Anti-depressants 'have little effect'
Anti-depressants like Prozac provide little benefit for most patients, and help only a small number of severely depressed people, according to research from the UK, Canada and the US
An analysis of dozens of studies involving thousands of patients - including previously unpublished studies - found that "new generation" anti-depressants - including Prozac, Seroxat and Efexor - work little better than dummy placebo pills in improving the mental health in the majority of cases.
The report - published in the journal Public Library of Science - found that only the most severely depressed responded better to anti-depressants than dummy pills that contained no active drug. The researchers suggest that many people taking the drugs mainly benefit from the "placebo effect", when symptoms are eased because the patient thinks the medication will work.
"The difference in improvement between patients taking placebos and patients taking anti-depressants is not very great," said lead researcher Prof Irving Kirsch, from the University of Hull.
"Given these results, there seems little reason to prescribe anti-depressant medication to any but the most severely depressed patients, unless alternative treatments have failed to provide a benefit."
Prof Kirsch said that other approaches to treating depression should be considered including physical exercise, psychoanalysis and self-help books.
But he emphasised that patients should not stop taking their medication without first consulting a doctor.
He and his colleagues also said the findings called into question the current system of reporting drug trials, suggesting that companies tend to publish only research that shows their products in a good light.
The makers of anti-depressants and drug industry trade bodies disagreed with the findings saying that extensive trials have demonstrated that anti-depressants can be effective, and that all medicines have to be proven to be more effective than a placebo before they are put on sale.
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For more information about depression, visit the Mind and Sane websites.
