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I live with depression, and have taken SSRI and SNRI medication for about 30 years. It took a very long time to find the drug and dosage and dosing regime that

I live with depression, and have taken SSRI and SNRI medication for about 30 years. It took a very long time to find the drug and dosage and dosing regime that works for me. I still get way down, but not _too_ dark and since going on current meds 3 years ago have had no issues with suicidal ideation. Depression is a complex set of problems, and it is in my experience unreasonable to expect a "complete cure in a box" when dealing with Major Depression. In my case there is little doubt that my current SNRI is life extending. To be honest, I sometimes think that maybe pointing out how weak the evidence is for AD meds in general may dissuade some people from trying them - and they may work, as may a placebo. I really appreciate the way you worded this, it's really rare to find a balanced and informed opinion like you have shared.

FollowingTheDao 5y ago
Disabled with mood disorders here. The issue I have for your reasoning is that you have no idea that if you stoped taking them things would be any different. This is the purpose of these studies. They find, on the whole, that it is not worth taking antidepressants.
- ncmncm 4y ago
  That is not, in fact, what they find, whatever they claim. Science has no objective means to diagnose depression, or more importantly to distinguish among many fundamentally different kinds, other than by noting what responds to different medications. It should be easy to understand why designing a valid RCT of an antidepressant is practically impossible. But there is a continuous demand for RCTs, so people run, instead, invalid RCTs. Running invalid RCTs is pointless. Reporting their results as if valid is, at best, misleading. At worst, dishonest.