In the same way that benzos can make anxiety worse in the long term, can antidepressants worsen the condition they are designed to treat? Proud to have commissioned this thoughtful analysis: bit.ly/2GDRMgj @TAPsychopharm /1
Current diagnostic systems in psychiatry do not consider the iatrogenic components of psychopathology, and can be applied to only patients who are drug free. They are suited for a patient who no longer exists: most of the cases that are seen in psychiatric clinical practice.../2
"...receive psychotropic drugs and such treatment is likely to affect prognosis and treatment choices."/3
"Continued drug treatment with antidepressant medications may stimulate processes that run counter to the initial acute effects of a drug. The oppositional model of tolerance may explain loss of treatment efficacy during maintenance treatment and the fact that some side .../4
...effects tend to occur only after a certain time" /5
"When drug treatment ends, oppositional processes no longer encounter resistance, resulting in potential onset of new withdrawal symptoms, persistent post-withdrawal disorders, hypomania, and resistance to treatment if it is reinstituted" /6
"In all these cases, antidepressant medications may constitute a form of iatrogenic comorbidity, which increases chronicity and vulnerability to depressive episodes." /7
"Current prescription practices need to be reformulated in light of consideration of vulnerabilities and adverse effects of treatment." /8
"[use of ADs for relapse prevention]... is based mainly on clinical trials where remitted patients were randomized to drug continuation or placebo, without any differentiation between withdrawal and relapse."/9
"If we take into consideration the potential benefits, the likelihood of responsiveness, and the potential adverse events and vulnerabilities entailed by oppositional mechanisms, we would be inclined to target the application of AD only to the most severe and persistent..." /10
... cases of depression for the shortest possible time, and avoid their utilization in anxiety disorders" /11
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