Thread: Do antidepressants work?

Not according to this.

This past week the CDC released some very shocking news - antidepressants are now officially the most prescribed drugs on the market today.

And why is that news shocking? Let's take a look at the facts:

#1 In 2004 the FDA began to warn the public that they were seeing an increase in suicides among youth with the use of antidepressant medications.

#2 In 2005 the official warning came from the FDA that antidepressants double the rate of suicide for those under age 18. This was a sweeping warning for any antidepressant ever introduced to the market and any to ever be approved in the future. (This warning was the next closest thing they could impose next to an outright ban of the drugs.)

#3 The FDA also warned all users of these drugs at the same time that any abrupt change in dose of one of these drugs, whether increasing or decreasing the drug, could produce suicide, hostility or psychosis.

#4 In December 2006 the warning for increased suicide was extended by the FDA to anyone under the age of 25.

#5 In August 2007 Dr. Thomas Insel, head of the National Institute of Mental Health in speaking of new studies being conducted with the use of Ketamine ("Special K" is the street name for this sister drug to PCP - Angel Dust) in the treatment of depression said that antidepressants produce the same effect as Ketamine. The only difference noted was that Ketamine produced these effects instantly where antidepressants take a few weeks to produce that effect. They were impressed that Ketamine would rid a patient of depression immediately where the antidepressants would take several weeks to do the same, yet when one is aware that Ketamine and PCP are dissociative anesthetics, no one would expect the patient to FEEL anything! [For two decades I have warned that these antidepressants are much too similar in action to the hallucinogens PCP and LSD.]

#6 The news came out in January 2008 that the initial studies done on antidepressants demonstrated that these drugs are of no more benefit than a placebo. Why was no one aware of that? Doctors and patients were no aware of this because the very large majority of the negative studies were never made public.

#7 Although the benefit of antidepressants is non-existent, these drugs have a very long list of serious and very deadly side effects.

#8 The most popular antidepressant on the market, Effexor, now has "homicidal ideation" (obsessive/ruminating thoughts of killing and how to kill) listed as a side effect. The manufacturer had this data for over a decade, yet they chose to not disclose that until a few years ago. Before that warning was added: [I will mention just a handful of cases of professionals who should have known.]

Andrea Yates, a nurse, drowned her five children while taking this drug. Then, while Andrea's case was in court a female doctor in Illinois on the same drug, killed one son and severely injured another. In Tennessee another female doctor also on Effexor slit her 7 year old son's throat and then her own. And then it really hit home for Wyeth when one of their own employees, Cassandra Burgess, whose job it was to take adverse reaction reports on Effexor was killed along with her parents and daughter by her husband who was taking Effexor. He then took his own life. So even though she heard the adverse reports daily on Effexor she still missed the signs in her own husband (although they were there if you knew what signs to look for) soon enough to save herself and her family.

The role of the FDA is to judge the risk to benefit of medications. After seeing the studies demonstrating no more benefit than a placebo, yet deadly enough to produce brutal homicides, why are these drugs still on the market? And why on earth are they the most popular medications?! And the biggest question of all . . . WHY IS IT OKAY IN AMERICA OR ANYWHERE ELSE TO HAVE PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS THAT CAN PRODUCE HOMICIDAL TENDENCIES AS A SIDE EFFECT ???????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We now have medical studies showing that antidepressants:

- are of no more benefit than a sugar pill

- produce fatal birth defects from heart malformations and PPH (Primary Pulminary Hypertension)

- produce mania which includes: wild spending leading to bankruptcy, sexual compulsions, pyromania leading to arson, another form of mania leads to compulsions for alcohol

- keep patients from forming or maintaining meaningful romantic relationships and that marriage relationships of 40 + years suddenly end with the numbness that comes from these drugs thus destroying many families via divorce.

- increase chances of breast cancer by 7 times

- induce LSD flashbacks and LSD like reactions

- produce amazingly high incidents of psychotic breaks leading to an increase in Bipolar Disorder of over 4000% in one decade!

