While driving recently, I switched to an AM talk-radio station in hopes of hearing the traffic report. I tuned into the station just in time to learn from the host and his guest that antidepressants don't really work.
They went on to argue that the treatment of depression with medications is really a hoax promulgated by the pharmaceutical companies, who make up disorders in order to sell drugs.
The radio-show guest, who was not a physician, argued that early theories about neurotransmitter abnormalities causing depression had been disproven. The host of the show said he believed that sometimes people are happy or sad for lots of reasons, but that you can't "medicalize" feeling depressed.
To a limited extent, they both made some valid points. It is true that antidepressants are not "happiness" pills. Someone without a mood disorder is not going to feel better or happier by taking an antidepressant. And antidepressants of course don't eliminate the stressful life circumstances that lead to discouragement and despair.
It's also true that earlier theories about the biological causes of depression, as well as the mechanisms by which antidepressants function, are no longer satisfactory explanations. But — this is because major neurobiological advances have provided new insights into depression and its treatment.
In all else, however, this provocative talk-radio conversation was based almost entirely on misinformation and misconceptions (talk radio does seem to gravitate toward cynical and paranoid interpretations of reality).
It is surprising to me that these supposedly educated men seemed to deny the existence of major depression as a serious mental illness, one that may lead to profound disability and even suicide.
The propagation of their distorted notions could discourage people from seeking treatment, or even encourage them to stop taking their "worthless" medications, which in some cases are actually life saving.
Is it possible they have never met someone who was severely depressed? Or maybe they just like to generate controversy to pump up their ratings.
