Antidepressants Do Work, Some Better Than Others: Study

Good news just when you might be feeling down; antidepressant medication does work. A review of previously conducted medical research studies confirms it. Over five hundred studies, comprising more than a hundred thousand patients, was examined to confirm their results. Every study participant was taking one or more antidepressants.

The review found that antidepressant drugs seem to work to a moderate effect in the short term. An ongoing concern remains full understanding of how such medications can help over the long term. Not as many studies have looked into the effectiveness of antidepressants over longer periods of time. The review study’s researchers say they do help to improve patient condition, but just how much is difficult to quantify.

Another finding was that there seemed to be no clear winner among the various medications that were examined. They all worked similarly, and produced similar results. Which is good and bad news. Good, in that there’s not a magic pill that is the one best answer; but bad for the same reason. The main takeaway from the similarities in how well they work to improve a patient’s mental condition is to focus on the side effects. That’s where the medications did differ, so doctors and patients should seek to find the right medications that carry the fewest unwanted physical effects for each particular patient.