Sunday February 19, 2012, 5:20 pm
You may have to click the You Tube link to see the video.

Sunday February 19, 2012, 5:25 pm
Irving Kirsch, associate director of the Placebo Studies Program at Harvard University has dropped a bombshell. ""People get better when they take the drug, but it's not the chemical ingredients of the drugs that are making them better," Kirsch said. "It's largely the placebo effect."

Sunday February 19, 2012, 5:53 pm
Noted!!

Sunday February 19, 2012, 5:54 pm
But placebos do not have deadly side effect like the antidepressant itself. If I ever need an antidepressant, I hope they give me a placebo.

Sunday February 19, 2012, 6:04 pm
Placebo is like sugar water, so it's all in their head?
My daddy was right:)
Thank you Kenneth

Sunday February 19, 2012, 6:05 pm
ty

Sunday February 19, 2012, 6:23 pm
I was the poster child for Prozac...1 1/2 yrs later, it stopped working...nothing NOTHING else ever worked for me that way again...............and I'm all done with them...tried them all...none worked after Prozac.

Sunday February 19, 2012, 6:25 pm
Noted, thank you Kenneth.
Society could sure do with a lot more homeopathic practitioners!

Sunday February 19, 2012, 6:25 pm
Oh, except, of course, CANNABIS.

Sunday February 19, 2012, 7:09 pm
Placebos is sugar

Sunday February 19, 2012, 7:41 pm

So glad you posted this, Kenneth!

I watched this tonight and it only confirmed what I'd long suspected.

Sunday February 19, 2012, 7:54 pm
Thanks Kenneth, antidepressants has a lot of side effects that are not good for anyone to take, One of my friends was on Prozac and she tried to kill herself after taking them.

Sunday February 19, 2012, 9:53 pm
Noted! Thanks!

Sunday February 19, 2012, 11:08 pm
Fabulous! Thank you Kenneth ! What a great video. I have read about successful placebo effects compared with other drugs in studies, but this one really warms my heart. And Kudos to the UK ! The only reason I suspect that those with mild to moderate depression relapse after sometime with placebos is they may have not had enough alternative therapies or any to assist them with the real causes of their depression. If the life situation which caused the depression still remains or is not dealt with - yes, relapse may be inevitable. I also greatly appreciated the doctor who basically debunked the idea that depression stemmed from the brain and serontonin levels - wouldn't that sort of debunk the whole theory that depression is caused by whacked brain chemicals. I know that most depression has nothing to do with whacked brain chemicals - big pharma just took people in - hook, line and stinker!

Sunday February 19, 2012, 11:59 pm
There is little we really understand about depression and that makes it even more terrible to drug a person who has symptoms of something that is not understood. Thank you as always for brilliant insight.

Monday February 20, 2012, 12:16 am
But how is big pharma going to make record profits? There has been a proliferation of antidepressants.

Monday February 20, 2012, 12:20 am
Thanks.

Monday February 20, 2012, 12:52 am
i think placebos are as the same as depressant medicine, you kind of fool the brain

Monday February 20, 2012, 2:05 am
My 5 paragraph comment just disappeared...thanks alot care2...NOT!
although it does give you all a break i suppose :-)

Short version; I was like Suzy, but took Paxil for many years, but had the side effect of a weird "electrical" type shock feeling in my head occasionally. The docters poo-pooed it, and after a few years i read that thousands of people had the same complaint. Tried all the others, didn't work.
Touch my as needed anti-anxiety meds and you die :-) Really.

So while they may work for some, and i would hate to see it taken away from those who really need it, for those just starting i would definitely try a placebo first.
Just don't get me started on giving it to kids and dogs... thanks Kenneth, very interesting

Monday February 20, 2012, 2:54 am
Ellen "So while they may work for some, and i would hate to see it taken away from those who really need it, for those just starting i would definitely try a placebo first". The scientific research in the study has SHOWN for the vast majority of people antidepressants such as Paxil, Prozac etc. DON"T WORK other than the 'placebo effect'. That means the person themselves is making themselves feel better, it's not because of the drug, or chemicals in the drug, or brain. People don't 'try a placebo first' Ellen. No doctor prescribes a placebo. But the studies, tests, research trials show they work as good or better than any antidepressant. .

Monday February 20, 2012, 3:07 am
What is the 'placebo effect'?
"A beneficial effect in a patient following a particular treatment that arises from the patient's expectations concerning the treatment rather than from the treatment itself."
The placebos in this case are sugar pills that look exactly like Prozac, Paxil, and other antidepressant chemicals and have as good or better results for the vast majority of patients as the actual drugs.