- double the level of cortisol with one dose (steroid effect)

- produce Diabetes, Alzheimer's, Autism, Fybromyalgia - all of which have skyrocketed in the last two decades that these drugs have become so widely used

- produce pedophilia while we now have an epidemic of female school teachers seducing male students

- dramatically increase suicide

- so strongly affect memory that "amnesia" is listed as a "frequent" side effect leaving many patients with severe memory loss and false memories leading them to falsely accuse others of various abuses

- produce serious weight gain leading to many additional health problems

- reports are that approximately one third of pregnant women are now taking antidepressants as their baby's brains form in the womb leaving us to ask what the end result might be

All of this helps to answer the question everyone is asking, "What on earth is happening to our world?!"

And once again I ask the same question I have asked for two decades now, "WHY are the antidepressants still on the market?"

- produce pedophilia while we now have an epidemic of female school teachers seducing male students

There's no way anti depressants could make someone become sexually attracted to children.

[edit: I'm not saying that's the only falsity... just the only one I can say with 100% assurance]

Antidepressants brought me out of the depths of Hell and prevented my suicide... twice. I have seen them do the same for many others. I don't know why such a sick lie is being told about them. They work!!!

That's the stupidest thing I've read all day. It's only 10 AM though. Connections to Scientology, much?

"Antidepressants double the suicide rate"
Wow, if you're going to warp statistics by wording them like shit, you might as well just fake them altogether. Ever considered what kind of people would take antidepressants?

http://user.pa.net/~nrwing/whataguy/banbread/

Originally Posted by Korittke

http://user.pa.net/~nrwing/whataguy/banbread/

That is awesome! I say that page demands its own thread.

That's awesome

I tried to find any articles published anywhere (trustworthy or not) that stated that antidepressants cause pedophilia and was unable to find anything. However, that doesn't mean they aren't out there, just hard to find. I did find several articles discussing TREATING pedophilia with antidepressants.

Two types of treatment still being investigated are antiandrogens, which reduce male sex hormone levels, and medications that increase serotonin, such as fluoxetine (Prozac).

Intensity of sex drive is not consistently related to the behavior of paraphiliacs and high levels of circulating testosterone do not predispose a male to paraphilias. Hormones such as medroxyprogesterone acetate and cyproterone acetate decrease the level of circulating testosterone thereby reducing sex drive and aggression. These hormones reduce the frequency of erections, sexual fantasies, and initiations of sexual behaviors including masturbation and intercourse. Hormones are typically used in tandem with behavioral and cognitive treatments. Antidepressants such as fluoxetine have also successfully decreased sex drive but have not effectively targeted sexual fantasies.

The above quote is from the web site psychology today: http://psychologytoday.com/conditions/pedophilia.html
The article on pedophilia goes on to state that the causes of pedophilia are not clear, but it may be genetic and it may be caused by sexual abuse in childhood.

I found several articles talking about the effeciveness of anitdepressants. Even a quick search shows that they ARE somewhat effective.

Monoamine oxidase inhibitors. A review of antidepressant effectiveness

F. Quitkin, A. Rifkin and D. F. Klein

Data from double-blind, placebo-controlled trials of the monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitors show that phenelzine is clearly effective in neurotic or atypical depressives, but the findings concerning its effect in endogenous depressives are inconclusive. Although few controlled studies have been done with tranylcypromine, similar conclusions are warranted.

The above quote states that some antidepressants are "clearly effective" in treating some kinds of depression. This quote came from a study of only the MAO type antidepressant. The quote came from The Archives of General Psychiatry at this link:
http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/con...tract/36/7/749

Are Antidepressants Effective?
They're Just Slightly More Effective Than Dummy Pills, Research Shows
By Salynn Boyles
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Gary D. Vogin, MD

July 10, 2002 -- In the 14 years since they hit the market, Prozac, Paxil, and the other SSRIs have changed the face of depression treatment. Some 7 million Americans now take the antidepressant drugs for everything from generalized anxiety to PMS, but there is growing evidence that their effectiveness may be more marketing hype than miracle cure.

The latest scientific study to weigh in on the subject finds that the antidepressants worked only marginally better than placebos in a group of studies submitted to the FDA. Study participants taking the dummy pills had approximately 80% of the response seen in patients taking one of the six most widely prescribed antidepressants.

