New Study: Majority on Antidepressants Aren't Actually Depressed

It may indeed sound highly absurd, but a new American study strongly asserts: most people who suffer from depression do not receive antidepressant treatment, while the majority of those who do receive treatment do not suffer from depression at all.

"In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of prescriptions for antidepressants," says Professor Mark Olfson, a psychiatrist from Columbia University and head of the research team whose findings were published last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Internal Medicine. "In this context, people have started to assume that almost everyone suffering from depression receives treatment." However, the study led by Olfson discovered that the opposite is true. The researchers analyzed health questionnaires answered by 46,417 adults. 8.6% of all respondents provided answers indicating they suffer from depression, but only 28.7% of those who appeared depressed received any form of depression treatment. And although depression was five times more prevalent among low-income individuals, higher-income individuals suffering from depression had a significantly better chance of receiving treatment.

When researchers examined the situation of all respondents who reported receiving antidepressant treatment, they discovered an even more interesting finding: only 29.9% of those who stated they received depression treatment exhibited symptoms of depression. Women, particularly widows and divorced individuals, constituted a significant portion of those receiving depression treatment, despite not suffering from depression. Even those who answered in a manner suggesting depression appeared in the overwhelming majority to suffer from only mild depression.

"The most common treatment for depression is antidepressants, and the data show that in most cases they are given to people who do not suffer from depression or suffer from mild depression," says Olfson. "This could be problematic, as studies have already shown that antidepressants are no more effective than a placebo in cases of mild depression. People with mild depression should initially be referred to other treatments, ranging from psychological therapy to sports and yoga."