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Experimental depression treatment is nearly 80% effective in controlled study

med.stanford.edu

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Re: Experimental depression treatment is nearly 80% effective in controlled study

#161

Post by eru »

air7 wrote: post #138

Its quite marvelous to consider that we are hard wired to be happy, and depression is a "bug" that can be fixed with a crude electric jolt and not, in contrast, some complex intricate inner state. Perhaps God likes us after all...

The paddles they give your heart an electric shock with don't "fix" your heart. All they do is snap it out of a bad attractor. They sort-of reboot the system.

That sort of shock doesn't need to be very sophisticated, like fixing a clock work would need to be.

I imagine it might be similar for this treatment.

Re: Experimental depression treatment is nearly 80% effective in controlled study

#163

Post by Groxx »

6gvONxR4sf7o wrote: post #154
AlexCoventry wrote: post #147

Case size 14, control size 15. It's 2021; you shouldn't be able to publish a psychology result with statistics this weak.

Under the null hypothesis, a difference this large is still extremely unlikely for a group this small. Sometimes, counterintuitively, you don’t need a huge group.

Yeah, this is a fairly standard size for an early trial.

Trials cost money. Even if this is a lucky outlier and it turns out to be no better than the placebo in a larger trial, having a decently strong positive result can hugely improve your chances of getting the money (and interest) needed to run a larger trial.

Re: Experimental depression treatment is nearly 80% effective in controlled study

#164

Post by eru »

driverdan wrote: post #93
giantg2 wrote: post #88

I wonder what the underlying mechanism is. With the prevalence of magnetic fields in everyday life, I wonder if these could be affecting people negatively from prolonged exposure at lower doses or frequency.

It has no impact thanks to the inverse square law. This is a much stronger field, very close to the brain, done in a targeted way.

To provide an analogy: wifi has more or less the same kind of radiation as a microwave oven.

But wifi is much weaker and not inside a faraday cage. So it doesn't cook you.

Re: Experimental depression treatment is nearly 80% effective in controlled study

#166

Post by avidiax »

nebula8804 wrote: post #112
girvo wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anecdotally, the lack of those things are definitely present in myself when I'm experiencing a depressive episode (I am diagnosed with clinical depression): I sleep badly, either not at all or for 12-18 hours a day, I drink far too much, I do not leave my house, and my hobbies either fall by the wayside entirely or I partake in them with no enjoyment or happiness from it. If you're experiencing those, it might be wor…

>For me, a short 3-4 month course of a particular SSRI lets me beat back the worst of it Can you elaborate which one are you using? I was prescribed Wellbutrin/bupropion (along with some therapy sessions) about a month ago and I seem to notice no changes. I'm going to continue to be hopeful but it seems like this wasn't the one for me so just wondering what you were using.

Buproprion is quite good at removing false reward loops. Made me really tone down video games. It's used also for smoking cessation. It's quite subtle. The other SSRI/SNRI meds have strong side-effects.

I will say that the effect is permanent. It's rewiring your brain when you use it.

If it's helping you to spend some time on harder but more important self-improvement, then great.

If not, you should consider switching drugs.

I currently take ADHD medicine, which is helping in many ways, but a mixed bag in others.

All the drugs are going to grease the wheels in some way, but you'll have to experiment to find the one for you.

Re: Experimental depression treatment is nearly 80% effective in controlled study

#167

Post by bserge »

Bilal_io wrote: post #152
fy20 wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does that apply to things you 'have' to do as well? I don't really like shopping for groceries, but I'd rather do that, than order take out that's expensive and probably not very healthy. If I'm going to cook something, I'd rather cook something with a different taste than eat pasta again. I don't really want to do laundry, but I do want to have clean clothes that don't smell. If I could afford to do so I wouldn't wo…

> I don't really like shopping for groceries Have you tried a delivery service? Walmart as an example charges $100 or so a year. And then you pay a tip to the delivery person. I think it's worth it to avoid shopping in person, and cheaper than ordering delivery from restaurants.

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Re: Experimental depression treatment is nearly 80% effective in controlled study

#168

Post by bserge »

pcurve wrote: post #57

“I don’t procrastinate anymore,” he added. “I’m sleeping better. I completely quit alcohol. I’m walking my dog and playing the guitar again, for nothing more than the sheer joy of it.” Most importantly, he said, “I’m remaining positive and being respectful of others. These are big changes in my life.” Serious question: are these typical signs of depression? Now I'm wondering if I have depression.

No post body was provided.

Re: Experimental depression treatment is nearly 80% effective in controlled study

#169

Post by bigfudge »

mlyle wrote: post #13
argsv wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The two mentioned in the article met the FDA definition of remission. It doesn’t say, how many improved in general. This is important specifically since the sample size of the trial is small.

I agree both endpoints are interesting-- but arguably remission is more important of an outcome measure than improvement.

But remission is defined by the same measure. It’s just an arbitrary threshold on the HDRS.

Re: Experimental depression treatment is nearly 80% effective in controlled study

#170

Post by rolleiflex »

mikepurvis wrote: post #60
cconstantine wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, they can be. Self-diagnosing isn't a great idea; lots of non-depressed people have some symptoms of depression. It would probably be a good idea to find someone to talk with though.

Where "someone" is a therapist or counsellor. They can refer you on to someone who works with pharmaceuticals if necessary, but there's a lot to try before going that route.

Heads up, ‘There is a lot to try before going that route’ is a medical opinion that is hard to notice. Exactly what the treatment plan would be and in what order is entirely up to the doctor and sometimes (often) the best thing that works is the actual drugs.

I’m just conscious of this because I’ve seen this argument used to justify delaying actual treatment in favour of ‘alternative medicine’.

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