Study: Only 1 in 6 Suffering From Depression Are Getting Treatment

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At least a million more Britons should be put on antidepressants, the authors of the largest ever review of the drugs today conclude. The research led by Oxford University, and published in The Lancet, examined 522 trials involving 21 types of medication over almost four decades. All were found to be effective, yet its authors warned that just one in six patients suffering from depression are receiving treatment.

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Some of the best known antidepressants in Britain - such as Prozac - and the most widely prescribed drug, citalopram - were found to be among the least effective.

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The UK already has the fourth highest levels of antidepressant prescribing in the Western world, with a tripling in prescription levels since the millenium.

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The researcher suggested much of the opposition to prescribing of such medications came from an “ideological” standpoint rather than an assessment of the evidence. The study analysed 522 double-blind, randomised controlled trials, including previously unpublished results, comparing 21 types of antidepressant against placebos, and against each other. All were found to be more effective than a placebo, and researchers stressed that all might be the best drug for some patients.

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The treatments agomelatine, amitriptyline, escitalopram, mirtazapine, paroxetine, venlafaxine and vortioxetine were found to be most effective, while fluoxetine (Prozac), fluvoxamine, reboxetine and trazodone were found to make the least difference.

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