If you’re suffering from mild depression, you may want to reconsider taking antidepressant medication. A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reveals antidepressants may not have much effect on people suffering from less severe forms of depression, according to WSYR.com.
"What we found is that patients who are on the lower end of the severity, even on the sort of middle range of severity, the medications weren’t doing much more than the placebo was,” said Dr. Robert Derubeis of the University of Pennsylvania.
Mild depression (the medical term is Dysthymic disorder) affects approximately 1.5 percent of the U.S. population ages 18 and older, according to emedtv.com. This translates into roughly 3.3 million American adults dealing with a mild form of depression.
Think about that – potentially 3.3 million Americans might be taking antidepressants with little, to no benefit from the drugs. This is a major issue considering antidepressants can carry serious negative side effects turning those prescription drugs into highly dangerous drugs that do more harm than good.
For example, here are some of the most common side effects of antidepressants…
- Nausea
- Sweating
- Problems sleeping and/or drowsiness
- Vomiting
- Dry mouth
- Difficulty passing urine
- Sexual problems
- Diarrhea
- Dizziness or light-headedness
- Weight changes
- Abdominal pain
And those are just the common side effects. More extreme side effects may include trouble breathing, heart palpitations, and a dramatic shift in body temperature (yikes!).
I would recommend doing as much research as possible into another form of treatment if you’ve been diagnosed with mild depression. If further studies substantiate the data from the JAMA study, then taking antidepressants littered with side effects may not be worth the potential pain and suffering.
About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper, Lewis & Appleton personal injury law firm (NC-VA law offices ) edits the injury law blogs Northeast North Carolina Injuryboard, Virginia Beach Injuryboard, and Norfolk Injuryboard as a pro bono service to consumers.
