Almost 25% of Americans taking antidepressants had never received a proper diagnosis of any of the conditions they are intended to treat, according to research from the University of Manitoba.
Jina Pagura and her colleagues used data from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiologic Surveys, which includes a nationally representative sample of more than 20,000 U.S. adults who were interviewed between 2001 and 2003. About 10% of those respondents had taken an antidepressant during the previous year, yet almost 25% of those who took an antidepressant had never been diagnosed with any condition that these medications would be appropriate for, such as depression or anxiety.
"We cannot be sure that the risk and side effects of antidepressants are worth the benefit of taking them for people who do not meet criteria for major depression," said Pagura in an interview with Reuters Health.
These findings raise questions about whether antidepressants are being prescribed in situations which might be better handled in other ways.
Pagura suggested that "these individuals are likely approaching their physicians with concerns that may be related to depression, and could include symptoms like trouble sleeping, poor mood, difficulties in relationships, etc." Although an antidepressant could help these symptoms, Pagura said, if these patients do not have clinical depression, these symptoms might also go away on their own or be better treated with non-drug methods like counseling and psychotherapy. A proper diagnosis could help these patients avoid the risks and side effects associated antidepressants by channeling them into more appropriate treatments.
The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.
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Do doctors take the easy route out by routinely prescribing antidepressants for any sign of depression symptoms rather than referring patients more often to counseling or therapy when their depression is mild or situational? What's your opinion?