Monday February 20, 2012, 3:24 am
This will be fought by Big Pharma and Psychiatry because it takes money off their plate, power out of their hands, pure and simple.
Just a person believing, or thinking, or expecting, some drug or treatment to work is the huge factor here. A person is told or reads or sees that something is 'supposed to' work a certain way, even with side-effects, and the person's mind complies. This causes definite physical effects too. Someone once said that 70% of man's illnesses are psychosomatic (caused in the mind)(and therefore can be cured in the mind).

Monday February 20, 2012, 3:50 am
thank you

Monday February 20, 2012, 5:51 am
I think the side effects of anti-depressants far out-weigh any benefits provided by the drugs except in extreme cases.

Monday February 20, 2012, 6:05 am
Thanks Kenneth. Unfortunately a lot of people believe that they have no control over their own bodies/health...and leave their care in the hands of doctors and big Pharma. Placebos work because If the person has faith in their doctor and Rx medicine they believe they will get better...and they do.It is one's BELIEF SYSTEM that heals.I have seen one drug for depression advertised on tv...to help your other depression medicine work better....so 2 deadly medicines then instead of one!

Monday February 20, 2012, 6:27 am
They seem to hand this stuff out like candy - but the mind is very powerful and this piece just confirms that "thinking so makes it so". Exercise, diet and some fresh air can make a huge difference.

Monday February 20, 2012, 6:31 am
noted, thank you Kenneth

Monday February 20, 2012, 7:32 am
Noted, thank you.

Monday February 20, 2012, 8:27 am
noted, thank you Kenneth.

Monday February 20, 2012, 9:45 am
I watched this on tv last evening. I have been on Prozac for thirty plus years now. Had I not been perscribed and taken it I would be dead by suicide. I would say this little 20mg pill, saved my life! Side effects were minimal (lethargy and lots of it).
This was back in the day when the reports about Prozac were first coming out. People were offing themselves because they took Prozac! At an alarming rate if I recall!
I feared in a way...would I be one of those people? If I was going to commit suicide it was going to be my way not via an anti-depressant!
Prozac delivered, and put my depression in check. I hardly believe a placebo could have or would have done a similar job! I still, and always will suffer from depression, it is just a part of life for me, but it doesn't have to be totally out of control!!
Depression runs in my family, and another family member was on paxil, and when she tried to get off it, it had the same effect it had on Ellen!
I agree that these drugs are given out too often and too freely.It saddens me when a kid has to take perscibed drugs rather than go outside and play.
It is a much different world out there today... and if I had a child I would have passed my depression right onto them. (not a pity party, a choice)!

Monday February 20, 2012, 10:46 am
Thanks Kenneth, sure there are some people who benefit from them, still seems like in a lot of cases, they are over-prescribed, and the side effects are not often taken into account until it is too late.

Monday February 20, 2012, 11:15 am
Noted, thanks for posting Kenneth!

Monday February 20, 2012, 1:30 pm
noted with thanks.

Monday February 20, 2012, 1:41 pm
I watched this "60 minutes" story last night. I say "Shut the Door" on that theory and don't stop taking your antidepressants unless you consult your Physician and he is convinced too. I am not convinced.
Shirley H.

Monday February 20, 2012, 2:17 pm
Thanks Kenneth. Good to see others promoting the idea of natural remedies for depression. Sun, exercise and good company along with a good laugh always work for me.

Monday February 20, 2012, 2:33 pm
interesting

Monday February 20, 2012, 3:18 pm
Thanks Kenneth.

Monday February 20, 2012, 3:18 pm
It's not a 'theory' Shirley H. It's a study, trial, test, research by someone who is obviously credible (Kirsch). It's also not new, the placebo effect has been known for a longggggg time. But we all have opinions, which is why studies, tests, trials, and research with statistics are done.

Monday February 20, 2012, 4:02 pm
Saw this segment with a bit of incredulity. For me, diet and exercise should be the recommended treatment.

Monday February 20, 2012, 4:27 pm
None of this surprises me. As a therapist I have wondered for 35 years why I don't see the improvements in patients taking antidepressants that drug companies claim.

Monday February 20, 2012, 4:45 pm
The best remedy for depression is to love and be loved. From the moment you are at peace with your conscience, you certainly do not need to use antidepressant drugs.

