depression « All things well

Research reported in The Guardian and elsewhere gives the surprising news that Prozac and similar commonly prescribed anti-depressants DON’T WORK!

Actually that is not true. They do work, but are no more effective than sugar pills (placebo), with the small exception of severely depressed people (and in these cases it is probably because the placebo is less effective rather than because the drugs actually work). The research comes from new analysis of the data obtained by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Thanks to Freedom of Information laws in the US, an international team of scientists were able to obtain the results of trials conducted by the drug manufacturers but which they chose not to publish (I wonder why!). (more…)

From The Guardian 23 July 2007:

The number of prescriptions for antidepressants and other mind-altering drugs given to children under 16 has more than quadrupled in the last decade, according to official figures released today.There were more than 631,000 such prescriptions recorded in the last financial year, according to government figures, compared to 146,000 in 1996-97.

The prescriptions, for drugs including antidepressants and treatments for mental health problems as well as for conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were dispensed outside hospitals in England. Figures from 2000 include prescriptions made out by dispensing GPs.

The article goes on to quote David Laws MP questioning why so many prescriptions are given instead of searching for the root causes of the various problems.

My own answer to this would be to say ‘follow the money’. The pharmaceutical corporations have a vested interest in keeping us popping pills. Also, knowing how our own kids have reacted to various food chemicals, I would suspect that diet is one of the reasons for problems like depression and ADHD. But again, the big corporations don’t want us to think that and will throw a lot of money to keep us from thinking that.

add to del.icio.us del.icio.us : : : : add to ma.gnolia ma.gnolia : Stumble It! Stumble It : Reddit : post to facebook Facebook