The drugs don't work? antidepressants and the current and future pharmacological management of depression

Therapeutic Advances in Psychopharmacology

Volumn 2, Issue 5, 2012, Pages 179-188

  Penn, Elizabeth ^a   Tracy, Derek K ^b  

^a KING'S COLLEGE LONDON   (United Kingdom)

^b OXLEAS NHS FOUNDATION TRUST   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

antidepressants; depression

Indexed keywords

AMFEBUTAMONE; AMITRIPTYLINE; AMOXAPINE; ANTIDEPRESSANT AGENT; CITALOPRAM; CLOMIPRAMINE; DESIPRAMINE; DOXEPIN; DULOXETINE; ESCITALOPRAM; FLUOXETINE; FLUVOXAMINE; IMIPRAMINE; ISOCARBOXAZID; MAPROTILINE; MIANSERIN; MIRTAZAPINE; MOCLOBEMIDE; NEFAZODONE; NORTRIPTYLINE; PAROXETINE; PHENELZINE; PLACEBO; PROTRIPTYLINE; REBOXETINE; SERTRALINE; TRANYLCYPROMINE; TRAZODONE; TRIMIPRAMINE; VENLAFAXINE;

ANORGASMIA; ANXIETY DISORDER; APPETITE; ARTICLE; BLOOD PRESSURE; BLURRED VISION; BODY WEIGHT; BRAIN HEMORRHAGE; CEREBROSPINAL FLUID; COGNITIVE DEFECT; COGNITIVE THERAPY; CONSTIPATION; DEPRESSION; DISEASE SEVERITY; DIZZINESS; DROWSINESS; DRUG DEVELOPMENT; DRUG EFFICACY; DRUG INDUCED HEADACHE; DRUG TOLERABILITY; ELECTROCONVULSIVE THERAPY; FATIGUE; GENOTYPE; GLAUCOMA; HUMAN; HYPERTENSION; HYPOTHALAMUS HYPOPHYSIS SYSTEM; INSOMNIA; LONG TERM CARE; META ANALYSIS (TOPIC); NAUSEA; NEUROTRANSMISSION; ORGASM DISORDER; ORTHOSTATIC HYPOTENSION; PATIENT ASSESSMENT; PHARMACODYNAMICS; PHARMACOGENETICS; PHASE 3 CLINICAL TRIAL (TOPIC); POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY; PRESCRIPTION; PRIAPISM; PRIORITY JOURNAL; PROTEIN EXPRESSION; RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL (TOPIC); SEIZURE; SEXUAL DYSFUNCTION; SIDE EFFECT; SUICIDAL BEHAVIOR; TACHYCARDIA; TREATMENT DURATION; TREATMENT OUTCOME; TREATMENT RESPONSE; TREMOR; URINE RETENTION; WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION; XEROSTOMIA;

EID: 84997967456     PISSN: 20451253     EISSN: 20451261     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/2045125312445469     Document Type: Article

References (59)

