ANTIDEPRESSANTS: Star D Study – Only 3% Remission, Not 67%

Two months ago, I wrote a post about a New Yorker article that reported that 67% of the depressed patients in the STAR*D trial “recovered.” As I noted in that post, the 67% figure was a highly exaggerated number. Only 51% of the 3,671 patients who entered the trial ever remitted, even for a short period. Furthermore, only about 20% of the patients remitted and then reported to STAR*D investigators, at some point during a 12-month follow-up period, that they were still doing well.

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SSRIs: Sharp Drop in Brain Activity + Worsening Depression & Suicidality

hile antidepressant medications have proven to be beneficial in helping people overcome majordepression, it has long been known that a small subset of individuals taking these drugs can actually experience a worsening of mood, and even thoughts of suicide. No clinical test currently exists to make this determination, and only time usually weeks can tell before a psychiatrist knows whether a patient is getting better or worse.

Now, UCLA researchers have developed a non-invasive biomarker, or indicator, that may serve as a type of early warning system.

Reporting in the April edition of the peer-reviewed journal Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, Aimee Hunter, an assistant research psychologist in the UCLA Department of Psychiatry, and colleagues report that by using quantitative electroencephalographic (QEEG), a non-invasive measurement of electrical activity in the brain, they were able to observe a sharp reduction of activity in a specific brainregion in individuals who proved susceptible to thoughts of suicide within 48 hours of the start of treatment.

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JAMA: Mild to severe depression better treated with alternatives to medications

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Workers with depression stay home
sick more often than healthy colleagues, even when their disease is treated,
according to a Thomson Reuters report released on Tuesday.

The report,
commissioned by drug maker Sanofi Aventis, suggests that employers would
benefit from better treatments of their workers for depression. Depression is
the leading cause of disability among Americans aged 15 to 44, according to
the National Institute of Mental Health.

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08/02/1999 – SSRI Prescribing in Primary Care Draws Fire

Note that 8% of all general hospital psychiatric admissions caused by SSRI-induced psychoses!–Thanks to Ann Blake-Tracy for passing this along. Mark ———– FromClinical Psychiatry News SSRI Prescribing in Primary Care Draws Fire Todd Zwillich, Senior Writer [Clinical Psychiatry News 27(6):34, 1999. © 1999 International Medical News Group.] ———————————————————————— More primary care physicians are prescribing antidepressants,…

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