Bit of the blues? Pills aren’t a silver bullet
Written on January 8, 2010 at 12:28 pm
popping pills won't zap your blues
Feeling a bit down? Grab a sugar pill and take a load off. A new study has shown that if you are one of the gazillions of people labeled with depression, unless you have a full on case of the blues, you might as well take a sugar pill for all the help you’ll get from antidepressants. Read the study from the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association HERE.
The evidence for alternatives like aerobic exercise (just 30 mins a day) or Hypericum (St John’s wort) for mild to moderate depression is great. What always staggers me is my patients’ choices. When I suggest that they might want to go down the drug free road, many are thrilled they have that option. But just as many want drugs straight up. Amazing!
Drugs have never been a silver bullet for unhappiness. This new study just rams that point home. The authors have deduced that it might be the act of making an appointment with the doctor and chatting about what is happening that improves things. Not the pills.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m no mental health skeptic. Depression, in its severe forms is one of the nastiest diseases you will ever come across. It can ruin your career, your relationships and your personality. For people with severe depression, the evidence for antidepressant medications is overwhelming.
But if you simply feel a bit blue, try chatting to someone; your GP, a good friend or even a therapist- although the number of HIGHLY dodgy therapist stories I hear in my surgery makes me say that one with caution!
Go for a brisk walk. Stop and feel the sunshine on your face. Talk through your concerns with a good listener. But don’t expect miracles from pills.
