Depression is a mood disorder that causes an individual to experience feelings of sadness that persist for longer than a fortnight, which impacts their ability to carry out daily activities. A recently conducted study has found that individuals who use antidepressants to manage their depression observe no improvements in their overall mental and physical well-being in comparison to those who don’t take antidepressants.
Figures from the National Institute of Mental Health show that more than 20 million grownups in America have suffered at least one depressive episode in the course of their lives.
The study’s findings were published in “PLOS One.”
For their two-year study, researchers focused on a study population made up of more than 10 million patients who were treated using antidepressants as well as alternative care, including counseling. They reviewed data on short-form health survey scores for adults who had been diagnosed and treated for depression in between 2005 and 2015.
The health survey’s components evaluate the overall health-related quality of life of a patient as well as their physical and mental health on a 0 to 100 scale. On average, the researchers note that adults in America usually scored roughly 50 on the two components.
The researchers measured the scores of those who had been treated using prescription drugs and those who had used alternative options. At the start of the study, the individuals who were treated using antidepressants had average scores of 44 and 41 on the physical and mental components respectively. Two years after being on the same treatment regimen, their average scores were 43 and 42, respectively.
In comparison, the average scores on the physical and mental components of those who weren’t prescribed antidepressants for their depression were 46 and 43. The researchers found that after two years, their scores were 45 for the physical and mental components.
Omar. A. Almohammed, coauthor of the study, stated that the group discovered that the change in the quality of life of those on antidepressants and those who weren’t on antidepressants was similar. Almohammed, who is a clinical pharmacy assistant professor at Saudi Arabia’s King Saud University, highlighted that the study didn’t mean that antidepressants weren’t at all helpful.
In their report, the researchers note that despite these findings, individuals who are on prescription antidepressant drugs should not discontinue their medication. They recommended that patients continue their treatments as prescribed by their physicians, arguing that the patients may have seen some improvement on other clinical outcome measures.
Given that lots of patients report no benefits from antidepressants, many companies including Cybin Inc. (NYSE American: CYBN) (NEO: CYBN), are racing to find better remedies so that the patients who don’t respond to the existing therapies can resort to the novel formulations.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Cybin Inc. (NEO: CYBN) (NYSE American: CYBN) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/CYBN
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