Do antidepressants REALLY WORK?

Millions of Brits take them but their effectiveness has been thrown into doubt by a recent study

- PUNTEHA VAN TERHEYDEN, MOIRA HOLDEN.

Nearly half a million more adults in England are now taking antidepressants compared with the previous year

More than 7.3 million adults in the UK take antidepressants. Their use to ease depression and anxiety has been a topic of controversy for many years.

Now, a 10-year study, a collaboration between scientists in the US and Saudi Arabia, has thrown doubt on their effectiveness once again.

The research looked at health data from patients in the US, comparing two groups: those with depression who had been given antidepressants, and those with depression who had not.

It found antidepressants were linked to better mental health to some degree, but improvement in mental and physical wellbeing in the group who took the pills was not significantly greater.

The study also found use of these medications was associated with a higher rate of relapse compared to a placebo. And patients who had therapy in tandem with antidepressants enjoyed more benefit than either route alone.

Meanwhile, the NHS has recently announced it will be prescribing physical exercise instead of initially prescribing pills. We speak to two women about their personal experience with antidepressants.

‘I WANTED TO BE ME AGAIN’

Rosie Parsons, 40, lives in Exeter with her four children. She runs her own photography business. My husband and I had been trying for children for four years when I got pregnant with triplets through intrauterine insemination (IUI), which stimulated my ovaries with hormones.