Antidepressants

The research literature reveals that antidepressant use in pregnancy poses considerable risks to the fetus and the long-term health of the child. These risks include preterm birth, birth defects, abnormal brain development, and behavioral abnormalities in early childhood.

A reanalysis of STAR*D finds no support for the theorized subgroup of patients who do well on antidepressants.

Medical organizations and the media dismiss the experts and the large body of research telling of fetal harm from exposure to SSRIs during pregnancy.

A new study reveals that withdrawal symptoms from antidepressants can last years, disrupting lives and relationships.

SSRI exposure in utero “alters the offspring’s brain structure,” causing a hyperactive amygdala and fear circuits, leading to anxiety and depression.

Augmenting with antipsychotics was no better at reducing suicide than adding antidepressants, but led to increased risk of death from other causes.

We interview Dr. Stuart Shipko, a psychiatrist and author who has a particular interest in the side effects and withdrawal effects of SSRI antidepressants and the need for informed consent when prescribing.

The studies are of short duration and are riddled with methodological issues like unblinding and failure to assess withdrawal.

Millions of people are trying multiple antidepressant drugs without success, and psychiatry labels them “treatment resistant.”

A large-scale study reveals that antidepressant use is linked to faster cognitive decline in dementia patients, raising concerns about their widespread prescription.

Those using antidepressants long-term were more likely to experience withdrawal and to have severe withdrawal symptoms.

After a meta-analysis of RCTs of antidepressants was published in Lancet, psychiatry stated that it proved that "antidepressants" work. However, effectiveness studies of real-world patients reveal the opposite: the medications increase the likelihood that patients will become chronically depressed, and disabled by the disorder.

Researchers: Fetal exposure to vilazodone hampers neurodevelopment and leads to "long-lasting neurodevelopmental impairments."

During the past twenty years, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and American psychiatry have adopted a "medicalized" approach to preventing suicide, claiming that antidepressants are protective against suicide. Yet, the suicide rate in the United States has increased 30% since 2000, a time of rising usage of antidepressants. A review of studies of the effects of mental health treatment and antidepressants on suicide reveals why this medicalized approach has not only failed, but pushed suicide rates higher.

Researchers can’t predict the 15% who benefit from antidepressants, and the other 85% are unnecessarily exposed to the harms of the drugs.

Antidepressants were more effective for depressed patients who were more “optimistic.” Still, only 30% responded to SSRIs.

A study spanning two decades finds that antidepressant use is associated with a 44% increase in osteoporosis risk and a 62% higher chance of fractures.

Using genetic analysis, a new study finds that antidepressants—not depression—are responsible for a significant rise in type 2 diabetes risk.

American psychiatry, the NIMH, the larger medical community, and mainstream media have betrayed the American public by failing to make this scandal known.

New research by Jim van Os and Peter Groot finds that using hyperbolic tapering to discontinue antidepressants reduces withdrawal effects.

Combining drugs and therapy also did not lead to better depression outcomes than therapy alone.

The researchers theorized that this increased effectiveness was due not to “antidepressant” properties, but rather to the drug’s side effects, which include insomnia, drowsiness, and nausea.

A new update to the NICE guideline for depression suggests providers discuss long-term, severe antidepressant withdrawal symptoms.

A new study, published in Molecular Psychiatry, investigates the prevalence and typical characteristics of antidepressant withdrawal syndrome (AWS) through analyzing available research. Researchers found...

I’m alive. More than 30,000 veterans in the past decade alone are not. I was not warned of the risks of this drug. I was not told that once on it, I might never be able to get off it, or the nightmare that would ensue when I tried. I know millions of others were not told either.