The psychiatrist advises that you should simply stop taking antidepressants that don’t work. Image: Gallery Stock
More and more people are suffering from depression. Many of them are prescribed antidepressants. A psychiatrist explains in an interview why the medication does not guarantee a cure and could even cause harm.
Professor Bschor, you are co-author of the German treatment guidelines for depression and were chief physician at several psychiatric clinics. How often have you dealt with depressed patients who were not helped by antidepressants?
Millions of times. What we know from science corresponds to my very extensive practical experience: every second patient to whom an antidepressant is prescribed does not respond to it. In the clinic you usually meet patients who have already been treated and for whom it didn’t work out so well. So that’s the absolute rule for us. But I have also seen many treatment successes.