LONDON: A study has revealed that the UK’s most commonly-prescribed antidepressant “barely works”.
Scientists from University College London said they were “shocked” with the discovery, according to The Sun.
The study, which is the biggest of its kind, is one of the first to consider the health implications of patients with mild to moderate depression, rather than severe cases.
During the research, a dummy drug was used in comparison to the common antidepressant sertraline.
Nearly 16 million doses were doled out by UK GPs in the last year alone and, according to the Ministry of Health, the number of Kiwi children and teenagers on Prozac-style anti-depressants had soared 98 percent in the last 10 years to a total of nearly 15,000 young people in 2016.
The pills were expected to have a changing effect on depressive symptoms such as poor concentration, insomnia, and low mood, but the results were damning.
The medication did, however, boost the overall mood in patients through reduction of anxiety, and as a result, patients reported feeling better after taking them than those given a placebo.
Researcher Professor Glyn Lewis, head of division at UCL Psychiatry, said: “We were shocked and surprised when we did our analysis. There is absolutely no doubt this is an unexpected result.
“Antidepressants work but perhaps in a different way to the way we had originally thought.
“They seem to be working on anxiety symptoms first before any smaller, and later, possible effects on depression.
The study, published in The Lancet Psychiatry, was conducted in GP surgeries across England.
It included 653 people experiencing depressive symptoms, who were split into two groups.
The first group was given a dummy drug for 12 weeks while the second group was given sertraline.
After six weeks, those on the active pills experienced a five percent improvement in depressive symptoms compared to the placebo. After 12 weeks the gain was just 13 percent.
However, experts found the pills did ease anxiety symptoms. These include worry, nervousness, irritability, and restlessness.
(Agencies)
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