SSRI ads questioned

A Systematic, Updated Review on the Antidepressant Agomelatine Focusing on its Melatonergic Modulation

“…SSRIs still represent the most currently prescribed antidepressant class of drugs, nevertheless their efficacy has been questioned [9-16]. …”

“…First Generation Antidepressants (FGAs) include Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIs) and Tricyclic Antidepressants (TCAs, 60s), while Second Generation Antidepressants (SGAs, 80s-90s) include Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), Norepinephrine and Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SNRIs), Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors (NARIs), Norepinephrine and Specific Serotonergic Antidepressants (NASSAs) and Serotonin 5-HT 2A Antagonists/Reuptake Inhibitors (SARIs) [ 3 ]. SSRIs still represent the most currently prescribed antidepressant class of drugs, nevertheless their efficacy has been questioned [ 9 - 16 ].…”

There Is No Such Thing as a Psychiatric Disorder/Disease/Chemical Imbalance

“…In 2003, Ireland prohibited GlaxoSmithKline from claiming that the antidepressant Paxil “works by bringing serotonin levels back to normal.” Wayne Goodman of the FDA acknowledged that claims that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors correct a serotonin imbalance go “too far,” but had the temerity to suggest that “this is reasonable shorthand for expressing a chemically or brain-based problem” (quoted in [ 13 ]).…”

“…At an FDA hearing on March 23, 2006, I testified: “Saying any psychiatric diagnosis ‘is a brain-based problem and that the medications are normalizing function’ is an anti-scientific, pro-drug lie” [ 14 ]. Yet this has become standard practice throughout medicine, for example, at the American Psychiatric Association [ 15 ], American Medical Association [ 16 ], American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, American Academy of Pediatrics, Child Neurology Society, American Academy of Family Physicians [ 17 ], FDA [ 13 ], and virtually all US government health-care agencies.…”