Mental Health: Should antidepressants be used for major depressive disorder?

Major depressive disorder is estimated by the WHO to affect more than 300 million people globally, making the disorder the leading cause of disability worldwide.1 The lifetime prevalence of major depressive disorder is between 10% and 20%.2 3 Antidepressants are commonly used to treat depression. We provide a narrative review on the evidence on the effects of antidepressants compared with placebo in patients with a primary diagnosis of major depressive disorder. We do not consider the effects of antidepressants in patients with a primary somatic disorder or the effects of antidepressants for other disorders than major depressive disorder.

Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH) - July 24, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news