This extensive research study followed the participants for a full year. In that time, it was shown that if the first medication did not work another medication might. In the end, of the people who kept trying one medication after another, about two thirds eventually received help. So it seems that perseverance helps. The study confirmed that it takes, on the average, several weeks for the medication to start working. Many people get discouraged if their depression symptoms do not completely disappear in a day or so, but this study clearly demonstrates that the pills require weeks to reduce symptoms of depression. The authors maintain that these results are probably better than what actually happens in the real world.
So what does this all mean if you are depressed. Depression is one of the most treatable diseases. If one keeps trying one medication after another, about two thirds of people can find relief. Many additional patients could probably be helped by cognitive therapy, which emphasizes correcting negative thought patterns. It might be best to try a popular drug for depression first, as there is a 37% chance that your depression may be completely removed in a few weeks. This large study also shows that it takes several weeks for a particular medicine to give relief. A few may be helped in 24 hours, but most will have to wait a few weeks. Some may have to wait longer. It also definitely helps to keep trying another medicine if the first one fails.
Some people believe that a certain drug will instantly remove all signs of depression will no ill effects. Certainly drug companies would want us to subscribe to this idea so they can continue to reap huge profits. The truth is that some (about one out of three) will be relieved of their sadness, but most will not. Also, large numbers of people can not accept the side effects. Its a bit like trading one disease for another. You might feel happy again, but you may lose your ability to enjoy sex. Other people think that everyone should just use talk therapy, such as cognitive therapy, to get better and avoid all the chemical side effects. But, this study demonstrates that some people do get relief in just a few weeks with the first try with antidepressants. Some can have a new life with just one pill a day. So it would behoove us to give chemical treatment a good try.
In one sense, the study itself is depressing. Why can't a medicine work quickly for all people from the start and without side effects. Other remedies work just fine for almost everyone. Antacids will take just about everyone's stomach ache away in a few minutes. We have a number of pills for headaches that seem to work well for most of us--quickly too. The problem is that we are all different. People do not look the same. A popular science experiment in middle school is to have everyone line up according to eye color from dark brown to light blue. Usually no two kids have the same eye color. You would also note that very few have exactly the same height or weight. People also vary in really big ways. Last night, I watched a program about a 16-year old girl with two heads. (Even more strange was that the two different personalities in the two heads seemed more well adjusted than most of the rest of us)
Our insides are also different. Some people are allergic to foods, some are not. Although nuts are nutritious foods, some people would die if they ate a single peanut. Some people get sunburned really easily--others seldom do. There are even people who are naturally thin--even in the grand land of obesity called America. Our moods are believed to be regulated by chemicals moving around in our brains. The amount of and the activity of these chemicals are not the same in all of us, so we react differently to antidepressant medication.
Last updated December 2006
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