1. Anderson I. Ferrier I. Baldwin R. Cowen P. Howard L. Lewis G. et al. (2008) Evidence-based guidelines for treating depressive disorders with antidepressants: A revision of the 2000 British Association for Psychopharmacology guidelines. J Psychopharmacol 22: 343–396.
2. Arroll B. Macgillivray S. Ogston S. Reid I. Sullivan F. Williams B. et al. (2005) Efficacy and tolerability of tricyclic antidepressants and SSRIs compared with placebo for treatment of depression in primary care: A meta-analysis. Ann Family Med 3: 449–456.
3. Barbosa L. Berk M. Vorster M. (2003) A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of augmentation with lamotrigine or placebo in patients concomitantly treated with fluoxetine for resistant major depressive episodes. J Clin Psychiatry 64: 403–407.
4. Berton O. Nestler E. (2006) New approaches to antidepressant drug discovery: beyond monoamines. Nat Rev Neurosci 7: 137–151.
5. Bhagwagar Z. Rabiner E. Sargent P. Grasby R. Cowen P. (2004) Persistent reduction in brain 5-HT1A receptor binding in recovered depressed men using positron emission tomography and C-11 WAY-100635. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 14: S185–S185.
6. Blier P. Gobbi G. Haddjeri N. Santarelli L. Mathew G. Hen R. (2004) Impact of substance P receptor antagonism on the serotonin and norepinephrine systems: relevance to the antidepressant/anxiolytic response. J Psychiatry Neurosci 29: 208–218.
7. Bockting C. ten Doesschate M. Spijker J. Spinhoven P. Koeter M. Schene A. et al. (2008) Continuation and maintenance use of antidepressants in recurrent depression. Psychother Psychosomatics 77: 17–26.
8. Carpenter L. Yasmin S. Price L. (2002) A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of antidepressant augmentation with mirtazapine. Biol Psychiatry 51: 183–188.
9. Caspi A. Sugden K. Moffitt T. Taylor A. Craig I. Harrington H. et al. (2003) Influence of life stress on depression: Moderation by a polymorphism in the 5-HTT gene. Science 301: 386–389.
10. Cipriani A. Barbui C. Butler R. Hatcher S. Geddes J. (2011) Depression in adults: drug and physical treatments. Clin Evid (Online), in press.
11. Cipriani A. Furukawa T. Salanti G. Geddes J. Higgins J. Churchill R. et al. (2009a) Comparative efficacy and acceptability of 12 new-generation antidepressants: a multiple-treatments meta-analysis. Lancet 373: 746–758.
12. Cipriani A. La Ferla T. Furukawa T. Signoretti A. Nakagawa A. Churchill R. et al. (2009b) Sertraline versus other antidepressive agents for depression. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2: CD006117.
13. Cipriani A. Santilli C. Furukawa T.A. Signoretti A. Nakagawa A. McGuire H. et al. (2009c) Escitalopram versus other antidepressive agents for depression. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2: CD006532.
14. Davis J. Wang Z. Janicak P. (1993) A quantitative-analysis of clinical drug trials for the treatment of affective-disorders. Psychopharmacol Bull 29: 175–181.
15. Den Boer J. Bosker E. Meesters Y. (2005) Clinical efficacy of agomelatine in depression: the evidence. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 15: S660.
16. Fergusson D. Doucette S. Cranley K. Glass K. Shapiro S. Healy D. et al. (2005) Association between suicide attempts and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors: systematic review of randomised controlled trials. Br Med J 330: 396–399.
17. Fountoulakis K. Möller H. (2011) Efficacy of antidepressants: a re-analysis and re-interpretation of the Kirsch data. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 14: 405–412.
18. Fournier J. DeRubeis R. Hollon S. Dimidjian S. Amsterdam J. Shelton R. et al. (2010) Antidepressant drug effects and depression severity: a patient-level meta-analysis. J Am Med Assoc 303: 47–53.
19. Frederikse M. Petrides G. Kellner C. (2006) Continuation and maintenance electroconvulsive therapy for the treatment of depressive illness: A response to the national institute for clinical excellence report. J Ect 22: 13–17.
20. Friedman R. Leon A. (2007) Expanding the black box - depression, antidepressants, and the risk of suicide. New Engl J Med 356: 2343–2346.
21. Fullerton C. Busch A. Normand S-L. McGuire T. Epstein A. (2011) Ten-year trends in quality of care and spending for depression. 1996 through 2005. Arch Gen Psychiatry 68: 1218–1226.
22. Geddes J. Carney S. Davies C. Furukawa T. Kupfer D. Frank E. et al. (2003) Relapse prevention with antidepressant drug treatment in depressive disorders: a systematic review. Lancet 361: 653–661.
23. Gelder M. Harrison P. Cowen P. (2006) Shorter Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry (5th edn). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
24. Gibbons R. Brown C. Hur K. Marcus S. Bhaurnik D. Erkens J. et al. (2007) Early evidence on the effects of regulators suicidality warnings on SSRI prescriptions and suicide in children and adolescents. Am J Psychiatry 164: 1356–1363.
25. Gibbons R. Hendricks Brown C. Hur K. Davis J. Mann J. (2012) Suicidal thoughts and behavior with antidepressant treatment. reanalysis of the randomized placebo-controlled studies of fluoxetine and venlafaxine. Arch Gen Psychiatry, in press, DOI: 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2011.2048.
26. Greenberg R. Fisher S. (1994) Suspended judgment - seeing through the double-masked design - a commentary. Controll Clin Trials 15: 244–246.
27. Hegerl U. Hautzinger M. Mergl R. Kohnen R. Schuetze M. Scheunemann W. et al. (2010) Effects of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy in depressed primary-care patients: a randomized, controlled trial including a patients choice arm. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol 13: 31–44.