Monday February 20, 2012, 4:56 pm
From personal experience and decades of depression, placebos would not work for me. Consider it a very personal problem that needs to be dealt with differently for each person.

Monday February 20, 2012, 5:39 pm
But Beth, you would have to undergo carefully conducted thorough trials where you're given placebos and antidepressants that look exactly alike, and you have no idea what you are taking. Ever done that? Because that is what this whole shebang is about. (if you have undergone such trials then that's different, but unless you have, you can't say "placebos would not work for me").
I'm starting to think a good number of people still don't actually understand what 'placebo effect' means. Google it.

Monday February 20, 2012, 8:43 pm
Health workers investigated over serious crimes
Julia Medew
February 17, 2012

pls note this http://www.care2.com/news/member/964135643/3107845

HUNDREDS of doctors, nurses and other health professionals were found to have worrying criminal histories that prompted investigations last year.

In its annual report for 2010-11, the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency said criminal checks on 52,445 health professionals found nearly 3000 or 6 per cent had some kind of criminal history. Of those, 449 had committed offences serious enough to potentially affect their registration.

After national boards investigated these matters, the report said the registration of 40 health professionals was impacted by their offences, with one psychologist refused registration.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/arizona-wants-to-protect-doctors-who-lie-to-women.html#ixzz1mzKniRQb

Monday February 20, 2012, 8:46 pm
I did a prescription drug trial study - I was a guinea pig - and did not know that one drug was a placebo until the study ended .. and the placebo worked just as well for me as the medication! But under no circumstance should anyone ever be given a placebo which is representing another medication - besides it's illegal!

Tuesday February 21, 2012, 12:42 am
Thank you.

Tuesday February 21, 2012, 1:25 am
Making A Killing: The Untold Story of Psychotropic Drugging

It's the story of big money-drugs that fuel a $330 billion psychiatric industry, without a single cure. The cost in human terms is even greater as these drugs now kill tens of thousands of people every year, with bad reactions ranging from heart failure t

http://www.care2.com/news/member/670803536/3107210

Tuesday February 21, 2012, 3:52 am
Jim: "besides it's illegal!" yeah, think of how much money would be lost by Big Pharma selling sugar pills that work just as well as antidepressantsl! Oops, there goes their power and control...

Tuesday February 21, 2012, 4:45 am
Thanks Kennth. I found this very interesting and have known people who have taken antidepressants, some got better, some not. The drug companies would be sunk if some of these pills were found to not help.

Tuesday February 21, 2012, 4:56 am
Our minds are more powerful than we give them credit for. Someday if we learn to use the 90% of our brain currently untapped who knows what we will be able to do?

I'm torn on this issue having taken antidepressants with great success. What I really need is to make more money, get out of my current situation, and then I would not be depressed LOL!

Tuesday February 21, 2012, 3:38 pm
noted thanks

Tuesday February 21, 2012, 10:01 pm
Interesting, thanks

Tuesday February 21, 2012, 10:42 pm
Noted!! Thanks Kenneth!

Wednesday February 22, 2012, 7:03 am
I think anti depressants often do more harm than good. In addition, why treat the symptom and not the cause?! Placebos would at least be safer.

Wednesday February 22, 2012, 7:30 am
Didn't the FDA require them to be proven more effective compared to placebos before permitting their use? Isn't that a basic FDA responsibility?

Wednesday February 22, 2012, 9:07 am
You can't find the answers in pills. I think that in some circumstances, these pills help, but for the short term----it is a serious decision between doctor and patient. But, for most of us, the answer to problems may be tougher than pills to swallow, but isn't that how life is supposed to be? We are supposed to LIVE while we are alive. The way the world is set up, no wonder everyone is depressed. We need to begin making changes to this system of living that doesn't work-----find a worthy goal to work towards and the depression lifts! Yes, I realize its complicated, but it boils down to simple truths. Lets help one another, support life, and work together towards changing the way we live in this world. If we don't do it, who will?

Wednesday February 22, 2012, 9:12 am
Antidepressant pills certainly work. For big pharma. Otherwise forget them.

Wednesday February 22, 2012, 9:27 am
My daughter has been abused in state care. When she and I "blew the whistle" on the abuse the agency involved locked her up in a psychiatric hospital. Throughout her stay in state care she has been forced to take prozac and depakote. She had no problems before except for feeling of grief over the loss of her family. Now I worry about the suicidal nature of these drugs. She reports that the doctor has informed her that she is developing a health problem from the "medication." The psychiatrist at the hospital does not believe my child belongs in there, yet the agency insists. There is so much money involved here. The agency and the drug manufacturers get paid for the drugging of our children. Perhaps some people benefit from these drugs, but the majority of them suffer health problems and become more depressed. I believe many so-called "psychiatric problems" can be solved with honesty, love and understanding. Basic human needs.

