“Anti-depressants don’t work” is the message splashed across the front pages this morning, after a research team from the University of Hull discovered that:
“The difference in improvement between patients taking placebos and people taking anti-depressants is not very great …. There seems little reason to prescribe antidepressant medication to any but the most severely depressed patients.”
The finding isn’t too surprising. In 2004, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) said that antidepressants shouldn’t be prescribed in the case of mild depression, as the “risk-benefit ratio is poor”. So why has the prescription of antidepressants soared, until significant numbers of children and even pets are using the drugs?
On Dr Martin Ingram’s account, there are two reasons for the sorry situation – the day-to-day difficulties faced by GPs, and the war for hearts-and-minds waged by drugs companies:
“GPs are overstretched, under-resourced and have a limited amount of time to spend on each patient.
Britain’s best politics newsletters
You get two free articles each week when you sign up to The Spectator’s emails.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in