28. Hollon S. Thase M. Markowitz J. (2002) Treatment and prevention of depression. Psychol Sci 39–77.
29. Isacsson G. Adler M. (2012) Randomized clinical trials underestimate the efficacy of antidepressants in less severe depression. Acta Psychiatr Scand, in press, DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0447.2011.01815.x.
30. Keller M. Lavori P. Mueller T. Endicott J. Coryell W. Hirschfeld R. et al. (1992) Time to recovery, chronicity, and levels of psychopathology in major depression - a 5-year prospective follow-up of 431 subjects. Arch Gen Psychiatry 49: 809–816.
31. Khan A. Leventhal R. Khan S. Brown W. (2002) Severity of depression and response to antidepressants and placebo: An analysis of the Food and Drug Administration database. J Clin Psychopharmacol 22: 40–45.
32. Khan A. Warner H. Brown W. (2000) Symptom reduction and suicide risk in patients treated with placebo in antidepressant clinical trials - An analysis of the food and drug administration database. Arch Gen Psychiatry 57: 311–317.
33. Kim D.K. Lim S.W. Lee S. Sohn S.E. Kim S. Hahn C.G. Carroll B.J. (2000) Serotonin transporter gene polymorphism and antidepressant response. Neuroreport 11(1): 215–219.
34. Kirsch I. Deacon B. Huedo-Medina T. Scoboria A. Moore T. Johnson B. (2008) Initial severity and antidepressant benefits: A meta-analysis of data submitted to the food and drug administration. PLoS Med 5: 260–268.
35. Klein D. (2006) The flawed basis for FDA post-marketing safety decisions: the example of anti-depressants and children. Neuropsychopharmacology 31: 689–699.
36. Kramer M. Cutler N. Feighner J. Shrivastava R. Carman J. Sramek J. et al. (1998) Distinct mechanism for antidepressant activity by blockade of central substance P receptors. Science 281: 1640–1645.
37. Kupfer D. Frank E. Perel J. Cornes C. Mallinger A. Thase M. et al. (1992) 5-year outcome for maintenance therapies in recurrent depression. Arch Gen Psychiatry 49: 769–773.
38. Leuchter A. Cook I. Marangell L. Gilmer W. Burgoyne K. Howland R. et al. (2009) Comparative effectiveness of biomarkers and clinical indicators for predicting outcomes of SSRI treatment in Major Depressive Disorder: results of the BRITE-MD study. Psychiatry Res 169: 124–131.
39. Malberg J. Duman R. (2003) Cell proliferation in adult hippocampus is decreased by inescapable stress: Reversal by fluoxetine treatment. Neuropsychopharmacology 28: 1562–1571.
40. Mathew S. Charney D. (2009) Publication Bias and the Efficacy of Antidepressants. Am J Psychiatry 166: 140–145.
41. McAllister-Williams R. (2008) Do antidepressants work? A commentary on “Initial severity and antidepressant benefits: a meta-analysis of data submitted to the Food and Drug Administration” by Kirsch et al. Evidence-based Mental Health 11(3): 66–68.
42. Moncrieff J. Kirsch I. (2005) Efficacy of antidepressants in adults. Br Med J 331: 155–157.
43. Moncrieff J. Wessely S. Hardy R. (2004) Active placebos versus antidepressants for depression. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 1: CD003012.
44. Nemeroff C. Owens M. (2002) Treatment of mood disorders. Nat Neurosci 5: 1068–1070.
45. Quitkin F. Rabkin J. Gerald J. Davis J. Klein D. (2000) Validity of clinical trials of antidepressants. Am J Psychiatry 157: 327–337.
46. Rush A. Trivedi M. Fava M. (2003) Depression, IVSTAR*D treatment trial for depression. Am J Psychiatry 160: 237–237.
47. Santarelli L. Saxe M. Gross C. Surget A. Battaglia F. Dulawa S. et al. (2003) Requirement of hippocampal neurogenesis for the behavioural effects of antidepressants. Science 301: 805–809.
48. Schosser A. Kasper S. (2009) The role of pharmacogenetics in the treatment of depression and anxiety disorders. Int Clin Psychopharmacol 24: 277–288.
49. Smith K. Fairburn C. Cowen P. (1997) Relapse of depression after rapid depletion of tryptophan. Lancet 349: 915–919.
50. Stewart J. Deliyannides D. Hellerstein D. McGrath P. Steward J. (2011) Can people with nonsevere major depression benefit from antidepressant medication? J Clin Psychiatry, in press.
51. Taylor M. Freemantle N. Geddes J. Bhagwagar Z. (2006) Early onset of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressant action - Systematic review and meta-analysis. Arch Gen Psychiatry 63: 1217–1223.
52. Teicher M. Glod C. Cole J. (1990) Emergence of intense suicidal preoccupation during fluoxetine treatment. Am J Psychiatry 147: 207–210.
53. Toneatto T. Sellers E. (1992) Perception of whether drug or placebo has been administered is a determinant of drinking reduction. In Sellers E.M. Naranjo C.A. (eds), Novel Pharmacological Interventions for Alcoholism. New York: Springer-Verlag.
54. Undurraga J. Baldessarini R. (2012) Randomized, placebo-controlled trials of antidepressants for acute major depression: thirty- year meta-analytic review. Neuropsychopharmacology 37: 851–864.
55. Walsh B. Seidman S. Sysko R. Gould M. (2002) Placebo response in studies of major depression - Variable, substantial, and growing. J Am Med Assoc 287: 1840–1847.
56. Weich S. Nazareth I. Morgan L. King M. (2007) Treatment of depression in primary care - Socio-economic status, clinical need and receipt of treatment. Br J Psychiatry 191: 164–169.
57. Wisniewski S. Rush A. Nierenberg A. Gaynes B. Warden D. Luther J. et al. (2009) Can phase III trial results of antidepressant medications be generalized to clinical practice? A STAR*D report. Am J Psychiatry 166: 599–607.
58. World Health Organization (1992) The ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders. Clinical Descriptions and Diagnostic Guidelines. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization.
59. Zimmerman M. Posternak M. Chelminski I. (2002) Symptom severity and exclusion from antidepressant efficacy trials. J Clin Psychopharmacol 22: 610–614.