In a research breakthrough, the results of which are bound to raise quite a few eyebrows, Paul Andrews, an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behavior, has found that relapses of major depression are more likely to take place in patients who use antidepressants. The report has been published in the journal Frontiers of Psychology. Andrews, the lead author of the report, along with his colleagues, analyzed many previously published studies to compare the results in patients taking antidepressants with does who did not take the medication. He concluded that people who have not been taking any medication are at a 25 per cent risk of relapse, compared to 42 per cent or higher for those who have taken and gone off an anti-depressant.
More than 40% of the population suffers from at least one bout of major depression in his life. However, the classification of depression as a disorder by many clinicians and psychiatric establishments has always been debated. Some people believe that it's an evolved adaptation that does something useful. According to Andrew, just as the body uses fever to fight infections, similarly the brain may be using depression to fight unusual stress. It blunts functions like appetite, sex drive, sleep and social connectivity, to focus its effort on coping with the condition which has resulted in depression.
As per Andrews, anti-depressants interfere with the brain's natural self-regulation of serotonin and other neurotransmitters. He compares the antidepressants to a weight on a spring. The brain continually pushes against the weight like a spring. Once the patient is off antidepressants, the brain, like a compressed spring, shoots out before retracting to its resting stage. It tends to over-correct the depression, triggering a new bout of depression. Therefore, as long as the patient is on medication, his symptoms stand corrected. But as soon as he goes off medicines, the depression bounces back. Hence, the patient is stuck in a vicious cycle and has to continue taking antidepressants.
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