Are antidepressants the biggest medical disaster in history?

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andy013
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Are antidepressants the biggest medical disaster in history?

Unread post by andy013 »

I think they might be.

Short 8-12 week industry funded trials show a 3 point difference on a 50 point scale of a depression questionnaire. Somehow that is used as justification to give these drugs to millions. In my country 20% of the adult population is taking an antidepressant, so even if harm is rare it could still affect many people.

No long term studies. No idea what the drugs are doing to peoples brains. No informed consent for patients that they are basically guinea pigs.

Yes, there are people who say they are helped by them, but you need to remember that the whole reason we have randomized trails is because medical history is full of treatments that doctors and patients thought were beneficial and they turned out not to be. Clinical experience is not a good way to measure efficacy.

Simply the fact that most people seek treatment when their symptoms are bad and then they wait for 12 weeks, means that many of them will have improved by that point without any treatment. It's very difficult for an individual to know if the treatment is responsible or not. Obviously if you are feeling better you might believe it worked.

On top of that, because these drugs create a dependence when patients try and stop, they feel terrible and so they start the drugs again believing that what they experienced was their underlying "mental illness" being unmasked. They don't recognize that the drugs have changed their brain and these are actually new symptoms because of withdrawal. Doctors also see patients dramatically improve after reinstating drugs and this reinforces their belief in their effectiveness.

Now think about all the harm these drugs cause:
  1. Suicide - some people get a bad reaction to these drugs either when they first start it or after they stop it where they become suicidal. Others have long term damage from the drugs and choose to end their lives. How many people have died as a result of these drug effects is unknown.
  2. Dependence / long term side effects - many people get stuck on these drugs even when they aren't helping them much and they need to live with a bunch of side effects they never would have had otherwise.
  3. Withdrawal - many people can't stop these drugs without long lasting problems, even if it is not permanent. Having sexual dysfunction for years still has a massive effect on your life. Some people who are unlucky might never fully recover even if they only took the drug for a short time. This is permanent brain damage. Also remember, many of these drugs are given to young people who might want to start a family, get married etc. Having sexual dysfunction can completely ruin relationships and change the course of your entire life. That's not even mentioning all the other withdrawal symptoms that can make your life a living hell.
  4. Lasting effects to unborn children - Children exposed to SSRIs while developing are at increased risk of being diagnosed with a "mental illness" themselves. Unborn Rats exposed to these drugs have altered sexual and social behaviour. Even if the mother is not exposed, if the father is, epigenetic changes occur to the sperm cells that are then passed on to the offspring and change gene expression. We have no idea of the consequences of this.
  5. Environmental damage - Humans who take these drugs urinate them out. This water is not filtered to remove SSRIs and they go into waterways and contaminate the environment. Fish and bird mating patterns are disrupted because of their exposure to these toxins.
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