which has an extra molecule that causes many additional side-effects) and later out-right forced me to take the cheaper, less effective and less stable drug.

I got tired of being treated like an expense that had to be managed down (not to mention having to carefully manage my own expenses due to co-pays and donut holes) so I just quit.

I started smoking two bowls of good weed a day, and I haven't felt this mentally healthy since...ever. My productivity has increased, I'm now seeking social situations more, and overall I'm a better person to be around on weed than on pharma.

And at least weed doesn't come with the risk of Tardive dyskinesi.

Whats to be depressed about? Most of us haven't had a raise in 30 years, have no equity in our homes, face double the rates of divorce our parents did and are watching our great country become scorned and powerless on the national stage.

Oh but we're supposed to keep that smile on while the top 5% rape us all financially over and over, if you DARE to frown you face lower job opportunities and get shunned by your fellow rapees, guess some artificial dopamine is supposed to make that all go away.

Over the last23 years, I had been o well over 20 different antidepressants. Sometimes 4 types at a time. one of them worked. Real life situations cause almost all depression and pills will not change that. I finally gave up on antidepressants as well as psychiatric doctors. I feel much better since. All those years I had expected a cure. But the cure is changing the things causing the depression.

 it would be great if seratonin, epinephrine , nor-epinephren and l-dopa could be monitored for theraputic levels as these are the ingredience for that feel good mood.

Depression is frequently a self-fulfilling illness. You feel depressed, you tell yourself you are depressed, so you feel depressed..and the cycle continues. But if one can change one's thinking, one can minimize the symptoms. One may need medication to help..one may only need it for a short time. One can change one's way of thinking..counseling may help give one the necessary tools, but the ultimate responsibility falls on us to manage our lives.

Doing for others brings inner joy and helps one forget one's own troubles. Exercise and balanced diets improve depression. White flour and refined sugar increase depression.

Economic troubles can bring one down..but for how long, depends upon us. Asking ourselves tough questions about ourselves is not easy. Disabilities and chronic illnesses can cause depression..but are we to let that define our lives?

The struggle is not easy, but we have the power within ourselves to change our lives.

As a counselor I routinely explore lifestyle changes as a part of the treatment for depression. I agree with the comments that promote counseling at least as an adjunct to medication. Lifestyle changes can directly impact one's physiology, but also the perception of helplessness. I am a counselor, but I also believe in self help, reading, talking to friends. Of course, these all take motivation, often something that is lacking with depression. I believe that counseling can bridge the lack of motivation gap, to get the person to take actions on their own behalf. I think too many people, including doctors, simply want to rely on a medication as though that is all that is necessary. This article is no surprise to me, as I see people who are taking antidepressants all the time, and who are still miserable. www.susanpavlikwellnessservices.com

I can't believe some of the flat out ignorant comments here. We all get depressed sometimes. That has nothing to do with the brain disorder known as Clinical Depression. That is not my opinion or the drug companies opinion - it is the opinion of some of the top scientists and medical doctors in the world.

When you are clinically depressed, your life could be perfect and you cannot see it or enjoy it. When you are not clinically depressed, you might be sad but it will pass and you can eventually deal with even the most devastating life events.

Many people, including those with depression, speak against the drugs used to combat depression because they have side effects, are expensive, and don't always work or work inadequately, all of which is true. The same is true for cancer drugs but we don't suggest people shouldn't take them. That's because we recognize that cancer can kill you. Well, so can Clinical Depression.

Most suicides are the result of Clinical Depression. Further, Clinical Depression is a major cause of drug addiction and other self destructive behaviors as people seek to self medicate. And a great many sufferers are children or teenagers. Maybe yours.

We have not found the answer to clinical depression - we are just beginning to scratch the surface. But it is time to put away the notion that Clinical Depression is a sign of weak character rather than a profoundly dangerous medical condition that effects a lot of your friends, neighbors and relatives and which may someday affect you. It is as much a killer as cancer is. It should be given the same research priorities and insurance coverages and its sufferers should be treated with as much respect as any person with a serious disease.

Anti-depressants only work on those who have a medical problem in the brain. If you feel sad because your dog died, anti-depressants will be of no use to you. Probably, many of the people in this study did not have medical depression but were simply sad over things in life, hence the medicine would be useless for them.

Clinical depression is a medical problem. If you feel sad because your dog died, anti-depressants will be of no use to you.

Many ignorant comments here by people who have not experienced medical depression. I would have killed myself years ago if it were not for the drugs I take. I suffered suicidal depression episodes back in 1987, and when I started taking an anti-psychotic drug, within 2 days the episodes were gone. No amount of "talk therapy" would have been of any use.

Of course the opposite side of the coin is people that went to theraphy for 20+ years with no relief at all before effective drugs were found. It was a running joke during the 30's, 40's, 50's on TV, movies, etc

I find it amazing that antidepressants work at all, as depression isn't an illness at all, but a syndrome, which is a collection of signs and symptoms that occur when ILLNESSES are present. The illnesses can be of varied origin- from deficient nutrition and vitamin dependencies, to heavy metal poisoning, to physical diseases (liver disease and anemia come most readily to mind)and other psychoses. If you have psychiatric fantasies about treating depressed states, you'd better train yourself to recognize characteristics of types of depression and what the proper treatment is.

Although I am but a schmuck, I offer an example: many years ago, while I was a crisis volunteer I had an interview with a depressed young lady. During the course of our chat, I discovered she'd recently stopped the thyroid she was taking for underactive thyroid. On getting her to restart the med with proper instruction why, PRESTO- one week later, no symptoms. Although examples of 5 minute therapy are rare in depressions, this serves as an example of what is possible when you're at least aware of the physical origin of depressions and take the effort to look.

I have had depression caused by acute situations that left me destroyed emotionally. If you are devistated over the death of a loved one and/or are faced with a life changing event or consequences, then drugs will not change the reason you are sad, lonely, or broken inside.

Antidepressants do not erase memories and cannot make your body magically repair itself. I am not dismissing those with chronic conditions, but the reality is that many of us are dealing with sad and tragic events and that makes it hard to deal with everything else that comes our way.

For many of us, I agree that there are better ways to deal with depression than pills. I make myself get some sun everyday. Taking a walk helps too. Engaging in everyday activities such as taking care of the garden helps. Caring for others can be theraputic also. I take care of a rose bush that we bought in memory of a loved one that passed away recently. Nothing can replace our loss, but moving forward is the only way that we will ever feel better.

And there is homeopathy... please take a look at this page:

www.selfgrowth.com/articles/depression_treatment_with_homeopathy