Wednesday February 22, 2012, 9:47 am
Thank you, Kenneth for this article and the video. I am going to go along with what Edgar said. Love conquers all.

Wednesday February 22, 2012, 1:08 pm
JL. A asks: "Didn't the FDA require them to be proven more effective compared to placebos before permitting their use? Isn't that a basic FDA responsibility?"
Supposed to. But the reality is the FDA consults with a panel of 'experts' regarding the safety of every new psychiatric drug, and the panel is made up of guess who psychiatrists, who are guess what, financially connected to the drug manufacturers. LOL The wolf is running the henhouse. Not only that but since PDUFA (Prescription Drug User Fee Act 1992) every new drug is fast-tracked through the process and safety is neglected. Google PDUFA or watch this video "RX Companies and the FDA" by Gwen Olsen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHfxA7uIuaY&feature=related

Wednesday February 22, 2012, 3:54 pm
I use anti-depression pills and I can say when I don't take them, when I forget I will remember when the headaches come -.- so no they aren't sugar pills, I've token a few different ones and some didnt work so I know..

Wednesday February 22, 2012, 4:14 pm
Making A Killing: The Untold Story of Psychotropic Drugging

http://youtu.be/UDlH9sV0lHU

I bet Whitney Huston Died from One of those Drugs.!
I was on one of them that was mentioned in the news A very very long tome ago.!
And I had to rush myself to Hospital My Blood Pressure Hit the Roof I was Boiling
Hot and i couldn't Breath
I was about to pass out in Emergency room they placed me on a bed and when a
Psych Dr (as no other Dr was Qualified with knowledge of those Tablets) come to check me out

She recommended I have cool showers.!!! I'm Like What the HELL.!!

I took myself off it immediately .!

Wednesday February 22, 2012, 7:20 pm
Ooopsie this is a better link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDlH9sV0lHU&list=PLB1C828275CC9A5EB&feature=mh_lolz

Wednesday February 22, 2012, 9:29 pm
My husband had depression....we BOTH suffered from that! Depression hurts everyone in a family and I personally saw the benefits of his taking anti-depressants. They don't work for everyone but they can mean the world to many.

Wednesday February 22, 2012, 11:49 pm
The COLOR of a pill can affect whether someone feels better or not after taking it. So can who gives it to you and if that person has a 'caring' attitude. Drugs stamped or packaged with widely recognized trademarks are more effective than "generic" ones. Clever drug names can add a placebo boost to the physiological punch in real drugs.

http://www.wired.com/medtech/drugs/magazine/17-09/ff_placebo_effect?currentPage=all

This again is the placebo effect, which occurs with ALL drugs, and affects whether they 'work for some and not for others'. The placebo effect is real and indisputable.

From the above article:
Ironically, Big Pharma's attempt to dominate the central nervous system has ended up revealing how powerful the brain (mind) really is. The placebo response doesn't care if the catalyst for healing is a triumph of pharmacology, a compassionate therapist, or a syringe of salt water. All it requires is a reasonable expectation of getting better. That's potent medicine.

Friday February 24, 2012, 11:00 pm

Try lemon balm if you're not on any medications.

HUGZ ~ Electra :)

Sunday February 26, 2012, 2:36 pm
It's important to note that the placebo effect is not a constant. The placebo effect has been getting stronger in US society - people apparently have more faith in pills than they used to. We can only tell if a drug has an active effect if the effect is noticeably stronger than the placebo effect, and many drugs that used to test as actively helpful are now no longer stronger than pill-based placebos. What is interesting, is that sometimes a drug will test as actively helpful in one country, but not in another- because different locations have different placebo effect strengths. What we really need is a better understanding of the placebo effect, so that we can get a better understand of how to test and prescribe drugs.

Monday February 27, 2012, 9:58 pm
It would be wonderful if doctors could prescribe a placebo to patients complaining of depression. Then if the patient tells them that the pill isn't working, the doctor will know to prescribe the real anti-depressant to see if the patient feels better from the medication. The only caveat in that is the flack that big pharma will give the doctors for not prescribing the medication in the first place. Thanks for the information, Ken.

Tuesday February 28, 2012, 6:45 pm
I think antidepressants are is a lot more dangerous out of two.