In my own practice, I always look for non-drug solutions first, and I've found them to be remarkably effective. One particular study at Duke University found that exercise was "just as effective" as antidepressants, and the results lasted longer.
Another study of 47 drug-company studies (for the BIG, brand-name antidepressants) revealed that antidepressant drugs "failed to outperform a placebo in the majority of trials."
And a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that antidepressants were effective only for the most severely depressed patients. For patients with mild to moderate depression, and even some patients in the less-severe portion of the major depression category, antidepressants performed no better than a placebo. |  |
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