About eleven (not 50) percent of Americans take antidepressants

Females are 2½ times as likely as males to take to take antidepressants

Twenty-eight percent (!!!) of middle-aged women (aged 40-59) take antidepressants, more than in any other age-gender group

White persons (14%) take antidepressants more than black (4%) or Mexican-American persons (3%)

The prevalence of antidepressant usage does not vary by income 

Now more than ever, antidepressants are everywhere. If it had turned out that Ben's girlfriend wasn't taking antidepressants (she was), it certainly wasn't from lack of availability or choices. From A-Z, sad folks get catered to by drug companies:

Adapin, Anafranil, Aropax, Aurorix, Avanza, Aventyl, Celexa, Cipramil, Cipralex, Coaxil, Cymbalta, Edronax, Effexor, Elavil, Eldepryl, Emsam, Endep, Ixel, Lexamil, Lexapro, Luvox, Manerix, Marplan, Mazanor, Melitor, Nardil, Noritren, Norpramin, Pamelor, Parnate, Paxil, Pristiq, Prozac, Remeron, Sanorex, Sarafem, Seroplex, Sinequan, Stablon, Strattera, Surmontil, Symbyax, Tatinol, Thymanax, Tofranil, Tolvon, Valdoxan, Viibryd, Vivactil, Vivalan, Wellbutrin, Zispin, Zoloft, Zyban, to name just a few...

And you know, House, they work, too! Or...maybe not. According to one large review (Turner et al., 2008), the combined efficacy rate for antidepressant medication is 51%, which sounds pretty good until you learn that in the same study placebos were effective 49% of the time.

"Small but significant," is the term often used to describe the effectiveness of drugs like Prozac over that of placebo. The difference is really quite small, and may not even result from a true pharmacological effect, but rather a lack of sound study procedure, esp. breaking of blind by clinical trial participants or psychiatrists (Kirsch, Moore, Scoboria, & Nicholls, 2002).

As you read this, sad people are getting talked into assuming the expense and risk of significant side effects associated with happy pills that they expect will take their emotional pain away. The truth is that if afterwards their conditions improve, it's not so much because of the pills, but rather their belief in the efficacy of anything, so long as it is a strongly held conviction. 

So, this is embarrassing: Even as studies find more and more convincing evidence that antidepressants don't work, their use has been escalating at rapid and unprecedented levels. Maybe that has something to do with the $80 billion in annual profits they generate for drug companies.

Now there, House, is some irony worthy of your acid tongue.

Ted Cascio is co-editor of House & Psychology (John Wiley & Sons).

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