Anything that instills a sense of hope will at least temporarily help treat depression.
Category Archive: Irving Kirsch
Depression comes back over time in about 90 percent of people on antidepressants. Studies show that relapses are far less common when people are treated with psychotherapy.
The big bulk of the response to antidepressants is the placebo response.
There are a variety of techniques to help people change the kind of thinking that leads them to become depressed. These techniques are called cognitive behavioral therapy.
Nocebos often cause a physical effect, but it’s not a physically produced effect. What’s the cause? In many cases, it’s an unanswered question.
There seems little reason to prescribe anti-depressant medication to any but the most severely depressed patients.
The doctor-patient relationship is critical to the placebo effect.
Antidepressants can have troubling side effects and are addictive for some people.
There seem to be many causes of depression. One cause is profound loss, grief. Economic hardship we know is linked to depression. We don’t have a full picture.
To someone who is not currently on anti-depressants, I would suggest trying other treatments first – for example, psychotherapy.