This finding seems to account for SSRIs rather than other classes of antidepressant. It’s difficult to believe that classes like NDRIs (which behave similarly to an amphetamine) would show such low superiority to a placebo.
Antidepressants Work Better Than Sugar Pills Only 15 Percent of the Time (2022)
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Re: Antidepressants Work Better Than Sugar Pills Only 15 Percent of the Time (2022)
#12I keep seeing all these placebo studies regarding anti-depressants, and yet I know for a fact that SSRIs were able to get me out of 2 episodes of months long depression in life within a few days of taking them. Everybody reacts different is my only explanation
My wife is a psychiatrist. She told me I the past that anti-depressants are a bit like roulette - you have to keep trying until the right one lands. Unfortunately, that can take years as most antidepressants take 4 to 8 weeks to take full effect. Everybody’s body is just slightly differently so it can take a while to find a drug that pairs well with your body.
Further, there’s a lot of indication that antidepressants depressants are far, far more effective when paired with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). I think of this like liposuction, you can remove the weight quickly - but without sustained lifestyle and diet changes, you’ll end up being back in the same place.
Re: Antidepressants Work Better Than Sugar Pills Only 15 Percent of the Time (2022)
#13This finding seems to account for SSRIs rather than other classes of antidepressant. It’s difficult to believe that classes like NDRIs (which behave similarly to an amphetamine) would show such low superiority to a placebo.
NDRIs were great at causing me brain zaps. So much so, that I could not meditate for more than a year after stopping the medication without reaching a brain state that caused similar brain zaps. Fortunately, that has long passed.
Re: Antidepressants Work Better Than Sugar Pills Only 15 Percent of the Time (2022)
#14Article claims that SSRI are overpresribed, and that only 15% derive any benefit. To me it seems that people who don't need it and were over-prescribed the drug do not derive any benefit. But it does not mean that drug efficiency is 15%.
It's like giving aspirin to people without headache, and claim that aspirin does not work.
Re: Antidepressants Work Better Than Sugar Pills Only 15 Percent of the Time (2022)
#15There have been several posts on Hacker News about this the past few days. I know myself. I'm a hacker, right? I can reprogram my body to accomplish anything. But sometimes people do need help, and that's not bad. I love this site, and the people on it. I hope these recent posts don't create a culture that rejects all depression management methods. It's a very fine line. The previous post mentioned that the "placebo…
> I know myself. I'm a hacker, right? I can reprogram my body to accomplish anything. Is there a name to that way of thinking? That's how I've been thinking lately but I can't help but think it's wrong.
People hack their body every day in the gym and at school. As long as biology/physics would allow it, there's a good possibility you can learn. By persistent training over years it's for example possible to program your body and mind to overreact on small stress triggers and acquire an 'anxiety' ability. Another body hack could result in running a marathon, or being able to empty your mind through meditation, or walking barefoot in the winter.
Consciously reprogramming your body is hard because often there's not a quick or obvious training/reward cycle and it takes time. You might not even know what to train or how, and even if you get detailed instructions you might have difficulty translating it to your body and how you would feel/experience it. I could explain how to twitch your ears, but chances are you're not even aware of the muscles that would allow that. A first task would be to become aware of a bunch of face and ear muscles and go from there.
Another example is when someone mentions your neck is all tensed up and you think you're all relaxed and chill. Over time you've hacked your body to recalibrate your feeling of being relaxed, to the point where you don't know to really relax your neck muscles. Hacking your body/changing behaviour takes time and conscious effort, and it really helps to be convinced that it is possible, or at least doubt that it is impossible to hack.
Re: Antidepressants Work Better Than Sugar Pills Only 15 Percent of the Time (2022)
#16There have been several posts on Hacker News about this the past few days. I know myself. I'm a hacker, right? I can reprogram my body to accomplish anything. But sometimes people do need help, and that's not bad. I love this site, and the people on it. I hope these recent posts don't create a culture that rejects all depression management methods. It's a very fine line. The previous post mentioned that the "placebo…
> I know myself. I'm a hacker, right? I can reprogram my body to accomplish anything. Is there a name to that way of thinking? That's how I've been thinking lately but I can't help but think it's wrong.
Maybe "life-hacking" or "transhumanism"?
Re: Antidepressants Work Better Than Sugar Pills Only 15 Percent of the Time (2022)
#17Note that the evidence for psychotherapy or physical exercise substantially outperforming placebo (or SSRIs, for that matter) for major depression is even sketchier. Your best bet is to try all three, but there are no guarantees in any case.
Re: Antidepressants Work Better Than Sugar Pills Only 15 Percent of the Time (2022)
#18The brain is crazy!
Re: Antidepressants Work Better Than Sugar Pills Only 15 Percent of the Time (2022)
#19Antidepressants are also increasingly related to lower libido and reduced sex drive.
They have way more side effects than is publicly talked about.
People know more about the side effects of smoking, than they do, doctor prescribed medication. Something is wrong with that picture.
Re: Antidepressants Work Better Than Sugar Pills Only 15 Percent of the Time (2022)
#20There have been several posts on Hacker News about this the past few days. I know myself. I'm a hacker, right? I can reprogram my body to accomplish anything. But sometimes people do need help, and that's not bad. I love this site, and the people on it. I hope these recent posts don't create a culture that rejects all depression management methods. It's a very fine line. The previous post mentioned that the "placebo…
> I know myself. I'm a hacker, right? I can reprogram my body to accomplish anything. Is there a name to that way of thinking? That's how I've been thinking lately but I can't help but think it's wrong.
Small extract from etymonline on the word 'hack'.
The slang sense of "cope with" (as in can't hack it) is recorded in American English by 1955, with a notion of "get through by some effort," as a jungle (phrase hack after "keep working away at" is attested from late 14c.). To hack around "waste time" is U.S. slang, by 1955.
The US 1955 slang 'hack around', is to waste time. A description that applies way too often, for users on the peripherary of technology and tech education, I'm afraid.