The Controversy Over Antidepressant Drugs in an Era of Evidence-Based Practice

A Way of Bridging the Gap between Psychological Treatments and Antidepressant Medication

“…Especially when long-lasting or severe intensity, depression may be come a serious health condition. At its worst, depression can lead to suicide [2][3][4].…”

“…Some people resist taking antidepressants because they do not like to admit that something is wrong. Others dislike the idea of being dependent on a chemical substance to keep their mood level, or lacking a sense of control over life [4].…”

“…Sometimes people talk about the stigma around mental health more generally, and the use of antidepressants, reflecting the view that taking something for the mind can have negative connotations. They know they might be perceived by others as mad [4]. Another hand, since psychiatry has a social prestige and psychiatrist is seen as an expert [4,7], when antidepressants treatment fails people blame themselves [4].…”

“…They know they might be perceived by others as mad [4]. Another hand, since psychiatry has a social prestige and psychiatrist is seen as an expert [4,7], when antidepressants treatment fails people blame themselves [4]. These beliefs must be taken into account forth remain reasons: First, self-limiting feelings, sense of lacking control over life, and the self-blame tends to reinforce depression [7].…”

After DSM-5

“…Furthermore, a DSM diagnosis is often a pathway to treatment with psychiatric drugs. Robert Whitaker (2010) has hypothesized that psychiatric drugs often result in short-term benefit but worsen long-term outcomes, a provocative hypothesis to be sure, but one that deserves close consideration (see Littrell & Lacasse, 2012b). These underresearched topics deserve more attention from the research community.…”