Study: More Than Two-Thirds of Patients on Anti-Depressants Not Depressed

Study: More Than Two-Thirds of Patients on Anti-Depressants Not Depressed [Excerpts]

A new study shows that more than two-thirds — some 69 percent – of patients using anti-depressants do not actually meet the criteria for depressive disorder. The study, which appears in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, finds that many individuals who are prescribed and take antidepressant medications may not actually have a depressive disorder, and that such drugs are often used by patients who do not meet the diagnostic criteria of depression.

According to the research, among the users of antidepressant medications, 69 percent never met the diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD), and 38 percent also never met those for obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, social phobia, or generalized anxiety disorder – for which the antidepressant medications are sometimes prescribed.

Other factors, however, unrelated to depression, were found to be associated with the use of antidepressants.

“Caucasian ethnicity, recent or current physical problems (eg, loss of bladder control, hypertension, and back pain), and recent mental health facility visits were associated with antidepressant use in addition to mental disorders,” say the researchers.

As previously reported, psychiatrist Dr. Julie Holland penned an op-ed in the New York Times earlier this year in which she cited that at least one of every four women in America is now on psychiatric medication, as opposed to one of every seven men, a situation Holland described as “insane.”

Holland observed that women are emotional and sensitive by design – qualities that are generally “a sign of health, not disease.”

According to Holland, “women are nearly twice as likely to receive a diagnosis of depression or anxiety disorder than men are.” Her concern is that the uptick in prescriptions for psychiatric medications is “creating a new normal, encouraging more women to seek chemical assistance.”

Women have learned that their normal feelings of sadness and anxiety – while they may be uncomfortable – are symptoms of pathology,” Holland wrote. “We need to … appreciate them as a healthy, adaptive part of our biology.”

From the Breitbard website, October 23, 2015