Antidepressants work – but we need to talk, too | Rhik Samadder

A study proving the effectiveness of medication was no surprise. But the news that talking therapies can be as effective as drugs was a striking detail

The results of a comprehensive, six-year study confirmed last week what I've known a long time: antidepressants work. I know this because half the people I know are on them - and that's only the half I know about. Antidepressants saved my life, they tell me, and I believe them. I don't say: "The only thing you've swallowed is propaganda, mate, straight from Big Pharma's chalky teat." I would have to be a maniac to do that. And I'm not a maniac. At least, not in that way.

I've been on antidepressants at various points in my life. And I've always been one of the 80% who come off them within a month, looking for another way. I quickly tire of the tweaking of drugs and dosages required to find the appropriate prescription. I freak out at the initial side-effects - the flaccidness in my brain, the lack of ideas in my underpants. More than that, I've always had been uncomfortable accepting there is something medically wrong with me.