‘Do Antidepressants Work?’ is the Wrong Question
“This research points to the inadequacy of asking the simple question: ‘Do antidepressants work?’ Instead, the value or otherwise of antidepressants needs to be understood in the context of the diversity of experience and the particular meaning they hold in people’s lives.”
How Dissenting Voices are Silenced in Medicine
Researcher criticizes the many ways opposing viewpoints and dissenting voices are squashed in the field of medicine.
Review Finds Little Evidence that Electroconvulsive Therapy is Effective for Depression
Researchers examined the dearth of support for Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for depressive symptoms in light of studies detailing the associated risks.
Review Questions Long Term Use of Antipsychotics
Patients who recover from a single episode of psychosis are often prescribed antipsychotics long-term, despite a lack of evidence for this practice
Positive Antidepressant Study “Misleading” and “Erroneous”
An analysis of last year’s positive finding in The Lancet about antidepressant efficacy shows errors, obfuscations, and misrepresentations.
Two-Thirds of Schizophrenia Patients Do Not Remit on Antipsychotics
A new analysis of antipsychotic treatment of schizophrenia (published in Schizophrenia Bulletin) has found that two-thirds of patients treated this way do not experience symptom remission.
The Impact of Regression to the Mean in Psychiatric Drug Studies
Could the statistical phenomenon of regression to the mean be responsible for the dramatic effects of placebo—as well as the supposed effectiveness of some psychiatric drugs?
Reanalysis of STAR*D Study Suggests Overestimation of Antidepressant Efficacy
Reanalysis of the original primary outcome measure in the STAR*D study suggests STAR*D findings inflate improvement on antidepressant medication and exclusion criteria in conventional clinical trials results in overestimation of antidepressant efficacy.
Publication Bias Inflates Perceived Efficacy of Depression Treatments, Study Finds
Researchers report the cumulative effects of major biases on the apparent efficacy of antidepressant and psychotherapy treatments.
Biogen Pushes FDA to Approve Failed Alzheimer’s Drug
A new analysis, published in Lancet Neurology, demonstrates how Biogen is spinning results from two failed trials for a new Alzheimer's drug.
Researchers Find Inadequate Reporting of the Dangers of Ketamine Treatment for Depression
Researchers report that dangerous side effects are not being adequately reported in the trials of ketamine for depression.
Researcher Challenges Clinical Effectiveness of Antidepressants
A new article in BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine addresses common misinterpretations of the efficacy research on antidepressants.
Review Finds FDA Approval of Digital Antipsychotic Misguided
The approval of the digital antipsychotic may open the door for more pharmaceutical company profits without evidence of benefits to patients.
Guidelines Recommending Antidepressants “in Contradiction with the Current Evidence”
Researchers critique the German S3 guidelines for depression promoting antidepressants.
Outcome Reporting Bias in Antipsychotic Medication Trials
A new study in the journal Translational Psychiatry, an influential journal in biological psychiatry published by Nature, challenges the state of the research on antipsychotic drugs.
Ioannidis Questions Strength of Psychology and Neuroscience Literature
Last week, well-known Stanford scientist John Ioannidis and his colleague Denes Szucs released a new analysis online. They examined research published in eighteen prominent...
Interview: Researchers Deconstruct Ghostwritten Industry Trial for Antidepressant
Researchers, Jon Jureidini, Jay Amsterdam and Leemon McHenry, have taken a closer look at the data from a randomized control trial of citalopram (Celexa) that was ghostwritten and then used by the manufacturers to support claims of the drug’s efficacy and safety in the treatment of child and adolescent depression. To get the background on this story, we connected with Dr. Leemon McHenry, an investigator in this study and a lecturer in philosophy at California State University, Northridge.
SSRI Ineffective at Treating Depression in Individuals with Chronic Kidney Disease
Dr. Madhukar Trivedi and colleagues find that the SSRI sertraline does not reduce depressive symptoms any more than placebo in people with Chronic Kidney Disease.
New Review of Antipsychotics for Schizophrenia Questions Evidence for Long Term Use
A systematic review of the limited research available on the long-term effects of antipsychotics finds fewer symptoms in those off of the drugs.
How ‘Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder’ was Created by Pharma
For MinnPost, Susan Perry discusses that the pharmaceutical industry played in the creation of the ‘mental disorder’ known as premenstrual dysphoric disorder or PMDD....
Researchers Fail to Replicate Evidence for “Biotypes” of Depression
A new study casts doubt on whether such biotypes for depression exist.
‘Salami Slicing’ Found in Analyses of Antipsychotic Trials
Evidence of duplicate publishing in articles analyzing data from clinical trials testing second-generation antipsychotics for depression
Review of Pediatric Antidepressant Studies Finds Evidence of Benefit Lacking
Review of pediatric antidepressant studies finds the vast majority are negative on primary outcomes and an increased risk for suicidality.
Study Investigates Physicians’ Beliefs About Placebo and Nocebo Effects of Antidepressants
Surveyed doctors overestimate pharmacological effects of antidepressants and underestimate placebo effects.
The P-Value Problem in Psychiatry
Stanford researcher writes that readers should check the effect size of results instead of looking at the p-value.
