Antidepressant drugs and the response in the placebo group: the real problem lies in our understanding of the issue
Abstract
In a recent paper, Horder and colleagues ( Horder et al., 2010 , J Psychopharmacol 25: 1277–1288) have suggested that the mainproblem in the Kirsch analysis is methodological. We argue that the results are similar irrespective of the method used. In our opinion the data suggest that placebo and drug effects are non-additive: antidepressants act independently of depression severity, while the placebo effect is present only in milder cases. While the response in the placebo group is due to unstable ‘noise’ and ‘artefacts’, the medication effect is reliable, valid and stable.
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The concept of remission provides only a vague theoretical definition that may be influenced by the psychometric limitations of available instruments.
“However, the concept of remission provides only a vague theoretical definition that may be influenced by the psychometric limitations of available instruments [52, 53].”
From Cognitive remission: a novel objective for the treatment of major depression? (2016) · cites this paper as [53]
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- Authors
- Fountoulakis, K. N., & Möller, H.-J.
- Affiliations
- Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE)
- ORCID
- Möller, Hans-Jürgen
- Venue
- Journal of Psychopharmacology
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2011-09-17
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 744-750
- ISSN
- 0269-8811 (ISSN-L)
- 1461-7285
- OpenAlex
- W2121998647
- Cited by
- 30
- References
- 50
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 2.11
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Psychopharmacology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Open access LMU (Ludwid Maxmilian's Universitat Munchen) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Pain Management and Placebo Effect
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Treatment of Major Depression
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
- Keywords
- antidepressants, placebo response, placebo effect, antidepressant efficacy, depression severity, measurement artifacts
- MeSH terms
- Antidepressive Agents, Depression, Humans, Research Design, Statistics as Topic, Placebo Effect, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Artifacts, Comprehension
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