Antidepressants Work, But Only For Really Depressed People

The biggest mistake in DSM III was introducing the very broad and heterogeneous category 'Major Depressive Disorder'. This combined under one rubric what had previously been two seperate and quite different presentations: 1) severe, melancholic, delusional, or incapacitating depressions, and 2) reactive to stress, mild, and often transient depressions. The result is that many people get the label Major Depressive Disorder, even though their presentation isn't really 'Major', isn't really 'Depressive', isn't really 'Disorder'. Mild sadness in reaction to stress and disappointment is lumped together with the most severe suffering known to man. Drug companies jumped on the opportunity to peddle a pill for every problem and misleadingly described all depressions as a chemical imbalance requiring a chemical solution. Treatment studies that previously showed clear superiority of medicine over placebo for severe depression showed little or no superiority with patients whose depression was mild or questionnable. And biological marker studies that showed promise in tagging severe depression came up empty with the watered down Major Depressive Disorder. Critics of medication jumped on this to argue misleadingly that depression is a myth and/or that medication treatment for depression doesn't work. Mark Kramer, MD PhD is the perfect person to explain what has happened. He has held senior positions both in academia and in the pharmaceutical industry. Currently, he is Chief of Biologic...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news