Lead researcher Irving Kirsch, PhD, tells WebMD that in many of the studies, while the difference between drug and placebo was significant from a statistical standpoint, it did not represent a significant difference for patients. His study appears July 15 in the American Psychological Association's electronic publication, Prevention and Treatment.

"We are not saying that people don't respond to these medications," says Kirsch, who is a psychology professor at the University of Connecticut. "On the contrary, the response is very large, and that is why there has been this so-called revolution in the treatment of depression. The catch is that the response to placebo is almost as large."

...(I removed a bit here that has no bearing on the overall tone of the article)

Kirsh and colleagues pooled data from roughly 40 studies of six SSRIs that won FDA approval between 1987 and 1999. The drugs included Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Celexa, Effexor, and Serzone. All of the studies compared depression relief among patients treated with the SSRIs with those given placebos. The patients were not told which treatment they were getting, and both groups improved. Using a standardized 50-point depression scale, the pooled results showed that patients treated with antidepressants had a 10-point improvement, while those given placebos improved by 8 points.

Kirsch concedes that the design of the placebo-controlled studies may mask the true effectiveness of the antidepressants and overstate the effectiveness of the placebos. But he adds that the finding also clearly suggests that too many people are relying on unproven drugs to treat the symptoms of depression.

This states basically that antidepressants DO work, but only about 20% better than a placebo. This came from the web site WebMD. The link is here:
http://www.webmd.com/depression/news...ants-effective

Yes it is true that antidepressants can increase suicide in the young. It is also true that a depressed person who was previously too bogged down to kill themselves will sometimes feel well enough EARLY in antidepressant treatment (and not yet well enough to not feel suicidal) that they will kill themselves rather than wait for full effect and the end of their depression. Both of these things are generally stated in the information that is given to a patent when they get their antidepressant prescription filled at a pharmacy. This is why it is important when a person first goes on antidepressants to be careful and watch for any signs that they may harm themselves.

However, I feel that the article was overly sensationalized, made untrue statements, generalizations, and used fear to pretty much tell a lie that is easily discredited with a few web searches.

In my own experience with mental illness antidepressants can work. Not every type will work for everyone. They are not perfect, but they are getting better. In the 15+ years that I have personally dealth with mental illness antidepressants have drastically improved. The side effects have gotten easier to deal with and not as common, and the effectiveness has improved.

Do I think they are over prescribed? Yes, especially to the young. I think they shouldn't be the first choice when dealing with mild to moderate depression. Exercize, counseling, vitamins, and life changes can all do wonders for mild to moderate depression.

But when it comes to soul-crushing sever depression, especially with suicidal feelings, I think they are a powerful and apropriate tool for healing.

Antidepressants don't adress the whole issue of depression. They can help the chemicals in the brain to work better, but without some changes they are not going to cause a "complete cure." I think anyone with depression would be wise (and feel better) if they exercize; talk about their feelings (not just to a counseler); and change things in their life to allow for more happiness, enjoyment, and fun.

After the experience I had last night, I felt compelled to return here and dig up this old thread.

I dated a girl for 7 years. Last December, we broke up and I hadn't heard from her until about a month ago. The last 2-3 years of our relationship were total hell for both of us, but we stuck through it anyway. So after making a break from her, I was more than happy to never see her again for the rest of my life.

So after a month of ignoring her, I got a letter in the mail. Telling me that she had been diagnosed with severe depression, and she's had a chemical imbalance for basically her entire life. She's been on anti-depressants for the last 5 weeks, and last night at 1am was the first time I've seen her in 7 months, but it may as well have been for the first time in my life.

She's totally different. I've never seen her so happy. She was positively GLOWING, even her hair was brighter, it was amazing. I tried everything I could think of to make her happy over the years and nothing worked, I convinced myself that she just hated happiness and enjoyed being miserable. It's nothing short of a complete and utter transformation, I was floored. She smiles, she laughs, she actually has a sense of humor now. She's a real human being for the first time in her life and she feels like she's been reborn.

I wasn't a believer in anti-depressants until last night. I've known her too long, and know her too well, to know that she couldn't fake what I saw in her eyes last night.

The damn pills work.