Antidepressants Work at All

As documented in chapter 6, the scientific literature demonstrates, and the FDA admitted at its 2004 hearings, that there is no substantial evidence supporting the usefulness of antidepressants in treating depression in children. What about the treatment of adults Is it possible that the antidepressants are not antidepressants at all  

At the height of enthusiasm for the older tricyclic antidepressants, Baldessarini (1978) found little scientific confirmation. Spontaneous remission and placebo effect, he concluded, might account for why it usually takes several weeks to obtain a positive response. Even in more severe depressions, he noted, the spontaneous remission rate can exceed 50% in a few months. Similarly, Klerman and Cole (1965), strong drug advocates, recognized that depressions, on the whole, are among the 

Each of the drugs had been approved based on a drug company submitting two positive studies to the FDA. But all of the companies conducted numerous additional studies before they were able to obtain the required two that seemed positive. So Kirsch et al. looked at all the antidepressant studies—not just the ones submitted for approval. 

Kirsch et al. obtained 47 studies, an average of almost eight per drug, conducted as a part of the FDA approval process. After examining all of the studies, they found that any beneficial or positive effects in comparison to placebo were negligible. 

---